Attendees

Catherine Tyrrell, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board
Mark Gold, Heal the Bay
Michael Lyons, LA Regional Board
Lauma Jurkevics, California Coastal Commission
Mitzy Taggart, Heal the Bay
Rick Cameron, Port of Long Beach
Guangyu Wang, Santa Monica Bay Restoration Project
Menerva Daoud, Los Angeles County Department of Public Works
Barb Klos, Woodward-Clyde
Tony Risko, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Gretchen Honan, CH2M-Hill
Ken Schiff, Southern California Coastal Water Research Project

Plan for Monitoring Ballona Creek Watershed [handout]

Tony Risko, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Menerva Daoud, Los Angeles County Department of Public Works discussed plans to hire a contractor to conduct sampling, testing and monitoring within the Ballona Creek Watershed. The agencies have created a model (based on 16 previous storm events and dry weather sampling conducted by UCLA) to predict contaminant loadings within the watershed associated with different land uses and particular geographic areas. However, the agencies need to validate the model with field data and include wet weather monitoring data. The agencies have developed a proposed scope of work to: 1) confirm locations of contaminated sediments; 2) determine number and location of sampling stations needed to identify pollutant sources; 3) compare contaminant "hot spots" with land use data; 4) identify potential hot spots from field data and model. The study will also address the development of preliminary alternatives for removal of pollutants (e.g., in-stream sediment traps, wetlands, diversion channels) and trash and debris control. The study is expected to last for approximately 4 months. Comments on the scope of work were due to Tony Risko by November 10th.

Contaminants of Concern [handout]

Michael Lyons, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, reviewed recent sediment chemistry data to identify pollutants of concern found in sediments in four areas: Ballona Creek Entrance Channel, Los Angeles River Estuary, Dominguez Channel and San Gabriel River. Existing sediment guidelines were used to screen the sediment chemistry data (NOAA ERM and ERL thresholds, State of Florida PEL and TEL thresholds, Puget Sound ML and SL thresholds). For the Ballona Creek watershed, several trace metals, especially lead, exceeded sediment quality guidelines, as well as several PAHs, PCB, DDT, chlordane and dieldrin; a comparison of 1997 data to 1995 data suggested that the more recent sediments were contaminated with fewer contaminants of concern (primarily lead). For the Los Angeles River watershed, several trace metals exceeded sediment quality guidelines, especially lead and zinc, as well as several PAHs, PCB, DDT and chlordane; a comparison of 1998 and 1997 results showed little difference. For the Dominguez Channel watershed, DDT appeared to be the primary pollutant of concern, with PCB, chlordane and tributyltin in some areas. For the San Gabriel River watershed, very little sediment data is available; copper occasionally exceeded the sediment guidelines.

Assignment: Michael Lyons will develop a more detailed spreadsheet listing all of the exceedances for each chemical of concern so that we can analyze the temporal and areal extent of contamination in each watershed and prioritize the pollutants of concern, particularly in the Ballona Creek and Los Angeles River watersheds.

Existing Stormwater Data [handout]

Mark Gold, Heal the Bay, presented an analysis of the existing stormwater monitoring data collected by Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. His review identified three main areas of concern: 1) are we monitoring the right parameters to allow us to determine the impacts of stormwater discharges on sediment quality?; 2) are we using adequate detection limits to allow us to make mass emission/loading estimates for pollutants of concern?; 3) have Toxicity Identification Evaluations (TIEs) been completed on contaminated sediments? We need to complete the status and trends analysis comparing different stormwater monitoring databases (compare LACDPW with COE, UCLA and SCCWRP). We need to assess the link between stormwater data and sediment contamination data. This is work that a contractor might be able to perform for approximately $20,000.

Assignment: Everyone should review their existing information and bring ideas concerning a scope of work for this effort to the next subcommittee meeting.

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