Comprehensive sediment quality of the NY/NJ harbor estuary
- Environmental Protection Agency, Edison, NJ (United States)
- Environmental Protection Agency, New York, NY (United States)
The New York/New Jersey Harbor estuary is in the center of the most populated and industrialized area in the US. It provides habitat and sanctuary for many fish, shellfish, and birds, Years of accumulated and recent toxics contamination, primarily in sediments, has resulted in fishing bans, consumption advisories and controversy regarding disposal of dredge spoils. As part of a Management Plan for the Harbor, a strategy to manage the contaminated sediments was a necessity. Existing contaminant data for the Harbor was not sufficient to develop this strategy. The existing data had several shortcomings: biased collection locations precluded determination of areal estimates of contamination; conclusions regarding biological effects could not be made, because toxicity, chemistry and benthos usually were not determined concurrently, and large areas of the system lacked information. Additionally, datasets from the Harbor could not be aggregated, either due to incompatible gear or methods or lack of documentation as to procedures employed. To address these shortcomings, EPA Region 2, in partnership with the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary Program, NOAA and EMAP, designed a two-year program to characterize surficial sediment quality in the Harbor system. This program provides information on the extent and magnitude of sediment degradation throughout the system and within specific sub-basins. The characterization is based on the EMAP probability-based approach for describing ecological condition. Synoptic measurements of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages, toxicity and chemistry were made at 168 stations in 6 sub-basins, along with water column profiles. Areal estimates of conditions were made for each sub-basin and for the Harbor as a whole. The authors will present an overview of the current status of surficial sediment contamination, toxicity and benthic macroinvertebrate conditions in the Harbor.
- OSTI ID:
- 203585
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137-; ISBN 1-880611-03-1; TRN: IM9614%%97
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) world conference, Vancouver (Canada), 5-9 Nov 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Second SETAC world congress (16. annual meeting): Abstract book. Global environmental protection: Science, politics, and common sense; PB: 378 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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