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Ecology-PSAMP Historical Program 1989-1995

Composited, homogenized sediment samples  ready for laboratory analysis

Environmental Management Application

The Puget Sound Assessment and Monitoring Program’s historical sediment monitoring program provided the first large scale evaluation of Puget Sound sediment quality at ambient (i.e., away from point sources of contamination) stations throughout the Sound.

Seven years of baseline data gave environmental managers a comprehensive look at sediment conditions around Puget Sound, and provided a basis for examining both natural and anthropogenic (human-caused) changes over time. A subset of 10 historical stations is still monitored today for this purpose.

Locations of historical PSAMP sediment monitoring stations in Puget Sound. Core stations were sampled annually. Three rotating stations were sampled every three years.

Background

In 1986, the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority appointed the Monitoring Management Committee to develop a comprehensive monitoring program for Puget Sound. The result was the Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program (currently the Puget Sound Assessment and Monitoring Program), a multi-agency program designed to provide long-term comprehensive monitoring of the Puget Sound Basin. The Sediment Component of this program was implemented in 1989 by the Washington State Department of Ecology.

Goals and Objectives

The original goals of the PSAMP Sediment Component were to:

1. Provide a record of condition of Puget Sound sediments.
2. Aid in the identification of reference sites/values.
3. Provide data for use by researchers concerned with sediment quality.

Five objectives were to be addressed, including:

1. Collect baseline and long-term data on Puget Sound sediments and sediment-dwelling invertebrate communities in uncontaminated and contaminated areas.
2. Identify areas of Puget Sound that are accumulating toxic chemicals.
3. Assess the potential sediment toxicity resulting from accumulating toxic chemicals.
4. Evaluate the condition of Puget Sound benthic macro-invertebrate communities in relation to the concentration of toxic chemicals in sediments.
5. Identify and document both natural and anthropogenic changes to sediment quality.

Sampling Design

From 1989-1995 the Marine Sediment Monitoring Component collected sediment samples from 76 stations throughout Puget Sound, Hood Canal, and the Strait of Georgia. Thirty-four stations were sampled annually. The remaining 42 stations were sampled on a three-year rotational schedule in north, central, and south Puget Sound. The majority of these stations were purposefully located at a distance from known sources of contamination.

Sediments were analyzed to determine the extent of chemical contamination (parameter list), their level of toxicity, and the structure of sediment-dwelling invertebrate communities at each station. Because of the non-random placement of station locations, no information on the spatial extent of contamination could be calculated for a region or Puget Sound-wide.

 

Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP)

Striplin, P.L., 1988. Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program: Marine Sediment Quality Implementation Plan. Washington State Department of Ecology, Environmental Investigations and Laboratory Services Program, Olympia, WA.  Publication No. 88-37.

Findings

• Chemical concentrations were generally low and below Washington State sediment regulatory standards. No consistent patterns were seen across years with the exception of mercury in Sinclair and Dyes Inlets, with concentrations above standards for each of the seven years.

• In general, the highest metal and organics concentrations were found in stations located in urban and industrial centers. Low metals concentrations were found in some rural and deep depositional areas. No obvious trends in sediment quality were detected over the seven years examined.

• Sediment toxicity measured with a 10-day amphipod bioassay indicated significant mortality at some urban and rural stations, but no consistent patterns were observed. Compounding environmental variables (e.g., grain size) were not controlled for, and may have contributed to the test’s sensitivity. Chronic effects of chemical contamination on the life history of the test organisms were not assessed.

• Sediment-dwelling invertebrate community composition appeared to be primarily related to sediment composition and water depth; secondarily to geographic location. The majority of organisms were not restricted to one substrate, but were broadly distributed with peaks of abundance in sand, mixed sediment, or mud. Some stations, located in upper reaches of inlets, semi-enclosed bays, and depositional locations associated with river plumes, displayed consistently low species richness and abundance. These locations have the potential for low dissolved oxygen episodes in bottom waters and accumulation of sulfide in sediments.

• Spatial patterns in species abundance and composition appeared to be unrelated to contaminant concentrations at most sampling locations.

Publications

 

Data

Raw data can be obtained by downloading the compressed Microsoft Access 97 database (PSAMP Sediment Monitoring database), Marine Sediment Monitoring Project Data Supplement, 1989-1995 or by contacting Sandra Aasen sgei461@ecy.wa.gov.