Use of Ecological Risk Assessment Data to Establish Surface Water and SedimentMedia Protection Standards for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Kittery, Maine USA

摘要

United States Federal Regulations, required for compliance with the Hazardous andSolid Waste Act, direct the permittee to propose Media Protection Standards (MPS) for hazardous chemicals that may have been released from their facility. Data and information developed from an ecological risk assessment conducted for the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, located in the Piscataqua River and Great Bay Estuary in New Hampshire and Maine, were used to provide the technical basis and justification for determining adverse chemical concentrations, estimating safe chemical levels, and proposing MPS for surface water and sediment. The ecological risk assessment framework was applied to develop a functional approach for relating observations of chemical levels (exposure) to observations of ecological impact (effect). Two screening procedures, one for surface water and the other for sediment, were used to screen exposure and effects data collected from the estuary surrounding the Shipyard. Chemical levels protective of marine resources were derived for the set of chemicals potentially released from Shipyard operations. The MPS proposed can be used to target areas that require possible corrective actions or restoration. (AN).