Abstract

Introduction

Description of the study area

Sampling methods

Suspended-solids transport during dredging

PCB concentration changes during dredging

PCB loading in the Fox River due to the dredging operation

PCB transport back into the river from the onshore-processing operation

Postdredging PCB concentration and loads

Adjusting water-column PCB concentrations to allow comparison with onshore-sample PCB data

Lessons learned

References

Acknowledgments and Information

A Mass-Balance Approach for Assessing PCB Movement During Remediation of a PCB-Contaminated Deposit on the Fox River, Wisconsin

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, collected water samples during the September 1 - December 15, 1999 removal of sediment contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from a reach of the Lower Fox River designated Sediment Management Unit (SMU) 56/57. Results of analyses of the samples, along with monitoring activities of several other organizations, were used to delineate and compare PCB mass pathways during the cleanup effort (fig. 1). Results indicate that the cleanup at SMU 56/57 had  the following effect on PCB mass: dredging permanently removed more than 650 kg (1441 lb) of PCBs, transported 14.5 kg (32 lb) downstream, and volatilized 2.6 kg (5.7 lb) to the atmosphere; associated activities on the shore returned 0.1 kg (0.3 lb) to the river. This report documents the USGS data-collection efforts and details the mass-balance approach for PCB pathway delineation.

U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey
http://wi.water.usgs.gov/
Maintainer: Webmaster, djsulliv@usgs.gov
Last Update: Mon 22 Dec 2001