Framework for real-time decision making: New Bedford Harbor pilot dredging study

Technical Report · Wed Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:7152751

Nelson, W G

New Bedford Harbor is located along Buzzards Bay between the cities of New Bedford and Fairhaven, Mass. Since the 1940s, electronics and manufacturing companies in the area have discharged effluents containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the Acushnet River and the harbor. Over the past 15 years, nearly 18,000 acres of PCB- and heavy metals-contaminated sediment have been identified, with PCB concentrations as high as 100,000 parts per million (ppm) in some areas of the upper harbor. In 1982, the site was added to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) National Priorities List of hazardous waste sites slated for cleanup under the Superfund Act. A feasibility study conducted by EPA in 1984 proposed several alternatives for the remediation of NBH including dredging contaminated sediments out of the harbor. Federal, State, and local officials, as well as the public, expressed concern over dredging. Many believed that sediments resuspended during dredging would cause the release of contaminants that would affect biota inhabiting both the harbor and Buzzards Bay. Others cited potential pollution problems from contaminated water (leachate) leaking from the proposed disposal site. In order to address these concerns, the EPA decided to pre-test dredging and possible disposal options.

• Research Organization: Environmental Protection Agency, Narragansett, RI (USA). Environmental Research Lab.
• OSTI ID: 7152751
• Report Number(s): PB-90-150822/XAB; EPA--600/8-89/084
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540320* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
AROMATICS
CHEMISTRY
CHLORINATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
DECISION MAKING
DREDGING
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
FEDERAL REGION I
HALOGENATED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
HARBORS
INDUSTRIAL WASTES
INTERFACES
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MASSACHUSETTS
METALS
MONITORING
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
ORGANIC CHLORINE COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC HALOGEN COMPOUNDS
PLANNING
POLLUTION
REMEDIAL ACTION
RISK ASSESSMENT
SEDIMENT-WATER INTERFACES
SEDIMENTS
SOLID WASTES
STATE GOVERNMENT
US EPA
US ORGANIZATIONS
USA
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTES
WATER CHEMISTRY
WATER POLLUTION