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Sediment chemistries and chironomid deformities in the Buffalo River (NY)

Conference ·
OSTI ID:37509
;  [1]
  1. State Univ. of New York, Buffalo, NY (United States). Dept. of Biological Science
The authors examined the surficial sediment chemistry (heavy metals) and the frequency of chironomid (Diptera) larvae mouthpart deformities from multiple PONAR grabs samples at each of 20 sites along the Buffalo River (NY) area of concern (AOC). Because of the potential for patchy invertebrate distribution and high variance in sediment chemistry, repeated spatial and temporal sampling is important to obtain a better integrated picture of contamination in rivers. The findings suggest that the Buffalo River has one of the highest percentages of deformed chironomids in AOC`s of the Great Lakes basin. One river site that was traditionally thought to be a chemical hot spot was less contaminated than another downstream section. At another site, sediment concentrations for V., Mn and AS appeared to be strongly associated with the proximity of combined sewer overflows from a region which is primarily residential. Interestingly, a demonstration project of the US Army Corps of Engineers, during which three types of dredges were used to carefully remove upper sediments from two different short reaches along the river, seemed to have no significant impact on proximate sediment chemistries or biota.
OSTI ID:
37509
Report Number(s):
CONF-9410273--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English