Nantucket Land Council 2022 Winter News

Nantucket & Clean Water Act

Winter Wellness Walks

Madaket Harbor Eelgrass Research

SBPF Geotube Update

NLC in the Classroom

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NANTUCKET LAND COUNCIL

2022 WINTER

NEWS

Read About Nantucket’s Latest Environmental Updates

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Nantucket Land Council PO Box 502, 6 Ash Lane Nantucket, MA 02554 508.228.2818 www.nantucketlandcouncil.org BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Lucy S. Dillon, President Paul A. Bennett, Vice President William Willet, Vice President Laurel Ried Langworthy, Treasurer Susan E. Robinson, Clerk Matt Anderson Susan Baer Mary Randolph Ballinger Larry Breakiron William S. Brenizer Paddy Farrell Robert Friedman Nancy Gillespie Nathanael Green Matt Haffenreffer Charles A. Kilvert III Lucy Leske Matt Liddle Peter McCausland Keltie Donelan McDonald Alan Nathan Carl H. Sjolund H. Brooks Smith Lars Soderberg David Troast Peter Watrous Helen Weeks

HONORARY DIRECTORS William Crozier

SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR

James W. Sutherland, Ph.D.

STAFF

Emily Molden, Executive Director emily@nantucketlandcouncil.org RJ Turcotte, Nantucket Waterkeeper rj@nantucketlandcouncil.org Meg Browers Development Director meg@nantucketlandcouncil.org Anna Day Administrative Assistant anna@nantucketlandcouncil.org Design by: Gioiosa Design Harvard, MA www.gioiosadesign.com Printed On Recycled Paper

Letter from the Executive Director The winter is a time for rest and reflection.

On Nantucket, it is more specifically a time to recharge from last season and begin to prepare and plan for the season ahead. Over the years, our shoulder seasons have become shorter as the number of visitors and tourism in general has increased. The new post-covid age has brought yet another new dynamic to island life. There are many more people capable of working remotely and choosing to do so from a place they love. Whether long-time seasonal residents, newcomers or short term visitors, Nantucket is a very attractive alternative to the office.

This trend has resulted in continuing growth from a building, trades and real estate perspective. This growth brings prosperity for many, but on an island with limited resources it also brings pressure to our infrastructure and natural environment.

The Town of Nantucket has a number of specific planning initiatives scheduled for 2022. As required by State law, Nantucket’s Master Plan, orginally completed in 2009, is being updated. It focuses on the physical development of the island, addressing density, infrastructure and undeveloped land, as well as significant population based issues such as housing. Many of Nantucket’s local area associations have been working over the past year to update their area plans which will influence how the Master Plan considers growth across the island. The Town is also pursuing an update to the Municipal Harbors Plan which identifies all of the important resources encompassed by our Harbor waters as well as setting policies to balance our use of these resources in a sustainable way for the future.

Incorporating the island’s heightened awareness and efforts towards greater coastal resilience will be a priority.

These plans represent an important opportunity for the Nantucket community to participate in discussions around the future direction of the island. Despite the incredible job Nantucket has done protecting open space, an increase in demand coupled with the growth of the real estate market has resulted in a rate of growth and development that continues to threaten the health of our waters and natural resources. There are many different factors driving building, proposed zoning changes and further subdivision and development, but the Town and our planning agencies need to hear from you, the community, about the direction we take. Please join us and participate in these important opportunities for public input. Speak up to communicate the need to prevent additional growth and development beyond what is already possible. It is important that we take care of our community members and our resources and we must ask our local government to do so in a way that does not further degrade our environment and does not continue to degrade the quality of life that makes Nantucket our home.

Sincerely,

Emily Molden Executive Director 2

ADVOCACY NEWS

Nantucket Waterkeeper and the Clean Water Act In 2022, the Clean Water Act will turn 50 years old.

This landmark legislation, while considered a “living document,” changed the world. Inspired to act by the dire warnings of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, the Nixon Administration and Congress created the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts. At a time when chemical companies were spraying pesticides across the continent and rivers were catching fire (literally!), the C.W.A empowered Americans to clean up our waterways. For countries around the world, the CWA has provided a blueprint for their environmental movements.

and emerging contaminants. NLC made significant contributions to the section on emerging contaminants, as the Cape and Islands have become a hotspot for the PFAS/PFOA chemical group (aka “forever chemicals”).

These products are found everywhere, from nonstick pans to firefighting foam. They are so common that you and I already have carcinogenic PFAS/PFOA stored in our fatty tissues. As we discover more about these chemicals, we are learning how to better regulate them. By providing a framework to communities, the EPA can assist us as we work to remove sources of PFAS and protect our groundwater supply.

In 2022, the Waterkeeper Alliance is celebrating all that the Act has accomplished, as well as pushing for improvements to the Act so that it can address our present issues.

As one of the Alliance’s newest members, we contributed to a letter addressed to the incoming EPA Region 1 Director. We focused on nutrient pollution, climate change,

We are also monitoring the proposed NPS Campus-Wide Master Plan closely, and are collecting data on potential impacts from PFAS and any other materials to our public water supply. Stay tuned in 2022 as we continue this critical work and for opportunities to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act!

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COMMUNITY NEWS

Board Member Spotlight

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NLC Director Brooks Smith, his wife, Meredyth, and daughter, Karina.

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Meredyth and I started coming to Nantucket when both of us were children.

We love the island and its people.

We support the Land Council because it protects Nantucket’s natural resources.

We would like others to join us.

Annual Town Meeting The Citizen Warrant Articles for the 2022 Annual Town Meeting have been submitted and posted on the Town’s Website along with Town Counsel’s comments and the Town’s official 2022 ATM Timeline. There are 31 citizen articles including zoning map changes and zoning by-law amendments, general by-law amendments including additional proposals around the single-use plastics ban, as well as several home rule petitions including a proposal to prohibit fertilizer use on Nantucket (except for agricultural use). ATM article review will take place throughout the winter by the Select Board, Finance Committee and Planning Board, with many opportunities for public participation and comment. The Land Council looks forward to participating in these hearings and more specifically in the community’s discussion around the proposed fertilizer ban. This will provide an excellent opportunity to review our existing local regulations, how effective they have been, how to improve enforcement and awareness, and to discuss the need for additional restrictions and/or prohibitions, such as the proposed ban, moving forward. The future health of our water resources depends on it.

The 2022 Annual Town Meeting has been scheduled for Monday, May 2, 2022 at 5 PM at the Nantucket High School Mary P. Walker Auditorium.

We encourage all to attend and remember-VOTE ENVIRONMENT FIRST!

— Brooks Smith, NLC Board of Directors

Wellness Walks Join the NLC and our partner organizations this winter for a fun, free, community series of walks.

Let’s get outdoors together and enjoy Nantucket’s natural environment!

Each walk, hosted on Sunday afternoons, will last approximately 45-60 minutes and will be led by staff from the partner organizations.

Dress for the weather! Registration required at EventBrite.com.

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RESEARCH NEWS

The State of Madaket Harbor’s Eelgrass Meadows According to aerial surveys conducted in 1995 and 2015, Madaket Harbor has lost almost a quarter of its total eelgrass. These losses are mostly confined to two locations in Madaket Harbor- just south of Eel Point and inside the channel near the mouth of Hither Creek.

The losses south of Eel Point are believed to be due to storm activity and shoaling over the last decade in that particular area. The decline near Hither Creek and the edges of the main channel are likely due to decreasing water quality over the last thirty or so years. Increased development in the harbor watershed, especially the increase in onsite septic systems is leading to elevated nitrogen levels in Madaket Harbor. Increased nitrogen leads to higher concentrations of macroalgae and phytoplankton, which eelgrass competes with for sunlight. Without enough sunlight, eelgrass plants become stressed and stop growing.

We again teamed up with Boston University’s seagrass expert Dr. Alyssa Novak to take a comprehensive look at the overall health of Madaket’s eelgrass meadows.

We studied five sites in Madaket Harbor, and looked at eelgrass tissue samples, sediment samples, and data collected from light and temperature sensors at these five locations. Results showed that eelgrass located near

the shores of Madaket Harbor experienced high nutrient loads, are light-limited and thermally stressed during peak growing seasons. These results indicate that human cultural eutrophication (nutrient loading) and warming water temperatures are stressing these plants and contributing to their decline.

Although rising temperatures due to climate change are out of local control, eelgrass is a resilient species that can survive higher temperatures if other stressors are reduced. The Land Council and Dr. Novak are continuing to advocate for reducing nutrient pollution in Madaket Harbor through reduction of fertilizer use, improved on-site waste treatment for septic systems, or ideally municipal sewer if possible. If the trends of rising water temperatures and high nutrient runoff to the harbor from human activities continue, we will likely see further declines in Madaket’s eelgrass meadows similar to what has been observed in Nantucket Harbor and elsewhere in the Northeastern United States.

If you’d like to get involved in the Land Council’s eelgrass research and restoration programs, please reach out to RJ Turcotte at rj@nantucketlandcouncil.org or 508-228-2818.

Map showing eelgrass, nutrient, sediment, and light/temperature sampling sites.

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ADVOCACY NEWS

‘Sconset Beach Preservation Fund Geotube Project Update Over the course of 2021, a lot has happened regarding SBPF’s geotube project. Upon review of the 2019 and 2020 SBPF Annual Reports, it was discovered that SBPF is behind over three years worth of mitigation sand.

This mitigation sand is vital to the project and specifically required to prevent the geotube array from causing harm to Nantucket’s natural resources and neighboring property owners along the eastern shore of Nantucket. The geotubes cannot be considered successful without it. This information combined with a public refusal to make up the sand deficit forced our Conservation Commission to issue an enforcement order requiring SBPF to remove the geotube array before further harm is caused by the unmitigated structure.

Furthermore, the Town funded a detailed study of Baxter Road and the options available to address erosion, sea level rise and climate change in general. The study concluded in no uncertain terms that Baxter Road needs to be relocated. The dynamic coastal processes off Sconset make successful long-term protection extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Despite the findings of the Arcadis Baxter Road study and the Conservation Commission’s order to remove the geotube array after repeated permit violations, the Nantucket Select Board has accepted a gift from SBPF on behalf of the Town of Nantucket to fund a new Notice of Intent for expansion of the geotube project. They have appointed Vince Murphy, Nantucket’s Coastal Resilience Coordinator, as the project manager.

As it stands, SBPF has appealed the removal order from the Conservation Commission and is moving ahead with plans for an expanded project.

As the appeal unfolds in the court system and the NOI is prepared, we at the Nantucket Land Council will continue to advocate for Sconset’s natural resources and hold SBPF accountable for the mitigation sand deficit.

Stay tuned for updates regarding our advocacy on this project, as well as a new-for-2022 “Coastal Resilience” section of the NLC website, complete with the Nantucket Coastal Resilience plan and related information to help you in your own journey to coastal resilience on Nantucket.

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Pollinator Garden The Nantucket Land Council is excited to offer our Planting for Pollinators Program for its second year! We received great feedback, along with great interest in continuing this program. You can learn more about native pollinator plants by reviewing our Planting for Pollinators webinar found at nantucketlandcouncil.org.

If interested in participating, be sure to register by scanning the flowcode above.

You’ll then receive a Planting for Pollinators guide that helps you build and create your pollinator garden. You’ll also stay updated by email on news and events regarding pollinator gardens on Nantucket. Click on the code above to sign up now!

EDUCATION NEWS

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RJ Turcotte, and the Nantucket Land Council, have been friends and collaborators with the Nantucket New School for many years. With our marine science program’s mission having a focus on expeditionary learning, RJ’s participation has been instrumental. When our 8th grade class was investigating island watersheds, the field expertise RJ was able to share with regard to harmful algal blooms (HABs) during a trip to Hummock Pond helped bring this issue home for my students. More recent has been our exploration of nitrogen loading, and the health of our harbors and ponds. RJ does an excellent job of illustrating the relationship between our watersheds, our sole-source aquifer, and our harbors/ponds. Once again, providing a place-based experience that will be remembered for years to come.

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— Matt Liddle, Nantucket New School Teacher and NLC Board of Directors

Educational Grants The Karen K. Borchert Educational Grants program administered by the Nantucket Land Council continues in 2022 with a new round of grant funding available to all Nantucket school teachers and classrooms. In 2021 we awarded nearly $10,000 in funding to Nantucket schools to supplement project-based science learning about our local environment. If you have an idea for an environmental education program that needs funding, please reach out to us at 508-228-2818 or email RJ Turcotte at rj@nantucketlandcouncil.org for more information. Our grant application is available on our website at nantucketlandcouncil.org/education/grants/.

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NANTUCKET LAND COUNCIL

2022 WINTER

NEWS

PO Box 502, Nantucket, MA 02554 www.nantucketlandcouncil.org

VE SA THE TES AD

Nantucket Annual Town Meeting

Monday, May 2, 2022 at NHS Auditorium

Winter Wellness Walks

Jan 9, Feb 13, March 20, April 10, May 15 (more info page 4)

Friends Fete

Friday, July 8, 2022

Spring TIP

When you fertilize the lawn, remember— you’re not just fertilizing the lawn.

The fertilizers you apply to your lawn are potential pollutants to Nantucket’s waters!

If applied improperly or in excess, fertilizer can be washed off your property and end up in our ponds and harbors. This causes algae to grow, which uses up oxygen that fish need to survive. Support our waters and reduce or eliminate your fertilizer! If you or your landscaper do fertilize, please use sparingly, and be sure to follow the Nantucket Best Management Practices for fertilizer use!

Established in 1974, the Nantucket Land Council is the only environmental watchdog group on Nantucket Island.

The NLC works to protect Nantucket’s natural resources in three major areas— planning, protecting, preserving.

PLANNING: The NLC monitors development proposals, offers educational programs, grants and scholarships, and makes recommendations to voters on issues which affect the environment.

PROTECTING: The NLC conducts scientific research to support the protection of our natural resources such as native species, wildlife habitat, and water quality.

PRESERVING: The NLC specializes in holding conservation restrictions.

CRs allow the property to remain in the owner’s hands, while ensuring that the land remains preserved.

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