EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (continued) 



September and more advanced Stage III indicators in March. The redox potential 

 discontinuity (RPD) depths, which indicate depth of sediment oxidation, also increased 

 from September to March. 



The H mound was developed in the spring of 1996, when the WD A buoy, deployed 

 at 40°59.228' N, 73°28.732' W, received approximately 15,300 m^ of sand, silt, and clay 

 dredged from harbors and creeks along the Connecticut coast and the north shore of Long 

 Island, New York. The deposition of this material formed a 1.5 m high mound, approx- 

 imately 230 m in width. REMOTS® photography detected a solid Stage I pioneering 

 polychaete community with increased evidence of Stage III activity in September relative to 

 the July 1996 survey. RPD deptiis were shallower in September than July, but did increase 

 again in March. The number of advanced successional status indicators in the photographs 

 increased in the March surveys. 



The widespread presence of historic dredged material in the region surrounding 

 WLIS has complicated our ongoing search for a suitable third reference area for this 

 disposal site. Sediments from shipping ports along the Connecticut and New York coasts 

 have been dredged and disposed in Long Island Sound since the late 1800s, long before a 

 developed management plan was in operation. In 1954, eight disposal sites were in 

 existence for the western Long Island Sound region. WLIS is located between three of 

 these historic sites which received large volumes of dredged materials until the 1980s. 

 Using side-scan sonar survey real-time data as a guide, we identified a new potential 

 reference area (SE-REF) for WLIS (40°59.203' N, 73°29.072' W). Further investigation 

 showed that SE-REF met many of the specified requirements for selection of a reference 

 area. While we recommend SE-REF as a third reference area, we recognize that survey 

 data could not conclusively rule out the presence of historic dredged material. Fumre 

 monitoring surveys should continue to investigate and confirm the absence of historic 

 dredged material at SE-REF. 



