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Confined Disposal Facility Biomonitoring Study
Channel/Shelter Island Diked Facility, Saginaw Bay, Bay City, Michigan
A two-year study was conducted at the Saginaw Confined Disposal Facility to evaluate facility performance in confining contaminants associated with dredged sediments. The Channel/Shelter Island Diked Facility was constructed to hold contaminated sediments dredged from the Saginaw River for navigation purposes. The objective of the study was to simultaneously determine if contaminants are transported through dike walls and whether biota in the surrounding environment receive increased exposure from the indike environment. A biomonitoring/bioassessment and a modeling approach were used to determine whether high-priority contaminants, polychlorinated biphenyls (PBCs), were transported through the dike walls. Water, biota, and sediments were collected from inside and outside of the diked facility during active dredging and pumping operations. Assessments from both years indicated that PCB concentrations inside the dike were relatively greater than in other zones examined during the study. Various examinations of concentrations and PCB congener patterns indicated that distinct transport of PCBs through the dike walls could not be intuitively or statistically or demonstrated. Modeling results indicated that a relatively small amount of PCB was transported through the dike wall at approximately 5-6 milligrams per year. However, volatilization from the dike interior to the Bay was projected to be approximately 20 grams per year. In general, it was determined that the dike wall did perform reasonably well in confining PCBs associated with dredged sediments.Publications
Kreis, R.G., Jr., J.E. Rathbun, K.A. Freeman, L.L. Huellmantel, K.A. Ahlgren, E.L. Lancaster, M.J. Mac, J.C. Filkins, M.D. Mullin, and V.E. Smith. Confined Disposal Facility Biomonitoring Study: Channel Shelter Island Diked Facility, Saginaw Bay, Bay City, Michigan. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, ERL-Duluth, Minnesota, and LLRS-Grosse Ile, Michigan, In internal review.
Velleux, M.L., J.E. Rathbun, R.G. Kreis, Jr., J.L. Martin, M.J. Mac, and M.L. Tuchman. 1993. Investigation of Contaminant Transport from the Saginaw Confined Disposal Facility. J. Great Lakes Res., 19(1):158-174.
Rathbun, J.E., R.G. Kreis, Jr., E.L. Lancaster, M.J. Mac, and M.J. Zabik. 1988. Pilot Confined Disposal Facility Biomonitoring Study: Channel/Shelter Island Diked Facility, Saginaw Bay, Bay City, Michigan, 1987. Submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region V, Water Division, Chicago, Illinois. 129 pp.