1.0 INTRODUCTION 



A sediment survey was conducted by the US Army Corps of Engineers, New England 

 Division (NED) in June 1989 in the western half of the interim Massachusetts Bay Disposal 

 Site (MBDS, formerly the Foul Area Disposal Site). Sediment samples were analyzed for 

 trace metals and organic constituents to identify areas of potential contamination which should 

 be capped with sediments (suitable for unconfined disposal) from permitted dredging projects. 



MBDS is a 2 nmi circular area located approximately 18 nmi east-northeast of the 

 entrance to Boston Harbor and 14 nmi south-southeast of Gloucester, Massachusetts (Figure 

 1-1). Since 1985, dredged material has been disposed near a disposal buoy located in the 

 southwestern quadrant of MBDS. Prior to the establishment of the interim MBDS in 1977, 

 an area known as the Industrial Waste Site, centered approximately 1 nmi west of the center 

 of the MBDS, was used for the disposal of a wide variety of material not limited to dredged 

 sediments, including building debris, canisters of industrial waste, and encapsulated low-level 

 nuclear waste (SAIC 1988). After the establishment of the interim MBDS in 1977, only 

 dredged material was disposed in the area, but it was scattered over the entire western half of 

 the site (SAIC 1988). 



Three replicate samples were collected in June 1989 at twenty-six stations randomly 

 distributed in the western half of MBDS (Figure 1-2), and at two reference areas. Stations 

 were concentrated in the western sector because this area overlaps the historical Industrial 

 Waste Site, and the southwestern quadrant of MBDS currently receives dredged material 

 approximately at the location of the *MDA"buoy (formerly the *FD A "buoy; Figure 1-2). 

 The "A" buoy is a location which has at times been the authorized disposal point for the 

 receipt of dredged material. 



Material disposed prior to the establishment of MBDS may have contained relatively 

 more contaminated materials because of the lower emphasis placed on testing in the 1960s 

 and 1970s (Fredette 1990). In order to test for the presence of contaminated sediments within 

 the MBDS boundary, collected sediments were analyzed for several trace metals, total 

 organic carbon (TOC), and a suite of semivolatile organics including polynuclear aromatic 

 hydrocarbons (PAHs), pesticides, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). 



Chemical Analyses of Sediment Sampling at the Massachusetts Bay Disposal Site, June 1989 



