ABSTRACT

Environmental problems associated with the construction and operation of an offshore multi-use island have been considered. Environmental Protection Agency proposed water quality criteria were reviewed. Other aspects of the oceanic environment not covered by the EPA criteria are discussed and recommended criteria given. These include: sound, salinity, temperature, light penetration, turbidity, substratum, and ecosystem dynamics. The impact of the construction and maintenance of an island meeting these criteria is not discussed.

I.INTRODUCTION

The usual course of events in modern society has been for new technological achievements to be implemented before any assessment of their environmental impact could be conducted. There are two reasons for this. First, there has always been a greater concern for the health of the economy than for the planet, and secondly, the economic system has been better understood than the ecological system.

In this report our purpose is to examine the impact of the construction and operation of an artificial island on marine ecosystems. While this cannot be done directly, a study such as this allows us to: discusswhat is known about the components of the system and the reaction of these components to pollutant additives so far as that has been determined, and to develop criteria and recommendations to govern this kind of activity such that both the ecological system and the economic system are maintained in a healthy state.

II. BACKGROUND: BIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
A. General

The effect of an environmental perturbation may be assessed by examining individual organisms, populations of organisms, or attributes manifested at the ecosystem level. The population is ultimately the unit of biological importance, but its success is determined by the reproduction, growth, distribution, and survival of the component individuals.

The individual organism is the simplest unit of life that is self-sustaining and self-reproducing. The individual is also the simplest functional unit that can be maintained in the laboratory and be subjected to the multifarious environmental extremes that the pollution biologist or physiological ecologist can dream up. The organism's response to the laboratory environmental conditions can, if these conditions are chosen wisely, be very informative to the ecologist who must use the laboratory responses to predict the effects of some perturbation on the organism in the field.

Depending on the concentration level of the particular pollutant, the consequences to the individual may be highly noticeable, as when the organism dies, or may hardly be apparent, as when the production of gametes or larvae is decreased. Most studies involving organisms have been attempts at assessing the concentration of the pollutant that causes the death of 50% of the individuals over some period of time, usually 24 to 96 hours. However, in nature, these concentrations may rarely, if ever, be reached. On the other hand, many chemicals are found in the environment at levels above normal background concentrations. Because of the lack of adequate laboratory experimentation, it is' difficult to assess the sublethal effects of these low-level concentrations.

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