Photo by Bill Rhodes DATA COLLECTION PLAN REMEDIAL INVESTIGATION/FEASIBILITY STUDY NEWTOWN CREEK Prepared by Anchor QEA, LLC 305 West Grand Avenue, Suite 300 Montvale, New Jersey 07645 October 2011 DATA COLLECTION PLAN REMEDIAL INVESTIGATION/FEASIBILITY STUDY, NEWTOWN CREEK Prepared by Anchor QEA, LLC 305 West Grand Avenue, Suite 300 Montvale, New Jersey 07645 October 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................. 1 2 STUDY AREA AND RI/FS OVERVIEW .............................................................................. 5 2.1 History ..............................................................................................................................5 2.2 RI/FS Goals and Objectives ..............................................................................................5 2.3 Objectives and Scope of the Historical Data Review .....................................................6 2.4 RI Activities Supported by Historical Data Review .......................................................9 2.5 Results of Historical Data Review .................................................................................11 2.6 Schedule for Historical Data Review ............................................................................13 3 OVERVIEW OF HISTORICAL DATA COLLECTION PROCESS .................................... 15 3.1 Approach to Data Collection .........................................................................................15 3.2 Types of Information Collected as Historical Data ......................................................15 3.3 Roles and Responsibilities ..............................................................................................16 4 ENVIRONMENTAL DATA COLLECTION ....................................................................... 19 5 PHYSICAL DATA COLLECTION ...................................................................................... 25 6 STUDY AREA DATA COLLECTION ................................................................................. 35 7 DATA COLLECTION PROCESS ......................................................................................... 41 8 HISTORICAL DATA REPOSITORY .................................................................................. 43 8.1 Naming Conventions .....................................................................................................43 8.2 Historical Data Review Quality Assurance/Quality Control Processes ......................43 9 RESOURCES REQUIRING ASSISTANCE FROM USEPA AND NYSDEC ....................... 45 10 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................... 46 Data Collection Plan October 2011 Newtown Creek RI/FS i 110782.01-01 List of Tables Table 4-1 Names of NYSDEC Sites, USEPA RCRA LQG Facilities, and Other Historical Data Review Sites in the Historical Data Review Area ..................................... 21 Table 5-1 Potential Sources of Physical Data and Contact Information ........................... 26 Table 6-1 Study Area Data Requested and Obtained ......................................................... 36 List of Figures Figure 1-1 Location Map ......................................................................................................... 3 Figure 1-2 Study Area Location .............................................................................................. 4 Figure 2-1 Historical Data Review Area ............................................................................... 14 Figure 3-1 Data Collection Activities ................................................................................... 18 Figure 4-1 Locations of NYSDEC Sites, USEPA RCRA LQG Facilities, and Other Historical Data Review Sites in the Historical Data Review Area .................... 23 Figure 4-2 Historical Data Review Site Summary Status ..................................................... 24 Figure 5-1 Generalized Zoning and Significant Maritime Industrial Area Map ................ 30 Figure 5-2 Laurel Hill OU6 Bathymetric Survey ................................................................. 31 Figure 5-3 NYCDEP 2005/2006 Bathymetric Survey in Study Area .................................. 32 Figure 5-4 NYCDEP Maintenance Dredging Study Hydrographic Survey Examples ....... 33 Figure 5-5 1899 Map of the Newtown Creek Area .............................................................. 34 Figure 6-1 Laurel Hill OU6 Data Collection Locations ....................................................... 38 Figure 6-2 USEPA Expanded Site Inspection Sediment Sampling Locations ..................... 39 Figure 6-3 NYCDEP Maintenance Dredging Study Sampling Locations ........................... 40 Figure 7-1 Form 1 Record Batch Collection Transmittal Form .......................................... 42 List of Appendices Appendix A Bibliography and Site Summaries (Draft-Work in Progress) Appendix B Information Request Submitted to NYSDEC Data Collection Plan October 2011 Newtown Creek RI/FS ii 110782.01-01 LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation Definition ASAC Activity Specific Acceptance Criteria AOC Administrative Order on Consent APE Area Of Potential Effect BERA Baseline Ecological Risk Assessment CFR Code of Federal Regulations CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act CSM Conceptual Site Model COPC Constituent of Potential Concern COPEC Constituents of Potential Ecological Concern CRS Cultural Resources Survey DCP Data Collection Plan DMP Data Management Plan DO Dissolved Oxygen DQO Data Quality Objective ECHO Enforcement and Compliance History Online ESI Expanded Site Inspection FS Feasibility Study FTP File Transfer Protocol FOIA Freedom of Information Act FOIL Freedom of Information Law GIS Geographic Information System HDR Historical Data Review HHRA Human Health Risk Assessment LQG Large Quantity Generator MDAC Minimum Data Acceptance Criteria NHPA National Historic Preservation Act NYC New York City NYCDEP New York City Department of Environmental Protection NYSDEC New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Data Collection Plan October 2011 Newtown Creek RI/FS iii 110782.01-01 OU6 Operable Unit 6, Laurel Hill PDF Portable Document Format QA Quality Assurance QAPP Quality Assurance Project Plan QC Quality Control RI Remedial Investigation RI/FS Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act SLERA Screening Level Ecological Risk Assessment SIU Significant Industrial Users SMIA Significant Maritime and Industrial Area SPDES State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System TRI Toxic Release Inventory USEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency VCP Voluntary Cleanup Program Data Collection Plan October 2011 Newtown Creek RI/FS iv 110782.01-01 1 INTRODUCTION This Data Collection Plan (DCP) provides the data collection process and procedures for the Historical Data Review for the Newtown Creek Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study (RI/FS) as described in the RI/FS Work Plan (AECOM 2011). This work is being performed under an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) between the Respondents to this AOC and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in the USEPA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) program. The RI/FS Study Area is defined in the AOC as Newtown Creek and its tributaries (Dutch Kills, Maspeth Creek, Whale Creek, East Branch, and English Kills) having an approximate 3.8-mile reach (Figures 1-1 and 1-2) to the high water mark1. This DCP includes collection and evaluation of historical data pertaining to the Study Area itself, as well as collection and evaluation of pre-existing documents and data from upland areas adjacent to the Study Area. The uplands area data collection activity is intended solely to help identify and quantify significant loadings of constituents of potential concern (COPCs) and, to the extent of available information, sources of such loadings to the Study Area. This DCP also details the objectives of the Historical Data Review, identifies the documents (or types of documents) that will be sought and likely sources of these documents, the process that will be followed to attempt to obtain these documents, a summary of efforts conducted to date to obtain these documents, and a summary of the documents collected to date. This plan discusses data acceptance criteria for use of relevant data in the RI/FS. Ways in which USEPA and the New York State Department of 1 The Newtown Creek Superfund Site Study Area is described in the AOC as encompassing the body of water known as Newtown Creek, situated at the border of the boroughs of Brooklyn (Kings County) and Queens (Queens County) in the City of New York and the State of New York, roughly centered at the geographic coordinates of 40° 42' 54.69” north latitude (40.715192°) and 73° 55' 50.74” west longitude (-73.930762°), having an approximate 3.8-mile reach, including Newtown Creek proper and its five branches (or tributaries) known respectively as Dutch Kills, Maspeth Creek, Whale Creek, East Branch, and English Kills, as well as the sediments below the water and the water column above the sediments, up to and including the landward edge of the shoreline, and including also any bulkheads or riprap containing the waterbody, except where no bulkhead or riprap exists, then