T1 AM Contaminat Cycling Assessment and Prevention in the NY/NJ Harbor (Part 1)
Tuesday, 15 November 2005: 8:00 AM - 11:40 AM in Ballroom 1

(TOT-1117-646078) A Mass Balance On PCBs and PAHs in the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary.

Totten, L¹, ¹ Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

ABSTRACT- In a project funded by the New York Academy of Sciences, complete mass balances on the sum of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and homologs 3-9 as well as fourteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been constructed for the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary. Data from the CARP (Contaminant Assessment and Reduction Project), R-EMAP (Regional Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program), and NJADN (New Jersey Atmospheric Deposition Network) projects were used to estimate loadings from tributaries, atmospheric deposition, wastewater treatment plant discharges, combined sewer overflows (CSOs), and stormwater runoff as well as losses due to storage in sediments, dredging, tidal exchange, and volatilization. For PAHs, loadings from oil spills and losses due to biodegradation were also estimated. For the sum of PCBs, the largest source (about 56% of the total load) was the Hudson River. For PCB homologs 6-9, stormwater and CSOs contributed 60-80% of the total load. The mass balance was closed for homologs 5-9. For homologs 3 and 4, losses exceed inputs, likely due to volatilization of PCBs historically accumulated in the sediments. For high molecular weight PAHs, stormwater was found to contribute almost half of the total loads to the system.

Key words: stormwater, non-point, oil, Hudson