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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-08-11 City Council (23)City of Palo Alto C ty Manager’s Report 2 TO:HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL FROM: AGENDA DATE: SUBJECT: CITY MANAGER ,DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC WORKS AUGUST 11, 1997 CMR:359:97 CONSULTANT AGREEMENT WITH UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY FOR SUMMARY AND DATA ON NEAR FIELD RECEIVING WATER MONITORING OF TISSUES AND SEDIMENTS REQUEST This report recornmends that Council approve a Joint Funding Agreement with the United States Department of the Interior, Geological Survey (USGS), obligating the City to pay $36,098 to USGS for a study entitled "Summary and Data On Near Field Receiving Water Monitoring of Tissues and Sediments." RECOMMENDATIONS Staff recommends that Council approve and authorize the Mayor to execute the Joint Funding Agreement with the United States DePartment of the Interior, Geological Survey (USGS) in the amount of $36,098 for the "Summary and Data on Near Field Receiving Water Monitoring of Tissues and Sediments." The Joint Funding Agreement is for services during a one year period. The City would pay USGS a total sum of $36,098, which will be billed quarterly. POLICY IMPLICATIONS This report does not represent any change to existing City policies. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On July 21, 1993, the Regional Board reissued a new NPDES permit to the City requiring a more extensive receiving water monitoring program. The permit also required the City to coordinate its monitoring efforts with the USGS, because USGS has collected data in the area since 1976. The extended receiving water monitoring program, entitled the "Inshore Monitoring Program," began on January 1, 1994 and continues as an ongoing collaborative project between the City and USGS. The Inshore Monitoring Program determines the concentration of toxic pollutants (principally metals) which have accumulated in sediment and clam tissue near the Regional Water Quality Control Plant discharge point, and makes it possible to observe trends over time. Clam data collected to date have demonstrated dramatic improvement, in keeping with reductions which have occurred in the RWQCP discharge. In addition, USGS CMR:359:97 Page 1 of 2 coordinates the data from Palo Alto’s Inshore Monitoring Program with the receiving ,water monitoring programs of the San Jose/Santa Clara Water Pollution Control Plant (WPCP) and the Sunnyvale WPCP. The purpose of the "Summary and Data on Near Field Receiving Water Monitoring of Tissues and Sediments" study is to review this unique 20-year data set on metal enrichment and metal bioavailability collected as the RWQCP changed and improved its treatment methodologies. The goal is to illustrate the effects of improved waste water treatment on the inshore ecosystem and to better understand the processes that affect metal concentrations in sediments and clams.. The study will focus primarily on temporal changes in the RWQCP’s metal discharges, the influence of external factors (such as stream and urban runoff), and biological responses to contaminants. The City will recei~,e several products from USGS summarizing the study, including a full data report and one or more articles prepared for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific/regulatory journal. A USGS fact sheet will also be produced for the public and industry that explains how improved waste treatment and source reductions are beneficial to the Bay’s ecosystems. FISCAL IMPACT Funds for this study are available in the RWQCP 1997-1998 operating budget. ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT The Inshore Monitoring Program does not constitute a project under the California Environmental Quality Act and, therefore, an environmental assessment has not been performed. ATTACHMENTS Joint Funding Agreement between the City of Palo Alto and the United States Department of the Interior, Geological Survey PREPARED BY:Suzanne Healy, Associate Engineer, Environmental Compliance Division DEPARTMENT HEAD REVIEW: CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: GLENN S. ROBERTS Director of Public Works Assistant City Manager CMR:359:97 Page 2 of 2 Form 9-1366 UoS. Department of the Interior (May 1996)U.S. Geological Survey Joint Funding Agreement FOR Data Collection and Analysis THIS AGREEMENT is entered into as of the 22th day of May 1997 4387-12500 ~ by the U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, party of the first part, and the City of Palo Alto, party of the sec- ond part. 1.The parties hereto agree that subject to the availability of appropriations and in accordance with their respective authorities there shall be maintained in cooperation summary and data on near field receiving water monitoring, hereinafter called the program. 2.The following amounts shall be contributed to cover all of the cost of the necessary field and analytical work directly related to this program. (a) $0o00 by the party of the first part during the period May 22, 1997 to May 21, 1998 (b) $36,098 by the party of the second part during the period May 22, 1997 to May 21, 1998 (c)Additional or reduced amounts by each party during the above period or succeeding periods as may be determined by mutual agreement and set forth in an exchange of letters between the parties. 3. The costs of this program may be paid by either party in conformity with the laws and regulations respectively governing each party. 4. The field and analytical work pertaining to this program shall be under the direction of or subject to periodic review by an authorized representative of the party of the first part. 5. The areas to be included in the program shall be determined by mutual agreement between the parties hereto or their authorized representatives. The methods employed in the field and office shall be those adopted by the party of the first part to insure the required standards of accuracy subject to modification by mutual agreement. 6.During the course of this program, all field and analytical work of either I~arty pertaining to this program shall be open to the inspection of the other party, and if the work is not being carried on in a mutually satisfactory manner, either party may terminate this agreement upon 60 days written notice to the other party. 7.The original records resulting from this program Will be deposited in the office of origin of those records. Upon request, copies of the original records will be provided to the office of the other party. 8.The maps, records or reports resulting from this program shall be made available to the public as promptly as possible. The maps, records or reports normally will be published by the party of the first part. However, the party of the second part reserves the right to publish the results of this program and, if already published by the party of the first part shall, upon request, be furnished by the party of the first part, at cost, impressions suitable for purposes of reproduction similar to that for which the original copy was prepared. The maps, records or reports published by either party shall contain a statement of the co..operative relations between the parties. 9.Billing for this agreement will be rendered quarterly . Payments of bills are due within 60 days after the billing date. If not paid by the due date, interest will be charged at the current Treasury rate for each 30 day period, or portion thereof, that the payment is delayed beyond the due date. (31 USC 3717; Comptroller General File B-212222, August 23, 1983.). CITY OF PALO ALTO U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY UNITED STATES By DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR By / . (SIGNATURE & TITLE) By ---Frederic H. Nichols, Chief, BRR, WR (USE REVERSE SIDE IF ADDITIONAL SIGNATURES ARE REQUIRED) PROPOSAL TO THE CITY OF PALO ALTO: SUMMARY AND DATA ON NEAR FIELD RECEIVING WATER OF TISSUES AND SEDIMENTS: JUNE, 1975 through DECEMBER 31, 1996 ’ Samuel Luoma, Michelle Hornberger, Daniel Cain, Cynthia Brown, Byeong-Gweon Lee, Robin Bouse, Chris Wellise U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MAIL STOP 465 345 MIDDLEFIELD ROAD MENLO PARK, CA 94025 1.0 INTRODUCTION The importance of understanding contamination trends in San Francisco Bay has been well recognized by local, state and federal agencies responsible for maintaining the water quality of the Bay. Historical data on waste discharge into the Bay is sparse, but it is known that the overall volume of municipal waste discharge has grown. For example, available estimates suggests discharges were 230 million gal/day in 1955 and 555 million gal/d in 1986 (Monroe, 1992). On the other hand, this growth has been accompanied by investments in advanced waste water treatment, especially since the passagae of the Clean Water Act in 1970. It appears that the net effect of the improved treatment processes has been reduced contaminant loadings to the Bay. Data reported by municipal dischargers indicate that meta! loadings declined from 993 T/yr in 1960 to 171 T/yr in 1986. The effects of the reduced contaminant loadings on the Bay ecosystem are not fully known, however. Recent studies of sediment cores from North and Central San Francisco Bay show some indications that investments in waste treatment, elimination of some chemicals from the waste stream, and shifts in the types of industria! development in the Bay area have begun to result in long-term declines in concentrations of some contaminants in sediments. It also appears that the greatest declines in contamination have occurred nearest the -historic sources of input, as contaminated sediments are buried and/or dispersed through the Bay ecosystem. As a result, historic hotspots of contamination may be gradually disappearing, to be repl’aced by wider, regional-scale areas of more moderate contamination. Substantial improvements in waste treatment have occurred particularly among dischargers in South Bay, south of the Dumbarton Bridge. Trends in sediment contamination are not accessible from sediment cores in much of South Bay, however, because areas of continual sediment deposition are rare(Fuller, 1982). Since 1976, however, USGS personnel have monitored and studied trace metal concentrations in sediments and resident sediment-dwelling animals (mainly one species of clam - Macoma balthica) in the vicinity of the discharge of the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Contro! Plant (PARWQCP). This is an unusually detailed data set in that samples were collected on a near-monthly basis. Thus the data from these collections represent a unique 20 year record of metal enrichment and metal bioavailability collected .as the PARWCP changed and improved its treatment methodologies. Although parts of this record have been published, usually associated with related studies, we propose here to systematically assemble the available trace metal data, along with environmental data from the Bay and historic data on discharges from the PARWQCP. The goal would be to illstrate for scientists, regulators and the public the effects on the South Bay ecosystem of improved waste treatment at the PARWQCP, and to better understand the processes that control the status of present-day metal conditions at the site. Objectives: The objective of this study are to approach the following three questions: i. Describe the temporal trends in sediments and local fauna. ¯ Is the historic decline in metal concentrations related to specific changes in waste treatment and source control? ¯ Is ~the decline of contamination continuing at the rate expected from changes made in effluent concentrations and loads, and if not, can we.explain why? ¯ Can characteristics of the PARWQCP discharge be identified that have been-especially important contributors to the contamination of sediments or clams (e.g.occasional pulse inputs of metal or seasonal changes in discharge). 2. Determine the influence of outside factors and their effect on temporal trends. OHow do year-to-year differences in stream runoff, urban runoff, mine inputs or phytoplankton blooms affect metal concentrations in the sediment or biota? ¯ Do seasonal or year-to-year differences in salinity, winds or tides affect contamination in the Bay near the PARWQCP? ¯ How is contamination affected by residence times in the South Bay, as indicated by freshwater inputs from riverine sources, and have those influences changed? ¯ Have seasonal cycles of variability in metal enrichment changed in the last two decades? 3. Biological response to contaminants: ¯ Can changes in contamination at the Palo Alto mudflat be linked to indicators of physiological stress in the resident clam, Macoma balthica? ¯ Have reproductive patterns in M. balthica or trends in condition index changed during the last two decades? ¯ Can we distinguish between envigonmental factors vs. influences of contamination on these biological processes? The Data Set Comparable methodologies were employed throughout the study period. Specifically, the elements silver, copper, zinc, iron, manganese, and organic carbon were monitored at near monthly intervals in fine-grained sediments and in the clam Macoma balthica since August, 1975 and through December 1996. In 1990 monitoring of Cd, Cr, Pb, Ni, and V began and Hg plus Se~were added in 1991 (some data for Se is available from the late 1980’s). In addition to the data on metal exposures, data has also been collected on two indicators of the health of one dominant species on the mudflat, Macoma balthica. Condition index, the ratio of tissue weight to shell length, has been determined near monthly in the same way since 1975. Recently, reproductive status has also been determined from archived samples of Mo balthica, so trends in reproductive capabilities, a sensitive measure of adverse biological effects of metals, is now available for analysis. In addition data on metals in clams and sediments are available for other locations in South Bay from a three year study conducted at two stations (the east end of the Dumbarton Bridge and the east end of the San Mateo Bridge) between 1977 and 1980, a 26 station survey conducted in September 1986, and San J0se/Sunnyvale Near Field samples collected at six times per years from near the mouth of Coyote Creek since 1993. These data could be useful in providing an spatial context for the historic data from near the PARWQCP. In addition to the specific data on metals, the USGS has long term, detailed data sets on stream ’inflows to South Bay and hydrography from the channel of the ecosystem (salinity, phytoplankton blooms, suspended material, river inflows). Where appropriate these will be assembled and related to changes to metal concentrations. In addition, effluent analyses have been obtained from the PARWQCP inthe past, and these will be updated and compared to metal data from the Bay. While pieces of the above data were published in several forms, no systematic analysis of the data set has been conducted, especially in the last i0 years. The Regional Monitoring Program and the complementary Near Field Receiving Water Monitoring Program have been instituted in recent years to begin to keep track of contamination in South Bay. These programs have been in effect for a relatively short time, however. A longer term, fully analyzed, detailed context from Palo Alto, could provide an important baseline to aid interpretations from these programs. An additional consideration is that linkages between metal bioaccumulation and biological change have been difficult to establish, partly because of a lack of historica! data. Thus it has been difficult to interpret the ecological significance of the contamination in South Bay and of changes in contamination. The newly available reproductive data could establish a basis for the beginning of such an evaluation and perhaps provide some basis for better understanding levels of concern. Metals are an especially important consideration in South Bay in that concentrations of at least copper, mercury, nickel and silver are of immediate regulatory concern. By studying historic trends in these metals it is hoped that present conditions can be better understood, future trends anticipated and a better basis for regulation provided. PRODUCTS Several products are proposed, as desired by the PARWQCP. A full data report will be produced with a comprehensive set of figures developed in interpretation of the data. At least one, and probably more than one article will be developed for publication in the peer reviewed scientific/regulatory literature (for example, the journals Science or Environmental Management would be possible outlets). The purpose of at least one article would be to publicize the successful relationship between investment in waste treatment and measureable improvements in environmental quality. The length and detail of the information available from the USGS data set is unique and should allow for publications of great interest in the regulatory and science communities. We also propose to work with the PARWQCP to produce product(s) that explain to the public and to industry how improved waste treatment and source reduction have been beneficial to the Bay, as well as the remaining challenges. To meet this goal a USGS fact sheet(s) will be produced. Tasks Proposed i. Assemble and interpret data for the elements silver, copper, zinc, iron, manganese, and organic carbon (near monthly) for fine-grained sediments and the clam Macoma balthica for the period August, 1975 and through December 1996. Iron, manganese and organic carbon trends are indicators of natural conditions in sediments and will provide knowledge of whether sediment conditions have progressively changed over the 20 year study period. ¯ Additional task: Conduct TOC on archived samples for the mid-1980’s ¯Additional task: Conduct Ag-HCI analyses on archived ~ samples for mid-1980’s when Ag was not determined. 2. Assemble and interpret data on the elements Cd, Cr, Pb, Ni, and V began and Hg plus Se were for the period 1991 1997 (some data for Se is available from the late 1980’s). 3. Assemble and interpret data ontwo indicators of the health of one dominant species on the mudflat, Macoma balthica. ¯ Condition index, the ratio of tissue weight to shell length, will be assembled and intepreted for the period1975 1997 to determine if reproductive cycles have changed over the period and if changes are related to contamination. ¯ Recently we have completed sectioning and reading slides for reproductive status of M. balthica for the period 1975 through 1988. Reproductive condition will be related to condition index, hydrologic conditions, salinity, algal productivity, and pollutant concentrations to determine causes for any changes that occurred during the study period. ¯ Mercury and selenium analyses will be conducted on selected archived sediments from before 1990 (~15 analyses) 4. Assemble data on physical and biological hydrographic conditions in South Bay over the study period. ¯ Assemble and interpret, as relevant to the above data, the detailed data sets on stream inflow to South Bay from at least one major tributary. o Assemble and interpret, as relevant to the above data, the USGS data available on hydrography of South Bay, including trends and seasonality of salinity, phytoplankton blooms, suspended material, river inflows. ¯ Assemble and interpet effluent analyses have been obtained from the PARWQCP as related to the above metal data from the Bay. ¯ Assemble and intepret as appropriate, the RMP data (and perhaps earlier<data where of high quality) on dissolved and total recoverable metals in the water column of extreme South Bay. 5. Assemble data on metals in clams and sediments for other locations in South Bay from studies conducted at two stations (the east end of the Dumbarton Bridge and the east end of the san Mateo Bridge) between 1977 and 1980, from the 26 station survey conducted in September 1986, and from samples collected at six times per years from near the mouth of Coyote Creek since 1993. Interpret in terms of a spatial context for the historic data from near the PARWQCP. Table 4. Budget for historical summary of Palo Alto inshore monitoring program data in dollars, ACTIVITY SALARY SUPPLIES ANALYSES MISCELLANEOUS Reduce & Assemble data Salary-60% time GS-7 (Assist-Temp) 21,000 TOC Analyses Silver Analyses Mercury/Selenium Artist - Fact Sheet Final Reports [Temporary time] SUBTOTALS 1,500 2,000 3,000 27,500 600 1,500 TOTAL DIRECT COSTS USGS Overhead ( TOTAL COSTS $29,600 6,498~’~" 36,098 ~