FINAL SUMMARY REPORT for Benthos and Plankton within Waukegan Area of Concern: Potential for Further Local Restoration EPA Contract Number EP-R5-11-07 Task Order 08 Submitted to: Mr. William Bolen Technical Project Manager Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) 77 West Jackson Boulevard Chicago, IL 60604 Prepared by: Battelle 505 King Avenue Columbus, OH 43201 January 15, 2013 CONTENTS APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................................. ii FIGURES ...................................................................................................................................................... ii TABLES ...................................................................................................................................................... iii ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS .................................................................................................... iv 1.0: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Site Descriptions........................................................................................................................ 1 1.2 Objectives .................................................................................................................................. 3 1.3 Approach ................................................................................................................................... 4 2.0: SITE ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES SUMMARY ............................................................................. 10 2.1 Collection of Plankton Samples .............................................................................................. 10 2.2 Collection of Benthic Data ...................................................................................................... 11 2.3 Collection of Sediment Sample ............................................................................................... 12 3.0: BASELINE CHARACTERIZATION AND SITE COMPARISON RESULTS .............................. 13 3.1 Plankton Community ............................................................................................................... 13 3.2 Benthic Community ................................................................................................................ 20 3.3 Benthic Sediments ................................................................................................................... 25 4.0: CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................ 29 4.1 Waukegan Harbor AOC vs. Burns Harbor .............................................................................. 29 4.2 Waukegan Harbor AOC vs. Historical Data ........................................................................... 30 5.0: REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................... 32 APPENDICES APPENDIX A: FIELD LOGS AND CHAINS OF CUSTODY APPENDIX B: SITE PHOTOS APPENDIX C: PLANKTON DATA APPENDIX D: BENTHIC COMMUNITY DATA APPENDIX E: BENTHIC SEDIMENT DATA APPENDIX F: STATISTICAL OUTPUTS FIGURES Figure 1-1. Entrance Locations for Waukegan Harbor and Port of Indiana (Burns Harbor, Non-AOC Reference Site) .......................................................................................................................... 2 Figure 1-2. Actual Sampling Locations in Waukegan Harbor during the July and August 2012 Sampling Events ........................................................................................................................................ 6 Figure 1-3. Actual Sampling Locations in Burns Harbor (Non-AOC Reference Site) during the July and August 2012 Sampling Events .................................................................................................. 7 Figure 3-1. The Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index for the Entire Plankton Community at Each Site for the Two Sampling Periods ............................................................................................................ 15 Figure 3-2. The Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index for the Phytoplankton Community at Each Site for the Two Sampling Periods ............................................................................................................ 16 ii Figure 3-3. The Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index for the Large-Cell Zooplankton Community at Each Site for the Two Sampling Periods .......................................................................................... 17 Figure 3-4 The Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index for the Rotifer Community at Each Site for the Two Sampling Periods ..................................................................................................................... 18 Figure 3-5. Distribution of the 11 Most Abundant Species of Phytoplankton at Waukegan and Burns Harbors in July and August 2012 ............................................................................................ 19 Figure 3-6. The Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index for the Benthic Community for Each Site for the Two Sampling Periods ..................................................................................................................... 23 TABLES Table 1-1. Coordinates for Waukegan Harbor and Port of Indiana (Burns Harbor, Non-AOC Referernce Site) Entrances ........................................................................................................................... 2 Table 1-2. Sample Structure for the Assessment of Benthic and Plankton Communities ........................... 5 Table 1-3. Field Event - Subtasks ................................................................................................................ 8 Table 2-1. Summary of Laboratories Performing Analyses and Analytical Parameters ........................... 10 Table 3-1. Summary of the Abundance of the Plankton Community at Both the Waukegan Harbor AOC and Burns Harbor Reference Sites .......................................................................................... 14 Table 3-2. The Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index for the Entire Plankton Community at Each Site for the Two Sampling Periods ............................................................................................................ 15 Table 3-3. The Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index for the Phytoplankton Community at Each Site for the Two Sampling Periods ............................................................................................................ 16 Table 3-4. The Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index for the Large-Cell Zooplankton Community at Each Site for the Two Sampling Periods .......................................................................................... 17 Table 3-5. The Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index for the Rotifer Community at Each Site for the Two Sampling Periods ..................................................................................................................... 18 Table 3-6. Summary of the Abundance of the Benthic Community at Both the Waukegan Harbor AOC and Burns Harbor Reference Sites .......................................................................................... 22 Table 3-7. The Shannon-Weaver Diversity Index for the Benthic Community for Each Site for the Two Sampling Periods ..................................................................................................................... 23 Table 3-8. A Classification of Oligiochaete Species According to the Degree of Enrichment of the Environments In Which They Are Characteristically Found .................................................. 24 Table 3-9. The Trophic Condition Index for the Benthic Community for Each Site for the Two Sampling Periods ..................................................................................................................................... 24 Table 3-10. Particle Size Distribution Summary for Burns Harbor ........................................................... 26 Table 3-11. Particle Size Distribution Summary for Waukegan Harbor Area of Concern ........................ 27 Table 3-12. Summary of Total Volatile Solids from Waukegan and Burns Harbor in July 2012 and August 2012 ............................................................................................................................ 28 iii ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AOC area of concern ARCS Assessment and Remediation of Contaminated Sediments BUI beneficial use impairment CAS Columbia Analytical Services EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency PSD particle size distribution QA quality assurance QAPP Quality Assurance Project Plan QC quality control SOP Standard Operating Procedure TVS total volatile solid WPA Waukegan Port Authority iv 1.0: INTRODUCTION The Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs) are severely degraded areas within the Great Lakes Basin where beneficial uses of water or biota have been listed as impaired or where environmental criteria have been exceeded and impairment is likely. Waukegan Harbor AOC is located in extreme northeast Illinois, within the City of Waukegan, on the western shore of Lake Michigan. The Waukegan Harbor AOC has a list of beneficial use impairments (BUIs) that must be addressed to improve overall water quality. The BUIs include degradation of