| Study ID | PSAMPNOA |
| Study Name | A Cooperative Agreement with the Puget Sound Assessment and Monitoring Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration(NOAA) National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program to jointly examine measures of sediment quality throughout Puget Sound. |
| EIM Data Entry Review Status | Not Reviewed |
| Study Type | Routine ambient monitoring |
| Study Purpose | In 1997, Ecology entered into a Cooperative Agreement with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program, to jointly examine measures of sediment quality throughout Puget Sound. This three year monitoring effort consisted of focused studies, with 100 stations being sampled annually in north, central, and south Puget Sound using a stratified random sampling approach.
Goals and Objectives
1. Determine the incidence and severity of sediment toxicity.
2. Identify spatial patterns and gradients in chemical concentrations and toxicity.
3. Estimate the spatial extent of chemical contamination and toxicity in surficial sediments.
4. Estimate the apparent relationships between toxicant concentrations, measures of sediment toxicity, and communities of sediment-dwelling organisms.
5. Compare the quality of sediment among different regions of Puget Sound. |
| Field Collection Date Range | 1/1/1900 - 6/30/1999 |
| Data First/Last Loaded Date |  |
| Data Last Updated Date | |
| Ecology Program or Other Responsible Entity | Ecy Environmental Assessment Program |
| Ecology Contact | Sandra Weakland |
| Ecology Monitoring Program | Marine Sediments |
| Submitting Organization | |
| Study QA Planning Level | LEVEL 4: Approved QAPP or SAP. |
| Study QA Project Plan Description | The document serves as an expanded QAPP describing in detail the field sampling, laboratory procedures, analytical methods, quality assurance/control measures and data management needs of the sediment program |
| Study QA Assessment Level | Level 5: Data Verified and Assessed for Usability in a Peer-Reviewed Study Report |
| Study Result Description | Surficial sediment (upper 2-3 cm) from 300 randomly chosen locations throughout Puget Sound were tested for a list of parameters to determine acute toxicity in four laboratory tests, quantify concentrations of over 150 chemical parameters, and describe the community structure of sediment-dwelling organisms. Study findings include: Degraded sediment conditions were measured for about 1% of the total study area. In these sediments, one or more chemical concentrations exceeded numerical, effects-based guidelines or criteria; toxicity occurred in at least one laboratory test; the number and diversity of benthic organisms living in the sediments at these locations were depressed relative to uncontaminated sediments, and/or the infauna were dominated by pollution-tolerant species. These conditions invariably occurred in samples collected within urbanized bays and industrial waterways, especially near Everett, Seattle, Tacoma, and Bremerton, where degraded conditions had been reported in previous studies.
High quality sediment conditions (as indicated by no toxicity, no contamination, and the presence of abundant and diverse sediment-dwelling organisms) occurred in samples that represented about 68% of the total study area.
Sediments for which results of the three kinds of analyses were not in agreement were classified as either intermediate/high quality (27% of the total study area) or intermediate/degraded quality (4% of the total study area), and represented the sediment quality of the majority of the total study area. This relatively large area with intermediate sediment quality is suggested as in most need of continued surveillance because of its nearshore location and role as critical habitat for numerous marine organisms.
Relative to many other estuaries and marine bays along the U.S. coastline, Puget Sound sediments were ranked among the least contaminated and toxic. |
| Study Comment | EIM Study ID PSAMP98 contained data from SEDQUAL that was merged into EIM. This data was duplicate data that was already contained in PSAMPNOA. PSAMP98 was erased from EIM on 01-22-2013. The SEDQUAL Study ID MSMPNOAA was changed to PSAMPNOA when the data were entered into EIM. A scientific collection Permit must be obtained from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife prior to sampling. |
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| Study ID Aliases (Alias Type) | PSAMP98 (Former Study ID from assimilated Study)
MSMPN0AA (Former Study ID from renamed Study)
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