r STOPPING WATER POLLUTION AT ITS SOURCE I pft MISA 1 1 ST. CLAIR RIVER MISA PILOT SITE INVESTIGATION VOLUME II - PART TECHNICAL SUMMARY I Environment Ontario TD 223.4 S2 825 MOE MISA 1 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 copyright aontario.ca 1 t ISBN 0-7729-6304-5 (3 Volume set) r 0-7729-6305-3 (Part I) I ST. CLAIR RIVER MISA PILOT SITE INVESTIGATION I VOLUME II PART I - TECHNICAL SUMMARY 1 Prepared by the 1 St. Clair River MISA Pilot Site Team 1 JANUARY 1991 1 HFf.M ABLE Cette publication technique nest disponible qu'en anglais I Copyright: Queen's Printer for Ontario, 1990 This publication may be reproduced for non-commercial purposes with appropriate attribution PIGS 1 log 88-2320-043 1 I / r 1-11) rig /zz3 A0la/Al.[S EXECUTIVE SUM+iARY BACKGROUND 1 In June 1986 the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) embarked upon an 1 ambitious and comprehensive pollution abatement program with the release of the White Paper, entitled "Municipal-Industrial Strategy for Abatement 1 (MISA) - A Policy and Program Statement of the Government of Ontario on Controlling Municipal and Industrial Discharges into Surface Waters". 1 The White Paper provides the framework for the control of toxic contaminants in industrial and municipal effluents; initially, through a regulatory component to enforce technology-based effluent limits. The minimum pollution control requirement will be based upon the implementation of "best available 1 technology economically achievable" (BATEA). As treatment technologies are advanced, BATEA requirements will be adjusted, moving towards the goal of 1 virtual elimination of persistent toxic contaminants. This is a concept consistent with the policies stated in the 1987 Revised Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. r Development of these controls will be accomplished through the promulgation of Effluent Monitoring Regulations and Effluent Limits Re ulations directed t at municipal and industrial sectors in order to achieve water pollution control at its source. The MISA program will also provide information which will assist in the development of long-term Remedial Action Plans (RAPS) for the Great Lakes Areas of Concern identified by the International Joint Commission. Given that protection of the environment is fundamental to the MISA initiative, the MOE continues to develop site-specific, receiving water-based effluent limits, to protect environmentally sensitive areas. 1 Some of these areas may require more stringent limits than those prescribed by MISA regulations to protect local water quality. Effluent requirements 1 based on receiving-water conditions are derived using sophisticated - i - modelling techniques which establish a predictive link between effluent quality and specific effects on the aquatic environment. Models will augment current narrative methods for establishing effluent limits. I In order to adopt standard procedures for the derivation of receiving- 1 water-based effluent limits, the MOE has evaluated numerous traditional and novel water quality assessment techniques. These techniques have been applied on a site-specific basis at six "Pilot Sites" throughout Ontario, to 1 assess their suitability in establishing receiving-water-based effluent limits. 1 Six Pilot Sites were selected to provide a cross-section of industrial and municipal dischargers and receiving-water environments existing in Ontario. The six sites, and the principal dischargers studied, are as follows: (1) Kaministiquia River at Thunder Bay (Canadian Pacific Forest Products, formerly Great Lakes Forest Products) 1 (2) St. Marys River at Sault Ste. Marie (Algoma Steel) (3) St. Clair River at Sarnia (Dow Chemical) (4) Grand River at Waterloo (Waterloo Sewage Treatment Plant [STP]) (5) Lake Ontario at Toronto (Toronto Main STP) (6) St. Lawrence River at Cornwall (several municipal and industrial sources). t Two distinct goals were expressed at the outset of these Pilot Site r investigations, which were initiated in 1986. These goals are: To develop site-specific effluent requirements for hazardous and conventional pollutants from specific dischargers, based on receiving-water impact assessment. To develop and document, for application to other comparable discharger 1 and receiving-water situations in the province, an acceptable set of receiving-water assessment techniques and procedures. I r STUDY OUTLINE AND RATIONALE 1 This Executive Summary provides an overview of findings from specific 1 studies in the St. Clair River primarily undertaken from May 1986 to March 1987 and again in May 1988 to assess the impacts of discharges from Dow 1 Chemical Canada Inc. (Dow) on the river, both locally and downstream. Dow was selected as an example of a petrochemical industry discharging to a f Great Lakes connecting channel. In order to distinguish effects of sources at Dow from upstream sources, additional sampling occurred at the I Cole drain and Polysar Ltd. (Sarnia). As a result, specific impacts from the upstream sewers were also evaluated at a level of detail similar to that applied at Dow. The final Pilot Site report is comprised of three parts: a Technical Summary (including this Executive Summary), Detailed Technical Findings; and Appendices. 1 To establish a link between point-source discharges of toxic contaminants t and effects on the receiving environment, a marriage of state-of-the-art modelling techniques and environmental assessment methods was necessary. The ambient water-quality conditions necessary to meet established criteria I for the protection of aquatic life were determined. Predictive modelling was then used to determine the end-of-pipe concentrations necessary to meet these conditions. MOE water-quality Objectives/Guidelines were used where available. For those substances where the MOE has not specified an ambient limit, the requirements of other agencies were used. Where no definitive limits were available from either the MOE or other agencies, water quality "advisories" were developed by the Water Resources Branch of the MOE. As aquatic toxicity data are normally limited for such substances, large safety factors had to be built in to these advisories. As additional toxicity information becomes available, advisories will be adjusted to reflect an improved database. 1 r e The St. Clair River Pilot Site Study investigated the presence and effects of 66 organic compounds and metals in the final discharges from six sewers I at Dow Chemical Canada Inc. (Sarnia), two outfalls at Polysar Ltd. (Sarnia), and the Cole drain. Eight chemicals of concern were selected for detailed study due to their documented presence in industrial effluents and potential hazard to the environment. These included seven organic compounds and mercury. The organic 1 chemicals included some lower molecular weight, volatile organic compounds, namely carbon tetrachloride (CCL4) and tetrachloroethylene (PERC), and some 1 chlorinated aromatic compounds, namely hexachlorobenzene (HCB), hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD), hexachloroethane (HCE), octachlorostyrene (OCS) 1 and 2,4,5-trichlorotoluene (2,4,5-TCT). The chemical fate and transport model WASTOX (Water Quality Analysis Simulation for Toxics), developed by Dr. J.P. Connolly of Manhatten College and modified for use by the MOE, enabled the accurate prediction of 1 contaminant distribution in the St. Clair River ecosystem. Through the use r of WASTOX, other sophisticated mathematical models and a comprehensive sample collection effort, effluent limits (load allocations) were derived for evaluation purposes based on water and sediment quality as well as the s health of the biological community. The effluent limits recommended in this report were derived only through 1 water-quality-based models, given that sediment- and biologically-based models require further refinements, additional data, and the development of 1 appropriate receiving-water-based criteria. 1 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The St. Clair River Pilot Site Study makes specific recommendations for maximum allowable chemical-specific load allocations for selected point-source discharges to the St. Clair River. Required reductions for chemicals of concern vary from not exceeding the loadings measured in 1986-87 to a 99.8% reduction for octachlorostyrene at the Cole drain. For y the overall Dow Chemical complex, recommended reductions for hexachloro- benzene and octachlorostyrene are 75% and 99% respectively, whereas recommended reductions for tetrachloroethylene and hexachlorobutadiene are 1 39% and 13%. With the exception of OCS, existing loads from the Polysar 72-inch sewer were sufficiently low to ensure the protection of aquatic life, while several contaminants of concern emitted at the Cole drain require further reductions. Table 1 identifies recommended loads and reductions necessary to maintain acceptable environmental conditions at the edge of the mixing zone, based on measurements made during 1986 and 1987. r Extensive effluent monitoring indicates that most sewers demonstrate highly variable effluent quality, with occasional peak discharges accounting for a f disproportionately high fraction of annual loadings. Findings indicate that minimizing this variability in effluent quality would assist in 1 achieving compliance with effluent guidelines. Notwithstanding recommended reductions, it is recognized that loadings of total volatile organic compounds and chlorinated aromatic compounds to the I St. Clair River from Dow Chemical Inc. were significantly reduced from November 1985 to the end of March 1987. Dow facility loadings were reduced in the order of 90% and 76% for these two groups of compounds respectively. 1 Additional effluent monitoring now being conducted under MISA at Dow and Polysar will verify sewer and facility load reductions to the St. Clair River, and will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of specific in-plant remedial measures. It was determined through long-term effluent monitoring that both the Cole e drain and the Dow 42-inch sewer are significant sources of the parameters of concern including HCB, HCBD, HCE and OCS. r - v - I 1 TABLE 1: SUMMARY OF RECEIVING-WATER-BASED LOAD ALLOCATIONS FOR 95% COMPLIANCE TARGET* I MEAN MONTHLY LOADS (g/d) 2,4,5 - SOURCE OCS HCB TCT HC80 HCE PERC CCL4 Hg Cole drain: Existing 9.2 8.9 9.6 140 6.8 48 7.9 2.2 r Recommended 0.015W 3.9W 9.6E 87W 6.8E 48E 7.9E 2.2E % reduction 99.8 56.2 0 37.9 0 0 0 0 r Pol sar 72-inch Existing 0.2 0.1 0.001 1 0.1 6.9 2.7 0.4 Recommended 0.002W 0.1E 0.001E 1E 0.1E 6.9E 2.7E 0.4E % reduction 99.5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 Dow 1st Street: Existing 3.1 7.5 50 31 80 2190 2972 4.4 1 Recommended 0.039W 13W 34W 26W 80E 1000W 2972E 4.4E % reduction 98.7 77.3 32 16.1 0 54.3 0 0 1 Dow 2nd Street: Existing 0.3 1 1.9 4 1.5 153 188 2.8 Recommended 0.001W .8W 1.9E 4E 1.5E 153E 188E 2.8E % reduction 99.7 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 Dow 3rd Street: 1 Existing 0.1 0.1 .2 1.9 0.4 25 254 2.7 23E Recommended 0.001W 0.1E .2E 1.7W 0.4E 25E 254E % reduction 99.0 0 0 10.5 0 0 0 0 Dow 4th Street: Existing 0.5 3.3 1.4 4.7 36.2 684 676 6.4 1 Recommended 0.005W 0.4W 1.4E 43E 36.2E 684E 676E 6.4E % reduction 99.0 87.9 0 0 0 0 0 0 Existing (E) = Existing mean monthly load; Recommended = allocated mean monthly load; % reduction = recommended vs. existing; W = modelled load allocation utilizing receiving-water-based (water-quality) model Note: Dow 1st Street includes 42-, 48- and 54-inch sewers. r * Compliance Target is fraction of time for which effluent limits must be met based on water-quality model.