2.0 METHODS 



2.1 REMOTS® Sediment Profile Analyses 



A REMOTS® survey of the MQR mound was conducted on 3 August 1992 aboard the 

 R/V UCONN. A total of 21 stations were occupied in a grid radiating from the center of 

 MQR (Figure 2-1). The station density was increased relative to previous surveys at MQR 

 in order to assist NED managers in determining the area potentially in need of capping. 

 Three replicate photographs were taken at each station. The bathymetric center was defined 

 from bathymetry data collected in December 1991. Only the center station was reoccupied 

 between the June 1991 and August 1992 REMOTS® surveys. 



The REMOTS® sediment profiling camera collects cross-sectional photographs of 

 approximately the top 20 cm of the sediment column. The photographs are digitized and 

 analyzed for several parameters indicative of the sediment colonization status, oxidation 

 condition, and physical condition of the sediment including the grain size distribution and 

 surface disturbance of the top of the sediment mound. A detailed description of REMOTS® 

 photograph acquisition, analysis, and interpretive rationale is given in DAMOS Contribution 

 No. 60 (SAIC 1989a). 



2.2 Amphipod Bioassay Sediment Collection 



In addition to the REMOTS® survey, sediment was collected both at MQR and the 

 CLIS reference area for an amphipod bioassay using a Van Veen grab sampler. One gallon 

 of sediment was collected from MQR and the reference area. The sediment was composited 

 from five separate grabs at MQR and three grabs at the CLIS reference area, stored 

 refrigerated, and transported to SAIC's Narragansett Environmental Testing Center. 

 Bioassay samples were collected for the contingency that the initial review of REMOTS® 

 results indicated complete biological recovery of the mound. In the event that recovery had 

 occurred, the bioassay was intended to provide further assurance that the surface sediments 

 were not toxic, despite the REMOTS® results. Prior to this survey, the NED DAMOS 

 Program Manager had directed that additional cap material should be placed at MQR when 

 available. If REMOTS® results indicated anything less than complete recovery (Stage III, 

 Organism-Sediment Indices [OSIs] greater than 6), then capping would proceed, and bioassay 

 tests would not be required. Results of REMOTS® analyses from this survey indicated that 

 benthic ecological factors have improved over the 14-month period since the last REMOTS® 

 survey in June of 1991, so bioassay analyses were not conducted. 



Recolonization of the Mill-Quinnipiac River Disposal Mound (MQR): Results of a REMOTS® Survey, August 1992 



