Assessment of Shoreline Sediments Adjacent to Industrial Property: Equilibrium Partitioning, Pore Water Analysis, and Consensus-Based Criteria. S. J. MacMillan, A. M. St. John, S. S. Clark, and S. Shain; Maul Foster & Alongi, Inc., EnRisk Management Solutions, L.L.C., and ZRZ Realty Company
Assessment of contaminated sediments continues to be a controversial subject. Experts disagree on which sediment remediation strategies and cleanup criteria are applicable to a particular site or region. Most sediment quality criteria have been prepared for a specific region (e.g., the Great Lakes), a specific operation (e.g., dredging), a specific ecosystem (marine versus freshwater), or through a specific approach (e.g., threshold effects). Knowledge gleaned from case studies may play a part in the eventual standardization of sediment cleanup approaches among different types of sites. Sediments in the Willamette River near Portland, Oregon have a history of industrial impacts. A portion of the river is a Superfund site known as the Portland Harbor. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), the U.S. EPA, and potentially responsible parties are determining which sediment criteria and remediation techniques are applicable in this area. This study assesses potential historical impacts to sediment in the Willamette River associated with an industrial facility being developed for residential and commercial use in Portland, Oregon. Concentrations of chemicals in sediment were assessed during a remedial investigation. Methods used to assess sediment contamination related to the site include sediment and pore water sampling and analysis, benthic and fish surveys, screening of risks to aquatic biota using benchmark values, and toxicity tests. Consensus-based threshold effect concentrations and an equilibrium partitioning method in conjunction with pore water data were used as an alternative to bioaccumulation testing.
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