60 ^^^ 



as outlined in the 1982 FEIS. The use of the WLIS III boundaries, in conjunction with the 

 SOUTH reference area location, provides only 207 m of separation between the disposal 

 site and the central reference point (Figure 4-5). 



The satisfaction of a minimum distance requirement has not been part of the 

 selection criteria for the reference areas utilized by the DAMOS Program. In fact, the 

 DAMOS tiered monitoring protocols recommend that reference areas and disposal sites 

 should be as near to one another as possible without subjecting the reference stations to the 

 possibility of corruption by disposal operations or postdisposal transport (Germano et. al. 

 1994). Given the depositional nature of the area surrounding WLIS, and the confinement 

 of disposal operations to the east-west trending bottom depression, SOUTH is expected to 

 remain free of dredged material deposits and valid for comparison with conditions on the 

 WLIS seafloor. 



Therefore, it is recommended that fiimre sampling schemes at SOUTH be designed 

 to restrict REMOTS® sediment-profile photography and the collection of surface sediment 

 grabs samples. This would require the institution of a 300 m arc around the central 

 reference pomt of SOUTH, terminating at a latimde of 40° 58.760' N (Figure 4-5). 

 Although this approach does not conform to the standard operating procedures followed at 

 other DAMOS reference areas, the semi-circular configuration would provide a better areal 

 representation of the western Long Island Sound seafloor, relative to a reduced sampling 

 radius. In addition, the proposed 300 m arc would establish a 75 m buffer zone between 

 the southern boundary of WLIS and the reference sediments of SOUTH. An alternative 

 would be to move the center of SOUTH 150 m south to eliminate overlap with the disposal 

 site boundary. However, this would require investigation of the area between SOUTH and 

 2000S, to rule out the presence of relic dredged material. Given the difficulty of finding 

 suitable reference stations for WLIS, the continued use of 2000S, as discussed, is 

 recommended. 



Although the results of Stations 1 through 4 over 2000W and STA 8 over SOUTH 

 cannot be used for comparison with the sediments of the WLIS disposal mounds, the 

 remaining stations over WLIS reference areas SOUTH and SW-REF remain valid. The 

 ambient Long Island Sound sediments appeared to be relatively undisturbed with stable 

 benthic infaunal populations and deep RPDs. OSI values of >6 are generally considered 

 indicative of a healthy benthic environment, and the majority of REMOTS® stations over 

 SOUTH and SW-REF met or exceeded that criterion. With respect to all of the physical 

 and biological parameters used to assess the benthic environment through REMOTS® 

 sediment-profile photography, SW-REF exhibited the highest indices of the three reference 

 areas. 



Monitoring Cruise at the Western Long Island Sound Disposal Site, July 1996 



