19 



how much of a change is 

 ecologically unacceptable? Any 

 change, if it is to be defended 

 as a real change, must be 

 statistically significant, but 

 statistical significance does not 

 necessarily equate with 

 probable ecological 

 significance (Peddicord, 1984; 

 National Research Council, 

 1986). 



(iii) A relationship to possible 

 management or remediative 

 action . This means simply, if 

 an ecologically unacceptable 

 adverse impact is documented 

 by the monitoring program, 

 can the impact be managed 

 and thereby reduced in the 

 future, or remediated? If not, 

 there may not be a defensible 

 reason to undertake 

 monitoring that particular 

 element. 



(iv) The ability to generate 



interpretable quantitative data . 

 For example, quantitative data 

 from observations of plankton 

 and nekton communities may 

 be collected, but they are 

 much more difficult and costly 

 to obtain than quantitative 

 vegetation or benthic 

 invertebrate community data. 

 However, it is paramount to 

 keep in mind at all times that 

 having quantifiable raw data 

 may not address the public 

 concerns directly or the 

 specific needs of the decision 

 makers. Data are merely 

 individual facts, whereas 

 information is data that have 



been organized, synthesized, 

 and processed for a particular 

 purpose (National Research 

 Council, 1990). As Drucker 

 (1988) expressed so aptly, 

 "Information is data endowed 

 with relevance and purpose. 

 Converting data into 

 information thus requires 

 knowledge." 



(e) Results of an EMP could be (and 

 were during the WLIS trial in the 

 Second District Federal Court) 

 drawn into litigation. Methods 

 used for all elements of a 

 monitoring program should 

 maintain reasonable scientific 

 standards for precision and 

 accuracy. Formats for information 

 output must emphasize visual 

 clarity and graphic impact. This 

 means the monitoring program 

 should not encourage the 

 development of final products 

 composed of unsynthesized 

 tabulated data, species lists, or 

 conclusions based on derived 

 ecological indices, all of which may 

 be subjects of questionable 

 interpretation, endless scientific 

 argument, or speculation. 



(f) In order for the field monitoring 

 results to be used realistically to 

 affect management action, the EMP 

 must rely primarily on sampling 

 techniques with rapid data return. 

 For example, the final EMP should 

 not include elements with sample 

 and data analyses requiring more 

 than six months (or some other 

 prescribed and reasonable time 

 period, albeit arbitrary to a degree) 

 following each set of field 



An Integrated, Tiered Approach to Monitoring and Management of Dredged Material Disposal Sites 



