ECOLOGY OF BUZZARDS BAY: An Estuanne Profile 123 



For U.S. mid and North Atlantic coastal estuar- 

 ies. Buzzards Bay stands out as a relatively clean 

 and healthy ecosystem with abundant natural re- 

 sources and high aesthetic, commercial, and recre- 

 ational value. As more and more coastal 

 embayments succumb to water quality degradation 

 resulting from ever-increasing development pres- 

 sures, the desirability of Buzzards Bay unavoidably 

 increases and threatens the health of this system. 

 The effect of increased coastal development is evi- 

 denced by the parallel rise in the number of shellfish 

 bed closures (Fig. 6. 1 ) and increasing eutrophica- 

 tion in the bay's smaller harbors and embayments. 

 Without proper environmental management strate- 

 gies, the desirability of Buzzards Bay could, in ef- 

 fect, cause its decline as well. 



7.1. Toxic Pollutants 



Most of the concern over toxic pollutants in 

 Buzzards Bay centers on the PCB and heavy metal 

 contamination ofNew Bedford Harbor (see Chapter 

 6). The concentrations of PCB's and heavy metals 

 in harbor sediments are so high in the inner reaches 

 of this harbor (up to 30,000 ppm) that it was desig- 

 nated by the EPA in 1 982 as one of the Nation's 

 worst hazardous waste sites, resulting in 7,285 ha 

 of the harbor region being declared the Nation's 

 first marine Superfund site. Subsequent study has 

 identified 399 ha of the Inner New Bedford Har- 

 bor region as the focus area. Concern over public 

 and environmental health surrounding this toxic 

 waste site has resulted in numerous studies to quan- 

 tify existing conditions as well as to define potential 

 remediative measures. The feasibility studies for 

 remediation have focused on several evaluation cri- 

 teria: overall protection of public health and the 

 environment; long-term effectiveness; reduction in 

 the mobility, toxicity, or volume of contaminants 

 through treatment; feasibility (logistic and economic); 

 and acceptability to both the State of Massachu- 

 setts and the New Bedford community. Several al- 

 ternatives have been presented, including capping, 

 removal via dredging and disposal, and removal and 

 treatment by various methods, that would result in 



various levels of contaminant reduction. "No ac- 

 tion" is also being considered an alternative as seri- 

 ous concern surrounds the potential deleterious im- 

 pacts of resuspending, hence reintroducing, deeper 

 sediment-bound contaminants to the active biotic 

 zone. As of 1 995, the alternatives were still under 

 review, and new information from research and fea- 

 sibility studies continues to enter the process. It is 

 clear that it will be some time before PCB contami- 

 nation no longer presents a hazard to the ecological 

 health of New Bedford and Buzzards Bay. 



After the discovery of significant PCB contami- 

 nation in New Bedford Harbor, one of the first major 

 regulatory actions was aimed primarily toward pro- 

 tecting the public health and was implemented in 

 1 979. A series of restrictions was imposed moving 

 from the area of greatest contamination toward the 

 better flushed regions of the outer harbor and out 

 to where the harbor becomes part of Buzzards Bay 

 proper. The regulations range from restricting the 

 taking of lobsters, fish, and shellfish from inner har- 

 bor regions identified as highly contaminated, to lim- 

 iting take of just bottom-feeding fish and lobsters 

 with distance away from the inner harbor region, 

 and finally to restricting only the taking of lobsters 

 farther out toward the open waters of Buzzards Bay. 

 The closures related to this contamination have re- 

 sulted in annual losses of over $250,000 to the lob- 

 ster fishery alone (Ciavattieri and Stockinger 1 988). 

 Many of the closures related to toxic contamina- 

 tion, however, are also areas that would be closed 

 to fishing as a result of intense harbor activities or 

 sewage outfall. 



Certain toxic compounds like PCB's are resis- 

 tant to both chemical and biological degradation and 

 persist in the environment for long periods, all the 

 while exerting acute and chronic impacts, especially 

 on benthic animals. Many metals and PCB's are 

 incorporated into bottom sediments; burial is the 

 major natural removal mechanism for these com- 

 pounds within the bay. Within New Bedford Har- 

 bor, rates of sediment accumulation reach 3 mm/ 

 year (Howes and Taylor 1 990), which over time 

 will isolate incorporated compounds from the ac- 

 tive biotic zone in the water column and surficial 



