Water Pollution of Gulf Coast

Water Pollution of Mississippi

Gulf Coast

Sources & Citations

RESULTS

how water is impacted

Acknowledgments

"Facilities Likely to Discharge N/P to Water." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2017. <https://gispub2.epa.gov/NPDAT/DataDownloads.html>.

TNM Download. USGS, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2017. <https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/basic/>.

"DMR Pollutant Loading Tool | US EPA." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2017. <https://cfpub.epa.gov/dmr/ez_search.cfm>.

"The Problem." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 10 Mar. 2017. Web. 26 Apr. 2017. <https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/problem>.

"Sources and Solutions." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 10 Mar. 2017. Web. 26 Apr. 2017. <https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/sources-and-solutions>.

"About NPDES." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 29 Nov. 2016. Web. 26 Apr. 2017. <https://www.epa.gov/npdes/about-npdes>.

I am extremely grateful to Dr. Zhou for all of the help and guidance he provided throughout my research.

Thank you,

Miyah

• Pollution by N & P is called nutrient pollution
• High amounts of N & P in water can result in algae blooms, suffocating the oxygen in the water, having the marine life suffer
• Can contaminate drinking water

Sources of nutrient pollution:

• Agriculture
• Stormwater
• Wastewater
• Fossil fuels

Methods in Reaching Results

"The NPDES permit program, created in 1972 by the Clean Water Act (CWA), helps address water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants to waters of the United States."

• Downloaded shapefile into ArcMap of all pollutant facilities in the U.S. provided by U.S. EPA website
• Downloaded DEM data from USGS
• 3D Analysis

Mississippi Gulf

Coast

Hypothesis

• Hancock, Harrison, and Jackson counties
• Hurricane Camille in 1969 & Hurricane Katrina 2005
• Deepwater Horizon stationed in Gulf (off of Louisiana coast) in 2010
• [RestoreTheGulf.org] - created after Deepwater Horizon oil spill to recover from past impacts as well as future ones
• Gulf provides U.S. with natural resources, seafood, beaches, and culture
• Over 15,000 species of marine life in Gulf

Study Topic

My hypothesis for this analysis is, a high percentage of pollution to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, due to the pollution sources along rivers and streams, of which were being polluted, as well as, the transportation of deposits, and proximity to the Gulf of Mexico.

Using GIS applications, I was able to map out the source(s) of pollution, connect the pollution sources to a river or river system, and explore the effects pollution has on a hydrological system.

I am researching sources of water pollution along the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 2011. Many of the sources of pollution along the streams and rivers, which feed into the Gulf, are industrial sites, which manufacture oil, gasoline, and some are even waste water treatment sites.