n 



1989). Black Rock material was also disposed at the experimental Field Verification Program 

 (FVP) mound during the spring of 1983. This mound was left uncapped as a comparison to 

 the capped mound projects. The apparently healthy response of the uncapped FVP mound in 

 comparison to MQR was especially anomalous (e.g., SAIC 1990b). 



The 1987 MQR REMOTS® monitoring survey indicated that the mound, although 

 recolonizing slower than mounds formed in the same time period, was beginning to show signs 

 of normal recolonization. The 1991 CLIS monitoring cruise, however, which included a 

 REMOTS® survey of the MQR mound, resulted in a completely different picture. Results of 

 this cruise were to be used to test hypotheses and predictions formed as part of the DAMOS 

 tiered monitoring and management protocols (Germano et al. 1994). Thirteen stations at MQR 

 were located 100 m apart in a cross-shaped grid. In addition, three CLIS reference stations 

 were sampled (2500W, 4500E, and CLIS REF). 



Results from the 1991 survey indicated that the benthic recolonization at MQR had 

 regressed since the previous 1987 sampling. The mean apparent RPDs at all of the MQR 

 stations were anomalously shallow relative to the three reference stations (Table 1-3). The 

 median OSI values were also significantly lower (Table 1-3). Evidence of Stage III species 

 was found at all stations except 200N, 100E, and 200S. Stage III organisms were found at all 

 stations at FVP in photographs taken during the same cruise (Wiley and Charles 1994). 



In addition to REMOTS® monitoring, other biological monitoring data has been 

 collected at MQR. As part of the normal CLIS monitoring cruise in August 1986, body 

 burden concentrations of trace metals were measured in Nephtys incisa (Stage III species) 

 collected at CLIS capped mounds (SAIC 1990a). At the MQR and FVP mounds, Cr, Cu, and 

 Pb concentrations were elevated above reference values both in surface sediments and in the 

 tissue of the polychaetes (Table 1-4). 



The June 1991 monitoring cruise results triggered a management response according to 

 the tiered approach to disposal mound monitoring (Germano et al. 1994). An amphipod 

 bioassay was conducted to test the toxicity potential of the MQR sediments. The bioassay 

 sample was collected during the same cruise as the sediment cores in August of 1991. One 

 gallon of surface sediment was collected from near the center of the MQR mound for a 10-day 

 amphipod bioassay. Following delivery of the MQR sediment, specimens of Ampelisca were 

 collected and introduced into both the sediment collected from the MQR mound, and into a 

 separate laboratory reference sediment. The test containers were monitored for ten days, and 

 then counted for Ampelisca mortality rates. Percent survival rates for amphipods exposed to 

 MQR sediments ranged from 10 to 45%, as compared with reference station survival rates 

 which ranged from 75 to 100% (Table 1-5). 



Sediment Core Chemistry Data Summary from the MQR Mound, August and December 1991 



