Scientific Study Traces Nitrogen in Great Ponds Directly to Wastewater | The Vineyard Gazette

More than half the nitrogen polluting Great Ponds along the south shore of Martha’s Vineyard is coming from wastewater, a newly released report by a team of Woods Hole scientists has found.

Commissioned by the nonprofit Great Pond Foundation, the study by the team at the Marine Biological Laboratory was able to pinpoint sources of nitrogen for the first time, using stable isotope-tracking technology to analyze water and benthic (bottom sediment) samples taken last year.

The study analyzed wastewater, fertilizer and naturally occurring atmospheric deposits — three major external sources of nitrogen — in Edgartown Great Pond, Crackatuxet Cove, Chilmark Pond and Tisbury Great Pond. Read rest of the article.

Scientific Study Traces Nitrogen in Great Ponds Directly to Wastewater | The Vineyard Gazette