Record Display for the EPA National Library Catalog

RECORD NUMBER: 2101 OF 2280

Main Title Water Quality Analysis of Cadmium in Lower Susquehanna River, Cecil and Harford County, Maryland.
CORP Author Maryland Dept. of the Environment, Baltimore.; Environmental Protection Agency, Philadelphia, PA. Region III.
Year Published 2009
Stock Number PB2013-107257
Additional Subjects Water quality ; Cadmium ; Maryland ; Sediments ; Nutrients ; Biological assessment ; Tributaries ; Rivers ; Aquatic life ; Monitoring data ; Watersheds ; Total Maximum Daily Loads(TMDLs) ; Lower Susquehanna River(Maryland) ; Cecil County(Maryland) ; Harford County(Maryland)
Holdings
Library Call Number Additional Info Location Last
Modified
Checkout
Status
NTIS  PB2013-107257 Some EPA libraries have a fiche copy filed under the call number shown. 07/26/2022
Collation 18p
Abstract
Section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) implementing regulations direct each state to identify and list waters, known as water quality limited segments (WQLSs), in which current required controls of a specified substance are inadequate to achieve water quality standards. This list of impaired waters is commonly referred to as the 303(d) list. For each WQLS, the State is to either establish a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for the specified substance that the waterbody can receive without violating water quality standards, or demonstrate that water quality standards are being met. Lower Susquehanna River (basin code 02120201), located in Cecil and Harford County, was identified on the States list of WQLSs as impaired by nutrients (1996 listing), suspended sediments (1996 listing), cadmium (Cd) (1996 listing), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in fish tissue (2002 listing), and evidence of impacts to biological communities (2002 listing). The biological impairments listing is designated for two non-tidal streams, Herring Run and an unnamed tributary of the Lower Susquehanna River, while the remaining listings apply to the tidal portion. Code of Maryland Regulations (COMAR) 26.08.02.03-1-B(3)(a) defines the Lower Susquehanna River, as a fresh waterbody. This report provides an analysis of recent monitoring data, including hardness data, which shows that the aquatic life criteria and designated uses associated with Cd are being met in the Lower Susquehanna River. In addition, the results of an ambient sediment bioassay conducted in Lower Susquehanna River, by the University of Maryland Wye Research Center, established that there is no toxicity in the sediment as a result of Cd or other toxics contamination. The information (P. Jiapizian, personal communication 2001) used for listing Cd is suspect due in part to sampling and analysis methods available at the time, and assessment inconsistencies that led to the listing in 1996.