E.W. Tollner, Kelly Cain, Jim Spain and Roy Dodd
1999 Bioethics Institute
North Carolina State University
Objective: to acquaint students with various ethical positions encountered or associated with environmental issue resolution; to become aware of how the ethical position may influence professional judgements.
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| Strict | Naturalist | Conservationist | Wise Use | Strict Objectivist |
The pitcher plant is an exotic endangered specie found in the Georgia and North Carolina mountains. The Nature Conservancy is considering purchase of selected sites for preservation purposes.
Question: Has the hydrology of lands surrounding a pitcher plant (Sarracenia oreophila) community been altered as to jeopardize the continued viability of the pitcher plant community?
Background: The site is on the shore of Lake Chatuge. The pitcher plant thrives in a nitrogen poor soil and needs reasonably open canopy affording some exposure to direct sunlight. The pitcher plant thrives in areas with much sunlight and humidity coupled with protection from high winds. The soil appeared to have a high clay fraction. The plant's competitive advantage stems from an ability to capture and use N from entrapped insects. The plant community is within a zone owned by two property owners ("A" and "C"), shown on the attached sketch. Property "A" is now up for sale. Property "C" has agreed not further to develop the tract and will also not apply nutrients. The canopy is open. A rock outcrop may indicate the presence of an aquitard or aquiclude. The aquiclude limits the deep-rooted species and provide steady water via seepage from nearby hills and mountains (not shown on the sketch). A flowing spring at the drain tile outlet suggested an underlying clay aquitard. The 4 ft deep clay tile drain was installed on this aquitard. The rock feature did not seem to extend over to the drainage ditch, based on quick observation.
Many questions remain about how the plant community arrived at its present state. Ecologists have advanced three theories about how the pitcher plant survived in the site in years past: 1) Burning and cultivation by the native Indian population; 2) native beaver populations and 3) burning by lightning. These theories were tentative at best. The property owner burned the site annually in the recent past. The site was apparently not plowed or otherwise disturbed. This fortuitous burning worked to the competitive advantage of the pitcher plant community. Sorting it out the spatial-temporal scale effects from hydrologic disturbance effects is hard.
There is another pitcher plant community nearby. This community was in a bog type area also. This area was either plowed in the past (by mule) or very near land plowed based on recollection by local people.
Past hydrological alterations: The hydrological alterations began 1941-42 with TVA construction of Lake Chatuge. The plant community lies within the TVA 500 yr easement. The lake to date has never reached this level.
The second major hydrological alteration was the construction of the tile drainage line (depth estimated at 4 ft) and a drainage ditch in 1965 on property "A.." This ditch was recently cleaned. The 30 to 40 ft high trees along the ditch showed it was functional over the period. It is about 150 to 200 ft from the plant community. Assuming the clayey soils in the region have a low Ksat value, the influence of the drain is probably not too great. Capillary fringe would probably add 1 ft or so to the piezometric level. There was a low flow in the ditch welling up from a spring near the tile drain outlet. This spring may indicate a break in the aquitard on which the clay tile was installed, with positive piezometric head underlying the near surface aquitard. The 1965 tile drain was not discharging. If the spring is a recent development, the effect on the surface moisture regime was unknown. The spring could reduce upward water movement through the aquitard by functioning as a pressure relief. A 30 to 40 ft growth of mixed hardwoods exists along the ditch, suggesting a constant presence of water in the ditch. Since the drain installation, owners have managed the adjacent field as an improved pasture, implying occasional N applications.
The third major hydrological alteration was the construction of the 1997 perforated tube drain (estimated depth of 2 ft), coupled with cleanout of the 1965 drain channel. The owner evidently not deepened the channel during cleanout. The 1997 tile was not discharging.
Potential hydrological alterations: An infrequent rising of Lake Chatuge is possible. Climatologists estimated that a 1994 rainfall event was a 500 to 1000-yr rainfall event. The impact of short time (e.g., 1 month or less) flooding on the pitcher plant community is unknown.
Land values in the area indicate the potential of development all around the site. With development will come the possibility of aquifer drawdown due to well installation. More significantly, N levels in the soil may increase due to increased numbers of septic systems. Surface runoff may also increase due to reduced infiltration due to development.
The management of another adjacent property (property "B") is a major unknown. This property seems to exert the dominant up-elevation influence on the pitcher plant community. If the area persists in pasture, surface runoff probably would not substantially increase. An intensification of cattle production could increase surface runoff and N concentrations to the disadvantage of the pitcher plant. It could also increase the groundwater N concentrations.
Case study number 2 --clean water act compliance - hypothetical
case
The state agency for Protection, Licensing, Investigation and Compliance - Environment (P'LICE) has determined that a certain stretch of a river in the state exceeds water quality standards for dissolved oxygen (DO). P'LICE is one of those state agencies to which EPA has delegated the authority to administer the Clean Water Act program within its state borders. As part of that delegation, P'LICE submits lists of so-called "impaired waters" not meeting water quality standards to EPA on a two-year cycle.
The City of Blissful operates a wastewater treatment plant which discharges into the stretch of river P'LICE has listed as impaired for DO. This discharge is pursuant to an NPDES permit issued by P'LICE. One pollutant regulated under the City's permit is biological oxygen demand (BOD). The permit is coming up for renewal and P'LICE is threatening to make the BOD limits in Blissful's permit much more stringent to improve the DO content of the listed stretch of the river. Blissful's consultant estimates meeting the new DO limit proposed by P'LICE will require construction of a $10,000,000 addition to the wastewater treatment plant.
Agriculture Is Us, Inc. operates an animal feeding operation (AFO) which discharges nutrients into the affected stretch of river. In addition, there are homes on both sides of the listed stretch of river having old septic tanks known to be leaking. P'LICE currently regulates neither of these activities.
The Mayor of Blissful held a town meeting to discuss the anticipated tightening of permit limits by P'LICE and the proposed $10,000,000 expenditure which would be funded by increased taxes on users of the wastewater treatment system (industrial, commercial and residential) and the issuance of bonds. The Mayor expressed regret for imposing these additional user fees. He said he had no choice because Blissful needed the permit to continue to operate the plant, and failure to comply with new permit limits could result in severe fines. During the meeting, some of those present suggested that Agriculture Is Us, Inc. might be responsible for part of the problem. Representatives of Agriculture Is Us, Inc. responded that they were utilizing Best Management Practices (BMPs) to control any pollution from their operations and that, in any event, more likely sources of the problem, were Blissful's treatment plant and leakage from old septic tanks utilized by homeowners. The meeting ended in a shouting match among the various factions present.
How can one resolve this issue?
Summary of selected historical ethical positions or world views.