Synthesis of the Results of the Field Verification Program Wetland Disposal Alternative
Abstract
Contaminated dredged material from the Black Rock Harbor (BRH) maintenance dredging project of the US Army Engineer Division, New England, was used to field verify: (a) procedures for predicting contaminant mobility into plants and (b) procedures for predicting contaminant mobility into animals. The wetland disposal site was constructed within a protected area using conventional construction techniques and was hydraulically filled from barges. The estuarine plant bioassay procedures was used in the laboratory to evaluate heavy metal uptake by plants from composited BRH sediment. The chemical and laboratory portions of the bioassay were used to predict potential plant uptake of heavy metals. In general, the laboratory plant bioassay adequately predicted heavy metal content of field-grown Spartina alterniflora during the first 2 years following establishment of the wetland. The wetland animal bioassay procedures was applied to composited BRH sediment in the laboratory using an adaptation of the plant bioassay apparatus. This adaptation was unsuitable because of high sandworm mortality during the test. Another study conducted with fresh sediment indicated that the BRH sediment had to be diluted for the animals to survive the static conditions of the test. A preliminary dynamic, tidal simulation rather than static bioassay was conducted using undiluted BRH sediment. The wetland animals not only survived in the simulated tidal bioassay, but results indicated that there was a potential for accumulation of heavy metals and organic contaminants.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA206743
Entities
People
- Bobby L. Folson
- John W. Simmers
- R. G. Rhett
- Stratford H. Kay