About 5 liters of sediment were collected at each station, requiring repeated deployments of the sam- 

 pler. The upper 2 cm. of sediment were removed from each sample. The sediments from each station 

 were homogenized thoroughly by stirring. Portions of each sample were placed in polyethylene con- 

 tainers for the toxicity tests and in glass jars for the chemical analyses. The grab sampler and sampling 

 utensils, pans, and other equipment were washed with seawater and acetone between sites, and with 

 seawater between stations. Samples were rejected for any of the following reasons: presence of sedi- 

 ments dropped from previous deployments of the sampler, excessive sediment escaping from grab lids, 

 excessive sand or gravel content (>75%), excessive amount of shells or rocks, or over-penetration of 

 the sampler. One sample from the East River was rejected because of the presence of a leg bone caught 

 in the jaws of the sampler. Only a few stations were relocated to avoid gravel, coarse sand, mussel 

 beds, etc. 



At all 117 stations, additional sediments were collected for possible future benthic community analy- 

 ses. The benthic samples are currently in storage. 



Sediments from a Central Long Island Sound (CLIS) site were used as negative (nontoxic) controls in 

 the toxicity tests. This site had been previously tested and found to be nontoxic (survival of A. abdita 

 consistently exceeded 90%) and the concentrations of toxicants were relatively low. 



During Phase 2 of the survey, samples were collected by U.S. EPA Region 2 personnel during two legs. 

 The first sampling leg (January 2-12, 1993) was conducted aboard the U.S. EPA Ocean Survey Vessel 

 Peter W. Anderson. Samples were collected in central Newark Bay, northern Arthur Kill, Kill van Kull 

 and upper New York Harbor. Each sampling position was recorded by LORAN C, which had been 

 calibrated with the on-board Global Positioning System unit. The second sampling leg was conducted 

 during the period of March 16-29, 1993 aboard the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) Survey 

 Vessel Hudson. During this leg, samples were collected in upper Newark Bay, the lower Passaic River, 

 and the lower Hackensack River by personnel from EPA and the ACOE. Positions were recorded by a 

 Northstar LORAN C unit. 



Phase 2 samples were collected with a stainless steel modified van Veen grab sampler. At each station, 

 approximately 8 liters of sediment from the upper 2 cm were collected in multiple deployments of the 

 sampler. A kynar-coated spatula was used to carefully remove the upper 2 cm of sediment. The 

 sediments were completely homogenized before aliquots were prepared for each laboratory. All equip- 

 ment used in the collection of samples was rinsed with acetone and site water between sampling sta- 

 tions. Samples were rejected if the jaws of the sampler were not completely shut or if the sample 

 consisted of only gravel and sand. 



Sediment Testing Methods. Testing methods followed previously published protocols to ensure com- 

 parability of the results to previously collected data. The tests with the amphipods and bivalve larvae 

 were performed with fresh, unfrozen sediments, while the Microtox tests were performed with previ- 

 ously frozen sediments. The holding times for the sediments tested with amphipods were 2 to 9 days 

 for nine of the test series and 27-28 days for test series number 10. A number of unavoidable problems 

 were encountered at the initiation of the bivalve larvae tests, causing delays in the completion of these 

 tests. As a result, sediments tested with bivalve larvae were held for 93 to 163 days. 



The amphipod test with Ampelisca abdita followed the protocols of ASTM (1990) and was conducted 

 in both phases by Science Applications International Corporation. Test animals were collected from 

 tidal flats in the Pettaquamscutt (Narrow) River, a small estuary of the Narragansett Bay, RI. They 



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