EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 



issues, and how can they be 

 structured around clearly-stated 

 null hypotheses to provide 

 unambiguous results? 



The tiered monitoring / 

 management program was designed to 

 address compliance with permit 

 regulations, model verification to check 

 the validity of predictions and 

 assumptions underlying the tiered 

 sampling design, and identification of 

 long-term trends in the environment 

 that might be related to disposal 

 activity. This technical review is an 

 attempt to assess the adequacy of the 

 DAMOS program to accomplish these 

 tasks. 



Like many other Corps of 

 Engineers' offices, the NED manages 

 both dispersive and containment 

 disposal sites. Only one site in the 

 New England region (Cornfield Shoals 

 in Long Island Sound) is managed as a 

 dispersive site; the other eight are 

 containment sites. This document 

 only addresses a tiered, integrated 

 monitoring/management protocol for 

 open-water dredged material disposal 

 sites located in low-energy, 

 depositional environments 

 (containment sites). Within these sites, 

 disposal mounds may consist of 

 confined aquatic mounds (capped) or 

 unconfined mounds (not capped). 

 Separate tiered monitoring protocols 

 have been developed for both confined 

 and unconfined dredged material 

 mounds in open-water containment 

 disposal sites. 



Three tiered protocols are reviewed 

 in this document: 



• A management overview structure 



which starts with a proposed 

 project and, through a structured 

 series of logical decisions, 

 determines if a proposed project is 

 suitable for dredging and disposal. 

 During this procedure, an 

 evaluation is made regarding the 

 extent of chemical and biological 

 testing needed to make decisions 

 about how the project is to be 

 managed (unconfined open-water 

 disposal, capping, upland disposal, 

 no disposal, etc.). 



• A three-tiered monitoring plan is 

 presented for an unconfined (i.e. 

 non-capped) open-water dredged 

 material mound. The null 

 hypothesis tested in this plan is 

 based on an expected (model) 

 successional sequence for benthic 

 invertebrate recolonization. 

 Anomalies result in further 

 evaluation of potential physical and 

 chemical disturbances. If toxic 

 responses are suspected, 

 management decisions and 

 remediation actions are proposed. 



• The third structured protocol 

 consists of two tiers and is designed 

 for confined aquatic disposal, or 

 capped mounds. The observational 

 program is based on a null 

 hypothesis that capping has 

 isolated sediment contaminants 

 effectively. The monitoring 

 initially considers the efficiency of 

 physical capping and then follows 

 benthic succession within the first 

 tier. If anomalies are observed 

 then both the capped sediments 

 and colonizing organisms are tested 

 for contamination at the next tier. 

 If the tests indicate that 

 contaminants are migrating 



