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Ecology-PSAMP Long-Term Temporal Monitoring 1989-Present

Location of 10 long-term PSAMP sediment monitoring stations in Puget Sound.

Environmental Management Application

Continued annual monitoring of sediments at 10 historical PSAMP stations provides a valuable long-term record of changes in sediment quality over time. Managers can use this information to identify temporal trends in sediment quality that:

1. Raise “red flags” highlighting issues of concern in Puget Sound.
2. Measure the magnitude of environmental changes occurring either slowly (e.g., contaminant loading from stormwater runoff, global warming) or rapidly (e.g., introduction of invasive species, major oil spills).

Background

Ten stations from the historical program have been chosen for continued long-term monitoring. Each station was chosen because it exhibited one or more of the following

 properties:

Sediment sample collected in a 0.1 m2 double vanVeen grab sampler.

• An extensive (20+ years) historical database exists for the station.
• The station data support ongoing fisheries and water column monitoring.
• The station is characterized by a unique assembly of benthic invertebrates.

This long-term monitoring program provides a record of past and current conditions in Puget Sound sediments, and is the only long-term program providing both standardized chemistry and infaunal data throughout the Sound.

Goals and Objectives

1. Collect long-term data on physical and chemical sediment characteristics and macroinvertebrate communities at 10 long-term monitoring stations chosen from a variety of habitats and geographic locations throughout Puget Sound.
2. Evaluate over time the condition of Puget Sound benthic macroinvertebrate communities in relation to natural and anthropogenic (human-caused) changes in sediment quality.
3. Provide data for use by researchers and managers concerned with sediment quality.

Sampling Design

Since 1989 the Marine Sediment Monitoring Component has collected sediment samples from 10 historical stations throughout Puget Sound, Hood Canal, and the Strait of Georgia. Sediments are analyzed to determine chemical concentrations (5-year intervals) (parameter list) and the structure of infaunal macroinvertebrate communities present (annually).

Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP)

Dutch, M., Edward Long, Sandra Aasen, Kathy Welch, and Valerie Partridge. In preparation. Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program: Marine Sediment Monitoring Component - Revised Quality Assurance Project and Implementation Plan. Spatial/Temporal Component. Washington State Department of Ecology, Olympia, WA.

Findings  (1989 - 2000)

• Contaminants were below the laboratory reporting limits (i.e., not detected) for the majority (68%) of almost 13,000 chemical measurements made.

• When contaminants were detected, most were well below state and national sediment regulatory limits, that is, limits above which marine biota may be affected. The few contaminants measured above regulatory limits were found at stations closest to human activity: Sinclair Inlet (mercury), Thea Foss Waterway (PAHs).

• Changes in contaminant concentrations over time were measured for some contaminants at some stations. Most notably, changes included:

   

  • A decrease in metals concentrations (individual metals at specific stations; and copper at many stations, and many metals in Port Gardner and Inner Budd Inlet).
  • An increase in PAH concentrations (individual PAHs at specific stations; and many PAHs in Bellingham Bay, Port Gardner, East Anderson Island). However, there was an overall decrease in PAHs at Point Pully. Even where PAHs increased, they were still found to be below regulatory limits.

• Other studies in Puget Sound and nationwide have shown similar trends in contaminant levels. Decreases in metals in recent decades may be due to better removal of metals from municipal and industrial point source discharges (i.e., Clean Water Act requirements). Increases in PAHs may be due to increasing urbanization and use of petroleum products (e.g., automobile emissions, parking lot sealants) and subsequent loading from non-point source discharges (e.g., atmospheric deposition, stormwater runoff).

• A significant increase in fine-grained sediments, as well as changes in the types and numbers of sediment-dwelling organisms in the Strait of Georgia, was probably linked to above-average precipitation in 1996-97, which increased flow in the Fraser River and resulted in greater amounts of fine sediments being deposited in northern Puget Sound locations near the river discharge.

Publications

Data

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