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Data Report On Ecosystem Monitoring For The Ashtabula River Environmental Dredging Project
Citation:
BATTELLE. Data Report On Ecosystem Monitoring For The Ashtabula River Environmental Dredging Project. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-11/102, 2011.
Impact/Purpose:
The primary goals were to: 1) collect baseline samples and determine the chemical and biological conditions of the system prior to implementaiton of dredging, and 2) perform biological monitoring studies to evaluate the immediate impacts of contaminated removal on ecosystem measures of health and to evaluate the long-term ecosystem changes in response to dredging.
Description:
A partnership was formed in 2006 between the National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL) and the National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (U.S. EPA's) Office of Research and Development (ORD) and the U.S. EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) to evaluate and monitor progress on the Ashtabula River Environmental Dredging Project in Ashtabula, OH. Dredging was selected by GLNPO as the remedy-of-choice for the Ashtabula River to remove sediments contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), the chemical-of-concern for this site. Under this partnership, a series of environmental measurements have been conducted on the Ashtabula River beginning in the fall of 2006 just prior to the initiation of dredging on a 1-mile stretch of the river, during dredging in the summer of 2007, and immediately after dredging was completed in the fall of 2007 and continuing into post-dredge out years 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. Samples of sediment and overlying water were collected and analyzed before, during, and after dredging to evaluate contaminated sediment removal efficiency. In addition, measurements were made to characterize the river's ecosystem before dredging and again during and after dredging to determine dredging impact on this ecosystem. This non-interpretive field data report summarizes the immediate and long-term effects of dredging operations on ecosystem health and recovery using biological indicator, food web, and surrogate sample data collected from 2006 through 2010. An interpretive report summarizing sediment removal efficiency and the quantity and composition of dredge residuals immediately following the completion of dredging was published in 2010 (EPA/600/R-10/126, February 2010). A final interpretive report covering all aspects of the project through the final 2011 sampling period will be published in 2012.