Hazardous and contaminated sites within salt marsh migration corridors in Rhode Island, USA

These data on salt marsh migration corridors and hazardous and contaminated sites in Rhode Island support a project analyzing their overlap for the use of marsh restoration practitioners and HCS remediation specialists. As salt marshes attempt to migrate upland due to sea level rise, they will encounter many kinds of land development and infrastructure in highly populated, urbanized coastal communities. Hazardous and contaminated sites (HCSs) -- facilities and infrastructure that store, use, or release harmful substances -- are particularly concerning obstacles to salt marsh migration because of their potential to release contaminants if their structural integrity is compromised. Inventorying HCSs within migration pathways can inform coastal resilience planning. To understand what kinds of HCSs migrating marsh may encounter in Rhode Island, USA, we inventoried sites from federal and state sources, assigned contaminant hazard rankings to most sites, and overlayed them with projected marsh migration corridors. We found that HCSs are extensive across marsh migration corridors in the state, especially in urban areas. Among the most common HCSs in and around Rhode Island salt marshes are stormwater outfalls, underground storage tanks, and facilities registered with EPA’s Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) or EPA’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). These sites pose varying hazards to human and aquatic life if breached, with some sites representing little or no threat but most posing some degree of hazard to their surroundings. This coastal HCSs inventory can inform prioritization and management of coastal salt marshes subject to accelerated sea level rise. Management decisions such as allowing marsh migration, implementing adaptation actions to build salt marsh elevation, or erecting physical barriers at marsh sites will influence future salt marsh extent, marshes’ ability to provide ecosystem services, and public health exposures to toxic releases. In addition, as Rhode Island and other coastal states work to promote coastal resiliency, this type of inventory can inform decisions about which HCSs to prioritize for remediation and other climate adaptation actions. Marsh migration is just one potential consequence of sea level rise, so many of the considerations outlined here are widely applicable to the broader goal of preparing coastal communities for rising seas.

本数据集涵盖美国罗德岛州的盐沼（salt marsh）迁移廊道与有害污染场地（Hazardous and Contaminated Sites，HCS）数据，旨在支撑一项分析二者重叠分布的研究，供盐沼修复从业者与有害污染场地修复专员使用。由于海平面上升，盐沼将向内陆迁移，而在人口稠密的城市化沿海社区中，盐沼迁移将面临各类土地开发与基础设施阻碍。有害污染场地（HCSs）——即储存、使用或排放有害物质的设施与基础设施——是阻碍盐沼迁移的重大隐患：若其结构完整性遭到破坏，便可能释放污染物。对迁移路径内的有害污染场地进行清查，可为沿海韧性规划提供决策依据。为探明美国罗德岛州盐沼迁移可能遭遇的有害污染场地类型，研究团队从联邦与州级数据源中清查了相关场地，为多数场地赋予了污染物危害等级，并将其与预测的盐沼迁移廊道进行叠加分析。研究发现，该州盐沼迁移廊道内遍布有害污染场地，在城市区域尤为集中。罗德岛州盐沼内外最常见的有害污染场地包括雨水排放口、地下储油罐，以及已按照美国环境保护署（EPA）《资源保护与回收法案》（RCRA）或《国家污染物排放消除系统》（NPDES）要求完成注册的设施。这些场地若遭到破坏，将对人类与水生生物造成不同程度的危害：部分场地几乎或完全无威胁，但多数场地会对周边环境造成一定程度的危害。这套沿海有害污染场地清查数据集，可为受海平面加速上升影响的沿海盐沼的优先级划分与管理提供参考。诸如允许盐沼迁移、实施提升盐沼高程的适应措施，或在盐沼区域设置物理屏障等管理决策，将影响未来盐沼的分布范围、盐沼提供生态系统服务的能力，以及公众接触有毒排放物的健康风险。此外，在罗德岛州与其他沿海州致力于提升沿海韧性的背景下，此类清查数据集可为确定需要优先开展修复与其他气候适应行动的有害污染场地提供决策依据。盐沼迁移仅是海平面上升的潜在后果之一，因此本文所述的诸多考量因素，可广泛适用于帮助沿海社区应对海平面上升的整体目标。