114 



lackinc li is eniireK reasonable, for example, to pursue results of tlie tliree-dmiensional diluiion 

 model under summer-stratified conditions, as was origmalh' proposed b> the EP.A. Continued use 

 of the model ma\ address questions such as possible effects of discharge penetration of the 

 thennocline. whether-or-not significant lateral transport of coherent patches of discharge nia\' 

 occur and possibK e>aend effects of tiie outfall into tlie farfield. or to address more complex 

 effects of stochastic events such as storms or rare combinations of ph>sical events that ina\ affect 

 transport processes into the farfield. It seems to this reviewer that some of the weakest predictive 

 modelina information concerns tlie deposition, transport and resuspension of particulate matter 

 discharged from the outfall. Gi\en the high affinity- of toxic materials for this fraction of the 

 effluent and. hence, potential for farfield accumulations, it will be prudent to re\iew the results of 

 tiie USGS modeling studies tliat are presently being undertaken in tiiis area. Proposed acoustic 

 studies addressing plankton patch d>-namics is also reasonable, given tlie possibility of such 

 accumulations attracting certain endangered species. Though there ma\' be some discussion as to 

 which areas are tlie most relevant for continued study, the suggestions of the preparers have 

 pinpointed some areas where additional infoimation that could be obtained relatively 

 straight-forwardly might substantiate conclusions that presently are based upon "the best available" 

 but perhaps incomplete information. 



This reviewer believes that an effective program for monitoring tlie effects of the proposed 

 outfall is absolutely essential. If such a program is not undertaken in this project, someone, 

 somewhere will be doomed to repeat this costly exercise again. Such a monitoring program will 

 be the ground truth of the modeling efforts that were heavily relied upon for this project and will 

 be in the future. It is being learned that stochastic phenomena are important modifiers of the 

 environment and that coastal ecosystems are highly variable in time and space. It is absolutely 

 clear that tlie monitoring programs of the past possessing limited resolution both in time and 

 space will be insufficient to understand tiie complex interactions between coastal ocean physics. 

 chemistTN'. and biolog> tliat will be necessar\' to unequivocally predict the safet\' of antiiropogenic 

 intrusions into tiie environment such as tlie Boston HarbOT Outfall. Long term, high temporal and 

 spatial resolution time series monitoring of water column physics, chemistry and biologv'. as well 

 as studies of The dvnamics of particle transport and redistribution that extends significanth into tlie 

 farfield will be necessar>' to dissect potential outfall-mediated effects from a background of 

 variable natural phenomena. High resolution studies will also be necessar>' to "capture" relaTi\ely 



