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REVIEW OF: 



"Assessment of^Potential Impact 



of the MWRA Outfall on Endangered Species" — 



A Biological Assessment prepared by the 



U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 



pursuant to Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act 



Robert D. Kenney, Ph.D. 



Graduate School of Oceanography 

 University of Rhode Island 



and 



Science Advisory Panel 

 Cape Cod Commission 



DRAFT— 2g MAY 1993 



SUMMARY: 



EPA is to be commended for the effort which obviously went into the preparation 

 of this Biological Assessment, and reviewing the vast amount of information pub- 

 lished relative to the marine ecosystem in Massachusetts waters. There are a 

 number of errors in the document, no doubt unavoidable when attempting to 

 summarize such a large amount of information. Many of the errors I found had no 

 effect on the conclusions, since they would lead one toward more conservative 

 conclusions. And much information remains to be gathered. Despite these 

 acknowledged data gaps and errors in the Assessment (detailed following), I feel 

 relatively comfortable with the Assessment's overall conclusion that operation of 

 the proposed MWRA sewage outfall in Massachusens Bay is unlikely to impact the 

 populations of endangered species inhabiting Massachusetts Bay and Cape Cod 

 Bay (hereafter "the Bays" for brevity). My judgments are based primarily on my 

 expertise in the biology of the endangered species, and only secondarily on my 

 more limited knowledge of physical oceanography, plankton dynamics, toxicology, 

 etc. I am sure that the other members of the Science Advisory Panel will make up 

 for my limitations in reviewing those areas of the Assessment. 



