Wenatchee River PCB and DDT Source Assessment July 2016 Publication No. 16-03-029 Publication information This report is available on the Department of Ecology’s website at https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/SummaryPages/1603029.html Data for this project are available at Ecology’s Environmental Information Management (EIM) website www.ecy.wa.gov/eim/index.htm. Search Study ID WHOB002. The Activity Tracker Code for this study is 14-040. Suggested Citation: Hobbs, W. and M. Friese. 2016. Wenatchee River PCB and DDT Source Assessment. Washington State Dept. of Ecology. Olympia, WA. Publication No. 16-03-029. https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/summarypages/1603029.html Contact information For more information contact: Publications Coordinator Environmental Assessment Program P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600 Phone: (360) 407-6764 Washington State Department of Ecology - www.ecy.wa.gov o Headquarters, Olympia (360) 407-6000 o Northwest Regional Office, Bellevue (425) 649-7000 o Southwest Regional Office, Olympia (360) 407-6300 o Central Regional Office, Yakima (509) 575-2490 o Eastern Regional Office, Spokane (509) 329-3400 Any use of product or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the author or the Department of Ecology. Accommodation Requests: To request ADA accommodation including materials in a format for the visually impaired, call Ecology at 360-407-6764. Persons with impaired hearing may call Washington Relay Service at 711. Persons with speech disability may call TTY at 877-833-6341. Wenatchee River PCB and DDT Source Assessment by William Hobbs and Michael Friese Environmental Assessment Program Washington State Department of Ecology Olympia, Washington 98504-7710 Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) and 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) numbers for the study area: • WRIA - 45 (Wenatchee River basin) • HUC number - 17020011 Page 1 This page is purposely left blank Page 2 Table of Contents Page List of Figures ......................................................................................................................5 List of Tables .......................................................................................................................6 Abstract ................................................................................................................................7 Acknowledgements ..............................................................................................................8 Executive Summary .............................................................................................................9 Findings..........................................................................................................................9 Recommendations ........................................................................................................10 PCBs ......................................................................................................................10 DDT .......................................................................................................................11 Bioaccumulation ....................................................................................................11 Introduction ........................................................................................................................12 Contaminants of Concern ............................................................................................12 Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) .........................................................................12 Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) .............................................................14 Potential Sources ..........................................................................................................14 Previous Studies ...........................................................................................................15 Methods..............................................................................................................................18 Study Location .............................................................................................................18 Sampling and Laboratory Methods ..............................................................................21 Water ......................................................................................................................22 Biota .......................................................................................................................24 Sediment ................................................................................................................26 Quality control procedures .....................................................................................26 Results ................................................................................................................................28 Quality Assurance ........................................................................................................28 Blanks ....................................................................................................................28 Precision .................................................................................................................28 Bias ........................................................................................................................29 Sensitivity ..............................................................................................................30 Water ............................................................................................................................30 Discharge ...............................................................................................................30 Semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) ......................................................31 Continuous Low-Level Aquatic Monitoring devices (C.L.A.M.s) ........................33 Biota .............................................................................................................................35 Biofilms..................................................................................................................35 Macroinvertebrates and mountain whitefish diet ...................................................39 Stable isotopes and trophic position ......................................................................40 River Bed Survey .........................................................................................................42 Transformers ..........................................................................................................42 Sediment ................................................................................................................43 Page 3 Discussion ..........................................................................................................................44 PCB Sources ................................................................................................................44 DDT Sources ................................................................................................................46 Contaminant Loading...................................................................................................48 PCBs ......................................................................................................................48 DDT .......................................................................................................................48 Wenatchee Food Web ..................................................................................................50 Bioaccumulation of PCBs ............................................................................................51 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................53 PCBs ............................................................................................................................53 DDT .............................................................................................................................53 Wenatchee River Food Web and Bioaccumulation .....................................................54 Recommendations ..............................................................................................................55 PCBs ............................................................................................................................55 DDT .............................................................................................................................55 Bioaccumulation ..........................................................................................................55 References ..........................................................................................................................57 Appendix A. Potential sources ....................................................................................62 Appendix B. Study locations and methods. ................................................................64 Appendix C. Quality assurance objectives and results. ..............................................66 Appendix D. Study results. .........................................................................................74 Appendix E. Bioaccumulation model parameters