BUZZARDS BAY DISPOSAL SITE - LITERATURE REVIEW 



1.0 INTRODUCTION 



The Buzzards Bay Disposal Site, formerly referred to as 

 the Cleveland Ledge Disposal Area, is located approximately 1.4 

 nautical miles from Chappaquiot Point, West Falmouth, MA. The 

 disposal site consists of a circular area 500 yards in diameter, 

 centered at coordinates 41*36 00N, 70°41 00W, with a depth range 

 of 9-12 meters (Figure 1) . The purpose of this report is to 

 summarize environmental conditions at and adjacent to the Buzzards 

 Bay Disposal Site in terms of the potential impacts of continued 

 dredged material disposal. Because of the paucity of literature 

 solely addressing the Buzzards Bay Disposal Site itself, this 

 report includes data gathered throughout Buzzards Bay. In 

 particular, data obtained in or near the Fairhaven Disposal Site 

 and around New Bedford are discussed. The Fairhaven Disposal Site 

 is located on the western side of Buzzards Bay, near the mouth of 

 the Acushnet River (Figure 2) . The New Bedford region, in general, 

 has been the focus of recent studies because the upper Acushnet 

 River/New Bedford Harbor region is highly polluted with PCB's and 

 is a potential source of PCB contamination for the entire bay. 



Due to its proximity to the oceanographic research 

 community at Woods Hole, MA, Buzzards Bay has been extensively 

 studied. While a majority of these studies are included in the 

 bibliography for this report, only that subset of this large volume 

 of literature bearing directly on the potential impacts of dredged 

 material disposal at the Buzzards Bay Disposal Site are summarized 

 in the text that follows. 



2.0 BUZZARDS BAY DISPOSAL HISTORY 



The Buzzards Bay Disposal Site has received a wide range 

 of dredged material types. The most recent disposal activities 

 have occurred between February 1979 and November 1985. In the 5 

 year period from February 1979 to January 1984, an average of 

 22,500 cubic yards of material have been disposed annually. The 

 sources of this dredged material were small harbor and river 

 channels located throughout the Buzzards Bay region. From September 

 24, 1985 to November 3, 1985, 73,800 cubic yards from the Mass. 

 Maritime Academy were disposed. The disposal site has not been 

 utilized since November 1985. 



3.0 PHYSICAL CONDITIONS 



3.1 Physiography of Buzzards Bay 



A number of studies of various aspects of the geology 



1 



