Monitoring the remediation of Halifax Harbour after 250 years of contamination

这项建议将涉及在哈利法克斯港首次引入新的污水处理系统后监测缓解进展的问题，此前250年的未经处理的污水被放置在该港。虽然在引入处理后将对水质进行监测，但真正的问题是在沉积物中遇到了真正的问题，因为目前没有计划抽样或监测变化。鉴于现在港口有捕鱼业捕捞龙虾等底栖动物，重要的是了解港口中积累的是什么，以及是否会随着缓解进展而减少。我们的计划是利用哈利法克斯地区市政当局(HRM)提供的船运时间收集与水样本一致的海底样本，并监测这些样本中的底栖有孔虫和其他生物群以及这些样本中的重金属和多环芳烃，因为2006-2007年夏季第一个处理厂上线后，随着缓解进展，我们已经有了2004和2005年的样本。我们还将重建史前时期的污染历史，以确定撞击前的基线是什么，使用有孔虫和锡尼虫作为替代。在引入应力之前，几乎没有可用的数据；使用底栖环境的替代物(例如底栖有孔虫)，我们可以重建撞击前的条件。以前对岩心物质中有孔虫的研究没有一致的地球化学数据或充分的年代测定，本研究也是如此。我们将能够在两年后确定系统是否对补救措施做出响应以及响应程度。同时，“哨兵”物种也将被用来监测关键生物群返回系统的情况。“人力资源管理的情况在加拿大是独一无二的，我们在治疗开始之前就开始抽样，并可以在补救治疗后跟踪几年。这种史前重建可能会以新标准的形式影响公共政策，在新标准中必须考虑底栖环境和水质。该项目包括作为支持组织的政府、公民和国际支持(埃及文化事务)。

This proposal will address the issue of monitoring the progress of mitigation after a new sewage treatment system is introduced to Halifax Harbour for the first time after 250 years of raw effluent being placed in the harbour. Although there will be monitoring of the water quality after treatment is introduced, the real problems are encountered in the sediments where there is currently no plan sample or monitor changes. Given the fact that there is a fishing industry in the harbour now that harvests benthic animals such as lobsters, it is important to know what is accumulating in the harbour and if it will decrease as mitigation progresses. Our plan will be to utilize ship time provided by the Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) to collect benthic samples coincident with water samples and monitor the benthic foraminifera and other biota together with heavy metals and PAH's in these samples as mitigation progresses after summer of 2006-2007 when the first treatment plant comesonline; we already have sets of samples from 2004 and 2005. We will also reconstruct the history of pollution from pre-historic times to determine what the pre-impact baseline was using foraminifera and tintinnids as proxies. In virtually no cases are data available prior to introduction of stresses; using proxies of the benthic environment (e.g. benthic foraminifera) we can reconstruct the conditions prior to impacts. The previous studies of foraminifera in core material had no coincident geochemical data or adequate dating as will be the case in this study. We will be able to determine after 2 years if the system is responding to remediation and to what degree. In parallel "sentinel" species will also be used to monitor the return of key biota to the system.  The HRM situation is unique in Canada where we have begun sampling before the treatment started and can follow it for several years following the remedial treatments. This type of pre-historical reconstructionn could influence public policy in form of new standards where the benthic environment must be considered as well as water quality. This project includes, as supporting organisations, government, civic and international support (Egyptian Cultural Affairs).