Publication Summary

A two-day cooperative survey was performed with the Boeing Commercial Airplane Company at its facility in Auburn in January 1987.

A two-day cooperative survey was performed with the Boeing Commercial Airplane Company at its facility in Auburn in January 1987. Two discharges were monitored as they emptied into Government Canal, a 1.75-mile-long tributary to White River. One discharge included near-surface ground water, stormwater, noncontact cooling water, and process treatment effluent; the other contained only ground water and stormwater runoff. Stormwater was not thought to be a significant portion of the discharges during the survey. The discharges did not fit usual stormwater quality characteristics. The former discharge contained elevated BOD, Cr, and Zn concentrations, and one low dissolved oxygen (D.O.) concentration. The latter had elevated Cd, Cu, Zn, COD, and TOC concentrations. The metals concentrations would have exceeded some USEPA freshwater aquatic life criteria had they been applicable. Samples from the canal indicated D.O. depletion below the Class A criterion as a result of the poor reaeration in the canal, possibly aggravated by the BOD and COD loads from the discharges. No other water quality problems were noted in the canal or White River. Close review of Boeing′s results for four monitoring surveys in 1987, sampling of canal sediment, further periodic monitoring of the discharges, evaluation of the retention pond removal effectiveness, and complete fish habitat assessment in the canal were recommended.