Environmental Studies In Port Valdez Alaska

Port Valdez, a fjord within Prince William Sound, Alaska, is the site of a major facility where petroleum from the trans-Alaska pipeline is transferred to large tankers. As such, Port Valdez offered a unique opportunity for a case study on the ability of present technology to detect significant ecosystem changes in a pristine oceanographic environment that was being subjected to a known level of disturbance, in this case the discharge of hydrocarbons. This volume presents an integrated review and analysis of a 15 year study on Port Valdez, covering such topics as - regional water movement and meteorology - sediments and trace elements - plankton - fisheries resources - intertidal biology - subtidal benthos - regulatory objectives. This volume will be of particular interest to marine biologists, oceanographers, ecologists, environmental managers and others dealing with the study and regulation of pollution in coastal environments.

Results of a three-year program that was undertaken to monitor and assess effects that the permitted discharge of treated ballast water might have upon the water quality and biota of Port Valdez, Alaska.