COLLINGWOOD HHARB OUR REMEDIAL ACTION PLAN Eu 3oS' MEETING BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL TARGETS FOR SEDIMENT QUALITY IN COLLINGWOOD HARBOUR, 1988-1993 ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS REPORT JANUARY 1994 Copyright Provisions and Restrictions on Copying: This Ontario Ministry of the Environment work is protected by Crown copyright (unless otherwise indicated), which is held by the Queen's Printer for Ontario. It may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes if credit is given and Crown copyright is acknowledged. It may not be reproduced, in all or in part, for any commercial purpose except under a licence from the Queen's Printer for Ontario. For information on reproducing Government of Ontario works, please contact ServiceOntario Publications at F il 302 )E3tz/ / ((/ ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS REPORT #1 MEETiNG BIOLOÔICAL AND CHEMiCAL TARGETS • FOR SEDIMENT QUALITY IN COLLINGWOOD HARBOUR • 1988 - 1993 REPORT PREPARED BY: Dr. Gail Krantzberg • Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy January 1994 9 C PREFACE This report has been prepared under the avspices of the Great. Lakes Remedial Action Plan Program. Financial support fér the investigation was provided by the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy and Environment Canada. The report is the first in a series of environmental status reports. conducted In support of delisting Collingwood Harbour and an Area of Concern,'and was Written by G. Krantzberg, Cóllingwood Harbour RAP Coordinator, Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy. .. . The report presents the findings and áonclusions of the author and does not necessarily represent the view or polices of the sponsoring agencies. FOREWORD Since designation of Collingwood Harbour as an Area of Concern in 1977, the Collingwood Harbour Remedial Action Plan (RAP) has been working towards ways of addressing and correcting the harbour's environmental problems. The fundamental goal of the Collingwood Harbour RAP continues to be the improvement and protection of the quality of. Coilingwood Harbour's ecosystem. In consultation with the community, the Public Advisory Committee (PAC) has identified goals and uses for the harbour, and is implementing a strategy for ecosystem recovery to delist Collingwood Harbour as an Area of Concern. Environmental conditions that detract from the goals and uses are the primary concern of the RAP. While water quality has improved substantially over the past decade, sediment contamination from historical industrial activities is a potential concern; • Bioassessment of CoIlingwood Harbour in 1986, included in situ algae, fish, and laboratory studies on fish and benthic invertebrates. The current report summarizes findings from investigations conducted from 1988 to 1993. The emphasis was on determining whether trace organic or metal contaminants were present in concentrations and physicochémical forms to impair aquatic biota. The findings of this report will .be included in the Stage 3 document, in the evaluation of delisting targets. • •. • • EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Currently, the significance of metal residues in biota and the effects of contaminants in sediment on organism health are not easily predicted in cases where sediment contamination is considered to be marginal. Comparison! of biotic responses and tissue residues in exposed organisms with those of organisms from locations remote from pollutant sources is a means of identifying adverse biological effects. In the case of Coilingwood Harbour, tissue residues of contaminants in field and laboratory organisms were comparable to concentrations observed in organisms colonizing uncontaminated sediment. Sediment bioassessment revealed no significant mortality, and growth of test organisms exposed to harboUr sediment equalled or exceeded that of reference values. Sediment bioassays using sensitive endpoints Indicate no of observable impacts of harbour sedimentS on the biota, however, Tubifex tubifex reprodUction was impaired in sediment from the Collingwood Shipyards. With the exception of the Collingwood Shipyards, the bioassay information, coupled with field observation on native benthic invertebrates, young of the year spóttail shiners, sport fish and introduced mussels provides multiple lines of evidence that support the conclusion that concentrations of biologically available contaminants in Collingwood Harbour sediment are not of toxicological significance. In the CSL. • property and proximity, a program tp remove sediment that elicited adverse biological reponses began in November 1992 and concluded in November 1993. The program 1 I coupled sediment removal with the opportunity to demonstrate new innovative technology that could have potential for sediment rehabilitation in more seriously contaminated areas throughout the Great Lakes. 2 INTRODUCTION: Contaminants in sediment throughout the nearshore of the Great Lakes frequently exceed the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy (MOEE) sediment management guidelines (Persaud et al. 1992) which identify the Lowest Effect Level (LEL), the concentration at which 5% of benthic invertebrates are anticipated to suffer adverse effects. According to the guidelines, biological testing is required to determine whether exceeding this level has adverse implications for the health of aquatic organisms. In some instances, inorganic and organic trace contaminants approach or exceed the Severe Effect Level (SEL). In general, this level cannot be bolerated by 95% of macrobenthic species. Concentrations of contaminants in Great Lakes sediment freqUently exceed the and are above the SEL, particularly in Great Lakes Aröas of Concern (Painter 1992). • The guidelines are based on the total amount of metal that can be removed from sediment particles without disolving the crystaline matrix of the particles. Analyses of metal concentrations in sediment using hot, concentrated acids however, have , been shown to be limited in use for predicting site-specific environmental effects on organisms. Biological and environmental factors influence metal bioavailability and, consequently, metal toxicity. It has been clearly demonstrated that the biogeochemistry and the physicochemical environment affect the forms of and 3 subsequent bilogical availability of contaminants (Luoma 1983, Campbell and Tessier 1989, Davis-Colley et al 1985, Campbell et al 1988, Krantzberg and Stokes 1988). As a consequence, biological tests are an essential means of evaluating environmental threats due to the presence of pollutants, when chemical measurements suggest these is a potential for adverse ecological consequences (Chapman 1989, Landner 1988, International Joint Commission 1988, van Veen and Stbrtelder 1988, Krantzberg and Bailey 1983, Karr 1987! Persaud et al 1992, Burton 1991). STUDY APPROACH From 1986 to 1993, a series of investigations assessed the biological consequences of contaminants in sediment from Collingwood Harbour. In 1986, acute sediment bioassays using mayfly nymphs (Hexagenla llrnbata) and juvenile fathead minnows (Pimephales paromelas) demonstrated that sediment from the Harbour was not lethal during 10 day (acute) exposure intervals (Krantzberg et al 1989). In a limited number of samples, however, lead residues in bioassay organisms were elevated relative to controls, resident infauna, and introduced mussels. While mortality was not observed, the question of elevEted Pb residues in test organisms and potential for chronic sublethal toxicity was apparent. Due to the bioassay protocol used at that time, It was unclear as to whether the apparently anomalous results were due tQ artifacts associated with the test methods, exposure time and sediment collection techniques, 1 or whether sublethal toxicological properties of the sediment were a potential threat to benthic organisms. Sediment bloassays and core profiles In November 1988 sediment collection was repeated at the two 1986 stations where bioaccumulation of metals was signficantly greater than reference organisms. The bioassay design revised in order to address several hypotheses, as follows: The 1986 sediment bioassay was conducted using the entire contents of replicate ponar grabs which were homogenized and air sieved through a 2 mm mesh prior to bioassay Tests run with surficial sediment could yield different responses. (a) The first hypothesis tested whether deeper sediment was more contaminated than surficial sediment. lf this was the case, native infauna and introduced biomonitors would be exposed to cleaner surficail sediment than were the laboratory bioassay organisms, tested on a composite of surficial and deeper material. The 1986 bioassay organisms were two year old mayfly nymphs and 4 to 5 month old juvenile fathead minnows, the latter weighing approximately one 2