Magnitude and Extent of Contaminated Sediment and Toxicity in Chesapeake Bay

INTRODUCTION: This report summarizes the results of NOAA's sediment toxicity, chemistry, and benthic community studies in the Chesapeake Bay estuary. As part of the National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program, NOAA has conducted studies to determine the spatial extent and severity of chemical contamination and associated adverse biological effects in coastal bays and estuaries of the United States since 1991. Sediment contamination in U.S. coastal areas is a major environmental issue because of its potential toxic effects on biological resources and often, indirectly, on human health. Thus, characterizing and delineating areas of sediment contamination and toxicity and demonstrating their effect(s) on benthic living resources are viewed as important goals of coastal resource management. Benthic community studies have a history of use in regional estuarine monitoring programs and have been shown to be an effective indicator for describing the extent and magnitude of pollution impacts in estuarine ecosystems, as well as for assessing the effectiveness of management actions. Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuarine system in the United States. Including tidal tributaries, the Bay has approximately 18,694 km of shoreline (more than the entire US West Coast). The watershed is over 165,000 km2 (64,000 miles2), and includes portions of six states (Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia) and the District of Columbia. The population of the watershed exceeds 15 million people. There are 150 rivers and streams in the Chesapeake drainage basin. Within the watershed, five major rivers - the Susquehanna, Potomac, Rappahannock, York and James - provide almost 90% of the freshwater to the Bay. The Bay receives an equal volume of water from the Atlantic Ocean. In the upper Bay and tributaries, sediments are fine-grained silts and clays. Sediments in the middle Bay are mostly made of silts and clays derived from shoreline erosion. In the lower Bay, by contrast, the sediments are sandy. These particles come from shore erosion and inputs from the Atlantic Ocean. The introduction of European-style agriculture and large scale clearing of the watershed produced massive shifts in sediment dynamics of the Bay watershed. As early as the mid 1700s, some navigable rivers were filled in by sediment and sedimentation caused several colonial seaports to become landlocked. Toxic contaminants enter the Bay via atmospheric deposition, dissolved and particulate runoff from the watershed or direct discharge. While contaminants enter the Bay from several sources, sediments accumulate many toxic contaminants and thus reveal the status of input for these constituents. In the watershed, loading estimates indicate that the major sources of contaminants are point sources, stormwater runoff, atmospheric deposition, and spills. Point sources and urban runoff in the Bay proper contribute large quantities of contaminants. Pesticide inputs to the Bay have not been quantified. Baltimore Harbor and the Elizabeth River remain among the most contaminated areas in the Unites States. In the mainstem, deep sediment core analyses indicate that sediment accumulation rates are 2-10 times higher in the northern Bay than in the middle and lower Bay, and that sedimentation rates are 2-10 times higher than before European settlement throughout the Bay (NOAA 1998). The core samples show a decline in selected PAH compounds over the past several decades, but absolute concentrations are still 1 to 2 orders of magnitude above 'pristine' conditions. Core data also indicate that concentrations of PAHs, PCBs and, organochlorine pesticides do not demonstrate consistent trends over 25 years, but remain 10 times lower than sediments in the tributaries. In contrast, tri-butyl-tin (TBT) concentrations in the deep cores have declined significantly since it=s use was severely restricted. (PDF contains 241 pages)

Extent and toxicity of contaminated marine sediments in Southeastern Florida

Thirty sites were sampled in southern Biscayne Bay and Manatee Bay in December 1999 to determine the extent of toxicity in sediments. Analyses and assays included: pesticides and phenols in seawater; chemical contaminants in sediment; amphipod mortality, HRGS P450, sea urchin sperm fertilization and embryology, MicrotoxTM, MutatoxTM, grass shrimp AChE and juvenile clam mortality assays; sea urchin sperm, amphipod and oyster DNA damage; and benthic community assessment. Sediment sites near the mouth of canals showed evidence of contamination. Contaminant plumes and associated toxicity do not appear to extend seaward of the mouth of the canals in an appreciable manner. Concentrations of contaminants in the sediments in open areas of Biscayne and Manatee Bays are generally low. (PDF contains 140 pages)

Coastal brownfields and adaptation to climate change: Discussions on potential hazards from contaminated groundwater displacement due to saltwater incursion

Toxic-waste associated with coastal brownfield sites can pose serious risks to human and environmental health. In light of anticipated sea-level rise (SLR) due to global climate change, coastal brownfields require heightened attention. The primary intent of this study is to pose questions and encourage discussion of this problem among policy makers. Impacts from SLR on coastal zones are examined within a brownfield policy framework and, current coastal brownfield policy discussions with respect to SLR are also examined. (PDF contains 4 pages)

Interim report on the ground-water resources of Seminole County, Florida

Salt-water encroachment is undoubtedly the problem of most concern to users of ground water in Florida. This is a problem in many coastal areas where water levels are lowered excessively by heavy pumping. It is a problem also in some inland areas where the water-bearing formations contain salty water at relatively shallow depths. Among the coastal areas where wells have become contaminated with salt water are Pinellas County and the Miami area of Dade County. Inland areas where wells are likely to become contaminated with salt water include Seminole County and the southwestern part of Volusia County. The purpose of the investigation is to make a detailed study of the geology and ground-water resources of the county with special emphasis on the problems associated with declining water levels and salt-water contamination. This report reviews briefly the progress of the investigation through February 1954. (PDF contains 43 pages.)

Sediment Quality in Puget Sound Year 3 - Southern Puget Sound

As a component of a three-year cooperative effort of the Washington State Department of Ecology and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, surficial sediment samples from 100 locations in southern Puget Sound were collected in 1999 to determine their relative quality based on measures of toxicity, chemical contamination, and benthic infaunal assemblage structure. The survey encompassed an area of approximately 858 km2, ranging from East and Colvos Passages south to Oakland Bay, and including Hood Canal. Toxic responses were most severe in some of the industrialized waterways of Tacoma’s Commencement Bay. Other industrialized harbors in which sediments induced toxic responses on smaller scales included the Port of Olympia, Oakland Bay at Shelton, Gig Harbor, Port Ludlow, and Port Gamble. Based on the methods selected for this survey, the spatial extent of toxicity for the southern Puget Sound survey area was 0% of the total survey area for amphipod survival, 5.7% for urchin fertilization, 0.2% for microbial bioluminescence, and 5- 38% with the cytochrome P450 HRGS assay. Measurements of trace metals, PAHs, PCBs, chlorinated pesticides, other organic chemicals, and other characteristics of the sediments, indicated that 20 of the 100 samples collected had one or more chemical concentrations that exceeded applicable, effects-based sediment guidelines and/or Washington State standards. Chemical contamination was highest in eight samples collected in or near the industrialized waterways of Commencement Bay. Samples from the Thea Foss and Middle Waterways were primarily contaminated with a mixture of PAHs and trace metals, whereas those from Hylebos Waterway were contaminated with chlorinated organic hydrocarbons. The remaining 12 samples with elevated chemical concentrations primarily had high levels of other chemicals, including bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, benzoic acid, benzyl alcohol, and phenol. The characteristics of benthic infaunal assemblages in south Puget Sound differed considerably among locations and habitat types throughout the study area. In general, many of the small embayments and inlets throughout the study area had infaunal assemblages with relatively low total abundance, taxa richness, evenness, and dominance values, although total abundance values were very high in some cases, typically due to high abundance of one organism such as the polychaete Aphelochaeta sp. N1. The majority of the samples collected from passages, outer embayments, and larger bodies of water tended to have infaunal assemblages with higher total abundance, taxa richness, evenness, and dominance values. Two samples collected in the Port of Olympia near a superfund cleanup site had no living organisms in them. A weight-of-evidence approach used to simultaneously examine all three “sediment quality triad” parameters, identified 11 stations (representing 4.4 km2, 0.5% of the total study area) with sediment toxicity, chemical contamination, and altered benthos (i.e., degraded sediment quality), 36 stations (493.5 km2, 57.5% total study area) with no toxicity or chemical contamination (i.e., high sediment quality), 35 stations (274.1 km2, 32.0% total study area) with one impaired sediment triad parameter (i.e., intermediate/high sediment quality), and 18 stations (85.7km2, 10.0% total study area) with two impaired sediment parameters (i.e., intermediate/degraded quality sediments). Generally, upon comparison, the number of stations with degraded sediments based upon the sediment quality triad of data was slightly greater in the central Puget Sound than in the northern and southern Puget Sound study areas, with the percent of the total study area degraded in each region decreasing from central to north to south (2.8, 1.3 and 0.5%, respectively). Overall, the sediments collected in Puget Sound during the combined 1997-1999 surveys were among the least contaminated relative to other marine bays and estuaries studied by NOAA using equivalent methods. (PDF contains 351 pages)

Magnitude and extent of sediment toxicity in selected estuaries of South Carolina and Georgia

Toxic chemicals can enter the marine environment through numerous routes: stormwater runoff, industrial point source discharges, municipal wastewater discharges, atmospheric deposition, accidental spills, illegal dumping, pesticide applications and agricultural practices. Once they enter a receiving system, toxicants often become bound to suspended particles and increase in density sufficiently to sink to the bottom. Sediments are one of the major repositories of contaminants in aquatic envronments. Furthermore, if they become sufficiently contaminated sediments can act as sources of toxicants to important biota. Sediment quality data are direct indicators of the health of coastal aquatic habitats. Sediment quality investigations conducted by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and others have indicated that toxic chemicals are found in the sediments and biota of some estuaries in South Carolina and Georgia (NOAA, 1992). This report documents the toxicity of sediments collected within five selected estuaries: Savannah River, Winyah Bay, Charleston Harbor, St. Simons Sound, and Leadenwah Creek (Figure 1). (PDF contains 292 pages)

Solomons Sketches, Vol. 8 No. 3, Fall 2005: CBL ponders Katrina's aftermath

Articles by faculty: Death by a thousand cuts - Boesch; Revealing the cost of wetland loss - King; Contaminated Waste: an unprecedented disposal problem - Baker; Kay Simkins - volunteer extraordinaire - McGuire; Fisheries likely to revive - Houde; Teachers get hands into Chesapeake Research - Wolf. (PDF contains 6 pages)

Technologies and Methodologies for the Detection of Harmful Algae and Their Toxins, St Petersburg, Florida, Oct 22-24 2008 : workshop proceedings

The Alliance for Coastal Technologies (ACT) Workshop "Technologies and Methodologies for the Detection of Harmful Algae and their Toxins" convened in St. Petersburg, Florida, October 22- 24, 2008 and was co-sponsored by ACT (http://act-us.info); the Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology (CICEET, http://ciceet.unh.edu); and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC, http://www.myfwc.com). Participants from various sectors, including researchers, coastal decision makers, and technology vendors, collaborated to exchange information and build consensus. They focused on the status of currently available detection technologies and methodologies for harmful algae (HA) and their toxins, provided direction for developing operational use of existing technology, and addressed requirements for future technology developments in this area. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) in marine and freshwater systems are increasingly common worldwide and are known to cause extensive ecological, economic, and human health problems. In US waters, HABs are encountered in a growing number of locations and are also increasing in duration and severity. This expansion in HABs has led to elevated incidences of poisonous seafood, toxin-contaminated drinking water, mortality of fish and other animals dependent upon aquatic resources (including protected species), public health and economic impacts in coastal and lakeside communities, losses to aquaculture enterprises, and long-term aquatic ecosystem changes. This meeting represented the fourth ACT sponsored workshop that has addressed technology developments for improved monitoring of water-born pathogens and HA species in some form. A primary motivation was to assess the need and community support for an ACT-led Performance Demonstration of Harmful Algae Detection Technologies and Methodologies in order to facilitate their integration into regional ocean observing systems operations. The workshop focused on the identification of region-specific monitoring needs and available technologies and methodologies for detection/quantification of harmful algal species and their toxins along the US marine and freshwater coasts. To address this critical environmental issue, several technologies and methodologies have been, or are being, developed to detect and quantify various harmful algae and their associated toxins in coastal marine and freshwater environments. There are many challenges to nationwide adoption of HAB detection as part of a core monitoring infrastructure: the geographic uniqueness of primary algal species of concern around the country, the variety of HAB impacts, and the need for a clear vision of the operational requirements for monitoring the various species. Nonetheless, it was a consensus of the workshop participants that ACT should support the development of HA detection technology performance demonstrations but that these would need to be tuned regionally to algal species and toxins of concern in order to promote the adoption of state of the art technologies into HAR monitoring networks. [PDF contains 36 pages]

Sustainable management of water bodies for small-scale fisheries resorces research and development

Abstract The rapid growth of both formal and informal high density urban settlements around major water resources has led to increased pollution of streams, rivers, lakes and estuaries, due to contaminated runoff from these developments. The paper identified major contaminants to be : organic waste (sewage), industrial effluent, pesticides and litter. Pollutant loads vary depending on the hydrology of the urban area, local topography and soil conditions. In some instances, severe pollution of neighbouring and downstream water courses has been observed. The management of catchment land uses, riparian zones, in stream habitat, as well as in stream water flow patterns and quality are necessary in order to sustain the integrity and "health" of water resources, for fisheries and other developments. As such, attempts to ensure a certain level of water quality without attention to other aspects will not automatically ensure a "healthy" ecosystem even as fish habitat. Proper management leads to better water quality and conducive environment for increased fish production

Developing effective restoration plans to tackle the widespread impairment of coastal swimming and shellfishing waters

Congress established a legal imperative to restore the quality of our surface waters when it enacted the Clean Water Act in 1972. The act requires that existing uses of coastal waters such as swimming and shellfishing be protected and restored. Enforcement of this mandate is frequently measured in terms of the ability to swim and harvest shellfish in tidal creeks, rivers, sounds, bays, and ocean beaches. Public-health agencies carry out comprehensive water-quality sampling programs to check for bacteria contamination in coastal areas where swimming and shellfishing occur. Advisories that restrict swimming and shellfishing are issued when sampling indicates that bacteria concentrations exceed federal health standards. These actions place these coastal waters on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencies’ (EPA) list of impaired waters, an action that triggers a federal mandate to prepare a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) analysis that should result in management plans that will restore degraded waters to their designated uses. When coastal waters become polluted, most people think that improper sewage treatment is to blame. Water-quality studies conducted over the past several decades have shown that improper sewage treatment is a relatively minor source of this impairment. In states like North Carolina, it is estimated that about 80 percent of the pollution flowing into coastal waters is carried there by contaminated surface runoff. Studies show this runoff is the result of significant hydrologic modifications of the natural coastal landscape. There was virtually no surface runoff occurring when the coastal landscape was natural in places such as North Carolina. Most rainfall soaked into the ground, evaporated, or was used by vegetation. Surface runoff is largely an artificial condition that is created when land uses harden and drain the landscape surfaces. Roofs, parking lots, roads, fields, and even yards all result in dramatic changes in the natural hydrology of these coastal lands, and generate huge amounts of runoff that flow over the land’s surface into nearby waterways. (PDF contains 3 pages)

From the individual to the community and beyond: water quality, stress indicators and key species in coastal waters

This review examines water quality and stress indicators at levels of organisation from the individual to the community and beyond by means of three case studies concentrating on rocky shores within the north-east Atlantic. Responses of dogwhelks (Nucella) to tributyltin pollution from antifouling paints is examined as the main case study. There are effects at the individual level (development of male sexual characteristics in the female leading to effective sterility) and population level (reduction in juveniles, few females and eventual population disappearance of dogwhelks in badly contaminated areas) but information on community level effects of dogwhelk demise is sparse. Such effects were simulated by dogwhelk removal experiments on well studied, moderately exposed ledges on shores on the Isle of Man. The removal of dogwhelks reduced the size and longevity of newly established Fucus clumps that had escaped grazing. Removal of dogwhelks also increased the likelihood of algal escapes. In a factorial experiment dogwhelks were shown to be less important than limpets \{Patella) in structuring communities but still had a significant modifying effect by increasing the probability of algal escapes. Community level responses to stress on rocky shores are then explored by reference to catastrophic impacts such as oil spills, using the Torrey Canyon as a case study. Recovery of the system in response to this major perturbation took between 10-15 years through a series of damped oscillations. The final case study is that of indicators of ecosystem level change in response to climate fluctuations, using ratios of northern \{Semibalanus balanoides) and southern (Chthamalus spp.) barnacles. Indices derived from counts on the shore show good correlations with inshore sea-water temperatures after a 2-year lag phase. The use of barnacles to measure offshore changes is reviewed. The discussion considers the use of bioindicators at various levels of organisation.

Viruses and drinking water

There is no evidence to indicate that there is a risk of acquiring a virus infection through the consumption of properly treated drinking water, provided the integrity of the distribution system is maintained and there is no post-treatment contamination. The consumption of inadequately treated, untreated or post-treatment contaminated water is, however, associated with a risk of hepatitis A, hepatitis E and viral gastroenteritis. The use of the standard bacterial indicators for water monitoring provides an adequate safeguard against viral contamination.

Concentrations of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB’s), Chlorinated Pesticides, and Heavy Metals and Other Elements in Tissues of Belugas, Delphinapterus leucas, from Cook Inlet

Tissues from Cook Inlet beluga whales, Delphinapterus leucas, that were collected as part of the Alaska Marine Mammal Tissue Archival Project were analyzed for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s), chlorinated pesticides, and heavy metals and other elements. Concentrations of total PCB’s (ΣPCB’s), total DDT (ΣDDT), chlordane compounds, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), dieldrin, mirex, toxaphene, and hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) measured in Cook Inlet beluga blubber were compared with those reported for belugas from two Arctic Alaska locations (Point Hope and Point Lay), Greenland, Arctic Canada, and the highly contaminated stock from the St. Lawrence estuary in eastern Canada. The Arctic and Cook Inlet belugas had much lower concentrations (ΣPCB’s and ΣDDT were an order of magnitude lower) than those found in animals from the St. Lawrence estuary. The Cook Inlet belugas had the lowest concentrations of all (ΣPCB’s aver-aged 1.49 ± 0.70 and 0.79 ± 0.56 mg/kg wet mass, and ΣDDT averaged 1.35 ± 0.73 and 0.59 ± 0.45 mg/kg in males and females, respectively). Concentrations in the blubber of the Cook Inlet males were significantly lower than those found in the males of the Arctic Alaska belugas (ΣPCB’s and ΣDDT were about half). The lower levels in the Cook Inlet animals might be due to differences in contaminant sources, food web differences, or different age distributions among the animals sampled. Cook Inlet males had higher mean and median concentrations than did females, a result attributable to the transfer of these compounds from mother to calf during pregnancy and during lactation. Liver concentrations of cadmium and mercury were lower in the Cook Inlet belugas (most cadmium values were <1 mg/kg and mercury values were 0.704–11.42 mg/kg wet mass), but copper levels were significantly higher in the Cook Inlet animals (3.97–123.8 mg/kg wet mass) than in Arctic Alaska animals and similar to those reported for belugas from Hudson Bay. Although total mercury levels were the lowest in the Cook Inlet population, methylmercury concentrations were similar among all three groups of the Alaska animals examined (0.34–2.11 mg/kg wet mass). As has been reported for the Point Hope and Point Lay belugas, hepatic concentrations of silver were re

Investigation of rising nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the Eden Valley, Cumbria: Phase 1 project scoping study

This is the Investigation of rising nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the Eden Valley, Cumbria report produced by the Environment Agency in 2003. This report focuses on groundwater nitrate concentrations in the Eden Valley. Most boreholes in the Eden Valley had nitrate concentrations less than 20 mg/l but a significant number had higher concentrations, some exceeding the EC maximum admissible concentration for drinking water of 50 mg/l. The main objectives of this report were to investigate the causes of rising nitrate concentrations in groundwater in the Permo-Triassic sandstone aquifers of the Eden Valley area and provide sufficient understanding of the groundwater and surface water flow system, including the sources of the nitrate contamination and the processes controlling nitrate movement, so that possible management options for reversing this trend can be considered.