REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE 



Form approved 

 OMB No. 0704-0188 



Public reporting concern for the collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per persons including the time for reviewing 

 instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and measuring data needed and correcting and reviewing the collection of 

 information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information including suggestions 

 for reducing this burden to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Observations and Records, 12 1 6 Jefferson 

 Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington VA 22202-4302 and to the Office of Management and Support. 



1. AGENCY USE ONLY (LEAVE BLANK) 



2. REPORT DATE 



January 2001 



3. REPORT TYPE AND 

 DATES Final Report 



4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Monitoring at the New London Disposal Site 1992-1998 Volume I 



6. AUTHORS 



Science Applications International Corporation 



6. FUNDING NUMBERS 



7. PERFROMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 



Science Applications International Corporation 

 221 Third Street 

 Newport, RI 02840 



8. PERFORMING 

 ORGANIZATION REPORT 



SAICNo. 515 



9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAMES(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 



US Army Corps of Engineers-New England District 

 696 Virginia Rd 

 Concord, MA 01742-2751 



10. SPONSORING/ 

 MONITORING AGENCY 



DAMOS Contribution 

 Number 128 



11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 



Available from : DAMOS PROGRAM MANAGER Regulatory Branch, USACE-NAE 

 696 Virginia Rd 



QfflfiflBJ MA01747.77S1 



12a. DISTRIBUTION/AVAIABILTY STATEMENT 



Approved for public release; distribution unlimited 



12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE 



13. ABSTRACT 



Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) conducted monitoring surveys of the New London Disposal Site (NLDS) in August, 1992; August, 1995; 

 September, 1 997; and July, 1 998, as part of the Disposal Area Monitoring System (DAMOS) Program. Field operations in each survey year included data 

 collection of one or more of the following: precisionbathymetric surveys, Remote Ecological Monitoring of the Seafloor (REMOTS) sediment-profile surveys, and 

 surface and near-bottom dissolved oxygen determinations. Since its inception in 1977, the Disposal Area Monitoring System (DAMOS) Program has investigated 

 dredging and dredged material disposal practices in an effort to minimize adverse physical, chemical, and biological impacts. DAMOS utilizes a flexible, tiered 

 management approach centered around comprehensive environmental monitoring to oversee the placement of sediments at nine open water disposal sites along the 

 coast of New England. Active disposal sites are surveyed on a regular basis to ensure the effects of dredged material disposition on the benthic habitat are localized 

 and temporary. There has been an active dredged material disposal site near New London since at least 1955. DAMOS monitoring of the New London Disposal 

 Site started in 1977 when the program was established. In 1996, the boundary of the New London Disposal Site shown in DAMOS graphics was shifted in 

 accordance with the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, resulting in a 0.2 nmi northerly shift of the disposal site. The new, northern region was 

 surveyed in 1997. 



The New London disposal site has been used for on-going disposal throughout the 1 990's, including unconfined disposal of suitable sediments, and capped disposal 

 of unsuitable sediments. This report, Volume I, summarizes the disposal and monitoring activities conducted from the 1991-1992 dredging season through 

 monitoring in July, 1998. This information is presented as a single report to provide a clear, concise picture of use of the New London Disposal Site during this 

 time-frame and to include important monitoring information related to the dredged material mounds. Additional disposal and monitoring information related to the 

 U.S. Navy Seawolf Mound during this time period are to be presented in Volume II. 



During the 1991-1992 disposal season, the NLDS received a total barge volume of 104,200 m 3 of dredged material generated from four separate projects in the 

 eastern Long Island Sound region. Disposal resulted in creation of two disposal mounds, the Dow/Stonington (D/S) mound, consisting of unsuitable dredged 

 material (Dow and Stonington sediments) and suitable cap material (Dow sediments), and the NL-91 mound immediately north of the D/S mound. 



Bathymetric surveys and REMOTS data, which were fully developed using pre- and post-capbathymetric survey data analyzed in 1 994- 1 995 , showed that due to 

 errors in navigation, while some cap material covered the D/S mound, most of the cap material was deposited approximately 250 m east of the mound. Following 

 the misplacement of some of the cap material, additional cap material has been deposited at the site as it becomes available, to steadily increase cap thickness over 

 the mound. REMOTS surveys of the D/S mound conducted in 1992, 1995, 1997, and 1998, showed no adverse impactstrong signs of benthic community 

 recovery and the continued presence of a stable benthic community, minimizing concern about potential adverse effects. During the 1994-1995 dredging season, 

 two new capped mounds were created at the NLDS, including the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (USCGA) mound, and New London 1994 (NL-94) mound. 

 Although monitoring in August, 1995, indicated the NLDS area was experiencing low oxygen bottom waters, it appeared to be part of a regional, seasondiypoxia 

 event that is unrelated to dredged material disposal. The benthic community at the newly formed disposal mounds was comparable to the reference areas. 

 Additional disposal activities conducted at the New London Disposal Site during this time frame consist of creation of thejeawolf mound with sediments from the 

 New London Naval Submarine Base, the Thames River navigational channel, and two smaller dredging projects. Monitoring of this mound conducted in 1997 and 

 1998 is discussed in Volume II. 



14. SUBECT TERMS 



New London Disposal Site 



17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF REPORT 



UNCLASSIFIED 



18. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 

 OF THIS PAGE 



19. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 

 OF ABSTRACT 



15.NUMBER OF PAGES 



16.PRICFCODF. 



20.LIMITATION OF 

 ABSTRACT 



