[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]





                         NATIONAL STATUS AND TRENDS PROGRAM

                                        MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY


                           Assessment of
                  Chemical Contaminants
                                    in the
                Chesapeake and,001,gaw, ir,


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                                                  U. S. Department of Commerce
                                        National Oceanic andAtmosphericA dministration
                                                      National Ocean Service
    QH541.                            Office of Ocean Resources Conservation and Assessment
     .15A77                            Coastal Monitoring and Bioeffects Assessment Division
     1994                                       Silver Spring, Maryland 20910-3281







                                                    This coastal contamination assessment report summarizes results of the
                                                    National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program from sites in the Chesapeake
                     About                          and Delaware Bays. ft characterizes the systems, drainage basins, and
                                                    inputs that influence the concentrations of contaminants and biological
                        this                        responses to those substances. These results are shown in relation to
                                                    those obtained at all other NS& T sites around the United States. This
                     Report                         summary is intended to provide information to assist local and state re-
                                                    source managers evaluate toxic contaminant conditions in their areas and
                                                    place those conditions in perspective to those throughout the nation.


                  n response to the need for           aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); 20         Institute of Standards and Tech-
                  information assessing the            congeners of polychlorinated             nology (formerly the National
              effects of human activities on           biphenyls (PCBs); DDT, its               Bureau of Standards) in
              environmental quality in coastal         breakdown products DDD and               Gaithersburg, MD. Specimens
              and estuarine areas, and the need        DDE; nine other chlorinated              from the archive will be available
              to develop management strategies         pesticides; butyltins; four major        for retrospective analyses as new
              to deal with these conditions, the       elements; and 12 trace elements          analytical techniques become
              Coastal Monitoring and Bioeffects        in sediments, mussels, and               available and perceptions of
              Assessment Division (CMBAD) of           oysters at over 240 coastal and          environmental quality issues
              the National Oceanic and Atmo-           estuarine sites by the Mussel            change.
              spheric Administration (NOAA)            Watch Project. Additionally,
              initiated, in 1984, the National         determinations of the levels and         In 1986, the NS&T Program
              Status and Trends (NS&T) Pro-            effects of the same chemicals in         initiated Bioeffects Surveys in
              gram. The purpose of this program        the livers of bottom-dwelling fish       those regions where NS&T
              is to determine the current status       and associated sediments are             analyses indicated a potential for
              and detect changes that are              made by the Benthic Surveil-             substantial environmental degra-
              occurring in the environmental           lance Project at over 100 sites          dation and biological effects due to
              quality of our nation's estuarine        (refer to the map inside back            contamination. Most studies focus
              and coastal waters. Because of           cover). The frequency of external        on living marine resources,
              concern over inputs of contami-          and internal disease conditions in       especially bottom-dwelling fish.
              nants to U.S. coastal waters, it         the sampled fish is documented           Studies are done on such subjects
              was decided to focus the program         and data from all monitored sites        as reproductive impairment,
              initially on these substances and        are stored in the NS&T Data              genetic damage, sediment toxicity,
              their effects. Major components of       Base. This information is analyzed       refinement of methodologies, and
              the NS&T Program include: the            and made available to coastal and        evaluation of new indicators of
              Mussel Watch Project, the                marine resource managers and             contamination (DNA damage and
              Benthic Surveillance Project,            the public in a variety of reports       enzymatic activity in fish livers), as
              Bioeffects Surveys, Historical           and publications (over 400 to            well as on the relation of such
              Trends, Coastal Contamination            date).                                   effects to contaminant concentra-
              Assessments, the Quality                                                          tion gradients.
              Assurance Project, and Speci-            Sampling and analyses for the
              men Banking.                             NS&T monitoring projects are             Historical Trends synthesizes
                                                       performed using well-documented          available data and ancillary
              As part of its nationwide monitor-       methods and techniques, so that a        information pertaining to the trends
              ing, the NS&T Program monitors           known level of confidence can be         of toxic contaminants in regions of
              the levels of more than 70 con-          assigned to all data. Analytical         concern. Recently, the NS&T
              taminants and certain associated         procedures adhere to the stan-           Program added sediment coring to
              effects in biota and sediments. It       dards of its Quality Assurance           better assess the trends of chemi-
              provides data for making spatial         Project, established for all labora-     cal contaminants. For many areas
              and temporal comparisons of              tories participating in the NS&T         of concern, the NS&T data have
              contaminant levels to determine          Program. Selected samples                been used to develop Coastal
              which regions around our coasts          collected as part of the NS&T's          Contamination Assessments,
              are of greatest concern regarding        Specimen Banking are pre-                which place regional contaminant
              existing or developing potential for     served in liquid nitrogen and            findings for specific sites in per-
              environmental degradation. It            stored at - 150 OC. A specimen           spective with chemical concentra-
              includes measurements of con-            archive of these samples has             tions around the nation.
              centrations of 24 polycyclic             been established at the National






                                                            Assessment of Chemical Contaminants
                                                                                                                                         in the
                                                                             Chesapeake and Delaware Bays






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                                                                                                        I
                                                                 LIBRARY                                                                                                                                    Silver          Spring, Maryland
                                                             NOAA/CCEH                                                                   w                                                                  November, 1994
           CO                                       1990 HOBSON AVE
            Lj-                                  .'HAS. SC 29408-2623
























































                                               Copies of this report can be obtained by writing to:

                                             Coastal Monitoring and Bioeffects Assessment Division
                                                                 NOAA/NOS
                                                              N/ORCA2, SSMC4
                                                           1305 East-West Highway
                                                     Silver Spring, Maryland 20910-3281


                         NS&T Data can be obtained on either Macintosh or DOS formatted diskettes by writing or calling:

                                                           Dr. Thomas P. O'Connor
                                                             N/ORCA211, SSMC4
                                                           1305 East-West Highway
                                                        Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
                                                               (301) 713-3032
                                                             FAX: (301) 713-4388






                   Assessment of Chemical Contaminants
                                                             in the
                          Chesapeake and Delaware Boys

               Summary

               Results to date from the NS&T monitoring data have been used to assess levels of toxic
               contaminants and certain related biological effects in estuarine and coastal marine organ-
               isms and sediments. Although most major urban centers exhibit elevated levels of a number
               of contaminants, most U.S. coastal areas have been found to have low, and in some cases
               decreasing, levels of contamination.



                       Chemical Contaminant Summary. Results to date from the National Status and Trends
               Program monitoring efforts show that, with few exceptions, "high" levels of contamination in sedi-
               ments and associated biota are found at sites near urban areas. Some conclusions that have been
               drawn from bioeffects studies are that there is a positive correlation of certain physiological re-
               sponse mechanisms (e.g., AHH, DNA-adducts, and neoplasms) in fish species with sites that have
               high levels of certain chemicals.

                       The NS&T data from the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays show that for sediments, at least
               one site exceeds the ER-M concentration (above which adverse biological responses can occur) for
               three of the metals (chromium, lead, and zinc) and two of the organics (total chlordane and total
               PCB). Three sites (Fort McHenry, Elizabeth River, and Hope Creek) are considered to have "very
               high" sediment concentration levels of zinc.

                       In general, Delaware Bay sites have higher concentrations of contaminants in oyster tissue
               than those in the Chesapeake Bay. All six of the Delaware sites have mean concentrations of tDDT
               that are higher than any of those found in the Chesapeake Bay sites.

                       Results from the NS&T fish liver data indicate that for five metals (silver, chromium, lead,
               mercury, and zinc) and for three organics (total chlordane, total PCB, and total DDT), two or more
               sites are above the 60th percentile of NS&T sites nationwide.



                       Contaminant Effects Summary. Results from some studies of contaminant effects on
               organisms in both the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays have
               detected symptoms existing in portions of each bay that are
               consistent with findings from studies done in other heavily
               impacted estuaries.

                       The nation's coastal areas containing bays, estuar-
               ies, coastal watersheds, and coastal oceans, face ever
               increasing problems of growing populations, deteriorating
               environmental quality, loss of critical habitats, diminishing
               levels of fish and shellfish populations, reduced biodiversity,
               and increased risk from natural hazards. Effective manage-
               ment will require continual monitoring and assessment in
               order to determine the optimal mix of products and services
               from our coastal areas over time (Ehler and Basta, 1993).







                                                                       Assessment of Chemical Contaminants
                                                                                                                                  in the
                  General Information                                             Chesapeake and Delaware Boys

                  This assessment report, based on NS& T monitoring
                  results, summarizes the status of chemical contamina-
                  tion in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. The informa-
                                                                                                                                        MR
                  tion presented in this report is meant to complement the
                  many detailed studies being conducted by other Federal,
                                                                                                                                 'R@
                  state, and regional programs. To better understand and
                  interpret the NS&T contaminant data, the following
                  regional and estuarine characteristics should be noted.

                                                            River (USEPA, 1982). It
                            Introduction
                                                            has a total drainage
                                                            area of 76,800 square
                      431  NOAA's National Estua-
                                                            miles, stretching from
                  rine Inventory Data Base has              Cooperstown, NY to
                  characterized five estuaries and          Norfolk, VA and encompassing             Agricultural and forest land
                  eight sub-estuaries within the            parts of New York, Pennsylvania,         account for over half of this area,
                  region encompassed by this                West Virginia, Delaware, Mary-           comprising 7,442 square miles
                  report (Figure 1), the most signifi-      land, and Virginia. The bay and its      and 9,645 square miles, respec-
                  cant of which are the Delaware            tributaries have a combined water        tively (Strategic Assessment
                  and Chesapeake Bays.                      surface area of 3,830 square             Branch, 1987). In 1987, these two
                                                            miles, an average depth of 24            EDAs had the largest areas of
                      i& The Delaware Bay                   feet, and a total volume of 2,510        harvested crop land of all EDAs in
                  drainage basin encompasses                billion cubic feet. Fifty major          the Middle Atlantic region, with
                  roughly 13,000 square miles,              tributaries flow into the Chesa-         approximately 2,969 square miles
                  occupying most of Delaware,               peake, however, about half of the        in the Chesapeake Bay EDA and
                  much of western New Jersey and            bay's fresh water is supplied by         781 square miles in the Delaware
                  eastern Pennsylvania, and a               the Susquehanna River. The               Bay EDA (Pait et al., 1992).
                  portion of New York State (Sharp,         average daily freshwater inflow
                  1986). The Delaware Bay has a             into the bay is 85,800 cubic feet             is The Delaware and Chesa-
                  water surface area of 768 square          per second, the highest of any           peake Bay EDAs contain approxi-
                  miles, an average depth of 21             estuary on the Atlantic coast. The
                  feet, a volume of 448 billion cubic       Chesapeake is influenced by              mately 2,188 square miles of
                  feet, and an average daily fresh          semidiumal tides, which have a           coastal wetlands. Of these, 1,232
                  water inflow of 19,800 cubic feet         mean variation that ranges from          square miles (56%) are forested
                  per second (Basta et al., 1990). It       about 2.8 feet near the bay mouth        and scrub/shrub, 664 square miles
                  is influenced by semidiurnal tides        at Cape Henry, VA to 0.9 feet in         (30%) are salt marsh, 184 square
                  which have a mean variation that          the north near Annapolis, MD             miles (8%) are tidal flats, and 117
                  increases from approximately 4.1          (NOS, 1990).                             square miles (5%) are fresh marsh
                  feet near the bay mouth at Cape                                                    (Field et al., 1991).
                  May, NJ to 6.1 feet at the northern           jS The Delaware and
                  end of the bay near Arnolds Point,        Chesapeake Bays have a com-                       New Jersey, Delaware,
                  NJ (NOS, 1990).                           bined estuarine drainage area            Maryland, and Virginia had a
                                                            (EDA) of approximately 26,800            combined population of
                      jS The Chesapeake Bay i's             square miles. The EDA is defined         19,680,000 in 1988. Approxi-
                                                                                                     mately 78% of this population
                  the largest estuary in the United         as the portion of a watershed that
                  States, with a length of 200 miles        drains directly into estuarine           resided in coastal counties, which
                  and a width ranging from 4 miles          waters and contains, for the most        comprise 39% (59,004 square
                  near Annapolis, MD to 30 miles            part, the complete extent of tidal       miles) of the total land area of
                  near the mouth of the Potomac             influences (Basta et al., 1990).         these states (Culliton et al., 1990).

                                                                                                                                           1


                         In 1987, the Chesapeake         Virginia was 552,646,205 pounds           (Centropristis striata), spot, and
                Bay EDA had the highest pesticide        (lbs.) valued at $76,071,488. The         bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrqix)
                application in the nation, with          top five landings in the region by        (Fisheries Statistics Division,
                approximately 4.1 million pounds         weight were: blue crab                    1994).
                of herbicides, 745,000 pounds of         (Callinectes sapidus), Atlantic
                insecticides, and 46,000 pounds of       menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus),                The Delaware and Chesa-
                fungicides. Pesticide application in     spot (Leiostomus xanthurus),              peake Bays contained approxi-
                the Delaware Bay EDA was the             oyster (Crassostrea virginica), and       mately 661 square miles and
                fifth highest in the nation, ex-         catfish (Ictalurus sp.) (Sutherland,
                ceeded by three southern estuar-         pers. comm.).
                ies and the Chesapeake Bay.
                Approximately 1.0 million pounds              An estimated 72,384,000
                of herbicides, 304,000 pounds of         fish were caught for recreational
                insecticides, and 83,000 pounds of       purposes in the Mid-Atlantic region
                fungicides were applied to this          in 1993, down 10% from 1991 and
                EDA in 1987 (Pait et al., 1992).         45% from 1990. The top five land-
                                                                                                                                      A
                                                         ings by number were: summer                                   
                        The 1992 commercial              flounder (Paralichthys dentatus),
                fishery catch in coastal and inland      Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias
                waters of Delaware, Maryland and         undulatus), black sea bass


                2
 








                 2,825 square miles, respectively, of waters
                 classified as safe for shellfish growing in
                 1991. Between 1985 and 1990, the propor-
                 tion of classified shellfish-growing waters
                 approved for harvest declined from 83% to
                 74% in the Delaware Bay and 96% to 94% in
                 the Chesapeake Bay, primarily due to a
                 decline in water quality. Shellfish landings
                 also declined dramatically in the region. In                         414@+-,4@11-1
                                                                                                                                   Nv-
                 the Chesapeake Bay, oyster harvests
                 dropped from over 32 million pounds annually
                 before 1959 to only about four million pounds
                 in 1989, primarily as a result of overharvesting and           (Orth and Penhale, 1988). SAV is virtually absent
                 the parasitic diseases MSX (Haplosporidium                     in the Delaware Bay, due possibly to the high
                 nelsoni) and Dermo (Perkinsus marinus). MSX                    turbidity experienced in much of the area (Biggs,
                 also has contributed to depleted oyster popula-                1986). Historical aerial photographs reveal no
                 tions in the Delaware Bay, where landings de-                  significant coverage of SAV in the Delaware Bay
                 creased from over 640,000 pounds in 1980 to                    since at least 1930 (State of Delaware Department
                 virtually no harvest in 1989 (Leonard et al., 1991).           of Natural Resources and Environmental Control,
                                                                                1992a).
                          Dredging activities are conducted periodi-
                 cally in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays to                       jS A concerted effort to manage and restore
                 ensure that commercial waterways remain open.                  the Chesapeake Bay has been underway since
                 Each year, approximately 5.8 million cubic yards               1983, when state and federal representatives from
                 of material are dredged from the Delaware Bay                  around the bay region signed the Chesapeake
                 (State of Delaware Department of Natural Re-                   Bay Agreement. In 1987, a new Chesapeake Bay
                 sources and Environmental Control, 1992b), and                 Agreement was signed by the governors of
                 between 6.8 and 9.3 million cubic yards of material            Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia; the mayor of
                 are dredged from the Chesapeake Bay and its                    the District of Columbia; the administrator of the
                 tributaries (DePrefontaine, Whitehurst, and                    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and the
                 Mainquist, pers. comm.). Areas of major dredging               chairman of the tri-state Chesapeake Bay Com-
                 activities include Wilmington Harbor and the                   mission. The agreement established specific goals
                 Delaware River main channel in Delaware Bay,                   and objectives regarding a host of regional issues,
                 the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (which                       including population growth, development, living
                 connects the two bays), and Baltimore Harbor and               resources, and water quality. The signers of the
                 James River in Chesapeake Bay.                                 agreement pledged to reduce point and nonpoint
                                                                                sources of pollution, and, in particular, reduce the
                      jS In 1991, the Chesapeake Bay had 99                     amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus entering the
                 square miles of submerged aquatic vegetation                   Chesapeake Bay by 40% from the 1985 levels by
                 (SAV), with 8.4%, 45.5%, and 46.1% occurring in                the turn of the century. The actual target reduction
                 the Upper, Middle, and Lower Bay zones, respec-                in millions of pounds is 74.1 for nitrogen and 8.43
                 tively (Orth et al., 1992). Dominant SAV species               for phosphorus. As a result of these measures,
                 include Myriophyflum spicatum (eurasian water                  there has been a 16% reduction in phosphorus.
                 milfoil) in the Upper Bay and Ruppia maritima                  Nitrogen levels, however, have remained constant
                 (widgeon grass) and Zostera marina (eel grass) in              (Chesapeake Bay Program, 1993). An amend-
                 the Middle and Lower Bay. A widespread decline                 ment to the agreement in 1992 called for specific
                 in SAV occurred between 1965 and 1975, with the                nutrient reduction goals for each of the bay's major
                 greatest loss occurring in the early 1970s, follow-            tributaries and proposed an expansion of the
                 ing Tropical Storm Agnes. Between 1984 and                     Bay's partnership by forging relationships with
                 1993, SAV coverage increased by 75% (Chesa-                    New York, West Virginia, and Delaware (Alliance
                 peake Bay Program, 1993). Even with this in-                   for the Chesapeake Bay, 1993; Office of the
                 crease in coverage, only 10% of the bay's histori-             Governor, 1992; Maryland Department of Natural
                 cal SAV remains (Dennison et al., 1993). Field                 Resources, 1992).
                 observations and controlled experiments suggest
                 that nutrient overenrichment and increased
                 turbidity are primarily responsible for the decline


                                                                                                                                     3












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                  Stresses on theBoys

                  Increasing growth of human population and resulting urban devel-
                  opment along with agriculture threaten the bays with complex
                  ecosystem stresses.
                                                                                                      Management Administration,
                                                                                                      1993; Chesapeake Bay Program,
                    Contominant Sources                    surface water. Estuaries with a            1988).
                                                           large freshwater inflow, such as
                  Contaminants enter the Delaware          the Chesapeake Bay, receive                Although the Delaware Bay
                  and Chesapeake Bays from                 substantial contaminant inputs             watershed contains fewer major
                  several distinct sources. The            from upstream sources, including           point source facilities than the
                  relative impact of each source           industrial and municipal facilities.       Chesapeake Bay watershed, the
                  varies both temporally and in            With the exception of Galveston            number of facilities per unit area is
                  accordance with each estuary's           Bay, more major point sources lie          greater. Point sources of dis-
                  physical, hydrologic, and human-         within the Chesapeake Bay                  charge to the Delaware Bay are
                  use characteristics. Because of          estuarine drainage area than               located primarily along the heavily
                  their relatively large volumes and       within any other estuary in the            urbanized Trenton-Philadelphia-
                  low tidal exchanges, the                                                                    Camden-Wilmington
                  Delaware and Chesa-                                                                         corridor of the Delaware
                  peake Bays are consid-                                                                      and Schuylkill Rivers. Over
                  ered to be relatively                                                                       300 sewage outfalls and
                  susceptible to pollutant                                                                    the nation's second largest
                  retention. NOAA has                                                                         petrochemical complex are
                  developed a relative
                                                                                                              located in this zone
                  classification index to                                                                     (Scudlark and Church,
                  approximate the ability of     W,31@allll AM                                     Q          1993). Municipal and
                                                                                                              industrial facilities are
                  an estuary to retain           121,
                  dissolved and particu-                                                                      estimated to contribute
                  late-attached pollutants (Klein et                                                  41 % of the total inorganic nitrogen
                  al., 1988). In general, the lower an     nation (Basta et al.,  1990). Within       entering the Delaware Bay.
                  estuary's flushing rate to the open      the Chesapeake's fluvial drainage
                  ocean and/or the lower its dilution      area, contaminants are discharged
                  capability, the greater its suscepti-    from facilities located as far away        NONPOINT SOURCES OF POLLUTANT
                  bility to retain dissolved pollutants.   as Pennsylvania and New York               DISCHARGE include dissolved and
                  Table 1 lists general estuarine          (see Figure 2). The Susquehanna            particulate materials that dis-
                  characteristics taken from NOAA,s        River alone contributes about 12.5         charge to surface waters via
                  National Estuarine Inventory,            thousand pounds of toxic metals            surface runoff from precipitation.
                  including the dissolved concentra-       to the Chesapeake each day                 Nonpoint discharges can be
                  tion potential (DCP), an estimate        (Alliance for the Chesapeake
                  of the relative ability of an estuary    Bay, 1993). Point sources also
                  to concentrate dissolved pollut-         are responsible for about a
                  ants. The DCP is moderate for the        quarter of the total nitrogen (14
                  Delaware Bay and high for the            million pounds) and a third of the
                  Delaware Inland Bays. For the            total phosphorus (91 million
                  main stem of the Chesapeake              pounds) delivered to the Chesa-
                  Bay, which includes the lower            peake. About 94% of the phos-
                  Susquehanna River, the DCP is            phorus and 88% of the nitrogen
                  low, however, it is high for the         point source loads are discha ged
                  seven individual major tributaries       from municipal waste treatme t
                  to this estuary.                         facilities. The largest municipal
                                                           flows occur within the Potomac
                                                           and Susquehanna basins, which
                  POINT SOURCES OF POLLUTANT               receive approximately 521.3 and
                  DISCHARGE include wastewater             336.2 million gallons of wastewa-
                                                                                                                         y Iiz\.
                  treatment plants and industrial          ter per day, respectively (Chesa-
                  facilities that discharge directly to    peake Bay and Watershed

                                                                                                                                            5









                                   Tab[                                                                                                    P                @rpo ifi Vr m Basta et aL, 1990)



                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Point Sources
                                                                                                                                                                                Avg. Daily                                           of Pollution                    Susceptibility
                                                                         Estuarine Drainage           Total Drainage          Water Surface                                    Freshwater                    Volume                  0 982-87 data)                  to Pollution
                                        ESTUARY                           Area (100 sq. mi.)        Area (100 sq, mi          Area lsq. mi.)         Avg. Depth @ft)         Inflow (100 cis)         (billion cu. ft.@      Industrial                MWTP     DCP*                PRE*


                                                                                                                                                                                                             ,@4 8                   181               153


                                       Delaware Inland Bays                                3                3                       32                      4                       3                        4                       9                 7        H                   IM


                                       Maryland Inland Bays                                2.6              2.6                     21                      5.4                     -                        3                       1                 2        -                   -

                                       Chincoteague Bay                                    3                3                       137                     6                       4                        23                      21                16       H                   H


                                       Che      ake Bay                                    220              693                     3,830                   24                      858                      2,510                   650               275      L                   M
                                       lea, T,
                                       Patuxent River                                      9                9                       47                      19                      9                        25                      6                 12       H                   M


                                       Potomac River                                       31               146                     494                     19                      159                      266                     59                58       H                   M


                                       Rappahannock River                                  12               27                      145                     16                      29                       66                      46                12       H                   M


                                       York River                                          26               26                      74                      16                      25                       32                      9                 22       H                   M


                                       James River                                         44               102                     236                     14                      125                      90                      126               63       H                   M


                                       Chester River                                       5                5                       57                      14                      5                        22                      13                11       H                   H


                                       Choptank River                                      9                9                       110                     13                      10                       40                      24                13       H                   H


                                       TancierlPocomoke Sounds                             26               26                      459                     13                      29                       160                     47                22       H                   H


                                       Total                                               436           1,184                      6,410                   13.8                 1,454                       3,689            1,081                    664




                                   Note: Sub-estuaries are in italics.
                                   * DCP is designated Dissolved Concentration Potential and PRE is the Particle Retention Efficiency




                                divided into four categories: agricultural, forest,                                                                                  Pait et al., 1992), as well as the discharge of
                                urban, and other nonurban sources, such as                                                                                           nutrients from fertilizers and animal manure in their
                                rangeland and pasture. During periods of heavy                                                                                       watersheds. In 1982, the Delaware and Chesa-
                                precipitation, contaminants are flushed into coastal                                                                                 peake Bays had the highest chemical fertilizer
                                waters from lawns, roads,
                                crop lands, and pastures.
                                Approximately 4.7 million
                                                                                                                                          A
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       'C
                                cubic yards of shoreline
                                erodes into the Chesapeake
                                Bay each year, thereby
                                releasing nutrients and
                                other contaminants trapped
                                over time (Alliance for the
                                Chesapeake Bay, 1993a).
                                Nonpoint sources of pollu-
                                tion pose a particular threat                                                                                                                                                                                                                       _74
                                to both the Delaware and
                                Chesapeake Bays, because
                                of the high percentage of
                                agricultural land and the
                                intensity of pesticide appli-
                                cation (Basta et al., 1990;


                                6








                   applications of the estuaries in the Middle Atlantic                CONTAMINANT SPILLS are a major public concern due
                   region (Basta et al., 1990) and among the highest                   to their potential long-term impact on the marine
                   for the nation. In the Chesapeake Bay watershed,                    environment. Four Chesapeake and Delaware Bay
                   nonpoint sources, mostly agricultural runoff,                       ports, Norfolk Harbor (Hampton Roads)(54 million
                   contribute about 77% of the nitrogen and 66% of                     tons), Philadelphia (42 million tons), Baltimore
                   the phosphorus entering the bay during an aver-                     Harbor (40 million tons), and Newport News (25
                   age rainfall year (Chesapeake Bay Program,                          million tons), are among the top 30 ports in the
                   1993). In urban areas, nutrients from lawns, roads,                 nation by cargo tonnage (Waterborne Commerce
                   and other developed areas contribute about 14%                      Statistics Center, 1992). Heavy shipping traffic, as
                   of the phosphorus and 11 % of the nitrogen inputs.                  well as ship building activities at Hampton Roads
                   Additional nonpoint source pollutants in urban                      and Newport News, increases the likelihood of
                   areas include automobile-associated contami-                        accidental spills from vessels and related
                   nants, such as gasoline and oil.                                                           shoreside facilities. In the
                                                                                                              Chesapeake Bay alone, four
                                                                                                              billion gallons of petroleum is
                   ATMOSPHERIC SOURCES, from
                                                                                                              transported annually (Blistein,
                   within and beyond the water-
                                                                                                              1994). Hundreds of spill
                   sheds of the middle Atlantic                                                               incidents occur in the Chesa-
                   estuaries, including those of the
                                                                                                              peake and Delaware Bay
                   Delaware and Chesapeake                                                                    region each year. The largest
                   Bays, account for significant                                                              reported spills in Delaware for
                   inputs of contaminants to those                                                            the last five years include:
                   bays. Airborne pollutants enter                                                            150,000 gallons of gas on
                   the bays either through direct                    M                                        August 18, 1990 near Cape
                   deposition or indirectly with                                                              Henlopen; 746,424 gallons of
                   watershed runoff. These                                                                    crude oil on October 30, 1990
                   contaminants are potentially                                                               at Dewey Beach in the Dela-
                   more harmful than those                                                                    ware Inland Bays; and
                   delivered from other nonpoint                                                              41,538,462 gallons of crude oil
                   sources, since they have had                                                               on March 9, 1989 at Big Stone
                   less time to break down before reaching the water                   on the Delaware River (Swartzell, pers. comm.;
                   surface (Blankenship, 1992). Many of the pollut-                    Delaware River Basin Commision, 1991 b). Two
                   ants, including zinc, arsenic, selenium, and                        major oil spills have occurred in the Chesapeake
                   cadmium, are associated with industry and                           Bay, both near the mouth of the Potomac River.
                   automobile emissions. Of perhaps greater concern                    The largest spill to date occurred in 1976 when a
                   is airborne nitrogen, which is released from the                    tugboat ran aground spilling 250,000 gallons of oil.
                   combustion of fossil fuels, and, to a lesser degree,                The second largest spill occurred in 1988 when a
                   wind-blown fertilizers. Recent studies have con-                    barge cracked in half spilling 212,000 gallons of
                   cluded that the direct and indirect atmospheric                     oil. Another significant source of petroleum
                   deposition of nitrogen may account for up to 25%                    contamination in this area is from pipelines that
                   of the nitrogen entering both the Delaware and                      are also used to transport oil. Since 1990, six spills
                   Chesapeake Bays (Alliance for the Chesapeake                        in the Chesapeake Bay region have occurred from
                   Bay, 1993a; Scudlark and Church, 1993).                             pipelines used to transport oil. In 1989, 200,000
                                                                                                          gallons of kerosene were released
                                                                                                          into the Rappahannock River due
                                                                                                          to pipeline fatigue and in 1993,
                                                                                                          407,000 gallons of diesel fuel were
                                                                                                          released into a tributary of the
                                                                                                          Potomac River due to construction
                                                                                                "i"'.     damage to a pipe. As the pipelines
                                                                                                Nn
                                                                                                          age and construction increases,
                                                                                                          such instances are likely to
                                                                                                          become an increasing problem
                                                                                                          (Blistein, 1994).

                                                         R@ "E



                                                                                                                                                   7





               Effects of Stresses

               Increasing human activities continue to disrupt the natural
               processes of the Bays'ecosystems and threaten their ecologi-
               cal, economic, and aesthetic value.

               FISH KILLS. Between 1980 and             Fish Commission and the New
               1989, 158 fish-kill events were          Jersey Department of Environ-
               reported in the Delaware Bay             mental Protection. The adviso-
               EDA. In the same period, 553 fish        ries pertain to: white suckers
               kills were recorded in the Chesa-        (Catostomus commersoni)
                                                        caught in the vicinity of the
                                                           Delaware Water Gap near
                                                           Easton, PA, due to high
                                                           chlordane levels observed in
                                                           1986; American eels (Anguilla         Due to elevated chlordane levels,
                                                           rostrata), channel catfish            fish consumption advisories have
                                                           (Ictalurus punctatus), and white      been issued by the Maryland
                                                                                                 Department of the Environment for
                                                           perch(Morone americana)
                                                                                                 American eels and channel catfish
                                                           taken between Yardley, PA and         taken in Baltimore Harbor and the
                                                           the Delaware/Pennsylvania
                        A                                  boundary, because of elevated         Back River in Baltimore County.
                                                           chlordane and PCB levels              The Virginia Office of Health
               peake Bay EDA. The number of             observed in fish tissue at various       Education has issued advisories
               fish killed in these events ranged       sites in 1986 and 1987; and blue         for fish caught in several portions
               from fewer than 100 in many              crabs taken at Eddystone, PA, due        of the Shenandoah River, a
               instances, to 1,000,000 or more in       to PCB levels observed at FDA            tributary of the Potomac River,
               30 of the events. The principle          action levels in 1988 (Delaware          including: the South River, from
               reported cause of the events was         River Basin Commission, 1991b).          Waynesboro, VA through the
               low dissolved oxygen, due possi-         The State of Delaware Depart-            Shenandoah South Fork
               bly to the poor tidal circulation and    ment of Natural Resources and            confluence to the Warren/Page
               seasonal stratification experienced      Environmental Control (1992a)            County line, because of high
               in much of the area. Of the total of     has issued fish consumption              mercury levels; and the
               711 reported fish kill events that       advisories for three Delaware Bay        Shenandoah mainstem, from the
               occurred between 1980 and                                                         State Road 619 bridge at the
               1989 for this region, approxi-                                                    North Fork and from Passage
               mately one-third occurred in                                                      Creek at the South Fork, to the
                                                                                                 West Virginia state line, due to
               two adjacent Maryland coun-
                                                                                                 elevated PCBs. The advisory
               ties: Baltimore County (47
                                                                                                 extends into West Virginia, where
               events) and Anne Arundel
               County (182 events). Forty-                                                       the West Virginia Department of
                                                                                                 Commerce, Labor and Environ-
               three of the Anne Arundel
               County fish-kills occured in the                                                  mental Resources prohibits
               Magothy River Basin, a                                                            consumption of channel catfish,
               waterbody which has a history of         tributaries (Red Clay Creek, Red         carp (Cyprinus carpid), and white
               e utroph ication -related problems.      Lion Creek and St. Jones River)          sucker taken in the Shenandoah
               Many of these events took place          on the basis of high organic             River, from the Virginia border to
               between May and October 1986,            contaminant levels observed in           the Potomac River confluence
               following the break of a sewage          fish tissue. Due to elevated             (USEPA, pers. comm.).
               line (Lowe et al., 1991).                bacteria levels, advisories
                                                        prohibiting either year-
                                                        round or seasonal harvest-
               PUBLIC HEALTH ADVISORIES. Adviso-        ing of shellfish are in effect
               ries prohibiting the consumption of      for 42 square miles of the
               fish or shellfish have been issued       Delaware Bay and portions
               for several portions of the Dela-        of Delaware's Inland Bays.
               ware River by the Pennsylvania


               8




                              National Status &TrendsRegionol Monitoring
                              The objectives of the NS&T Program include                                                                                                     Polycyclic aromatic
                              defining the geographic distribution of contami-                                                          DDT and its metabolites              hydrocarbons                     Major elements
                              nant concentrations in tissues of marine organ-
                              isms and in sediments, and documenting bio-                                                               2,4'-DDD                             21bg                                 aluminum
                                                                                                                                        4,4'-DDD                             Biphenyl                             iron
                              logical responses to contamination. Benthic fish                                                          2,4'-DDE                             Naphthalene                          manganese
                              and sediments have been collected and analyzed                                                            4,4'-DDE                             I -Methyinaphthalene                 silicon
                              from sites around the coastal and estuarine                                                               2,4'-DDT                             2-Methylnaphthalene
                                                                                                                                        4,4'-DDT                             2, 6-Dimethyinaphthalene
                              United States, including Alaska, since 1984 by                                                                                                 1,6,7-Trimethyinaphthalene
                              the NS&T Program's National Benthic Surveil-                                                                          di-, and                 Ift                              Trace elements
                                                                                                                                        monobutyltins                        Fluorene
                              lance Project (NBSP). Initiated in 1986, the                                                                                                   Phenanthrene                         antimony
                              Mussel Watch Project (MWP) has collected and                                                                                                   1 -Methylphenanthrene                arsenic
                                                                                                                                        Chlorinated pesticides               Anthracene                           cadmium
                              analyzed bivalve mollusks and associated                                                                    ther than DDT                      Acenap1hene                          chromium
                              sediments from around the United States, includ-                                                         @o                                    Acenaphthylene                       copper
                                                                                                                                        Aldrin                                                                    lead
                              ing the Great Lakes, Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto                                                           cis-Chlordane                        11 Ling                              mercury
                              Rico.                                                                                                     trans-Nonachlor                      Fluoranthene                         nickel
                                                                                                                                        Dieldrin                             Pyrene                               selenium
                                                                                                                                        Heptachlor                           Benz(alanthracene                    silver
                                                                                                                                        Helplachlor epoxide                  Chrysene                             tin
                              The National Benthic Surveillance Project has                                                             Hexachlorobenzene                                                         zinc
                              been a cooperative effort between three NOAA                                                              Lindane (gamma-HCH)                   "in
                                                                                                                                        Mirex                                Benzo(a]pyrene
                              elements: the Office of Ocean Resources Con-                                                                                                   Benzo[e]pyre
                                                                                                                                                                             Perylene
                              servation and Assessment, the Office of NOAA                                                              Polychlorinated biphenyls            Dibenz[ahlanthracene
                              Corps Operations, and the National Marine                                                                                                      Benzo[blfiuoranthene
                                                                                                                                        PCB congeners 8, 18, 28,             Benzo[klfluoranthene
                              Fisheries Service. The Mussel Watch Project                                                              @44 52 66 77 01,105,
                              field collection and analyses have been per-                                                             @11@ @ 11 :11
                                                                                                                                           .:,1.1:121 38, 153,               Ering
                                                                                                                                        17      0 87,195,206,209             Senzo[ghi]peryiene
                              formed by non-NOAA contract laboratories;
                                                                                                                                                                             lnderio[1,2,3-colpyrene
                              Texas A&M University (TAMU) Geochemical and
                                                                                                                                        Toxaphene at some sites                               Related parameters
                              Environmental Research Group, College Station,                                                                                                                  Grain Size
                                                                                                                                                                                              Total Organic Carbon (TOC)
                              TX, and the Battelle Laboratories at Duxbury,                                                                                                                    Clostridium, perfringens spores
                              MA, and Sequim, WA.

                              Characteristics of the contaminants selected for
                                                                                                                                        Table 2. List of NS& T chemicals
                              sampling and analysis by the NS&T Program
                              were that they should pose a potential threat to
                              marine organisms and lor seafood safety, have                                                        water sampled, MWP or NBSP sites must not
                              been released into the environment in significant                                                    knowingly be located near waste discharge
                              quantities so that they are measurable, should                                                       points, local dump sites, or "hot spots",* sam-
                              have long half-lives once released, and should                                                       pling substrates are limited to natural substrates
                              have a high potential for bibaccumulation (refer                                                     or structures; bivalve sites are to coincide with
                              toTable 2).                                                                                          historical monitoring sites when feasible and all
                                                                                                                                   other criteria are met; and the site must be
                              The NS& T results included in this report are                                                        suitable for follow-up sampling For both
                              based on the sampling of three stations per site,                                                    projects, surficial sediments (1-3 cm depth) have
                              with each station providing separate sample                                                          been collected and analyzed allowing for com-
                              material for organic and trace element analyses.                                                     parison of contamination levels among sites.
                              NBSP fish were collected primarily with otter
                              trawls. Occasionally, along the Southeast and
                              Gulf Coasts, fish were taken with hook and line,                                                     For more detailed descriptions of NS& T sam-
                              or with gill nets. Due to the variable number of                                                     pling and analytical protocols refer to:
                              trawls required to collect samples with appropri-
                              ate numbers of fish within the defined size range,                                                   Lauenstein, G.G. and A. Y. Cantillo (eds.). 1993.
                              a nominal site center of 2 km in diameter was                                                        Sampling and Analytical Methods of the NOAA
                              defined for all NBSP sites. Criteria for the MWP                                                     National Status and Trends Program National
                              are: that indigenous populations of mollusks,                                                        Benthic Surveillance and Mussel Watch Projects
                              with adequately sized individuals, must exist at                                                     1984-1992.- Vol. I-IV. Tech. memo 71, NOAA1?VOS(
                              the potential sampling site (5-8 cm for mussels,                                                     ORCA, Silver Spring, MD.
                              7-10 cm for oysters); since NS&T selection of
                              monitoring sites is based on collecting samples
                              from areas that are representative of the body of



                                                                                                                                                                                                                                9








                                                                                                                                                             A pgi
                   ov


                                     01
                                     NIN PIN
                                               j@, a
                                                                                                                                                             "n ...... ....
                                                                                                                                                  It
                                                        ....... .....
                                                                 ........                    Hope Creek - 9
                                                                                @J jjtl@t;
                                                 110-10011111                                                             Arnolds   Point
                                                                "full
                                                           IN     , I      ,                  ...              II         "
                                                                 ii 1@ it
                                                                                                                                              oint      I -  1
                                                                                                  MQ
                                                                                         Woodland Beach - 1 lji
                                                                                                                                Ben Davis P

                                                                                    . .......                                                             -14
                                                                                    W, 1,
                                             '0                                                                                     :1 False Egg  Island
                                                                                                  t
                                                                                                  ,,@Kelly Island -13
                                                                 5
                                                                                                          iii!fl
                                             Mg@
                                                    @N "01;     . .. .
                                                                                                                   iTiR
                                                                                                                                                   40
                                     j@ Mountain Point Bar - 16
                                                                                                                                                o"IMY
                   U,
                                                                                                       Brandywine Shoal - I      El             Cape May - 71
                                        Hnrkeft Poin    Bar - 17
                                       N,N                                                                                       El
                              ............                                                                                               uape Henlopen - 8
                                                                                                                               ill, It 1111-111,11
                                                   U
                                                                      C&
                                           @v   -WW1 M
                                                                                                                  IN    q 1W,
                                                                                            W@

                                                                                         Choptan    iver -
                                                                                                                               -57,
                                                                                                                       '114 -9
                         lit
                                                              till
                                                                                                                      Il @` V *It ;I ,N@
                                                                                                                       N @ 10 *1! 11J
                                                                         F                                            41111ilt
                              IRINMR
                                                                                         n



                                                                                                                             tlfl
                                                     )g Point - 19
                    i Swan   Point - 20


                                                                                                      OMW,@,            @,W MK
                    Mattox  Creek-21                                 AN,          Smith  Island -ju  wj%, WN,011,
                                                                           41-                                      fg,: 1M d
                                     Ragged   Point -                                    I

                             ... ....... ..



                                     ,z;
                           ";M t"UM"NU -
                            .. .. .. .. ... ..                                                                             Chincoteague I
                    !I K     Ross Rock - 23            11,161 N

                                          "fig" WU It,
                                                                IN 4,& "0
                                                      Ingram Bay - 24

                                                               V
                                                                   E
                                                                                                                                 El      windowpane flounder
                                                                                                          Upshur Bay - 26
                                                                                                                                         Atlantic croaker
                                                                                                                                         spot
                                                                                            Cape Charles - 27                            sedimenLQnly
                                                 T"


                                                     Dandy   Point - 28
                                                                                                                                         MWP Sites]
                                                                   Ot
                                     James River -  29
                                        ARM' I, I@                                                                                       American oyster
                               -N!
                                              I'MI
                                                   MIEN                                  0Z                                              blue mussel
                                                                             Elizabeth River - 6
                                                                                         w,@ A
                                                     "a wv@@ w@W,,,t

                                                                                                                                 q,"
                                N*i&76'i@6t.&@:@hd' [7'@@ds-pw,,64- T,                                                          Z!e awarg
                                                                                         odng@si es@,j
                                                                                                              ..........



                  10




                 Notionol Stotus& Trends Contornihont Doto

                 The graphs on the following pages show the                  Division, 1989; O'Connor, 1992). For reporting
                 mean concentrations of contaminants found at                purposes, NS&T mussel and oyster data have
                 the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays area sites                 been analyzed separately and the graphs
                 in relation to the concentrations found nation-             overlayed. The shaded area beneath the thin-
                 wide at all NS& T sites. The curves are formed              lined curve represents the range for all NUT
                 by connecting the rank-ordered log (base 10)                oyster data. The solid vertical lines within this
                 mean concentrations of chemical contami-                    shaded area represent American oyster data
                 nants at all NS&T sites. Concentrations of                  from the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays. The
                 contaminants in sediments, mussels, and fish                thicker-lined curve represents the range for all
                 at these sites are indicated by the vertical                NS& T mussel data, with the two heavy vertical
                 lines. Numbers at the top of each vertical                  lines representing blue mussel data from the
                 concentration line refer to the site locations              Cape May [7] and Cape Henlopen [8] sites. The
                 indicated in Figure 3 (Appendix A lists those               fish curves are derived from five-year (1984-
                 sites where concentrations are defined as                   1988) means (or less for sites where sampling
                 "high" and "very high").                                    was initiated more recently) from analyses of
                                                                             the livers of various species of fish collected
                 Metal concentrations are in micrograms per                  nationwide. The solid shaded area indicates
                 gram (yg1g) dry weight and organic com-                     the concentration range of all NS&T spot data,
                 pounds are expressed in nanograms per gram                  and the striped shaded area represents the
                 (ng1g) dry weight. The number in brackets                   range of all NS& T Atlantic croaker data. The
                 illustrated with each graph represents the                  number in parentheses illustrated with each
                 number ["n "] of sites used to create the curve.            graph represents the total number of NS& T
                 The sediment data have been adjusted so that                sites where that species was collected. The
                 data from samples containing more than 80%                  solid vertical lines represent spot (Leiostomus
                 sand-sized particles [greater than 63 microns               xanthurus) data from the Gibson Island [31,
                 (y)] were not used in comparisons among                     Kent Island [4], and York River [5] sites; the
                 sites. Values for sediment samples containing               larger dashed vertical lines represent Atlantic
                 less than 80% sand have been adjusted by                    croaker (Micropogonias undulatus) data from
                 dividing the contaminant concentrations by the              the York River [5] and Elizabeth River [6] sites;
                 fractions of the sediment that were fine-                   and the smaller dashed vertical lines represent
                 grained (ie., dividing by numbers between                   windowpane flounder (Scopthalmus aquosus)
                 0.20 and 1.00). The arrows (A) on the sediment              from the Brandywine Shoal [1] and the Shears
                 graphs represent the national mean concentra-               [2] sites which are the only two sites where
                 tions and the Effects Range-Medians (ER-M).                 NS& T collects windowpane flounder.
                 The ER-M value denotes toxicant concentra-
                 tions in sediments above which aquatic organ-
                 isms usually exhibit adverse biological effects             For a detailed description of NS& T Mussel
                 (Long and Morgan, 1990). Values used for the                Watch and Benthic Surveillance Projects
                 sediment curves include 1984-1988 NBSP and                  monitoring sites refer to:
                 1986-1991 MWP data. The curves for bivalve
                 molluscan tissue were derived from five-year                Lauenstein, G.G., M.R. Harmon, and B. W.
                 (1986-1990) means (or less for sites where                  Gottholm. 1993. National Status and Trends
                 sampling was initiated more recently). In a                 Program: Monitoring Site Descriptions (1984-
                 study where contaminant concentrations in                   1990) For the National Mussel Watch and
                 blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) and American                  Benthic Surveillance Projects. Tech. Memo.
                 oysters (Crassostrea virginica) from the same               NOS ORCA 70, NOAA1NOS/ORCA, Silver
                 locations were compared, no statistically                   Spring, MD. 358 pp.
                 significant differences were found between
                 their organic contaminant accumulating
                 abilities. However, there were statistically
                 significant differences for some trace ele-
                 ments. Oysters were found to have a greater
                 affinity for silver, copper, and zinc, while
                 mussels were found to have a greater affinity
                 for chromium and lead (Ocean Assessments





                                                          Ag(gg/g dry weight)                                                                                                   . .......... .....  11-1-1-1-
                                                                                                                                          Three sediment sites and one bivalve
                      . ........                                                                                                          site ore in the "high " concentration fonge.
                                    100
                                               27 23 18 26 24 2 5 4 30 12 29 28 9 8 13 10 14 22 13 17 15 16 20                            No sites hove "very high                  concentfations
                                                                                                                 116721 31    -
                                                                                                                              -           for silver.
                                      10
                                                                                                                                          Silver. Sediment mean concentrations
                                                                                    \W
                                                                                                                                          of
                                                                                                                                              silver for the Chesapeake and Dela-
                                                                                                                   ER-M                   ware Bays sites are distributed widely,
                                                                                                                                          ranging from a low of 0.1 ppm at Cape
                                                                                        MEAN
                                    0.1                                                                                                   Charles [27] to a high of 2 ppm at Ft.
                                                                                                                                          McHenry [31 ]. Ft. McHenry [31 ], Mattox
                                                                                                                                          Creek [21], and Cape May [71 have sta-
                                  0.01
                                                                                                                                          tistically "high" concentrations that are
                                                                                                                                          above the 83rd percentile for the nation,
                                0.001                                                                                                     although all the sites have levels below
                                                  [2931                                                                                   the ER-M concentration of 2.2 ppm.
                                           0                  25                    50                  75                  100
                                                                                                                                          Mean concentrations in oysters range
                                    100                                                                                                   from a low of 0.3 ppm at Cape Charles
                                               27 24 22 19 28 18 11 21 15 9 23 17 25 14 20 26 12 29 10 16 13                              [27] (the second lowest concentration in
                                                                                                                                          the nation) to a high of 3 ppm at Kelly
                                      10
                                                                                                                                          Island [13] in the Delaware Bay. All the
                                                                                                                                          Delaware Bay sites have levels above
                                                                                                                   'AIW
                                                                                                                                          the national mean of 3 ppm, except for
                                                                                                                                          two sites [11, 9]. The Kelly Island [13]
                                                                                                    _7 o,w@
                                                                                                                                          mean concentration for silver falls in the
                                    0.1
                                                                                                              Vw                          "high" concentration range and is in the
                                                                                                                                          top 12th percentile. The mean concen-
                    J
                                                                   7                8                                                      a
                                  0.01                                                                                                    tr tion levels in mussels (both sites in
                                                                                                                                          Del ware Bay) are 0.09 ppm at Cape
                                                                                                                                              a
                                                                                                                                          May [7] and 0. 14 ppm at Cape Henlopen
                                0.001
                                                                                                                                                Both of these concentrations are
                                          0                    25                   50                  75                 100            below the national mean of 2 ppm.
                                Eirange for all oysters [122]                           range for all mussels [109]
                                                                                                                                          Mean concentrations of silver found in
                                                                                                                                          fish livers from the Chesapeake and
                                         0     mussel sites                                                                               Delaware Bays range from a low of 0.1
                                                                                                                                          ppm in spot from the York River [51 to a
                                                         .. ...... ..               .. ...... ... . .... ......     . .......... ..
                                    10                                                                                                    high of 0.4 ppm in windowpane flounder
                                                                                                                                          from Brandywine Shoal [1 ]. The two win-
                                                    5     4      6 3           5        2     1
                                                                                                                                          dowpane flounder sites in the Delaware
                                                                                                                                          Bay have the highest mean concentra-
                                                                                                                                          tions of all the INIS&T fish sampling sites
                                                                                                                                          in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays.
                                                                                                                                          The spot and Atlantic croaker mean con-
                                                                                                                                          centrations in the Chesapeake Bay are
                    W
                       IN
                      ,                                                                                                                   at or around the mean concentrations of
                                  0.1
                                                                                                                                          all the NS&T sites with the same spe-
                                                                                                                                          cies. All the NS&T fish sampling sites in
                                                                                                                                          these areas fall below the 62nd percen-
                                                                                                                                          tile for fish sites analyzed nationwide.
                                0.01
                                               [1211
                                                                        3      5        2     1

















                                         0                    25                    50                 75                  100


                                      range for all spot (8)
                                                                              range for all Atlantic croaker (36)

                               -spot                  -Atlantic croaker                 ----- windowpane flounder

                                                                                              ........... ..                              .... . ............
                     12





                                             CU (@tg/g dry weight)                                                                        . ........  ___-
                                                                                                      One sediment site is in the "high" con-
                                                                                                      centrotion range and one in the "vefy
                           1000    -
                                   -818 528 26 12 27 10 13 1 14 24 2 929 30 1122 7 17 4 23 20 16 15 3 21 631 -
                   w-@                                                                                high" concentfotion fonge. Fouf bivalve
                                                                                       ER-M           sites ofe in the "high " fonge and one in
                                                                                                      the "vefy high" ionge.
                            100                                                                       Copper. Copper concentrations are
                                                                           P
                                                                                                      widely spread, ranging from 18 ppm at
                  1"UV,                                                                       -       Cape Henlopen [8] to 269 ppm at Ft.
                                                                   MEAN                       -       McHenry [31]. All of the Delaware Bay
                             10                                                                       sediment samples have levels below the
                                                                                                      national mean concentration value, ex-
                                                                                                      cept for the Cape May [7] site. The con-
                                                                                                      centrations at all sites in both bays are
                                                                                                      below the ER-M value of 390 ppm, al-
                                        [295]                                                         though the Elizabeth River [6] is a "high"
                                  0             25             50             75              100     concentration site and Ft. McHenry [31]
                                                                                                      is a "very high" site. The levels at these
                                                                                                      sites are above the 90th percentile forthe
                           10000
                                                                                                      nation.
                                      27 22 24 19 25 28 18 20 26 14 17 21 13 23 12 16 11  1015299-

                                                                                                      The mean concentrations in oysters range
                             1000
                                                                                                      from a low of 29 ppm at Cape Charles
                                                                                                      [27] to a high of 1,030 ppm at Hope Creek
                                                                                                      [9]. All of the Delaware Bay oyster sites
                               100                                                                    have levels above the national concen-
                                                                                                      tration mean of 140 ppm. The Hope Creek
                                                                                                      [9] site has a "very high" concentration
                                                                                                      which is above the 98th percentile and is
                                  0
                                                                                      -@i;            the 3rd highest concentration for all oys-
                                                                              11M, i 1
                                                                                                      ter sites nationwide. In addition, Wood-
                                                                            7        ... ....
                                                                                                      land Beach [111, Amolds Point Shoal
                                                                                                      Ll 2j, Bodkin Point [15], and James River
                                    0            25             50            75              100     [29] have concentration values that are
                                                                                                      considered "high" and are above the
                           Eirange for all oysters [122]    P;;1 range for all mussels [1111          93rd percentile nationwide. The mean
                                                                                                      concentrations in mussels range from 10
                                      mussel sites                                                    ppm at Cape Henlopen [8] to 11 ppm at
                                 0
                                                                                                      Cape May [7]. The level at Cape Hen-
                                                                                                      lopen [8] is just below the national mean
                           1000
                                                                                                      for copper (50 ppm), and it ranks just
                                         3    4 2      5 5 6 1                                        below the 50th percentile. Cape May (7]
                                                                                                      ranks in the 70th percentile.

                                                                                                      Mean copper concentrations in fish livers
                            100
                                                                                                      range from a low of 10 ppm in spot at
                                                                                                      Gibson Island [31 to a high of 27 ppm in
                                                                                                      windowpane flounder at Brandywine
                                                                                                      Shoal [1 ]. The three spot sampling sites
                   io:`      10                                                                       in the Chesapeake Bay have levels well
                                                                                                      below the mean concentration of all the
                                                                                                      NS&T spot sites nationwide, as do the
                                                                                                      Atlantic croaker sites in the Chesapeake
                                                                                                      Bay. Mean copper concentrations in win-
                                       [120]                                                          dowpaneflounderfrom Brandywine Shoal
                                  0             25             50             75              100
                                                                                                      [1 are twice as high as the mean concen-
                                                                                                      tration at The Shears [2]. All fish sites
                               range for all spot (8)        range for all Atlantic croaker (36)
                                                                                                      have levels at or below the 50th percen-
                                                                                                      tile.
                               spot            Atlantic croaker   ----- windowpane flounder

                                                                                                                                                    13





                                             Cd(gg/g dry weight)                                                                                -------
                                                                                                         Thfee sediment and six bivalve sites
                          100                                                                            hove "high" concentration volues. One
                                  18 2926 23 2 15 12 610 27 2824 58 11 17 916 22 30 13 74 3 1 1420 21 31 sediment and one bivolve site hove
                                                                                                         levels that foll into the "vefy high"
                                                                                                                             9
                            10                                                                           concentfotion fon e.

                                                                                                         Cadmium. The sediment concentrations
                                                                                                         forcadmium range from a low of 0.2 ppm
                                                                                          Wf-m -
                                                                                                         at the Choptank River [18] site to a high
                                                                                                         of 3 ppm at Ft. McHenry [31]. All sites in
                                                                 MEAN
                                                                                                         both bays have levels that fall below the
                           0.1                                                                           ER-M concentration of 9 ppm. Two sites
                                                                                                         in the Potomac River [20 & 21 ] and the
                                                                                                         Elizabeth River [61 site have levels in the
                         0.01                                                                            "high" concentration range and the Ft.
                                       [292]                                                             McHenry [311 site is in the "very high"
                                0              25              50              75              100
                                    . ........ .... ...... --                                            concentration range.

                          100                                                                            Mean oyster concentrations for cadmium
                                  27 22 28 25 24 26 19 18 20 14 17 21 12 13 23 16 29 10 11 15 9          range from 1 ppm at Cape Charles [27]
                                                                                                         to 15 ppm at Hope Creek [9]. Most of the
                                                                                                         sites for the two bays, including all of the
                            10                                                                           Delaware Bay sites, have levels above
                                                                                                         the national mean of 3 ppm. Hope Creek
                                                                                                         [9] has the highest mean concentration
                                                                                                         for cadmium of all oyster sites in the U.S.
                                                          75
                                                                                                         and is the only site with a level in the
                                                                                                         very high" concentration range. In addi-
                                                                     W!
                                                                                                         tion, the levels at the Ross Rock [23],
                                        8   7
                                                                                                         Mountain Point Bar [16], James River
                                 7,
                                                                                               ii        [29], Arnolds Point Shoal [10], Woodland
                           0.1
                                                                                                          each [111 ], and Bodkin Point [115] sites
                                0              25             50               75              100       are all above the 87th percentile and in
                                                                                                         the "high" concentration range. Mussel
                         Ed range for all oysters [1221           range for all mussels [112]            concentrations are 1 ppm for Cape
                                                                                                         Henlopen [8] and Cape May [7]. Both of
                                0 mussel sites
                                                                                                         these sites have levels that fall below the
                        ........                                                                         national mean concentration (for mus-
                                                                                                         sels) of 2 ppm for cadmium.
                           100
                                      4     2     3       1    6      5     5
                                                                                                         Concentrations of cadmium in fish livers
                  ......                                                                                 range from a low of 0.1 ppm at Kent
                            10
                                                                                                         Island [4] in spot to a high of 0.5 ppm at
                                                                                                         York River [5] in Atlantic croaker. Kent
                                                                                                         Island [4] has the third lowest mean
                                                                                                         concentration of all NS&T fish sites and
                                                                                                          e owes o a         esp si es.        e eve s
                                                                                                         at the remaining spot sites in the Chesa-
                           0.1
                                                                                                         peake Bay are above the mean for all
                                                                                                         spot collected by NS&T. The levels atthe
                                                                                                         two Atlantic croaker sites are slightly
                          0.01                                                                           above the mean concentration for all of
                                      [121]
                                1)             25              50              75              100       the Atlantic croaker sites nationwide. All
                 H14M                                                                                    the NS&T fish sites in these bays have
                         F1,-( range for all spot (8)        range for all Atlantic croaker (36)         levels that fall below the 42nd percentile
                                                                                                         for all fish sampled nationwide.

                              S
                                  t           Atlantic croaker    ----- windowpane flounder
                               po
                        ........ .. .               . .........                .............. .                                     ------
                 14





                                                          Cr(gg/g dry weight)                                                                                  ----------  ___1--__1111_
                                                                                                                                Two sediment sites have levels in the
                                                                                                                                livery high" concentration range and
                                 10000        -
                                              7:28 18 24 23 22 14 29 13 27 8 4 26 20 15 6 17 5 10 1 30 12 16 117 9 3 21 2 31    four bivalve sites hove levels in the
                                                                                                                                "high" concentration range.
                                   1000                                                                                         Chromium. The sediment concentra-
                                                                                                                                tions for chromium range from a low of
                                                                                                                                53 ppm at Dandy Point [28] to a high of
                                     100                                                                                        561 ppm at Ft. McHenry [31 ]. Three sites
                                                                                             ER-M
                                                                                       N                                        in Delaware Bay [7, 9, 2] and three sites
                                                                                                                                in the Chesapeake Bay [3, 21, 31 ] have
                                                                                                                                                                -M concentration
                                       10                                                                                       levels above the ER
                                                                                                                                value (145 ppm). One site in each bay [2,
                                                                                                                                311 has a level above the "very high"
                                                                                                                                c
                                                                                                                                   ncentration which is also above the
                                                                                                                                 o
                                                   [2891        1                                                               97th percentile nationwide.
                                              0               25                 50                75               100
                                                                          ..........                                            Mean concentrations of chromium in
                                                                                                                                oysters for the Delaware and Chesa-
                                  100
                                                                                                                                peake Bays range from the lowest con-
                                              20 24 22 27 19 23 21    11 18 17 25 28 12 14 26 16 13 29 15 10 9                  centration nationwide at Swan Point [20]
                                                                                                                                (0.2 ppm) to a high of 1 ppm at Hope
                                                                                                                                Creek [9]. The levels at twelve sites fall
                                    10                                                                                          below the national mean of 0.5 ppm, and
                                                                                                                                eleven of these have levels that fall be-
                                                                                                                                lowthe 18th percentile. In addition, seven
                                            +                                                                                   of the ten lowest mean concentrations in
                        'W@
                                                                                                                    @@4         the nation are in the Chesapeake Bay.
                                                                                                                                Of the nine sites that have levels above
                                                                                                                                the national mean, James River [29],
                                                                                                                                Bodkin Point [15], Arnolds Point Shoal
                                                                   )'N         U,                                               [12], and Hope Creek [9] are in the "high"
                                   01
                                                                                                                                range. Hope Creek [9] has the fourth
                          .......         0                  25                50                 75                100         highest mean concentration in the na-
                                                                                                                                tion. Mean concentrations for the two
                                  Orange for all oysters [1221                    range for all mussels [111]                   mussel sites are 2.4 ppm for Cape May
                                                                                                                                [7] and 2.5 pprn for Cape Henlopen [8].
                                          0 mussel sites                                                                        The levels at both of these sites are
                                                                   . .... ..                        ............ .. .... . .... .. above the national mean for mussels
                                                                        ..... ...                                               (1.7 ppm) and are above the 80th per-
                                     10                                                                                         centile.
                                                           3       5        6       1       2       4        5
                                                                                                                                Chromium mean concentration values
                                                                                                                                in fish livers sampled in the Delaware
                                                                                                                                and Chesapeake Bays range from 0.05
                                                                                                                                ppm in spot from Gibson Island [3] to 0.9
                                                                                                                                ppm in Atlantic croaker from York River
                                    0.1
                                                                                                                                [5]. Kent Island [4] has the highest mean
                                                                                                                                concentration of all NS&T sites for spot,
                                                                                                                                with a mean concentration that is at least
                                   o.ol
                                                                                                                                eight times higher than that of any other
                                                                                                                                site. Both Atlantic croaker sites in the
                                                                                                                                Chesapeake Bay have levels above the
                                 0.001                                                                                          mean concentration of all NS&T Atlantic
                                                   [119]
                                                                                                                                croaker sites, with the York River [5] site
                                              1)              25                 50                75                100
                                                                                                                                having the highest concentration of all
                                                                        7_4
                                  Eii"N'J, range for all spot (8)            range for all Atlantic croaker (35)                the sites where Atlantic croaker are
                                                                                                                                sampled and the second highest mean
                                                                                                                                concentration of all NS&T fish sites.
                                         spot              Atlantic croaker         ----- windowpane flounder

                                                                                                                                                                                          15






                                        Pb(gg/g dry weight)                                                            .......
                                                                                               Two sediment sites and one bivalve site
                                                                                               hove levels in the "high" concenbrotion
                      i 00n
                                                                                               range.
                               24 5 23 18 27 28 12 14 10 8 22 26 13 29 130 20 4 17 316 2 117 21 15 9 6 31 -


                                                                                               Lead. The sediment concentration val-
                                                                                               ues for lead range from a low of 28 ppm
                        100                                                                    at Ingram Bay [24] to a high of 190 ppm
               !;ZO                                                                            at Ft. McHenry [31 ]. The levels at the Ft.
                Uy:                                           A
                                                                                               McHenry [31] and Elizabeth River [6]
                                                             MEAN
                                                                                               sites in the Chesapeake Bay fall in the
                          10                                                                   "high" concentration range and are above
                                                                                               the 110 ppm ER-M concentration. The
                                                                                               levels at these sites also are above the
                                                                                               90th percentile for sites nationwide.

                                  [294]                                                        Oyster concentrations for lead in the
                             0             25             50            75            100
                                                                                               bays range from the lowest in the nation
                                                          . . .........                        (0.2 ppm) at Ross Rock [23] in the
                      1000                                                                     Rappahannock River to a high of 1.0
                                                                                               ppm at Hope Creek [9]. Ross Rock (23],
                                                                                               Ragged Point [22], and Ingram Bay [24]
                         100                                                                   have among the five lowest NS&T con-
                                               9 20 17 26 27 25 15 16 29 14 28 12              centration values for lead in oysters in
                                23 22 24 18 21 1                             1310 11 9--
                                                                                               the nation. The levels at all the sites in
                                                                                               the Chesapeake Bay are below the na-
                          10
                                                                                               tional mean of 0.5 ppm, except for Dandy
                                                                                               Point [28). Conversely, all the Delaware
                                                                                               Bay sites have levels above the national
                                                                                               mean with the exception of False Egg
                                                                       I'M                     Island [141. The Hope Creek [9] site level
                                                                                               is above the 92nd percentile for the na-
                         0.1
                                                                                                     id falls in the "high" concentration
                              0            25             50            75           100       range. Mean mussel concentrations
                                                                                               range from 1.4 ppm at Cape May [7] to
                      Orange for all oysters [122]         range for all mussels [111]
                                                                                               1.5 ppm at the Cape Henlopen [8] site.
                                                                                               Both of these concentrations are below
                                mussel sites
                                                                                               the national mean of 1.9 ppm for lead in
                                                                                               mussels.
                                                          ... .. .......... .. ...... ...

                           10
                                                                                               Fish liver concentrations range from a
                                             3    5      1   5     4    6     2
                                                                                               high of 0.09 ppm in spot at the Gibson
                                                                                               Island [3] site to a low of 0.8 ppm in
                                                                                               windowpane flounder at The Shears [2].
                                               ,4
                                                                                               Kent Island [4] has the highest mean
                                                                                               conc
                                                                                                    entration of all NS&T spot sites
                                      4
                                       w
                          0.1                                                                  sampled, while the Gibson Island [31 and
                                                                                               York River [5] sites have levels just be-
                                                                                               low the national mean concentration for
                         0.01                                                                  spot. Both of the Atlantic croaker sites in
                                                                                               the Chesapeake Bay have levels above
                                                                                               the national mean concentration for all
                      0.001                                                                    NS&T Atlantic croaker sites sampled.
                                   [1161
                              0             25            50            75            100
               W'11 ,
                      ED range for all spot (8)        range for all Atlantic croaker (34)

                             spot         Atlantic croaker   ----- windowpane flounder

               16





                                            Hg(@tg/g dry weight)
                                                                                                      Two sediment sites have "high" concen-
                                                                                                      tration values, while ton of the bivavle
                            10
                                  18 23 27 5 30 24 22 26 28 29 9 10 8 13 11 17 16 20 15 1 12 14 3 21 7 31 6 -sites sampled ofe among the lowest in
                                                                            1,                        the notion. Levels of mefcufy wefe be-
                                                                                                      low NS&T detectable limits at one site.


                                                                                                      Mercuty. Sediment concentration val-
                                                                                            M=
                                                                                                      ues for mercury range from a low of 0.04
                                                                                         ER-

                                                                                                      ppm at the Choptank River [18] to a high
                                                                                                      of 1.3 ppm at the Elizabeth River [6). All
                           0.1                                 MEAN                                   of the sites in the Delaware Bay, except
                                                                                                      Hope Creek [9], have concentrations
                                                                                                      above the national mean with the Ft.
                                                                                                      McHenry [31] and Elizabeth River [6]
                         0
                                                                                                      sites falling in the "high" concentration
                           .01
                                       [272]                                                          range. All of the sites in both bays have
                                0              25             50               75           100
                                                  ........... ..... ...      . ........               levels below the ER-M concentration of
                                                                                                      1.3 ppm.
                               10
                                                                                                      The curves for mussels and bivalves are
                                     16 23 24 17 19 18 22 20 29 15 2127 11 12 10 13 14 9 28 25 26
                                                                                                      v
                                                                                                       ery similar for mercury. In oysters, both
                                                                                                      bays have mean concentrations ranging
                                                                                                      from a low of 0.03 ppm at Mountain Point
                                                                                                      Bar [16] to a high of 0.2 ppm at Upshur
                              0.1                                                                     Bay [26]. Only five sites have levels
                                                                                                      above the national mean of 0. 1 ppm, and
                                                               7
                                                                                                      no site has a level that falls in the "high"
                                                                      8
                   4"i                                                                                or "very high" concentration ranges. Of
                            0.01
                   >
                                                                                                      the twelve lowest concentrations former
                                                                                                      cury nationwide, ten are in the Chesa-
                                                                                                      peake Bay, with Mountain Point Bar [16]
                          0.001                  -            -
                                                                                                      having the lowest concentration in the
                                  0              25            50              75            100      nation. Mean mercury concentrations in
                                                                                                      mussels at Cape May [7] and Cape
                          Elrange for all oysters [122]          range for all mussels [1111          Henlopen [8] are just above the national
                                                                                                      mean concentration of 0.12 ppm.
                                0 mussel sites
                                                                              .........               Mean concentration for mercury in fish
                                                                                                      livers from the bays ranges from a low of
                             100
                                                                                                      0.05 ppm in Atlantic croaker at the Eliza-
                                            6      3       5      1       2      5
                                                                                                      beth River [6] site to a high of 0.5 pprn in
                               10                                                                     Atlantic croaker at the York River [5) site.
                                                                                                      York River [5] and The Shears [2] have

                                        T
                                                                                                      almost the same mean concentration,
                                                                                                      although the species are different. For
                                                                                                      spot, the level at the York River [5] site is
                              0.1
                                                                                                      slightly above the NS&T mean concen-
                   ï¿½W                                                                                 tration for all sites where spot were ana-
                  W@
                                                                                                      lyzed. However, the level at the Gibson
                            0.01
                                                                                                      Island [3) site is below the mean concen-
                                                                                                      tration while the Kent Island [4) site level
                          0.001                                                                       was below the NS&T detectable limit.
                                        [117]
                                                                                                      The level at the York River [5] site is
                                  0              25            50              75            100
                   IV.                                                                                above the mean concentration for all
                                                                  1       2      5












                          Ell range for all spot (7)        range for all Atlantic croaker (36)       NS&T Atlantic croaker sites. The level at
                                                                                                      the Elizabeth River [6] site is well below
                                                                                                      this concentration.
                               spot           Atlantic croaker    ----- windowpane flounder

                                                                                                                                                    17






                                                         Zn (gg/g dry weight)
                                                                                                                                   Sites sampled in the boys have among
                                                                                                                                   the highest concentrations for zinc in the
                                 1000                           8 12 14 13 22 10 29 130 2 17 7 20 113 4 21 16 15 9 6 31 -
                                            -28 18 27 24 23 5 26                                                                   notion. Three sediment and three bi-
                                            -                                                                                      valve sites have "very high" concentro-
                                                                                                                                   tions and nine sediment and six bivalve
                                                                                                                                   sites hove levels that folf into the "high"
                                                                                                                                   concentration range.
                                                                                                         ER-M
                                                                                   A
                                                                                                                                   Zinc. Sediment concentrations for zinc
                                   100                                           MUN
                                                                                                                                   in the bays range from a low of 80 ppm at
                                                                                                                                   Dandy Point [28] to a high of 689 ppm at
                                                                                                                                   Ft. McHenry [31]. The concentration at
                                                                                                                                   three sites, Hope Creek [91 in Delaware
                                                                                                                                   Bay and Elizabeth River [6] and Ft.
                                                                                                                                   McHenry [31 ] in the Chesapeake Bay, all
                                     10                                                                                            fall into the "very high" concentration
                                                  [295]                                                                            range and rank eighth, third, and first in
                                            0                25                 50                  75                 100         concentrations (respectively) forall NS&T
                                                                                                                                   sites. All of the Delaware Bay sites have
                                                                                                                                   mean concentrations above the national
                                 100000          27 22 18 23 24 19 25 20 28 2617 21 16 13 14 29 12 15 11 10 9 -                    mean, with a total of 12 sites from both
                                                                                                                                   bays with levels above the 270 ppm
                                                                                                                                   ER-M concentration.
                                   10000
                                                                                                                                   Mean concentrations in oysters range
                                                                                                                                   from 1,340 pprn at Cape Charles [27] to
                                                                                                                                   18,333 ppm at Hope Creek [9]. All the
                                     1000
                                                                                                                                   sites, except for three in the Chesa-
                                                                                                                                   peake Bay [27, 22, and 181 have levels
                                                                      wl@i w@ NO,@@
                                                                                                            I .......              above the national mean of 2,297 ppm.
                                       100
                                                                                                                                   Ten of the highest twenty mean values
                                                                                                                                   for zinc in NS&T sampled oyster sites
                                                                                                                                   are in these bays. Of these ten sites,
                                        10
                                                                                        7

                                                                                                    5,
                                                                                                                                   Woodland Beach [11], Arnolds Point
                                                                                                                                   S, ioal L 10], and Hope Creek [9] (all lo-
                                              0                 25                50                  75               100
                                                                                                                                   cated in Delaware Bay), have the high-
                                                                                                                                   est concentrations of all NS&T oyster
                                                                                                                                   sites. The remaining seven all have "high"
                                     range for all oysters [1221                  range for all mussels [111]
                                                                                                                                   mean concentration values. The con-
                       t!                     mussel sites
                                                                                                                                   centrations at all Delaware Bay sites for
                                                                                                                                   oysters are above the 85th percentile.
                       Mlll!                                                                                                       Mean mussel concentrations range from
                                 1000
                                                                                                                                   110 ppm at Cape Henlopen [8] to 138
                                                 3       4      5      2       1      6      5                                     pprn at Cape May [7].

                                                                                                                                   Concentrations of zinc in fish livers range
                                                                                                                                   from 63 ppm in spot at Gibson Island (3]
                                                                          ... ... ... ..
                                                                                                                                   to 145 pprn in Atlantic croaker at the York
                                                                                                                                   River [5] site. Spot collected from Gibson
                                   100
                                                                                                                                   Island [3], Kent Island [13], and York
                                                                                                                                   River [5] had the second, third, and eighth
                       ii thii                                                                                                     lowest concentrations of the fish col-
                                                                                                                                   lected at all NS&T sites, respectively.
                       1@,U,FTW                                                                                                    These concentrations all fall below the
                                                                                                                                   mean concentration for all sites where
                                                                                                                                   spot were collected. Atlantic croakerf rom
                                             H I
                                     10
                                                   [121]                                                                           the Elizabeth River [6] and York River [5]
                                            0                 25                 50                 75                 100         sites have concentrations above the
                                                                                                                                   mean concentration forall INIS&T Atlantic
                                     range for all spot (8)                 range for all Atlantic croaker (36)                    croaker sites. Delaware Bay window-
                                                                                                                                   pane flounder sites are intermediate.
                                      spot               Atlantic croaker         -----  windowpane flounder

                       18





                                           tDDT(nglg dry weight)
                                                                                                      One sediment site and six bivalve sites
                                                                                                      hove mean concentrations in the "high"
                           10000
                                      1830 24 27 26 20 5 228 2123 28 29 4 112 27 313 17 16 159 10 1131 6 14 range for total DDT.

                    "R
                                                                                                      Total DDT (The sum of OP@-DDD, pp-
                                                                                                      DDD, o,p@-DDE, p,p@-DDE, o,pDDT, and
                              100
                                                                                                      P,P'DDT). Sediment concentrations
                                                                                          ER_
                                                                                                      range from 1 ppb at the Choptank River
                                                                                                      [18] site to 43 ppb at the False Egg Island
                                                               MEAN                                   [14] site. Nine of the ten Delaware Bay
                                                                                                      sites have concentrations above the 7.5
                     ji",
                                                                                                      ppb national mean concentration, only
                                                                                                      the Cape Henlopen [8] site has a value
                                                                                                      below this level. All sites in both bays
                             0.01                                                                     have levels below the ER-M concentra-
                                      _j266]                                                          tion of 350 ppb. The False Egg Island
                              1111---.1.0        25 11          5  0          1-1715-        1100     [14] concentration is in the statistically
                                                                                                      "high" concentration range.
                                                                             -- - ----- - -
                           10000
                                                                                              -       Mean concentrations of tDDT in oysters
                                      26 24 22 18 23 19 20 25 28 21 17 15 29 16 27 14 9 11 10 1312-
                                                                                                      rangefrom a lowof 20 ppb at Upshur Bay
                             1000                                                                     [26] to a high of 202 ppb at Ben Davis
                                                                                                      Point Shoal [12]. Only five sites [26, 24,
                                                                                                      22, 18, and 23] have levels below the
                                                                                                      national mean of 36 ppb. The concentra-
                              100
                                                                                                      tions at the remaining sites are above the
                                                                                                      national mean concentration, with the

                                                                              V@
                                                                                                      top six sites [14, 9, 11, 10, 13, and 121 in
                                10
                                                        4,1@,        8      11                        the Delaware Bay. These Delaware Bay
                                                                             I I
                                                                                                      sites have "high" concentration values
                                                                                                      and are in the top 14th percentile nation-
                                                                                                      wide. The mean mussel concentration
                                   0             25             50               75          100      for Cape Henlopen [8] is 53 ppb and for
                     'T,
                                                                                                      Cape May [7] 55 ppb. Both of these sites
                                range for all oysters [122]
                                                                   range for all mussels [111]        have concentrations above the national
                                                                                                      mean of 49 ppb.
                                  0 mussel sites
                                                                                                      Mean concentrations for tDDT in fish
                                                                                                      livers collected in these two bays range
                          100000
                  hRIV
                                                                                                      from 61 ppb in Atlantic croaker from the
                                                        5    5     4  6 3 2         1                 York River [5] site to 914 ppb in window-
                            10000                                                                     pane flounder from Brandywine Shoal
                                                                                                      [1]. All of the sites in the Chesapeake
                                                                1\                                    Bay where spot were collected have
                             1000
                                                                                                      levels above the NS&T mean concentra-
                                                                                                      tion. Fishfrom Kent Island [4) and Gibson
                                100                                                                   Island [3] have the highest concentra-
                                              A-1
                                                                                                      tions of tDDT in their livers of all the
                                10                                                                    NS&T spot sites. The York River [5] site
                                                                                                      for Atlantic croaker is below the mean
                                                                                                      concentration for all the NS&T Atlantic
                                                                                                      croaker sites, but the Elizabeth River [6]
                                          [118]
                                     0             25              50            75            oo     site is above this concentration. The
                  M                                                                                   windowpane flounder sites in the Dela
                                range for all spot (9)
                    IM                                       range for all Atlantic croaker (31)      ware Bay have the highest concentra-
                                                                                                      tions of tDDT in fish livers of all fish
                                spot           Atlantic croaker    ----- windowpane flounder          collected in these two bays.

                                                                                                                                                     19





                                                tCdane(nglg dry weight)                                                                                         .... ..... ..... 1. _1-1 -11, - I", ___
                                                                                                                             Three sediment sites ond two bivolve
                                                         ......... .........                                                 sites hove concentrotions in the "high"
                                   60
                                          11  27 12 24 2 26 30 13 5 28         9  10  16 4 3   17 14   6 31  21 1
                                                                                                                             ronge for totol chlofdone.

                    @:i @@i      100                                                                                         Total Chlordane (The sum of trans-
                                                                                                                             nonachlor-, heptachlor-, and hexachlor-
                          w
                                                                                                                             obenzene). Sediment concentrations
                                   10                                                                                        range from a low of 0.2 ppb at Woodland
                     @iul"]                                  \\\           ,\ \ \1@              FR-U                        Beach [11] to a high of 17 ppb at
                                                                                                                             Brandywine Shoal [1]; both sites are in
                                                                        MEAN
                                                                                                                             the Delaware Bay. Three sites in each of
                                                                                                                             the bays have sediment levels below the
                                  01
                                                                                                                             national concentration mean; all others
                                                                                                                             have levels above. Ft. McHenry [31 ] and
                      @@TIVH    0.01                                                                                         Mattox Creek [21] in the Chesapeake
                                                [237] 1
                                                                                                                             Bay, and Brandywine Shoal [1] in Dela-
                                                         25                 50                  75                100
                                        0
                                          ..... . . . ....... ....... . ..... ...... .......... .                            ware Bay, have "high" concentrations
                                                                                                                             that are above the ER-M concentration
                               10000                                                                                         of 6 ppb.

                      W
                                                                                                                             Mean oyster concentrations range from
                                 1000      i 26 23 22 27 20 18 14 25 19 2129 11 10 24 13 28 9        1712 1516               6.5 ppb in Upshur Bay [26] to 41 ppb at
                                                                                                                             Mountain Point Bar [16]. All sites except
                                   100                                                                                       Upshur Bay [26] and Ross Rock [23]
                                                                                                                             have levels above the national mean of
                                                                                                                             16 ppb. Bodkin Point [151 and Mountain
                                     10
                                                                                                            i;;@,            Point Bar [161 have the highest concen-
                                                                                                    @T::                     trations in the two bays, and their con-
                                                                                                                             centrations fall into the "high" concentra-
                                                                                                          @jml
                      >                                                               @N
                                                                                                L                            tion range. Both of the mussel sites have
                                                                                                                             levels below the national mean concen-
                                    0.1
                                                                                                                             tration for mussels (15 ppb). Cape
                                          0                 25               50                  75               100        Henlopen (8] oysters have a mean con
                                                                                                                             centration of 8.5 ppb and those from
                               Eirange for all oysters [122]                   range for all mussels [111]                   Cape May [7] a mean concentration level
                                                                                                                             of 12.5 ppb.
                                        0 mussel sites

                                                                                                                             Mean concentrations of total chlordane
                                                 . ........ .         .. ........
                                                                                                                             in fish livers from these two bays range
                               10000
                                                                                                                             from 32 ppb in Atlantic croaker from the
                                                                                                                             York River [5] site to 123 ppb in winclow-
                                                5 5 6 4 1                     3 2
                                                                                                                             pane flounder at The Shears [2]. These
                                 1000
                                                                                                                             values are in the mid-range of those for
                                                                                                                             all NS&T fish sites. Kent Island [4] and
                                                                                                                             Gibson Island [3] have the highest con-
                                   100
                                                                 A                                                           centrations of all sampled spot sites. The
                                                                                                                             York River [51 spot mean concentration
                                                                                                                             is below the mean concentration for all
                                    10                                                                                       spot sites. Mean concentrations for At-
                                                                                                                             lantic croaker from the York River (5] are
                                                                                                                             below the concentration for all NS&T
                                                                                                                             Atlantic croaker sites while mean con-
                                                 [112]
                                                                        MEAN


















































                                          0                 25                50                 75               100        centrations at the Elizabeth River [6] site
                                                                                                                             are above the NS&T mean concentra-
                                                                                                                             tion forall Atlantic croakersites sampled.
                                     range for all spot (6)              range for all Atlantic croaker (28)

                     qo,
                                     spot               Atlantic croaker        ----- windowpane flounder
                                                                                                                                                       ....... ...
                    20





                                           tPCB(ng/g'dry weight)
                                                                                                         Concentiations fof fouf sediment sites
                                                                                                         and five bivalve sites afe in the "high"
                           1000001
                                      E27 8 24 18 20 28 22 26 23 30 12 11 21 9 29 13 5 10 14 16 7 17 2 3 1 4 6 15 31--
                                                                                                 -       concentf0tion fange.


                            loooo
                                                                                                         Total PCB (sum of 20 polychlorinated
                                                                                                         biphenyl congeners). Sediment concen-
                                                                                                         trations for tPCB range from a low of 1.4
                              1000
                                                                                                         ppb at Cape Charles [27] (second lowest
                                                                                                         concentration nationwide) to 679 ppb at
                                                                                           M
                               100                                                      ER-              Ft. McHenry [31]. The sites in the two
                                                                                                         bays are evenly distributed around the
                                                                  MEAN                                   national mean, with some of the lowest,
                                 10
                                                                                                         as well as some of the highest concen-
                                                                                                         trations nationwide. Ft. McHenry is the
                                   1                                                                     only NS&T site with a level above the
                  Mg"10
                                           [272]                                                         ER-M concentration of 400 ppb. Four
                                      0            25             50             75            100
                                                                                                         Chesapeake Bay sites, Kent Island [4],
                                                                                                         Elizabeth River [6], Bodkin Point [15],
                           100000                                                                        and Ft. McHenry [31 ], have levels in the
                                       22 26 23 27 24 18 20 19 25 9 28 21 11 14 29 17 10 16 15 13 12@    "high" concentration range.

                             10000
                                                                                                         Oyster concentrations in the bays range
                                                                                                         from 42 ppb at Ragged Point [221 to 377
                                                                                                         pb at Ben Davis Point Shoal [12]. Five
                              1000                                                                       P
                                                                                                         sites, all in the Chesapeake Bay, have
                                                                                                         levels below the national mean of 106
                   U1j
                               100
                                                                                                         ppb. Amolds Point Shoal [10), Mountain
                                                                                                         Point Bar [16], Bodkin Point [15], Kelly
                                 10                                                                      Island [13], and Ben Davis Point Shoal
                                                                                IT
                                                                              A
                                                                                                         [112] have levels in the top 12th percentile

                                                           @M
                                                                                                         of all NS&T oyster sites and have "high"
                                                                                                                  ation values. Mean mussel con-
                                                                                                         concentr
                                      0            25             50             75            100       centrations fall on each side of the na-
                                                                                                         tional mean for mussels of 192 ppb.
                               range for all oysters [122]        range for all mussels [109]            Cape Henlopen [8] has a mean concen-
                                                                                                         tration of 141 ppb and Cape May [7] has
                                 0 mussel sites
                                                                                                         a mean concentration of 193 ppb.

                                                                                                         Fish liver concentrations from the bays
                           100000
                                                                                                         range from a low of 438 ppb in spot from
                                                  5  5    6   3 4      1 2                               he York River [5] site to a high of 4,077
                                                                                                         t
                             10000                                                                       ppb in windowpane flounder from The
                                                                                                         Shears [2]. The windowpane flounder
                                                                                                         sites in the Delaware Bay have the fish
                              1000
                                                                                                         with the highest mean concentrations of
                                                                                                         all the fish sites in these bays. Gibson
                               100
                                                                                                         Island [3] and Kent Island [4) spot have
                                                                                                         the two highest concentrations of all sites
                                 10                                                                      sampled by NS&T. The York River [5]
                                                                                                         mean concentration is below the mean

                                                                                                         c
                                                                                                          ncentration for all NS&T sites sampled
                                                                                                         o
                                                                                                         for spot. The Elizabeth River [6] level is
                                          [1161
                                                                                                 oo      well above the mean concentration for
                                      0            25             50             75
                                                                                                         all Atlantic croaker sites collected by
                               range for all spot (8)        range for all Atlantic croaker (30)         NS&T, while the York River [5] Atlantic
                                                                                                         croaker site has a level below this con-
                                                                                                         centration.
                               spot            Atlantic croaker   ----- windowpane flounder

                                                                                                                                                       21





                                                         tPAH(ng/g dry weight)
                                                                                                                                            Three sediment sites and one bivolve
                                                                                                                                            site have concentrations in the "high"
                                   100000
                                                    27 18 5 8 14 12 26 30 28 2224  10 2 13 7 9 29 11 23 1 20 21 17 3 4 15 16
                                                                                                                                                   e and one sediment site has a level
                                                                                                                                            rong
                                                                                                                                            that foils into the "very high" concentro-
                                                                                                                                            tion range.
                                     10000
                                                                                                                          ER-M

                                                                                                                                            Total PAH (sum of 24 polycyclic aro
                                       1000                                                                                                 matic hydrocarbons). Sediment concen-
                         Z'                                                           MEAN
                       112                                                                                                                  tration means for tPAH in the bays range
                                         100                                                                                                from a low of 125 ppb at Cape Charles
                         W 1                                                                                                                [27] to a high of 34,843 ppb at Elizabeth
                                                                                                                                            River [6]. The Elizabeth River [6] level is
                                           10
                                                                                                                                            in the "very high" concentration range
                                                                                                                                            and Bodkin Point [15], Mountain Point
                                              1                                                                                             Bar[l 6], and Ft. McHenry [31 ] valuesare
                             j                           [2791                                                                              in the "high" concentration range. Eliza-
                                                 0                  25                   50                 75                 100
                                                                                                              -------                       beth River [6] is the only site in both bays
                                            ------                          ------          .. . .... ------                                with a concentration mean above the
                                   100000                                                                                                   ER-M concentration of 35,000 ppb.

                                                     1121 9 20 22 23 18 26 24 12 29 27 14 19 15 10 16 17 13 28 25-                          Mean concentrations for tPAH in oysters
                                     10000                                                                                                  for the bays range from a low of 4 ppb at
                                                                                                                                            Woodland Beach [11                 to a high of 1,074
                                        1000                                                                                                ppb at Chincoteague Inlet [25]. The sites
                                                                                                                                            in the two bays are evenly distributed
                                          100                                                                                               around the national mean concentration
                         >
                                                                                                                                            of 239 ppb. Woodland Beach [11 ], Mattox
                                                                                                                                            Creek [21 ], and Hope Creek [9] have the
                         >
                                           I U                                                                                              third, fourth, and fifth lowest mean con-
                                                                                                                                            centrations of total PAHs of all NS&T
                                                                                                                                            oyster sites. The Chincoteague Inlet [25]
                                                                                                              ----------L
                                                                                                                                            level is above the 85th percentile and is
                                                 0                 25                   50                 75                  100          a "high" value. Both mussel sites have
                                   Fj range for all oysters [121]                       range for all mussels [1081                         levels below the national mean of 314
                                                                                                                                            ppb, with the Cape Henlopen [8] site
                                                  mussel sites                                                                              having a mean concentration of 150 ppb
                                                                                                                                            and the Cape May [7] site a concentra-
                                                                                              ...... .. .---
                                                                                                                                            tion of 214 ppb.






















                       22




                 ContaminantEffects Studies

                 The continuing evidence of decline in coastal and estuarine re-
                 sources related to pollution, development, and natural effects has
                 increased public and political awareness of the need to implement
                 integrated coastal management strategies.



                 In 1990, the U.S. EPA initiated the               Delaware Bay                                               -E
                 Environmental Monitoring and
                 Assessment Program (EMAP)                 In June, 1993, a sediment bio-
                 Demonstration Project in estuaries        assay was performed by contrac-
                 of the Virginian Province, which          tors for the Delaware Estuary
                 includes the Delaware and Chesa-          Program and the Delaware River
                 peake Bays. A series of indicators        Basin Commission using samples
                 of the overall health of estuarine        collected from 16 sites in the
                 resources were measured at                Delaware River and Delaware
                 randomly selected sites through-          Bay. Two sites coincided with
                 out the two estuarine systems.            previously established NS&T
                 Two indicators measured were the          Mussel Watch Program sites (site
                 acute toxicity of sediment samples        DBAP [101 at Arnolds Point Shoal
                 to estuarine biota exposed under          and site DBBD [12] at False Egg
                 controlled laboratory conditions (a       Island Point). To test for sediment      sample,   researchers analyzed the
                 ten-day toxicity test using the           toxicity, juvenile amphipods             larval survival and growth of the
                 amphipod Ampelisca abdita), and           (Ampelisca abdita) were exposed          fathead minnow, Pimephales
                 the occurrence of visible patho-          to sediment samples for ten days         promelas, and the survival and
                 logical problems such as tumors           and the number of survivors were         reproduction of the cladoceran
                 and lesions in fish. Results from         counted. After ten days exposure,        (water flea), Ceriodaphnia dubia.
                 the first year of sampling revealed       mean survival ranged from 100%           Larval survival and growth of the
                 that sediments from approximately         for one site in the Delaware Bay         sheepshead minnow, Cyprinodon
                 4% of the Delaware Bay and 8%             (south of Money Island) to 0% for        variegatus, and survival and
                 of the Chesapeake Bay were toxic          two Delaware River sites (river          reproduction of the mysid shrimp,
                 to amphipods. Pathological                mile 85, at the mouth of Dawby           Mysidopsis bahia, were also
                 disorders were observed in                Creek, and river mile 110, inside        tested using samples from three
                 seventeen of every 1,000 bottom-          the mouth of Dredge Harbor near          downstream sites which experi-
                 dwelling fish collected in all of the     Plum Point). Amphipods exposed           ence higher salinities. Survival of
                 estuaries of the Virginian province.      to sediments collected from the          all four test species was unaf-
                                                                        two Mussel Watch            fected by exposure to any of the
                                                                        sites showed a mean         water samples, however, growth
                                                                    q   su
                                                                           rvival of 90% for        of fathead minnows was signifi-
                                                                          oth sites. The mean       cantly reduced in samples col-
                                                                    @'J
                                                                        survival for amphi-         lected from 8 sites, with the
                                                                        pods exposed to the         highest reduction occuring in
                                                                        control sediment            samples from the Philadelphia
                                                                        (collected from the         area. Reproduction of C. dubia
                                                                    M
                                                                        same location as the        also was significantly reduced in
                                                                        a
                                                                          mphipods) was 93%         one sample from a downstream
                                                                        (Ward and Boeri,            site located near Wilmington, DE
                                                                        1993).                      (Delaware River Basin Commis-
                                                                                                    sion, 1991a).
                 Results for pathological disorders        In November, 1990, the Delaware
                 for the Delaware and Chesapeake           River Basin Commission con-
                 Bays have not yet been reported           ducted  an ambient toxicity study
                 (Weisberg, et al., 1992).                 using water column samples from                Chesapeake Bay
                                                           12 Delaware River sites between
                                                           Fieldsboro, NJ (south of Trenton)        Between 1986 and 1987, Sunda et
                                                           and the C & D Canal. For each            al. (1990) compared the survival of


                                                                                                                                          23










               larvae of the copepod, Acartia tonsa, in water from             PAHs in Elizabeth River sediments may have
               the Elizabeth River estuary with survival in water              been responsible for this reduction. After Elizabeth
               from adjacent sites in Hampton Roads and the                    River fish were held in clean water for three
               lower Chesapeake Bay. The three Elizabeth River                 weeks, macrophage activity returned to control
               stations had the lowest survival rates, with 53%,               levels.
               52%, and 44% of the copepods surviving. These
               stations also had the highest concentrations of                 Huggett et al. (1987) observed a relationship
               copper and zinc. The highest survival rates were                between high levels of PAHs in sediments and
               from the two stations collected the farthest out in             reductions in biomass, total number of individuals,
               the Chesapeake Bay, with 86% and 90% of the                     and abundances of selected fish species collected
               copepods surviving. These stations also had the                 in the southern branch of the Elizabeth River. Fish
               lowest concentrations of copper and zinc. Addi-                 collected there also showed an increasing fre-
               tionally, the survival of A. tonsa larvae in Elizabeth          quency of gross abnormalities, such as cataracts,
               River samples increased following the addition of               as the level of PAH contaminants in sediments
               chelators EDTA and NTA, which complex and                       increased. For individual fish species, the occur-
               detoxify copper and zinc, and possibly nickel,                  rence of cataracts also increased with size,
               cadmium, and lead. Sunda et al. concluded that                  possibly indicating a relationship between duration
               copper, zinc, and possibly other toxic metals are               of exposure and biological effects.
               present at high enough concentrations in the
               Elizabeth River to adversely affect A. tonsa and                In a study funded by the Maryland and Virginia
               other sensitive estuarine organisms.                            Sea Grant College Programs, Chu and Hale
                                                                               (11992) analyzed the relationship between pollutant
               Weeks and Warinner (11984) and Weeks et al.                     exposure and oyster susceptibility to the pathogen
               (11986) compared measurements of indicators of                  Perkinsus marinus. In a preliminary experiment,
               immune system function in spot and hogchokers                   oysters inoculated with P. marinus infective
                                                                               particles were exposed to three concentration
                                                                               regimes of toxic mixtures (5 and 10%; 10 and
                                                                               20%; and 10 and 25%) extracted from Elizabeth
                                                                               River sediments. Both the prevalence of infection
                                                                               and weighed incidence (sum of infection level/
                                                                               number of oysters) were found to increase with
                                                                               ex
                                                                                 posure, however, no mortality occurred during
                           U                                                   the exposure period. Chu and Hale speculated
                                                                               that exposure of oysters to 25% or higher concen
                                                                     4@
                                                                                ations of toxic extracts would be required to
                                                                               tr
                                                                               weaken their defense system and increase their
                                                                               s
                                                                                usceptibility to disease.







                                  U11


               (Trinectes maculatus) collected from the southern
               branch of the Elizabeth River with similar mea-
               surements on fish from control sites in the York
               River, VA. Macrophages (a large cell that engulfs
               and digests foreign bodies in an organism's
               tissues) isolated from the kidneys of Elizabeth
               River fish showed reduced chernotactic and
               phagocytic activity in comparison with control fish.
               The researchers concluded that high levels of


               24




                Conclusions

                Results to date from the nationwide NS&T monitoring data have indicated that, in
                general, contaminant levels have been found to be holding steady or, in the case with
                several contaminants, decreasing in coastal areas over the past few years, reversing
                trends of contaminant increases that occurred in the first two-thirds of this century.



                Chemical Contaminant Findings. For three of                     seven metals (Ag, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn), and
                the seven heavy metals (Cr, Pb, and Zn), as well                one or more sites above the 85th percentile for all
                as two of the four organics (tCdane and tPCB)                   four of the organic contaminants (tDDT, tCdane,
                examined, at least one NS&T site in both the                    tPCB, and tPAH) quantified. In mussels from the
                Chesapeake and Delaware Bays exceeds the ER-                    two sites in Delaware Bay, five of the contami-
                M concentration, above which sediments usually                  nants (Ag, Cd, Pb, tCdane, and tPAH) have
                cause adverse biological responses. Concentra-                  concentrations below the national mean concen-
                tions at Ft. McHenry [31 ] exceed the ER-M for all              tration. Cadmium concentrations are relatively low
                five of these contaminants (Cr, Pb, Zn, tCdane,                 in the mussels and rank in the 19th percentile,
                and tPCB). In addition, Mattox Creek [21] has                   whereas the remaining four contaminants (Ag, Pb,
                levels that exceed the ER-M for Cr, Zn, and                     tCdane, and tPAH) have levels within the 37th to
                tCdane, while Elizabeth River [6] levels exceed the             the 50th percentile. For two heavy metals (Hg and
                ER-M for Pb and Zn. A total of 12 sites have zinc               Cr) and for tDDT, both mussel sites have levels
                levels that exceed the ER-M and 6 sites have                    above the national mean, and the Hg and tDDT
                levels that exceed it for chromium. For all seven of            levels are at the 54th percentile. The Chromium
                the metals and for two of the organics classes                  level, however, is above the 80th percentile.
                (tPCB and tPAH), the level at the Ft. McHenry [311
                site is above the 89th percentile for the nation. In            The fish liver data indicate that for five of the
                the case of zinc, Ft. McHenry has the highest                   metals (Ag, Cr, Pb, Hg, and Zn), and for all three
                concentration of all NS&T sites and is followed                 of the organics quantified (tCdane, tDDT, and
                closely by the Elizabeth River [61 site. In addition,           tPCB), two or more sites have concentrations
                Elizabeth River [6] has levels above the 87th                   above the 60th percentile. All copper concentra-
                percentile for five of the seven heavy metals (Cu,              tions are below this mark and all cadmium concen-
                Cd, Pb, Hg, and Zn) and two of the reported                     trations are below the 42nd percentile. The
                organic compounds (tPCB and tPAH).                              concentration at the York River [5] Atlantic croaker
                                                                                site is in the 99th percentile for the nation.
                In general, the Delaware Bay sites have higher
                concentrations of the contaminants in their oyster              The NS&T data show that a number of the sedi-
                tissues than most of the sites from the Chesa-                  ment and oyster samples have high concentra-
                peake Bay. In the case of Cu, Cd, Pb, Zn, tDDT,                 tions of multiple contaminants. This pattern is
                tCdane, and tPCB, the concentrations at all six of              consistent with other estuaries around the nation
                the Delaware Bay sites are above the 60th per-                  that are highly impacted by humans.
                centile. Of the 21 oysters sites in the Chesapeake
                Bay, only nine sites for tCdane [16, 15, 17, 28, 24,
                29, 21, 19, and 25), six sites for Cu [29, 15, 16, 23,          Contaminant Effects Findings. Studies on the
                21, and 17], Cd [15, 29,16, 23, 21, and 17], and                effects of contaminants on organisms in these two
                tPCB [115, 16, 17, 29, 21, and 28], two sites for Zn            bays have detected symptoms in portions of each
                [15 and 29], and one site for Pb [28], have mean                bay that are consistent with studies done in other
                contaminant concentrations higher than the lowest               heavily impacted estuaries. These symptoms
                concentration found in the Delaware Bay. All six of             include: (1) indicators of exposure to and uptake of
                the Delaware Bay oyster sites have mean concen-                 toxic chemical contaminants; (2) impaired immune
                trations of tDDT that are higher than any of the                responses in marine and estuarine organisms; (3)
                Chesapeake Bay sites. Hope Creek [9] has a level                decreasing shellfish and finfish populations and
                at or above the 92nd percentile for five of the                 thus landings; (4) greatly reduced SAV coverage;
                heavy metals (Cu, Cd, Cr, Pb, and Zn), and has                  (5) recurrent fish kills; and (6) public advisories on
                the highest concentrations of cadmium and zinc in               the consumption of fish and shellfish caught in
                the nation. In addition, these two bays have two or             these waters.
                more sites above the 80th percentile for six of the


                                                                                                                                       25





                 References

                 Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. 1993a. Chesa-                  Nation's coasts 1960-2010. Rockville, MD:
                 peake White Paper Nutrients and the Chesa-                      National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
                 peake: Refining the bay cleanup effort. Baltimore,              41 pp.
                 MD: Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. 12 pp.
                                                                                 Delaware River Basin Commission. 1991 a.
                 Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. 1993b.                         Ambient toxicity study of The Delaware River
                 Susquehanna River fact sheet. Baltimore, MD:                    estuary, Phase 1: West Trenton, NJ: Delaware
                 Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. 2 pp.                          River Basin Commission. 49 pp.

                 Basta, D.J., M.A. Warren, T.R. Goodspeed, C.M.                  Delaware River Basin Commission. 1991 b.
                 Blackwell, T.J. Culliton, J.J. McDonough 111, M.J.              Delaware River and Bay water quality assessment
                 Katz, D.G. Remer, J.P. Tolson, C.J. Klein, S.P.                 supplemental 1990 305(b) report. West Trenton,
                 Orlando, Jr., and D.M. Loft. 1990. Estuaries of the             NJ: Delaware River Basin Commission. 29 pp.
                 United States: Vital statistics of a national re-
                 source base. Rockville, MD: National Oceanic and                Dennison, W.C., R.J. Orth, K.A. Moore, J.C.
                 Atmospheric Administration. 79 pp.                              Stevenson, V.C. Carter, S. Kollar, P.W.
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               and Atmospheric Administration. 100 pp.                        Pait, A.S, A.E. DeSouza, and D.R.G. Farrow.
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                                                                                                                                   27











                estuarine fishes. Marine Environmental Research              Personal Communications
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                28



 I
 I
 i
 I
 I         Appendices







                 Appendix A. NS&T'High' and 'Very High'Chemical Contaminant Concentrations
                 Appendix B. NS&T Tissue and Sediment Site Sampling Years





























                                                                                             29





                         Appendix A - NS&T High and 'Very High Chemical Contaminant Concentrations

                         The appendix lists the NS&T sites sampled in the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays in the Benthic Surveillance
                         Program from 1984-1988 and the Mussel Watch Program from 1986-1990. Benthic Surveillance sites are listed
                         in bold italic. If all sediment samples from a site contained more than 80% sand-sized particles, thatsite is indicated
                         to be sandy and chemical datafrom it have not been used when comparing among sites. The lastcolumns indicate
                         which chemical concentrations, if any, at a site exceeded concentrations that are high'[*] ( more than the mean
                         plus one standard deviation of the log-normal distribution for all sites) or 'very high'[**] (more than the mean plus
                         two standard deviations of the log-normal distribution for all sites).







                         NS&T Sediment Data


                         General Site Name       Specific Site Name           Type       Cd      Cr     Cu     Pb     Hg      Ag     Zn     tDDT tCdane tPCIB           tPAH


                         New Jersey

                         Delaware Bay            Cape May
                         Delaware Bay            False Egg Island
                         Delaware Bay            Ben Davis Point Shoal
                         Delaware Bay            Arnolds Point Shoal
                         Delaware Bay            Hope Creek                                      

                         Delaware
                         Delaware Bay            Woodland Beach
                         Delaware Bay            Kelly Island
                         Delaware Bay            Cape Heniopen
                         Delaware Bay            Brandywine Shoal
                         Delaware Bay            The Shears                                                                                                        
                         
                         Maryland
                         Chesapeake Bay          Bodkim Piont   
                         Chesapeake Bay          Mountain Point Bar
                         Chesapeake Bay          Hackett Point Bar                                                                  
                         Chesapeake Bay          Choptank River
                         Chesapeake Bay          Hog Point                 Sandy
                         Chesapeake Bay          Swan Point
                         Chesapeake Bay          Fort McHenry Channel                         
                         Chesapeake Bay          Gibson Island
                         Chesapeake Bay          Kent Island
                         Chesapeake Bay          Smith Island


                         Virginia
                         Chesapeake Bay          Chincoteague inlet    Sandy
                         Quinby Inlet            Upshur Bay
                         Chesapeake Bay          Cape Charles
                         Potomac River           Mattox Creek
                         Potomac River           Ragged Point
                         Chesapeake Bay          Ingram Bay
                         Rappahannock River      Ross Rock
                         Chesapeake Bay          Dandy Point
                         Chesapeake Bay          James River
                         Chesapeake Bay          York River
                         Chesapeake Bay          Elizabeth River








                         30
 




                           Appendix A - (cont)








                           NS&T Bivalve Data


                           General Site Name                  Specific Site Name                               Cd        Cr         Cu        Pb       Hg         Ag       Zn       tDIDT      tCdane tPCB                tPAH


                           New Jersey
                           Delaware Bay        Cape May
                           Delaware Bay        False Egg Island
                           Delaware Bay        Ben Davis Point Shoal                                                                                                                                             
                           Delaware Bay        Arnolds Point Shoal
                           Delaware Bay        Hope Creek

                           Delaware
                           Delaware Bay        Woodland Beach
                           Delaware Bay        Kelly Island
                           Delaware Bay        Cape Henlopen
                           
                           Maryland
                           Chesapeake Bay        Bodkin Point
                           Chesapeake Bay        Mountain Point Bar
                           Chesapeake Bay        Hackett Point Bar
                           Chesapeake Bay        Choptank River
                           Chesapeake Bay        Hog Point
                           Potomac River         Swan Point

                           Virginia 
                           Chincoteague Bay      Chincoteague Inlet
                           Quinby Inlet          Upshur Bay
                           Chesapeake Bay        Cape Charles
                           Potomac River         Mattox Creek
                           Potomac River         Ragged Point
                           Chesapeake Bay        Ingram Bay
                           Rappahannock River    Ross Rock
                           Chesapeake Bay        Dandy Point
                           Chesapeake Bay        James River



                                                                                       31
                 






                        Appendix B - NS& T Tissue and Sediment Site Sampling Years






                        General Site Name           Specific Site Name              Species                                 Tissue                           Sediment


                        New Jersey
                          Delaware Bay              Cape May                        blue mussel                                         89  90                         89              
                          Delaware Bay              False Egg Island                American oyster                        86 87    88       90                  87
                          Delaware Bay              Ben Davis Point Shoal           American oyster                        86 87    88  89   90                  87                                  
                          Delaware Bay              Arnolds Point Shoal             American oyster                        86 87    88       90              86  87
                          Delaware Bay              Hope Creek                      American Oyster                                      89                           89


                        Delaware
                          Delaware Bay              Woodland Beach                  American oyster                                  89                               89
                          Delaware Bay              Kelly Island                    American oyster                        86  87 88 89 90                   86 87
                          Delaware Bay              Cape Henlopen                   blue mussel                                      89 90                            89   
                          Delaware Bay              Brandywine Shoal                windowpane flounder            84 85 86                         84 85 86
                          Delaware Bay              The Shears                      windowpane flounder                     87                                87
                                                                                                                                                                 87


                        Maryland
                        Chesapeake Bay            Bodkin Point                American oyster                                 89 90                                89 
                        Chesapeake Bay            Mountain Point Bar          American    oyster                     86 87 88 89 90                    86 87
                        Chesapeake Bay            Hackett Point Bar           American oyster                        86 87 88 89 90                    86 87
                        Chesapeake Bay            Choptank River              American oyster                                 89 90                             89
                        Chesapeake Bay            Hog Point                   American oyster                                 89 90                    86
                        Potomac River             Swan Point                  American oyster                                 89 90                             89
                        Baltimore Harbor          Fort McHenry Channel        no fish collected                                                        86
                        Chesapeake Bay            Gibson Island               spot                               85 86                             85  86  87
                        Chesapeake Bay            Kent Island                 spot                                      87                                 87
                        Chesapeake Bay            Smith Island                no fish collected                                                    85  86

                        Virginia
                        Chincoteague Bay          Chincoteague Inlet              American oyster                        86 87 88 89 90                    86
                        Quinby Inlet              Upshur -Bay                     American oyster                        86 87 88 89 90                    86 87
                        Chesapeake Bay            Cape Charles                    American oyster                        86 87 88 89 90                    86 87
                        Potomac River             Mattox Creek                    American oyster                                    90                               90
                        Chesapeake Bay            Ragged Point                    American oyster                                 89 90                            89
                        Chesapeake Bay            Ingram Bay                      American oyster                        86 87                           86 87
                        Chesapeake Bay            Ross Rock                       American oyster                                 89 90                            89
                        Chesapeake Bay            Dandy Point                     American oyster                        86 87   88 89 90                  86 87
                        Chesapeake Bay            James River                     American oyster                                  89 90                           89
                        Chesapeake Bay            York River                      Atlantic croaker               84      86                       84       86 87
                        Chesapeake Bay            York River                      spot                               85                               85
                        Chesapeake Bay            Elizabeth River                 Atlantic croaker                       86                                86








                        32
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