74 



presence of Black Rock material. Rather, 

 the sediment chemistry record at MQR 

 supports the historical disposal barge 

 record that a large volume of New Haven 

 material was disposed at MQR, potentially 

 from the upper reaches of the harbor 

 which is affected by Mill and Quinnipiac 

 River effluent sediments. MQR core 

 samples were also analyzed for organic 

 contaminants (e.g., PAHs); results 

 indicated that concentrations were high 

 enough to have been a factor in the slow 

 biological recolonization monitored there 

 (Murray 1992). 



3.3.4 Chemical Monitoring: 

 Conclusions 



Initial chemical characterization of 

 the source material, both mound 

 and cap, is important. 



Further work is in progress on 

 accurate and efficient methods to 

 characterize and classify 

 contaminated sediments. 



Management decisions for capping 

 projects, especially in the choice of 

 material for use as caps, should be 

 based on complete information 

 from the source area and should 

 rely on the most current 

 classifications of contaminated 

 sediments. 



Sampling and analyzing surface 

 sediments of capped mounds is not a 

 routine part of DAMOS monitoring, but 

 has been incorporated as part of the tiered 

 approach developed for DAMOS 

 (Germano et al. 1994). A historical 

 review of chemistry data reveals the 

 following: 



• Monitoring the surface chemistry of 

 capped mounds has shown that 

 chemical analyses can be used to 

 track the distribution of dredged 

 sediments and aid in cap placement. 



• Surface sediment samples from 

 capped mounds have shown 

 relatively low concentrations of 

 measured contaminants after 

 dredged material disposal. 



Sediment Capping of Subaqueous Dredged Material Disposal Mounds 



