Mercury and PCBs TMDL Implementation

1
Mercury and PCBs TMDL Implementation

• Tom Mumley
• San Francisco Bay
• Regional Water Quality Control Board

2
Status of TMDLs

• Mercury
• Regional Board adoption September 2004
• State Board action still pending
• PCBs
• Draft Basin Plan package Fall 2005
• Regional Board action Winter 2006

3
TMDL Process Elements
Numeric Target
Impairment Problem
Linkage
TMDL
Sources
Allocations
Implementation Actions
Regulatory Actions
4
Key Challenge

• Make decision despite numerous uncertainties!

5
Adaptive Implementation
 

• Early actions
• Scope based on available information
• Improve understanding of problem, sources,
  system, and solutions
• Make progress towards attaining water quality
  standards
• Take action ? prevent, manage, control ? observe
  systems response

6
TMDL Process Elements
Numeric Target
Impairment Problem
Linkage
TMDL
Sources
Allocations
Implementation Actions
Regulatory Actions
7
TMDL Process Elements
Numeric Target
Impairment Problem
Linkage
TMDL
Sources
Allocations
Implementation Actions
Regulatory Actions
8
Mercury Sources and Allocations
9
PCBs Sources and Allocations
10
Risk Reduction

• Pollutant related health risks to
  consumers of bay fish
• Clean Estuary Partnership Work Team
• Water Board, BACWA, BASMAA
• Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment,
  Dept of Health Services
• CEP Environmental Tech Rep

11
Central Valley Watershed Actions

• Mercury
• Cache Creek TMDL
• Summer 2005
• Delta TMDL
• Summer 2006

12
Guadalupe River Watershed Actions

• Mercury
• TMDL Winter 2006/07
• New Almaden Mine District
• Reservoirs

13
Dredging and Disposal Actions

• Implement LTMS
• Long Term Management Strategy for the Placement
  of Dredged Material in the San Francisco Bay
  Region
• In-bay disposal ? ambient

14
Wastewater Actions

• Maintain performance
• Pollution prevention
• Treatment systems
• Confirm no local effects
• Assist with studies
• Assist with control of other sources
• Strategic treatment of runoff

Watershed Permit
15
In-Bay Hot Spots Actions

• Hunters Point
• Seaplane Lagoon
• (Alameda NAS)
• Stege Marsh
• (Richmond)
• Others?
• Relative significance
• Opportunity

16
PCBs in Watersheds
17
PCBs in Watersheds
18
PCBs in Watersheds
19
(No Transcript)
20
Mercury and/or PCBs - Urban Runoff Control
Hypotheses

• Hg and PCBs are distributed throughout urban
  watersheds
• There are hot zones of Hg and/or PCBs
  (elevated levels)
• Sediment bound Hg and PCBs accumulate in the
  transmission system
• There is buildup of polluted sediment near some
  storm drain discharge points

21
Urban Runoff Action

• Pollution prevention (light bulbs)
• Clean-up on-land, storm drain, and discharge
  point hot spots
• Strategic retrofit
• Operation and maintenance

22
Urban Runoff Action

• Pollution prevention (light bulbs)
• Clean-up on-land, storm drain, and discharge
  point hot spots
• Strategic retrofit
• Site design
• Intercept/treatment
• Route to sanitary sewer system
• Operation and maintenance
• Street sweeping
• Inlet and storm drain cleaning

23
Adaptive Implementation Studies

• Sediment and sediment-bound pollutant fate and
  transport
• Erosion of in-bay sediments
• Recovery of the bay
• Urban runoff loading and effectiveness of
  controls
• Methylation
• How, where, and when?
• Can we manage it?

24
Mercury and PCBs TMDL Implementation

• Multibox model
• Manage methylation
• if we can
• Mine cleanup
• Strategic hot spot cleanup - in bay, in storm
  drains, and on land
• Strategic urban runoff management