Study Plan for Avian Injury Study Year 3 (2008). Hudson River Natural Resource Damage Assessment. Final.

摘要

Past and continuing discharges of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have contaminated the natural resources of the Hudson River. The Hudson River Natural Resource Trustees New York State, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of the Interior are conducting a natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) to assess and restore those natural resources injured by PCBs. As part of the NRDA, the Trustees have conducted several investigations focused on birds, including studies on Hudson River tree swallows in 1994-1995, bird egg preliminary investigations in 2002-2003, and avian injury investigations by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2004-2005. The Trustees also determined that it was appropriate to conduct an avian egg injection study and began such a study in 2006. Year 1 (2006) avian egg injection work focused on injection of test PCBs and development of injection and incubation protocols for eggs from tree swallow, American kestrel and chicken. Year 2 (2007) work entailed an evaluation of the effects of a PCB mixture relevant to tree swallows from the Upper Hudson River in a controlled egg injection study, an evaluation of the effects of in situ PCB exposure in Upper Hudson River hatchling tree swallows, and a pilot study of injection of a PCB mixture into eggs of Eastern bluebirds. Analysis of data from these studies is ongoing. The Trustees proposed work for Year 3 of the avian injury study, releasing a Draft Avian Injury Study Plan for Year 3 (2008), dated March 17, 2008, for public review and comment, in accordance with the Hudson River NRDA Plan.