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INTRODUCTION 



My name is Bradford Butman. I am Chief of the U.S. Geological Survey's Branch of 

 Atlantic Marine Geology, located in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. I have a doctoral degree 

 in physical oceanography from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole 

 Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Oceanography (1975), and over the last 20 years 

 have conducted studies of processes affecting the transport of suspended material in the 

 coastal ocean. I would also like to introduce Dr. Richard P. Signell. Dr. Signell is a 

 physical oceanographer who received his doctoral degree, also from the MTTAVHOI joint 

 program, in 1989. He has been the principal investigator of the numerical modelling studies 

 which I will describe to you this morning. 



The cleanup of Boston Harbor and the assessment of effects on Massachusetts Bay has 

 occupied the attention of Massachusetts' s citizens and ratepayers for many years. 

 Massachusetts Bay is a major resource for the Commonwealth. It is used for recreation, 

 transportation, fisheries, and tourism as well as waste disposal and Stellwagen Bank, on the 

 eastern side of Massachusetts Bay, has recently been designated as the Nation's 12th National 

 Marine Sanctuary by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NO A A). 



U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY STUDIES OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY 



Since 1987, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been engaged in a 

 multi-disciplinary investigation of circulation and sediment transport in Boston Harbor and 

 Massachusetts Bay (Butman et al, 1992). This work has been funded by the USGS and by a 

 Joint Funding Agreement with the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA). The 

 program has also received support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Administration and benefitted from the very able logistical assistance of the U.S. Coast 

 Guard. It is coordinated with the studies funded by the Massachusetts Environmental Trust 

 and the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Massachusetts Bays Program. The USGS 

 program has been carried out in cooperation with other investigators at the Massachusetts 

 Institute of Technology, the University of Massachusetts at Boston, the University of New 

 Hampshire, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and HydroQual, Inc. 



The USGS studies have been designed to provide an understanding of the geological 

 system and hydrodynamics of the Massachusetts Bays, particularly the transport and 

 accumulation of sediments and associated contaminants. I am pleased to be able to present 

 some of the results of these studies to you today. 



The USGS program includes: 



* Geologic mapping to identify the sea floor environments and potential locations of 

 sediment and contaminant accumulation. These have been used to identify key 

 monitonng sites by the Outfall Monitoring Committee. In 1993, we began systematic 



