Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan Monitoring Catalogue 2006
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Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan Monitoring Catalogue 2006 Prepared by: Hamilton Harbour RAP Office RAP Coordinator: John D. Hall, MCIP, RPP RAP Researcher/Report Writer: Kristin M. O’Connor March 2007 Hamilton Harbour RAP Monitoring Catalogue : 2006 March 2007 ISBN: 978 - 0 - 9733779 - 7 - 2 Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan Monitoring Catalogue Prepared by: Hamilton Harbour RAP Office RAP Coordinator: John D. Hall, MCIP, RPP RAP Researcher/Report Writer: Kristin M. O’Connor First Published: June 2004 (ISBN: 0 - 9733779 - 4 -1) 2005 Edition: January 2006 (ISBN: 0 - 9733779 - 6 - 8) For more information contact: Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan Office P.O. Box 5050 867 Lakeshore Road Burlington, Ontario, L7R 4A6 Canada Tel. 905-336-6279 Fax 905-336-4906 Email [email protected] Website: www.hamiltonharbour.ca/rap ii Hamilton Harbour RAP Monitoring Catalogue : 2006 March 2007 Table of Contents 1. Background...................................................................................................................................1 2. Description of the Area .................................................................................................................1 3. RAP Components .........................................................................................................................2 4. Research and Monitoring Plan......................................................................................................2 5. Purpose of a Monitoring Catalogue ..............................................................................................3 6. Annual Workshops........................................................................................................................3 7. Catalogue Form Responses .........................................................................................................3 EC Central Station Water Quality Monitoring ...........................................................4 EC E. Coli Contamination Monitoring at Bayfront and Pier 4 Beaches ....................5 EC Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Great Lakes + Associated Areas of Concern ..............................................................................................................7 EC – CWS Hamilton Harbour Colonial Waterbird Counts ....................................................8 EC – CWS Great Lakes Herring Gull Egg Contaminants: Annual Monitoring ....................10 EC – CWS Assessing the Health of Snapping Turtles in Selected AOCs of the Great Lakes (Ontario Region) ....................................................................................12 DFO GLLFAS Research and Monitoring Projects in Hamilton Harbour ...................14 DFO Hamilton Harbour Contaminant Trend Monitoring Study..................................16 DFO The Occurrence of Epidermal and Liver Tumours in White Suckers and Brown Bullheads...............................................................................................18 EC and OMOE Assessing the Effectiveness of the Randle Reef Clean-up ..............................19 OMOE Great Lakes Index-Reference Station Monitoring ...........................................20 OMOE Sport Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program ...................................................22 Hamilton Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Effluent Monitoring ..............................23 Hamilton Combined Sewer Overflow Monitoring .............................................................25 Hamilton Hamilton Harbour Beach Monitoring Program..................................................26 Hamilton Monitoring in the Red Hill Creek Valley ...........................................................28 Halton Skyway Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Effluent Monitoring.................30 Con. Halton Grindstone Creek Water Quality Monitoring.....................................................32 Con. Halton Provincial Groundwater Monitoring Network – Conservation Halton Watershed ........................................................................................................34 Con. Halton Benthic Monitoring – Grindstone Creek Watershed ........................................35 Ham. C.A. Provincial Water Quality Monitoring Network – Spencer, Ancaster, and Redhill Creek ....................................................................................................36 Ham. C.A. Provincial Groundwater Monitoring Network – Hamilton Conservation Authority Watershed .........................................................................................38 Ham. C.A. BioMAP Monitoring – Hamilton CA Watershed ..............................................40 Ham. C.A. Fish and Fish Habitat Monitoring – Spencer Creek Watershed .....................42 Both C.A.s Hamilton-Halton Watershed Stewardship Program – Tree planting and naturalization sites............................................................................................44 iii Hamilton Harbour RAP Monitoring Catalogue : 2006 March 2007 RBG Water Quality Monitoring – Cootes Paradise and Hendrie Valley System .......46 RBG The Fishway ....................................................................................................48 RBG Cootes Paradise Emergent Survey 2003 Protocol ...........................................50 RBG Cootes Paradise Submergent Survey 2003 Protocol .......................................51 RBG Grindstone Emergent Survey 2003 Protocol ....................................................52 RBG Grindstone Submergent Survey 2003 Protocol ................................................53 RBG Incidental Vegetation Monitoring ......................................................................54 RBG Amphibian Metapopulation Enhancement........................................................55 RBG Turtle Inventory of Carroll’s Bay .......................................................................57 RBG Monitoring of Colonial Waterbird Nesting within Cootes Paradise/Carroll’s Bay ...................................................................................................................59 RBG Fall Migratory Waterbird Inventory ...................................................................61 RBG Canada Goose Local Breeding and Moult Migrant Monitoring.........................63 RBG Calling Amphibian Monitoring Programme .......................................................64 RBG Nesting Marshbird Monitoring Programme.......................................................66 RBG Canada Goose and Mute Swan Population Control Programme .....................68 RBG Wildlife Vehicular Mortality Study of Cootes Drive ...........................................70 Dofasco MISA Monitoring (Municipal-Industrial Strategy for Abatement).......................72 Dofasco Additional Monitoring for Hamilton Harbour RAP .............................................74 Hamilton Steel MISA Monitoring (Municipal-Industrial Strategy for Abatement).......................76 Hamilton Steel Additional Monitoring for Hamilton Harbour RAP .............................................78 iv Hamilton Harbour RAP Monitoring Catalogue : 2006 March 2007 Hamilton Harbour Remedial Action Plan Monitoring Catalogue: 2006 1. Background In the late 1980s, the International Joint Commission (IJC) identified 43 Areas of Concern in the Great Lakes basin where the beneficial uses of the water were considered impaired. Hamilton Harbour was identified as one of 17 Canadian Areas of Concern. Annex 2 of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) (1978 – as amended 1987) identifies the 14 impaired beneficial uses as: i. Restriction on fish and wildlife ix. Restrictions on drinking water consumption consumption or taste and odour ii. Tainting of fish and wildlife flavour problems iii. Degraded fish and wildlife populations x. Beach closings (Water contact iv. Fish tumours or other deformities sports) v. Bird or animal deformities or xi. Degradation of aesthetics reproductive problems xii. Added cost to agriculture or industry vi. Degradation of benthos xiii. Degradation of phytoplankton and vii. Restrictions on dredging activities zooplankton populations viii. Eutrophication or undesirable algae xiv. Loss of fish and wildlife habitat The Remedial Action Plan (RAP) program under the GLWQA is an initiative that requires the Canadian and U.S. governments to develop plans explaining how the problems in each of the Areas of Concern will be addressed. There are three stages to be addressed in Remedial Action Plans: Stage 1 – Environmental Conditions and Problem Definition Stage 2 – Goals, Options and Recommendations Stage 3 – Evaluation of Remedial Measures and Confirmation of Restoration of Uses For the Hamilton Harbour Area of Concern (AOC), Stage 1 was completed in 1989 with a second edition produced in 1992. Stage 2 was completed in 1992, with an update in 2002. Stage 3, currently targeted for 2015, will not be written until Hamilton Harbour is ready to apply to be delisted as an AOC. The Hamilton Harbour RAP is assisted by: the Bay Area Implementation Team (BAIT), the Bay Area Restoration Council (BARC), and Hamilton Harbour scientists. The Hamilton Harbour RAP relies on BAIT for implementation of initiatives, BARC for public input, and scientists for ongoing scientific and technical advice. The contributions from these groups cannot be understated. The Hamilton Harbour RAP has met the expectations of the public-at-large and incorporated an ecosystem approach because of these