The NJ Toxics Reduction Workplan for NY-NJ Harbor:

Overview of the Water Quality Sampling Program

Joel A. Pecchioli

Division of Science, Research and Technology, NJ Department of Environmental Protection, P.O. Box 409, Trenton, NJ 08625; 609-633-2200; joel.pecchioli@dep.state.nj.us

As part of the New York-New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program Contaminant Assessment and Reduction Project (CARP), the New Jersey Toxics Reduction Workplan for NY-NJ Harbor (NJTRWP) collected ambient water samples at 20 locations throughout the estuary. Effluent samples from all 12 New Jersey wastewater treatment plants (POTWs) that discharge to the harbor, and samples from selected Combined Sewer Outfalls (CSOs) and Storm Water Outfalls (SWOs), were also collected. Together with hydrodynamics studies, these sampling activities comprised Phase One of the NJTRWP. A key program goal was the development of sampling and analytical protocols that would provide significantly lower detection limits than those achieved in routine environmental sampling work. Large-volume ambient river and estuary samples were collected using a Trace Organics Platform Sampler (TOPS), which used a series of glass fiber filters to collect organic contaminants associated with suspended sediment and particulate organic carbon, and XAD-2 resin columns to collect dissolved fraction PCBs and pesticides. The TOPS samples were analyzed using high resolution methods for PCBs (USEPA Method 1668A), dioxins/furans (USEPA Method 1613B), PAHs (LR GC/MS), and pesticides (HR GC/MS). Grab and composite samples were analyzed for Cd and Pb (USEPA Method 1638), Hg (USEPA Method 1631B), methyl-Hg (USEPA Method 1630), and dissolved PAHs. Grab/composite methods were used to collect the POTW, CSO, and SWO samples, which were similarly analyzed for total PCBs, dioxins/furans, PAHs, and pesticides, and total/dissolved Cd, Pb, Hg, and methyl-Hg. This poster provides a summary of the NJTRWP Phase One sampling activities.

Funding for this project was provided by the Port Authority of New York-New Jersey via the New Jersey Department of Transportation Office of Maritime Resources.