Buffalo River Remedial Action Plan
In 1987, the International Joint Commission designated the Buffalo River as one of the 43 most toxic hotspots in the Great Lakes. As required under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, all “Areas of Concern,” or AOC’s, were required to complete a Remedial Action Plan, or RAP. The Buffalo River RAP was completed in 1989 by NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in partnership with a local citizen’s advisory committee. The combined Stage 1 and Stage 2 RAP included a remediation strategy of stream water quality monitoring, contaminated bottom sediment assessment and action determination, inactive hazardous waste site remediation, point and nonpoint source discharge evaluation, combined sewer overflow assessment, remedial measure implementation monitoring, fish and wildlife beneficial use restoration, and habitat protection.
General Buffalo River Watershed and AOC Information
Issues Affecting the AOC
Ongoing Projects in the AOC
Technical Documents
Technical Advisory Committees
Buffalo River Remedial Action Plan (large file size–may take additional time to load)
Between 1989 and 2003, NYSDEC tracked progress within the Buffalo River AOC through seven Status Reports.
Buffalo River RAP Annual Report – 1990
Buffalo River RAP Annual Report – 1991
Buffalo River RAP Annual Report – 1992
Buffalo River RAP Annual Report – 1993
Buffalo River RAP Status Report – 1995
Buffalo River RAP Status Report – 1999
Buffalo River RAP Status Report – 2002
In October 2003, the USEPA Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) selected Friends of the Buffalo Niagara Rivers (FBNR) to take over coordination of the RAP. (FBNR changed its name in July 2005 and is now known as Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper).
With the assistance of the Remedial Advisory Committee (RAC), NYSDEC, and over 30 other governmental and non-governmental agencies and organizations, Riverkeeper began a full re-assessment of all beneficial uses, creation of draft delisting criteria, and identification of data gaps and needed projects. Riverkeeper prepared two Status Reports (2005 and 2008) that documented progress that had been made towards delisting during the period of April 2002 through 2008.
2005 Buffalo River Status Report
2008 Buffalo River Status Report
In 2005, Riverkeeper created the Buffalo River AOC Report Card to give a brief overview of the health, improvements, and condition of the Buffalo River Watershed.
Beneficial Use Impairments & Delisting
The Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) lists “use impairments as “changes in the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Great Lakes System that create barriers to the use of the water resource.” These use impairments have become the template for determining the extent to which the river is degraded and for measuring progress toward its clean up. Once a beneficial use has been restored, it can be “delisted” using the IJC’s criteria.
In December 2001, the US Policy Committee published “Restoring Great Lakes Areas of Concern – Delisting Principles and Guidelines.” These guidelines allow for the delisting of individual use impairments in the entire AOC under the following circumstances:
- When locally derived delisting criteria have been met;
- When the use impairment is due to natural rather than man-made causes;
- When the use impairment is not limited geographically to the AOC, but rather is typical of regional conditions;
- When the source of the use impairment is outside the boundaries of the AOC; or
- When the beneficial use can not be fully restored, even when all practical remedial actions have been implemented.
The following tables summarize the use impairments of the Buffalo River AOC, as well as identifies the known or suspected causes of the use impairment, and delisting criteria.
Buffalo River AOC Beneficial Uses and Summary of Delisting Criteria/Restoration Targets
|
Beneficial Use Impairment Indicator |
Current Status |
Known or Likely Cause of Impairment |
Delisting Criteria |
| 1) Restrictions on Fish & Wildlife Consumption | Impaired | PCB’s and Chlordane in sediments. | 1) There are no AOC-specific fish and wildlife consumption advisories by New York State (e.g. carp for PCBs); AND
2) When contaminant levels due to watershed or in-place contaminants in resident native and exotic fish and wildlife populations that could be consumed do not exceed current NYS standards. |
| 2) Tainting of Fish & Wildlife Flavor | Impaired | PAHs in sediments. | 1) No exceedances of water quality standards or criteria for compounds associated with tainting within the AOC; AND
2) No reports of tainting from fish and wildlife officials or informed public observers. |
| 3) Degradation of Fish & Wildlife Populations | Impaired | Low dissolved oxygen, river channelization, and contaminated sediments. | Fish Populations –
1) Fish surveys find that the resident fish community is fair to good based on applicable fish community biological indices (IBI) for two consecutive surveys; AND 2) The frequency of occurrence of DELT anomalies in bottom-dwelling fish does not exceed recommended levels; AND 3) Whole-body concentrations of Endocrine Disruptors (including but not limited to: PCBs, dioxins, and pesticides) in bottom dwelling fish do not exceed critical tissue concentrations for adverse effects on fish; AND 4) Water quality measures (based on NYS RIBS or other monitoring) meet state standards for at least a Class C river. Wildlife Populations – 1) Wildlife surveys find that diversity and abundance of birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians in the AOC is comparable to a suitable reference site; AND 2) Wildlife assessments confirm no significant toxicity from water column or sediment contaminants; AND 3) Diversity of amphibian populations in AOC pocket wetlands is similar to upstream and/or Tifft marsh levels; AND 4) Diversity of benthic populations in the AOC is comparable to upstream levels. |
| 4) Fish Tumors and Other Deformities | Impaired | Contaminated sediments and navigational dredging. | 1) Survey data confirm the absence of neoplastic liver tumors in bullheads (as compared to a control site) for two consecutive sampling events; AND
2) Contaminants in water and sediments in the AOC do not exceed NYS standards. |
| 5) Bird or Animal Deformities or Reproductive Problems | Impaired | PCBs, DDT, and metabolites in sediments. | 1) Deformities or reproductive problem rates are not statistically different than inland background levels as reported from wildlife officials or trained observers; AND
2) Concentrations of bioaccumulative chemicals in fish do not exceed levels associated with reproductive problems in piscivorus wildlife; AND/OR 3) Concentrations in sediment do not exceed levels associated with benthic impairment that could result in reproductive problems in omnivorous and benthivorous birds and wildlife. |
| 6) Degradation of Benthos | Impaired | Contaminated sediments and navigational dredging. | 1) Benthic macroinvertebrate communities are non-impacted or slightly impacted according to NYSDEC indices for two consecutive sampling events; OR
2) In the absence of conclusive community structure data, the toxicity of sediment-associated contaminants is not statistically higher than controls. |
| 7) Restrictions on Dredging | Impaired | Various contaminants in sediments. | 1) There are no restrictions on routine commercial or recreational navigation dredging by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) or another entity across any part of the AOC, such that no special management measures or use of a confined disposal facility are required for the dredged material due to chemical contamination. |
| 8) Eutrophication or Undesirable Algae | Not Impaired | None | |
| 9) Restrictions on Drinking Water Consumption or Taste and Odor Problems | Not Applicable | Not Applicable | |
| 10) Beach Closings | Not Applicable | Not Applicable | |
| 11) Degradation of Aesthetics | Impaired | Floatables, debris and foul odor from CSOs and upper watershed. | 1) Minimize debris, general litter, floatables, or contaminants in the river or shoreline via point source or non-point sources through the implementation of Best Management Practices; AND
2) Organic, chemical, and biological contaminants should not persist in concentrations that can be detected as visible film, sheen, or discoloration on the surface, detected by odor, or form deposits on shorelines and bottom sediments. |
| 12) Added Costs to Agriculture and Industry | Not Applicable | Not Applicable | |
| 13) Degradation of Phytoplankton and Zooplankton Populations | Not Impaired | None | |
| 14) Loss of Fish & Wildlife Habitat | Impaired | Physical disturbance such as bulk heading, dredging and steep slopes, and lack of suitable substrate. |
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