Dear All
Some time ago, I asked the list for information on
(fine-grained) sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) for UK
rivers. In particular, I wanted to know if there were
guidelines related to the content of contaminants and
nutrients (such as heavy metals, phosphorus and PCBs)
associated with fluvial sediment (i.e suspended, channel
bed and floodplain). After some considerable time searching
and asking the Environment Agency (EA) and DETR, there are
at present no such guidelines for UK rivers. The EA,
however, do realise the need for SQGs, and there is at
present an EA R&D project looking into how the EA may
establish such guidelines. However, further work would then
be required to actually establish these. So, UK river SQGs
appear to be some way off.
There was a good response from the list members (both
from the UK and abroad) to my initial question, and I would
like to thank Cynthia Burek, Richard Lord, Gerard Bird,
Steven Mather, Andrew Peters, Manuel Bello La Puerta, Hugh
Potter, Steven Miners and members of the EA and DETR for
their comments and help. From these responses and my own
knowledge, I list below some of the available SQGs (or
related information) that I am aware of:
Persaud, D., Jaagumagi, R. and Hayton, A. (1993).
Guidelines for the protection and management of aquatic
sediment quality in Ontario. Ontario Ministry of
Environment and Energy, Queen's Printer for Ontario,
Ontario, Canada.
USEPA (1997). The incidence and severity of sediment
contamination in surface waters of the United States, vol.
1: National Sediment Quality Survey. USEPA EPA 823-R-97-006.
CCME (Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment)
(1999). Canadian Environment Quality Guidelines.
CCME, Winipeg. See also:
www.ec.gc.ca/ceqg-rcge/sediment.htm
CEFAS (1997). Final Reports of the Metals Task Team and the
Organics Task Team. Marine Pollution Monitoring Management
Group. The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and
Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), Science Series, Aquatic
Environment Monitoring Report No. 49, Lowesoft, UK.
Long et al. (1995). The incidence of adverse biological
effects within ranges of chemical concentrations in marine
and estuarine sediment. Environmental Management, vol. 19.
Inter-departmental Committee on the Redevelopment of
Contaminated Land. (1993) Guidance on the assessment and
redevelopment of contaminated land. ICRCL, London.
There are others no doubt, and I would still appreciate
receiving any further information.
With many thanks
Phil Owens
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Dr Philip N. Owens
Department of Geography
University of Exeter
Amory Building
Rennes Drive
Exeter EX4 4RJ
UK
Email - [log in to unmask]
Phone - 01392 264521
Fax - 01392 263342
http://www.ex.ac.uk/geography/staff/owens.html
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