The Effects of Water Pollution in Southern Mississippi - Research Paper

Introduction

The waters of Southern Mississippi, particularly on Long Beach Mississippi are some of the most troubled waters not only around America but in the rest of the world due to periodic experiences of oil spills such as the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and toxic algae blooms. Plants and animals living in coastal waters can face a number of stressors brought about by both human and nature and the marine life along the Long Beach MS have suffered. Apart from human beings, the waters and beaches of Southern Mississippi are important to sea animals, bottlenose dolphins in particular. Apart from harmful algae and oil spills, these waters are significantly polluted with industrial pollution and agricultural runoff. This paper will highlight the serious negative effect of water pollution in southern Mississippi, with a focus on Long Beach with the intention on highlighting the need for drastic and urgent measures by both state and federal governments to intervene.

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Death of Marine Life

Death of some of the plants and animals that are found along Long Beach Mississippi is one of the most obvious negative effects of water pollution along the Gulf. This death occurs almost every year in the summer when a dead zone appears in the Gulf. A dead zone emerges when water does have enough oxygen for the marine life to survive. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that the summer of 2017 had the biggest dead zone the size of the state of New Jersey meaning that the problem of water pollution is likely to get getting bigger with each passing year (Lapointe 1348). This type of water pollution is caused by the presence of phosphorus and nitrogen and comes from agricultural activities in Mississippi that are delivered to the Gulf by the Mississippi River. The farmers in Mississippi use nitrogen and phosphorus-laden fertilizers and when they are finally washed into the Gulf, they cause blooms of algae which later die and decompose. Consequently, the decomposition process takes up all the oxygen in a thick layer of the bottom water in the Gulf. The resulting problem is that a lot of fish die and all the organisms that live at the ocean floor die.

The solution to this serious problem lies in the application of both mandatory and voluntary measures. Both state and federal governments should encourage farmers in the Midwest to keep nutrients from their farms from washing into the water bodies by planting wide strips of grass along the streams. These strips of grass would trap a lot of the fertilizer runoff, thereby preventing or at least reducing the size of the dead zone in the Mexican Gulf. For example, the authorities can put incentives in place such as reduced fertilizer prices for the farmers with a certain minimum amount of strips of grass in their farms. If the problem does not seem to reduce by the next year, the federal and state government should implement some dramatic cuts in nutrient farm pollution like those implemented on the Chesapeake Bay in 2010. With set mandatory limits on the levels of nutrients entering the Gulf, the governments can spend billions of dollars to limit the problem and reverse the effects of pollution on the Gulf. While some people may argue that agriculture is important, the Gulf is also important to hundreds of thousands of people and a compromise must be reached.

Unsafe Drinking Water

Contaminated water makes a person ill when ingested. According to the global figures, unsafe water causes illness to about 1 billion people every year. Contaminated water is a serious problem in southern Mississippi because, in a glass, water appears healthy (Hansen 10). However, a deep inspection of water in America has revealed hundreds of contaminants that are harmful and can cause serious health issues including pregnancy complications, developmental issues in children and cancer. An independent nonprofit organization in 2017 found 59 harmful contaminants in Mississippi's water supply.

Of the 59 contaminants, 13 were found to be above either legal or health limits. Some of the harmful contaminants found in the water supplied in Long Beach include Barium, Chromium, Strontium, and Fluoride. These pollutants were detected to have come from treatment byproducts, industry, and naturally occurring substances. For instance, barium, strontium, and chromium were found to come from the industrial activities in Long Beach while fluoride was a byproduct of the water treatment processes. Moreover, the discharge of municipal waste and discharge of industrial wastes within the lower Mississippi River has been found to have an effect on the quality of drinking water by increasing the number of bacterial count in the water (Yang 105). It is not yet well known the huge amount of potential diseases that the increase in bacteria in the drinking water can cause.

Additionally, the chemicals and heavy metals from municipal wastewater and industrial waste are toxic to both human and marine life as they reduce the ability of the organisms to produce and shorten their lifespans. As tuna and fish accumulate high levels of mercury among other toxins, these chemicals can be ingested by human beings who act as predators up in the food chain. The accumulation of mercury among other toxins is thought to cause cancer and other disorders of the nervous system among humans.

The solution to this problem lies in simply using water filters at home. There are different types of filters today in the market that include deionization filters, carbon filters, and distillation filters. To eliminate potential threats in the drinking water, families can use the appropriate type of filter according to their local water supply. Moreover, families should inspect and change water filters frequently to eliminate the accumulation of bacteria especially for those who have private wells (Gibson and Kelsey 5). Moreover, people should not consume any food from the sea that has not been inspected and certified by the inspection authorities to prevent mercury poisoning.

A decline in Shrimp Catches and Beach Pollution

Pollution of water around Long Beach and to an extent the whole Gulf of Mexico has led to a significant reduction in the size of shrimp catches as well as charter fishing in general. As highlighted, most marine animals cannot live in a dead zone simply because there is no sufficient oxygen. Those fish and shrimp that can run away and exit the zone but those that are associated with the bottom of the ocean die. The decline in charters fishing and shrimp catches along Mississippi is estimated to be causing a loss of up to 82 million dollars a year (Howard 1). This is a huge loss and one that affects a lot of families. In addition, if the fish and shrimp continue to die in large numbers every year due to the formation of the dead zone, overfishing may soon start happening because less than a year is not ample time for fish to restock along the Gulf.

Moreover, beach pollution is a problem because swimming in contaminated water can be dangerous to a swimmer's health while beach closings lead to loss of revenue especially in the summer because local economies rely on beachgoers to raise revenues. With beach closings and advisories around the city of Long Beach becoming frequent the local economies will continue to take a beating and in the long run, investments tied to chartered fishing may disappear altogether. On the other hand, the loss of fish and shrimps would lead to loss of an important source of protein for the residents of Long Beach and southern Mississippi in general. Typically, swimming-related illnesses are by nature minor and require little and sometimes no treatment at all because they pose no long-term effects on swimmers health. However, the exposure of the body to protozoa, viruses, and bacteria in the polluted water can cause significant bodily discomfort.

Some of the common illnesses caused by the polluted waters in southern Mississippi can include gastroenteritis with its symptoms including stomachache, fever, vomiting, nausea, headache, and diarrhea. Some other minor illnesses that are commonly spread by the polluted beach water may include the nose, ear, eye, and throat infections. It is also thought that highly polluted waters may spread serious diseases such as hepatitis, typhoid, dysentery, and cholera. These are serious and sometimes deadly diseases.

The solution to this particular problem can be solved primarily through both federal and local government interventions. As already highlighted, the dead zone is caused by fertilizers being washed off to the Gulf. Both governments can put in place drastic measures to reduce the amount of nutrients in the water, thereby save the fish and shrimps and ultimately the economic livelihoods of some of the people in Long Beach City. To avoid overfishing during the times of perennial marine life deaths coupled with the effects of the recent oil spill, the local government can restrict the amount of fishing along the coast until sufficient amount of fish is restocked in the region (Committee on the Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Mississippi Canyon-252 Oil Spill on Ecosystem Services in the Gulf of Mexico 65).

For the swimmers, several options are available. First, swimmers should be aware of any advisories or closures to reduce the chances of catching a disease at Long Beach's public beaches. Swimmers should also avoid swimming at urban beaches after heavy rainfall or those beaches with visible pipes discharging to the sea. One is advised to choose the beaches with good water circulation that are often situated in the less developed areas of the city. Lastly, to avoid ingesting pathogens, Kwok et al (574) advise that swimmers should be discouraged from submerging the head, thereby swallowing the sea water.

Conclusion

The paper sought to highlight the serious ramifications of water pollution in southern Mississippi, especially on Long Beach with the intention on highlighting the need for drastic and urgent measures by both state and federal governments to intervene. As demonstrated, pollution is causing death to marine ecosystems due to the annual dead zone in the Gulf. Consequently, the economic life of a lot of people is threatened, there is contamination of water and swimmers are often exposed to various infections. The solution lies in urgent intervention by both governments to enact and enforce a mandatory reduction in farm inputs as well as close monitoring of the discharge of industrial toxic waste.

Works Cited

Committee on the Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Mississippi Canyon-252 Oil Spill on Ecosystem Services in the Gulf of Mexico, et al. Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill : Interim Report. National Academies Press, 2012. Print.

Gibson, Jacqueline MacDonald, and Kelsey J. Pieper. "Strategies to Improve Private-Well Water Quality: A North Carolina Perspective." Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 125, no. 7, July 2017, pp. 1-9. Print.

Hansen, Shirley J. Water Poverty: The Next "Oil" Crisis. The Fairmont Press, Inc, 2016. Print.

Howard, Brian Clark. "Mississippi Basin Water Quality Declining Despite Conservation." National Geographic 12 April 2014. Print.

Kwok, Richard K., et al. "The Gulf Study: A Prospective Study of Persons Involved in the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response and Clean-Up." Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 125, no. 4, Apr. 2017, pp. 570-578. Print.

Lapointe, Brian E., et al. "Effects of Hurricanes, Land Use, and Water Management on Nutrient and Microbial Pollution: St. Lucie Estuary, Southeast Florida." Journal of Coastal Research, vol. 28, no. 6, Nov. 2012, pp. 1345-1361. Print.

Yang, Ningfang, et al. "High Arsenic (As) Concentrations in the Shallow Ground-water...