Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program

Home    BBNEP Info    Town Information    Pollution    Living Resources    Watershed Info    Enjoy Buzzards Bay    Technical Info    Special Topics

News, Features, and Information for Buzzards Bay and the NEP

Faces Presentation

The January 25, 2012 presentation titled "The Living Resources and Water Quality of Buzzards Bay: Trends and Opportunities" given to the to the Falmouth Associations Concerned with Estuaries and Saltponds is available on this FACES 2012 talk page.

Shellfish Closure Trends Updated

We have reviewed correspondence from Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries to Buzzards Bay watershed municipalities about changes in shellfish resource area status and boundaries to update our shellfish resource area closure maps and trends chart through 2011. Go to our Current Shellfish Resource Area Closures page to see the new July 1 status trends chart. As shown, the acreage of permanently closed shellfish bed closures in Buzzards Bay continue to decline, albeit at a slower pace than past years.

Buzzards Bay NEP Awards $180,000 in Grants to Watershed Municipalities

The Buzzards Bay NEP, through the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs’ (EEA) Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) announced on September 29, 2011 that $180,958 in grants for eight Buzzard Bay watershed municipalities. Funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and administered by our program, these grants will aid towns in testing and treating stormwater discharges, protecting wetlands and wildlife habitat, improving water supplies and safeguarding open spaces. Go to our grants and funding page for more information.

Shellfish Catch Trends in Buzzards Bay versus Massachusetts

We have used a data set of municipal shellfish catch and permit data collected and maintained by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF) (with some updated information we collected for Buzzards Bay municipalities) to compare trends in Buzzards Bay to the rest of Massachusetts. In general, shellfish permit and catch statistics in Buzzards Bay have been consistent with overall trends in Massachusetts during the past 50 years. In both Buzzards Bay and the rest of the state, the relative number of commercial shellfish permits issued has decreased somewhat. There appears to be a slight drop off in the early to 2000s, possibly in part due to the oil spill in Buzzards Bay and red tide closures elsewhere around the state. We prepare two web pages with information on this data set. Start with this webpage: Shellfish Trends Buzzards Bay vs MA to see the graphs of key species.

Information and Links on Bouchard Oil Spill Settlements Posted

In November 2010, the State, Federal Government, and Bouchard Transportation Co Inc. reached a partial settlement on the Natural Resource Damage Assessment for the spill, totaling $6 million. The impacts to certain birds, including endangered roseate terns, has not yet been finalized. Also in November 2010, one of the class action suits for damages claimed by property owners around Buzzards Bay was settled, totaling $11.45 million. In January 2011, a second settlement, totaling $12 million, was finalized on a separate class action lawsuit with Mattapoisett residents. Information about these settlements are included on our oil spill costs and oil spill status pages.

EPA releases draft municipal stormwater permits

On November 4, 2010, the US EPA published in the Federal Register, a new draft small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) general permit for public comment. A Federal Register Notice describing the public hearing and the extension of the public comment period was published in the Federal Register on February 15, 2011. The new permit covers stormwater discharges from urbanized areas of all Buzzards Bay communities. The new permit, which replaces the first permit issued in 2003, is described at this EPA MS4 permit website. Go to our Municipal MS4 Stormwater Permit page for more background information on the program. The new permit is expected to be finalized sometime late in 2011.

BBNEP prepares Buildout Analysis for Fairhaven

At the request of the Town of Marion DPW, as part of their effort to project future wastewater facility capacity needs, the Buzzards Bay Program updated its buildout analysis for the town of Fairhaven. Based on the BBNEP's analysis, the town of Fairhaven has the potential for more than 3,000 units to be built in the town. Read the draft Fairhaven 2010 Buildout Report (11 MB) for the results and an explanation of the methodology.

Google Earth Maps of new FEMA flood zones

FEMA has posted new digital flood insurance rate maps (FIRMs) for Buzzards Bay. We have posted important links, as well as a useful Google Earth file we created on our FEMA information page, to help residents better understand areas subject to storm flow. We have also obtained new LIDAR data from FEMA which we used to prepare this 15-foot Marion elevation zone map for the Marion Conservation Commission.

Hot Topic: Wind Farms Proposed for Buzzards Bay

Looking for information about the South Coast Offshore Wind Project? Read about meetings, and the information we posted about a similar 2002 proposal for Buzzards Bay that explains many of the regulatory and environmental issues that would need to be addressed for siting wind turbines in Buzzards Bay on our Wind Farms page. Have you noticed a windmill to the south as you have crossed the Bourne Bridge? We have a photo of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy wind turbine that began operation in 2006, as well as information on the water turbines proposed for Vineyard Sound.

Other Popular Pages and Downloads

1980s Historical Eelgrass GIS Coverage Posted

On our eelgrass page we have posted links to download GIS data showing the distribution of eelgrass mapped in Buzzards Bay during the 1980s. In most of Buzzards Bay, eelgrass reached it post-1930s wasting disease peak abundance in this decade. In the coming weeks we plan on disturbing new GIS coverages, maps, and georeferenced aerial photographs showing eelgrass abundance in the 1940s, 1960s, and 1970s for selected parts of Buzzards Bay.

Massachusetts Estuaries Project reports for Buzzards Bay

Reports for West Falmouth Harbor and Phinneys Harbor / Back River complex have been released. Other reports will become available in the coming years. We have provided some support for this effort for selected subwatersheds as described on our Subwatershed Land Use and Nitrogen Loading page.

WETLAND LOSS MAPS available for viewing.
We have updated our wetland loss page to include new maps we produced based on DEP's wetland change maps sent to Buzzards Bay municipalities in 2004. Click the link to read more.

Bouchard No. 120 Oil Spill in Buzzards Bay
On April 27, 2003, an oil barge, carrying 4.1 million gallons of No. 6 fuel oil, spilled an estimated 98,000 gallons of oil into Buzzards Bay, the second largest spill in the bay's history. More than 93 miles of coastline were affected, and hundreds of birds killed. Click the link above to see recent cleanup summary reports. Other popular pages and links include our page US Coast Guard: 98,000 gallons best estimate of oil spilled, the New Bedford Standard Times Op Ed article on how the Buzzards Bay NEP helped in this determination, and our Oil Spill Legislation page.

Have you confused us with another Buzzards Bay organization?

In the 1980s, the Buzzards Bay NEP had a "Citizen Advisory Committee" or CAC that was part of the program and was helping with the evaluation of pollution and identification of management options to protect and restore Buzzards Bay. This CAC broke off from the Buzzards Bay NEP and eventually became two independent, not-for-profit organizations. The first organization called itself The Coalition for Buzzards Bay. It was a '501(c)3' educational and outreach a citizen-based group. The second became the Buzzards Bay Action Committee, a non-profit organization composed of municipal officials, that has become more involved with state, local, and federal legislative and regulatory issues. Today, both organizations are on the Buzzards Bay NEP's Steering Committee, and both have adopted as one of their major goals, the implementation of recommendations contained in the Buzzards Bay Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan.

The views or information contained here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts or the US EPA.

---