47 



Data collected as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's 

 (NOAA) National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program were compared with the CLIS data to 

 provide a frame of reference (Table 4-2). The NS&T Program has collected and analyzed 

 coastal and estuarine sediment data from 300 sites since 1984. Several sites in Long Island 

 Sound that were sampled over the period of 1984-1989 (NOAA 1991) were compared to the 

 CLIS reference area data. 



The three sites closest to CLIS, including New Haven Harbor, the Housatonic River, 

 and the East Long Island Sound station (located approximately 50 km east of CLIS) are all 

 sandy sites, with a combined silt and clay percentage of less than 10%. Although these sites 

 are closest geographically, several sites west of CLIS were chosen with more comparable 

 grain size ratios and included with the CLIS comparison (Table 4-2). In addition, all NS&T 

 data are normalized to the fine-grained fraction to compensate for the variation of grain 

 sizes. The correlation between the fine-grained fraction and trace chemical constituents for 

 the NS&T data was higher than with Al or TOC (NOAA 1991). The CLIS data were also 

 normalized to the fine-grained fraction for comparison purposes. 



Normalized metals results from the CLIS reference areas were less than metals 

 concentrations measured at the NS&T sites (Table 4-2). All the metals concentrations fall 

 below the "low" category for contaminated sediments suggested by the New England River 

 Basin Commission (Oceanic Society 1982). 



Total LMW and HMW PAHs from the CLIS reference areas were also compared to 

 the NS&T sites. PAHs are organic trace contaminants in estuarine and marine environments 

 and consist of carbon and hydrogen arranged in the form of two or more fused benzene rings 

 in linear, angular, or cluster arrangements. They encompass a wide range of chemicals, with 

 the principal sources in estuaries including industrial and municipal wastewater effluents, oil 

 spills, combustion of fossil fuels, commercial and recreational boating activities, riverborne 

 influx, dredged sediments, nonpoint source runoff of materials from terrestrial habitats, and 

 in situ diagenesis of organic matter in sediments. The major sources of PAHs in the aquatic 

 environment are petroleum spillage and atmospheric deposition (Kennish 1992). 



Low molecular weight PAHs (including naphthalenes, anthracenes, fluorenes, and 

 phenanthrenes) are more soluble, more volatile, and acutely toxic to some organisms, but are 

 noncarcinogenic. LMW PAH compounds originate principally from fresh, unburned 

 petroleum (Kennish 1992). Higher molecular weight PAHs (containing 4 to 7 rings) are 

 carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic to a wide variety of organisms, including fish and 

 other aquatic life (Kennish 1992, Pequegnat et al. 1990). These compounds are less volatile 

 and have longer residence times in the aquatic environment. They include fluoranthene, 

 pyrene, benzo(a)anthracene, chrysene, benzo(a)pyrene, and benzo(g,h,i)perylene. HMW 

 PAH compounds are generally derived from fossil fuel combustion (Kennish 1992). It is 



Monitoring Cruise at the Central Long Island Sound Disposal Site, June 1991 



