MASSACHUSETTS BAY DISPOSAL SITE SITE MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING PLAN FINAL NOVEMBER 2 2009 US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS New England District Massachusetts Bay Disposal Site Site Management and Monitoring Plan 11/2/2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACRONYMS AND KEYWORDS .......................................................................................................................... IV 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 PURPOSE .............................................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 OBJECTIVES ......................................................................................................................................................... 1 1.3 ORGANIZATION OF THE SMMP ............................................................................................................................ 2 1.4 STATE-WIDE DREDGED MATERIAL AND OCEAN PLANNING ................................................................................... 2 1.5 REVIEW AND CONSULTATION WITH OTHER FEDERAL AGENCIES ........................................................................... 3 2. ROLES, RESPONSIBILITIES AND AUTHORITIES ........................................................................................ 4 2.1 FEDERAL REGULATORY/STATUTORY RESPONSIBILITIES ....................................................................................... 4 2.2 SURVEILLANCE AND ENFORCEMENT .................................................................................................................... 5 2.2.1 SILENT INSPECTOR ............................................................................................................................................ 5 2.2.2 MONITORING .................................................................................................................................................... 6 3. BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................................................................... 6 3.1 LOCATION ............................................................................................................................................................ 6 3.2 BRIEF HISTORY OF DISPOSAL AT THIS SITE ........................................................................................................... 6 3.3 BUOY LOCATIONS ................................................................................................................................................ 7 3.4 ESTIMATED QUANTITY OF DREDGED MATERIAL DISPOSED IN LAST 15 YEARS ...................................................... 8 Table 1 ............................................................................................................................................................... 10 Figure 1 .............................................................................................................................................................. 11 Figure 2 .............................................................................................................................................................. 12 Figure 3 .............................................................................................................................................................. 13 Figure 4 .............................................................................................................................................................. 14 Figure 5. ............................................................................................................................................................. 15 4. BASELINE ASSESSMENT .................................................................................................................................. 16 4. 1 GENERAL PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS .............................................................. 16 4.1.1 PHYSICAL SETTING AND CIRCULATION........................................................................................................... 16 Figure 6 .............................................................................................................................................................. 17 Figure 7 .............................................................................................................................................................. 18 4.1.2 SEDIMENT CHARACTERISTICS ......................................................................................................................... 19 4.1.3 SEDIMENT CHEMISTRY ................................................................................................................................... 19 Figure 8 .............................................................................................................................................................. 20 Table 2 ............................................................................................................................................................... 21 4.1.4 BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF BENTHIC COMMUNITIES .......................................................................... 21 4.1.5 WATER COLUMN CHARACTERISTICS .............................................................................................................. 22 4.1.6 EPIFAUNA AND FISHERIES ............................................................................................................................... 22 4.1.7 MARINE MAMMALS AND SEA TURTLES .......................................................................................................... 23 Table 3 ............................................................................................................................................................... 24 4.1.8 CULTURAL RESOURCES .................................................................................................................................. 25 4.2 SIGNIFICANT PROJECTS WHICH MAY INFLUENCE MANAGEMENT OF THE MBDS ................................................ 25 5. EVALUATION OF USACE AND EPA MONITORING RESULTS SINCE 1996 ......................................... 26 5.1 CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF IMPACTS OF DISPOSAL AT THE MBDS ......................................................................... 26 5.2 ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING OBJECTIVES ...................................................................................................... 27 5.3 KEY SAMPLING TECHNOLOGIES AND EVALUATION APPROACHES ................................................ 27 5.4 MONITORING SURVEYS IN PAST 15 YEARS ............................................................................................ 29 Table 4. .............................................................................................................................................................. 30 Table 5 ............................................................................................................................................................... 31 ii Massachusetts Bay Disposal Site Site Management and Monitoring Plan 11/2/2009 6. QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF MATERIAL TO BE DISPOSED ............................................................... 33 6.1 RECENT AND UPCOMING PROJECTS ............................................................................................................... 33 6.2 CAPACITY .......................................................................................................................................................... 34 6.3 DREDGED MATERIAL QUALITY: EVALUATION AND TESTING REQUIREMENTS ..................................................... 34 7. MANAGEMENT APPROACH........................................................................................................................... 34 7.1 ALL DREDGED MATERIAL DISPOSED AT THE MBDS MUST MEET THE OCEAN DUMPING CRITERIA ...................... 35 7.2 IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF ALL GENERAL AND SPECIFIC PERMIT CONDITIONS ............................ 35 7.3 DISPOSAL LOCATIONS AND COORDINATES ......................................................................................................... 39 7.4 ALLOWABLE DISPOSAL TECHNOLOGIES AND METHODS ..................................................................................... 39 7.5 TIMING OF DISPOSAL MINIMIZES CONFLICTS WITH OTHER USES OF THE AREA .................................................... 40 7.6 DREDGED MATERIAL DISPOSAL COMPLIANCE INFORMATION IS RECORDED IN AN INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM .................................................................................................................................................................... 40 7.7 ENVIRONMENTAL AND COMPLIANCE MONITORING ARE DESIGNED TO RECOGNIZE AND CORRECT CONDITIONS BEFORE UNACCEPTABLE (SIGNIFICANT ADVERSE) IMPACT OCCURS ......................................................................... 40 7.8 MODIFICATIONS TO DISPOSAL PRACTICES AND THE SITE ................................................................ 40 8. MONITORING PROGRAM ................................................................................................................................ 41 8.1 COMPLIANCE MONITORING ..............................................................................................................................