Sediment Quality and Polychlorinated Biphenyls in the Lower Neponset River, Massachusetts, and Implications for Urban River RestorationBy Robert F. Breault, Matthew G. Cooke, and Michael Merrill
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Efforts to restore fish passage, habitat, and recreational use of the Neponset River, a tributary to Boston Harbor, Massachusetts, have raised concerns about the sediment, water, and biota quality of the river. Consequently, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs Department of Fish and Game Riverways Program and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, studied sediment and water quality, with a specific focus on polychlorinated biphenyls, in the Neponset River.
Sediment samples were collected throughout the Neponset River and tested for elements and organic compounds including polyaromatic hydrocarbons, organochlorine pesticides, and polychlorinated biphenyls. Although enriched compared to background concentrations, sediment quality in the Neponset River was generally better than that of other urban rivers in the United States, except with respect to one constituent, polychlorinated biphenyls. Concentrations of lead, some polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and polychlorinated biphenyls in the sediment may be toxic to aquatic organisms and may pose a risk to human health. The sediment quality also fails to meet the minimum requirements set by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for lined landfill disposal.
The locations of the source(s) of polychlorinated biphenyls to the Neponset River were determined by means of congener analysis from PISCES passive water-column samplers. The PISCES data indicate a sharp increase in polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations and a substantial shift in congener pattern downstream of one PISCES sampling location near Fairmont Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts. This result indicates that the area upstream of this sampling location may be the location of a historical source of polychlorinated biphenyls to the Neponset River. The present (2003) source to the water column may likely be PCB contaminated sediment.
Abstract
Introduction
Purpose and Scope
Study Methods
Water Depths and Sediment Thickness
Sample-Collection Design
Sample-Collection Techniques
Chemical Analysis
Data-Analysis Methods
Bias and Variability
Data Representativeness
Sediment Quality and Implications for River Restoration
Concentrations of Elements Compared to Background Concentrations
Organic Compounds
Comparison of Sediment Chemistry in the Lower Neponset River to that in
Other Urban Rivers
Contaminated Bottom-Sediment Toxicity
Benthic Organisms
Humans
Comparison between Upstream and Downstream Sediment Chemistry
Implications of Sediment Contamination for Waste Disposal
Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Water, Sediment, and Fish
Polychlorinated Biphenyl Source Identification
Polychlorinated Biphenyl Toxicity
Aquatic-Life Criteria
Human Health
Summary
Acknowledgments
References Cited
1. Map showing the study area, sediment-grab and sediment-core sampling locations, and the locations where PISCES polychlorinated biphenyl passive samplers were deployed, lower Neponset River, Massachusetts
2, 3. Photographs showing:
2. Walter Baker impoundment, lower Neponset River
3. Tileston and Hollingsworth Dam and impoundment, lower Neponset River
4. Schematic of a typical polychlorinated biphenyl : A, more substituted; and B, less substituted
5. Photograph showing former Jenkins Dam impoundment, known as the braided channel, lower Neponset River
6–8. Maps showing:
6. Water depths and sediment thickness measured in the Walter Baker impoundment, lower Neponset River
7. Water depths and sediment thickness measured in the Tileston and Hollingsworth impoundment, lower Neponset River
8. Sediment thickness measured in the braided channel, lower Neponset River
9. Sediment-core log showing visual interpretation of sediment type and length of sediment cores collected from the lower Neponset River
10–12. Graphs showing:
10. Concentrations of A, elements; and B, organic compounds (by type) measured in grab and core samples collected from the lower Neponset River
11. Population statistics for element and organic compound concentrations measured in grab samples collected from the lower Neponset River in comparison to other urban rivers in the United States
12. Relative amount of enrichment of elements and organic compounds from three urban rivers tributary to Boston Harbor—the lower Neponset River, the upper Mystic River, and the lower Charles River
13. Bar chart showing estimated sediment toxicity to Hyalella azteca and Chironomus spp. with respect to consensus-based freshwater sediment-quality guidelines from samples collected from the lower Neponset River
14–16. Graphs showing:
14. Comparison of concentrations of selected A, elements; and B, organic compounds in sediment collected from the lower Neponset River with human-health guidelines for direct contact with and incident ingestion of contaminated soils
15. Sediment-type summary statistics for grab and core samples collected from the lower Neponset River
16. Comparison of elements and organic compound concentrations in sediment collected from the lower Neponset River with Commonwealth of Massachusetts guidelines for the reuse and disposal of contaminated soil
17. Bar chart showing polychlorinated biphenyl congener patterns of commercially available Aroclors by International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry number (IUPAC)
18. Graph showing differences in polychlorinated biphenyl congener patterns between duplicate samples collected from the lower Neponset River
19–24. Bar charts showing:
19. Polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations and between-station root mean square differences of congener patterns measured in PISCES passive samplers, Mother Brook and the Neponset River
20. Average relative polychlorinated biphenyl congener concentrations in selected PISCES samples collected from the lower Neponset River by International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) number
21. Average relative polychlorinated biphenyl congener concentrations in selected grab samples collected from the lower Neponset River by International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) number
22. Average relative polychlorinated biphenyl congener concentrations in selected core samples collected from the lower Neponset River by International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) number
23. Estimated water-column concentrations of total polychlorinated biphenyls (ΣPCBs) collected from the lower Neponset River in comparison to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency freshwater continuous chronic criteria for ΣPCBs
24. Toxic equivalency of total polychlorinated biphenyls relative to 2,3,7,8- tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) collected from the lower Neponset River
1. Sediment-grab and sediment-core sampling locations and time of sampling, from the Walter Baker impoundment, Tileston–Hollingsworth impoundment, and braided channel, lower Neponset River, Massachusetts
2. Laboratories and analytical methods used in this study
3. Location and details of polychlorinated biphenyl sampling by means of PISCES passive samplers, lower Neponset River
4. Common sources and (or) uses of selected constituents typically found in rivers that drain urban and industrial areas
5. Estimated number of samples needed to calculate average concentrations within a 25-percent range of acceptable error for elements, and within a 50-percent range of acceptable error for organic compounds, with 90-percent confidence for the lower Neponset River
6. Median background concentrations of elements measured in sand, silt, and clay samples collected from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, and Rhode Island as part of the National Uranium Resource Evaluation Hydrogeochemical and Stream Sediment Reconnaissance Program
7. Measured total polychlorinated biphenyl (ΣPCB) concentrations, by congener analysis in PISCES samplers, estimated ΣPCB water-column concentrations, and estimated ΣPCB concentrations in fish tissue, lower Neponset River
8. Total polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations by congener analysis in selected grab and core samples, lower Neponset River
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The citation for this report, in USGS format, is as follows:
Breault, R.F., Cooke, M.G., and Merrill, Michael, 2004, Sediment quality and polychlorinated biphenyls in the lower Neponset River, Massachusetts, and implications for urban river restoration: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2004-5109, 48 p.
For more information about USGS activities in Massachusetts-Rhode Island District, visit the USGS Massachusetts-Rhode Island Home Page.
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