Passaic County Office of Natural Resource Programs
1310 Route 23 North
Wayne, New Jersey   07470
Phone: 973-305-5738
Fax: 973-305-5737

In Cooperation with the
Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders

Updated: 3/24/01

These facts came from the Smithsonian Institution's Ocean Planet exhibition and from the book Ocean Planet: Writings and Images of the Sea, by Peter Benchley and Judith Gradwohl.
(published by Harry N. Abrams Inc., 100 5th Ave., New York, N.Y. 10011)  

Some Facts To Consider:  

• Oil spills account for only about 5% of the oil contaminating our oceans.  The Coast Guard estimates sewage treatment plants discharge twice as much oil each year as tanker spills in the United States.
   

• Each year industrial, household cleaning, gardening and automotive products pollute our water. About 65,000 chemicals are used commercially in the United  States today, with about 1,000 new ones added each year.  Only about 300 have been extensively tested for toxicity.
   

• It was estimated that the medical waste that washed up onto Long Island and New Jersey beaches in the summer of 1988 cost as much as $3 billion in lost revenue from lowered tourism and recreation.
   

• The most frequently found item in beach clean-ups are pieces of plastic. The next 4 items are plastic foam, plastic utensils, pieces of glass and cigarette butts.
   

• Air pollution is responsible for almost 1/3 of the toxic contaminants that enter coastal areas and oceans.
   

• When nitrogen and phosphorus from sources such as fertilizer, sewage and detergents enter coastal waters, oxygen depletion occurs. One gram of nitrogen can make enough organic material to require 15 grams of oxygen to decompose. A single gram of phosphorus will deplete one hundred grams of oxygen.
   

• The Mississippi River drains more than 40 percent of the continental United States, carrying excess nutrients into the Gulf of Mexico. Decay of the resulting algal blooms consumes oxygen, kills shellfish and displaces fish in a 4,000 square mile bottom area off the coast of Louisiana and Texas, called the "dead zone."
   

• In 1993, United States beaches were closed or swimmers advised not to get in the water over 2,400 times because of sewage contamination. The problem is even worse than the numbers indicate: there are no federal requirements for notifying the public when water-quality standards are violated, and some coastal states don't monitor water at beaches.
   

• The zebra mussel is the most famous unwanted ship stowaway, but the animals and plants being transported to new areas through ship ballast water is a problem around the world. Poisonous algae, cholera, and countless plants and animals have invaded harbor waters and disrupted ecological balance.
   

• There are 109 countries with coral reefs.  Reefs in 90 of them are being damaged by cruise ship anchors and sewage, by tourists breaking off chunks of coral, and by commercial harvesting for sale to tourists.  It was estimated that coral recovery would take 50 years.
   

• The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that of the 17 major fisheries areas in the world, 4 are depleted and the other 13 are either fished to capacity or over-fished. 
   

• Commercial marine fisheries in the United States discard up to 20 billion pounds of non-target fish each year--twice the catch of desired commercial and recreational fishing combined. 
   

• Within 30 years a billion more people will be living along our coasts. 
   

• Americans account for only 4.3 % of the world population but we use about 1/3 of the world's processed mineral resources, and about 1/4 of the world's non-renewable energy sources, like oil and coal.