EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 



A reconnaissance survey of the historical Bridgeport Disposal Site was performed on 4 

 August 1992 to document on-site physical and biological conditions. The site was closed in 

 1977 after receiving about 4.2 million m of dredged material over a twenty-five-year period. 

 Until this survey, the Bridgeport Disposal Site had never been monitored under the Disposal 

 Area Monitoring System (DAMOS) Program. This report presents the results of the one-day 

 field effort involving side-scan sonar and Remote Ecological Monitoring Of The Seafloor 

 (REMOTS®) surveys. 



The distribution of relic dredged material at the site was mapped using side-scan sonar. 

 Thirteen REMOTS® stations were then situated in areas where the side-scan sonar records 

 indicated the presence of dredged material. These data were used to identify the presence or 

 absence of dredged material disposal mounds, to assess the areal extent and state of reworking 

 of existing dredged material, to examine present benthic biological conditions at the site, and 

 to incorporate these results into future management plans for other disposal sites. 



Results of the side-scan survey indicated that well-defined mounds of dredged material 

 do not exist at the historical Bridgeport Disposal Site; however, relic dredged material is 

 present throughout the site in low relief. Analysis of the REMOTS® photographs revealed that 

 the site has experienced some physical and biological disturbances yet, overall, supports a 

 relatively healthy benthic community. This result suggests that the Long Island Sound disposal 

 sites currently in use have an encouraging future biologically. Because of the large areal 

 extent of historical dredged material present at the site, however, any future assessment of the 

 biological and chemical state of the historical dredged material should include additional 

 REMOTS® photography and sediment sampling for chemical analyses. 



