Effects of Contaminants in Dredge Material from the Lower Savannah River |
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Authors: | P V Winger P J Lasier D H White J T Seginak |
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Institution: | (1) USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Warnell School of Forest Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA , US |
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Abstract: | Contaminants entering aquatic systems from agricultural, industrial, and municipal activities are generally sequestered
in bottom sediments. The environmental significance of contaminants associated with sediments dredged from Savannah Harbor,
Georgia, USA, are unknown. To evaluate potential effects of contaminants in river sediments and sediments dredged and stored
in upland disposal areas on fish and wildlife species, solid-phase sediment and sediment pore water from Front River, Back
River, an unnamed Tidal Creek on Back River, and Middle River of the distributary system of the lower Savannah River were
tested for toxicity using the freshwater amphipod Hyalella azteca. In addition, bioaccumulation of metals from sediments collected from two dredge-disposal areas was determined using the freshwater
oligochaete Lumbriculus variegatus. Livers from green-winged teals (Anas crecca) and lesser yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) foraging in the dredge-spoil areas and raccoons (Procyon lotor) from the dredge-disposal/river area and an upland site were collected for metal analyses. Survival of H. azteca was not reduced in solid-phase sediment exposures, but was reduced in pore water from several locations receiving drainage
from dredge-disposal areas. Basic water chemistry (ammonia, alkalinity, salinity) was responsible for the reduced survival
at several sites, but PAHs, metals, and other unidentified factors were responsible at other sites. Metal residues in sediments
from the Tidal Creek and Middle River reflected drainage or seepage from adjacent dredge-disposal areas, which could potentially
reduce habitat quality in these areas. Trace metals increased in L. variegatus exposed in the laboratory to dredge-disposal sediments; As, Cu, Hg, Se, and Zn bioaccumulated to concentrations higher than
those in the sediments. Certain metals (Cd, Hg, Mo, Se) were higher in livers of birds and raccoons than those in dredge-spoil
sediments suggesting bioavailability. Cadmium, Cr, Hg, Pb, and Se in livers from raccoons collected near the river and dredge-disposal
areas were significantly higher than those of raccoons from the upland control site. Evidence of bioaccumulation from laboratory
and field evaluations and concentrations in sediments from dredge-disposal areas and river channels demonstrated that some
metals in the dredge-disposal areas are mobile and biologically available. Drainage from dredge-disposal areas may be impacting
habitat quality in the river, and fish and wildlife that feed and nest in the disposal areas on the lower Savannah River may
be at risk from metal contamination.
Received: 21 October 1998/Accepted: 9 February 1999 |
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