THE NATIONAL COASTAL POLLUTANT DISCHARGE INVENTORY Gulf of Maine Point Source Inventory A Summary by Watershed for 1991 Gulf of St. Lawrence Gulf of Maine December 1994 Pollution Sources Characterization Branch Strategic Environmental Assessments Division National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Silver Spring, MD 20910 Project Team Percy A. Pacheco, Project Leader Anthony S. Pait- Report author Sheila J. Arenstam- Programming and analysis Alice E. DeSouza - GIS analysis and support Daniel R.G. Farrow - Technical review Jamie Higgins - Graphics support Gulf of Maine Point Source Inventory This document presents the results of the first phase of NOAA's Gulf of Maine Project, completed in December 1994. The information contained within the database and this report reflect the comments and additional data provided by the reviewers during the summer of 1994. Direct any comments, questions or problems relating to the National Coastal Pollutant Discharge Inventory (NCPDI) Point Source Inventory to Percy A. Pacheco or Daniel R. G. Farrow at the address on the inside of the back cover. Acknowledgments The Project Team wishes to thank those individuals in the five jurisdictions of the Gulf of Maine Program who reviewed the data and the draft of this report. The comments and the additional data they supplied improved the reliability of the Point Source Inven­ tory. The Project Team would also like to acknowl­ edge the support provided by NOAA's Coastal Ocean Program and Region I of the EPA. Finally, the Team would like thank our colleagues in the Strate­ gic Environmental Assessments Division for their contributions in completing this project, particularly Manyu Swain and John J. Hayes for assisting in the data review, and Mitchell J. Katz for his editorial comments. Introduction .............................................................................................: .............................................................. 1 Results ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Data Sources ........................................................................................................................................................... 8 U.S. and Canadian Data Variables ...................................................................................................................... 9 Load Estimation Methods .................................................. :..... ................................................................: ........... 9 How Good is the Inventory? ................................................................................................................................ 10 How Can the Inventory be Improved? ............................................................................................................... 11 Appendices 1. Individual Facility Characteristics, Annual Pollutant Load Estimates, and Basis of Estimates for Major and Significant Minor Facilities, 1991 ................................................................ 1-1 2. Top Ten Dischargers by Pollutant, 1991 ................................................................................................ 2-1 3. Pollutant Loads by Major Source Category and Percent of Annual Discharge by Watershed, 1991 .................................................................................................................................. 3-1 4. Percent of Pollutant Discharge Estimate Based on Monitored (M), Permit (P), Typical (T), or Other (0) Data by Major Source Category and Watershed, 1991 .................................................... 4-1 5. Percent of Pollutant Discharges Estimated by Different Data Sources ............................................ 5-1 6. Number of Facilities in Watersheds by Two-Digit SIC Major Group, 1991 ..................................... 6-1 7. Distribution of Facilities in the Study Area by Four-Digit SIC Code, 1991 ..................................... 7-1 8. Maps ofMajor and Significant Minor Point Source Facilities in the Gulf of Maine Study Area ................................................................................................................................ 8-1 9. Watersheds in the Gulf of Maine Study Area ....................................................................................... 9-1 10. Hydrologic Cataloging Units in the Gulf of Maine Study Area ...................................................... 1Q-1 11. Counties in the Gulf of Maine Study Area ......................................................................................... 11-1 12. County and Hydrologic Cataloging Unit Cross Reference Table for the Gulf of Maine Watersheds .................................................................................................................................. 12-1 13. Differences Between Canadian and U.S. Data Variables in the Gulf of Maine Point Source Inventory .......................................................................................................................... 13-1 14. Glossary ................................................................................................................................................... 14-1 Figures 1. Study Area for the Gulf of Maine Point Source Inventory ..................................................................3 2. Number of Point Source Facilities by Watershed and Major Point Source Category in the Gulf of Maine Study Area, 1991 ....................................................................................................... 6 3. Annual Process Flow by Watershed and Major Point Source Category in the Gulf of Maine Study Area, 1991 ........................................................................................................................... 7 4. Basis of Loading Estimates for Selected Pollutants in the U.S. Portion of the Gulf of Maine Study Area, 1991 ........................................................................................................................................ 8 5. Basis of Loading Estimates for Selected Pollutants in the Canadian Portion of the Gulf of Maine Study Area, 1991 ...................................................................................................................... 9 Table 1. Pollutants in the NCPDI Gulf of Maine Inventory ............................................................................... 2 Gulfof Maine Point Source Inventory December 1994 source dischargers by watershed. Inventory is maintained within jlntroduction The information contained within NOAA's National Coastal the report can provide resource Pollutant Discharge Inventory This report summarizes the managers with valuable insights (NCPDI), and is available on two information contained in the Gulf as to which facilities are impor­ IBM-compatible floppy diskettes of Maine Point Source Inventory tant contributors of pollutant (3.5-inch) in an ASCII format. (hereafter, the "Inventory"). The dis~rges to the coastal waters The seven deliverable files Inventory includes structural of the Gulf of Maine. archived on the two diskettes data and pollutant discharge contain facility information and estimates for 273 major and 1,751 The report and Inventory were pollutant discharge estimates by minor direct discharging point compiled by the Pollution facility and individual pipe. source facilities located in the U.S. and Canadian watersheds Contents and Organization. This draining to the Gulf of Maine. • The NCPDI GulfofMainestudy report is organized into two Estimates of annual and seasonal major sections. The first contains discharges are made for 15 area comprises (Tf}er 68,000square miles. an analysis of the data; the pollutants for a base year of 1991, second a series of detailed using a combination of monitor­ • The 1990 papulation within the appendices. The first section ing data, permit limits, and includes a characterization of the typical engineering values. studyareawasapproximately6.8 million. point source dischargers in the Gulf of Maine, along with This report and the digital discussions on data sources, • .Ther~ are 1,553 direct discharg­ da~abase on which the report is differences between U.S. and based were developed as part of mg mdustrial facilities, 378 wastewater treatment plants Canadian data, estimation an interagency agreement methods, an assessment of data between the National Oceanic (WWI'Ps), and 93 power plants in the Gulf of Maine. quality including limitations, and and Atmospheric Administration potential ways of improving the (NOAA) and the U.S. Environ­ Inventory. Discharge estimates mental Protection Agency (EPA), • WWTPs and paper mills are the largest dischargers of pollutants. are aggregated by watershed to build a point source inventory rather than by county so that for the Gulf of Maine Program. estimates can be more easily The program was organized in • The Deer Island/Nut Island WWTP complex in Boston,Mas­ related to water quality impacts 1989 as a cooperative effort in each watershed. between Federal and State (or ~husef!S is the single largest smgle dtscharger fiJr the major­ Provincial) agencies in the United The 14 appendices in this report States and Canada to address and ity of pollutants in the lnven- ~· . contain individual facility act upon environmental issues of characteristics and annual concern, such as the sustainable pollutant load estimates; list, for