1. SAJO Consulting Group
Members: Sumant, Jojo, Antonia, and Olivia
Winter 2014

2. Client: Quintin Rochfort, Physical Scientist
- Aquatic Contaminants Research Division
- Water Science and Technology Directorate
- Environment Canada
 Investigate the impacts of various contaminants including
road salts, heavy metals, PAHs, nutrient loadings, benthos
and cyanides on the Rouge River stormwater pond
 Evaluate the environmental condition of the pond based
on data analysis
 Create recommendations for disposal and/or land
application of the sediment

3.  Stormwater ponds are scientifically engineered
collection ponds for highway runoff
 Naturally treat highway runoff through sedimentation
and detention
 Reduce contaminant loadings before the effluent
reaches a natural receiving watercourse

5.  Four sample sites: s1, s2, s3 ,s4
 Each site is representative and can expose the
condition of the entire pond

6.  Day trip during fall and spring seasons
 Water and sediment samples (benthos cores and
sediment chemistry)
 Small aluminum row boat, two paddles, small anchor,
site map with coordinates of pond
 YSI profile was collected for each site (pH,
conductivity, etc.)
 Field notes for each site were recorded in a sampling
sheet which included YSI data control readings,
sampling date, time, samples and other important
observations.

10.  Free cyanide, total hardness, major anions including
chloride, total and dissolved metals, total Kjeldahl
nitrogen (TKN) and total phosphorus (TP) analyzed
by Environment Canada’s National Laboratory for
Environmental Testing (NLET)
 As per Standard Methods for the Examination of
Water and Wastewater
 Total and dissolved metals were analyzed by the NLET
laboratory using inductively coupled plasma (ICP-MS)
methods as per Standard Methods

13.  Particle size, PAHs, acid extractable metals, TKN and
TP
 Centrifuged sediment pore water samples were also
submitted for chlorides, total hardness, total &
dissolved metals, TKN and TP
 Particle size analysis for the sediment was done by ASL
environmental laboratory and other sediment and
pore water chemistry was analyzed by NLET

14. RougePondYSIData
Parameter Units S1 S2 S3 S4 S1 S2 S3 S4 S1 S2 S3 S4 S1 S2 S3 S4
Temperature
℃
12.27 9.59 9.68 13.25 11.03 8.93 8.87 8.33 9.02 4.88 7.09 7.25 13.27 15.98 10.37 8.92
Oxygen mg/L 10.73 7.76 7.21 0.26 12.1 11.36 3.95 0.28 35.99 27.95 33.65 6.67 10.6 7.25 1.01 0.24
Conductivity µs 3.369 2.4 2.26 16.7 7.716 7.723 9.925 28.64 11.03 8.74 6.09 3330 3655 2.527 13035 16450
pH pH 7.88 7.75 7.73 6.87 8.25 8.04 7.52 7.25 7.91 7.89 7.66 7.54 8.12 7.78 7.23 7.18
Depth YSI m 0.10 1.38 1.50 3.02 0.10 1.75 2.33 3.40 0.10 0.53 2.12 2.18 0.10 1.63 2.57 3.07
Water Depth to Sediment m 0.13 1.58 1.78 3.35 0.13 1.70 2.19 3.17 0.13 1.22 2.46 3.10 0.13 1.50 2.10 3.00
Maximum Depth m 0.20 2.94 2.95 3.55 0.20 2.84 3.29 4.06 0.20 2.08 3.43 3.37 0.20 2.06 3.44 3.60
Sediment Depth m 0.08 1.36 1.17 0.20 0.08 1.14 1.10 0.89 0.08 0.86 0.97 0.27 0.08 0.56 1.34 0.60
Nov-11 Apr-12 Nov-12 May-13

16.  The mean conductivity at each site exceeds the range
in provided guideline
 Therefore, the Rouge stormwater pond is not a suitable
environment for certain species of fish or macro-
invertebrates

17.  Aquatic macro invertebrate organisms known as
benthic communities
 The bottom of a lake or pond and can even live under
levels of sediment depending on the species
 The presence of certain benthic species an absence of
others can be an indication of water quality
 Toxicity tests such as bioaccumulation, growth and
reproduction endpoints, survival, and tolerance level

19.  Rouge pond does not reflect the same water quality of
a typical healthy benthic community, usually found in
freshwater ponds
 The water quality did not significantly improve or
degrade during the sample season ( longevity of
species)

20.  PAHs form as a result of burning organic material and
may also form naturally as a result of thermal
geological reactions
 MOE Guideline: Soil, Ground Water and Sediment
Standards for Use under Part XV.1 of the
Environmental Protection Act,
 highest allowable concentration for pyrene in sediment is 0.49 µg/g
and fluoranthene is 0.75 µg/g.
 Pyrene and fluoranthene exceeded this guideline
indicating poor sediment quality for all sites excluding
the average concentration of fluoranthene detected in
s1.

21. s1 s2 s3 s4
Top 4 average
concentration
Fluoranthene - 0.585 µg/g Pyrene - 1.530 µg/g Pyrene - 1.693 µg/g Pyrene - 1.770 µg/g
Pyrene - 0.515 µg/g Fluoranthene - 1.528 µg/g Fluoranthene - 1.553 µg/g Fluoranthene - 1.660
µg/g
Chrysene - 0.470 µg/g Phenanthrene - 1.093 µg/g Benzo(g,h,i)perylene - 1.175
µg/g
Benzo(b)Fluoranthene -
1.220 µg/g
Benzo(b)Fluoranthene - 0.420
µg/g
Chrysene - 1.003 µg/g Benzo(b)Fluoranthene -
1.120 µg/g
Phenanthrene -1.14 µg/g
Bottom 4 average
concentration
Acenaphthylene (ND) Acenaphthylene (ND) Acenaphthylene(ND) Acenaphthylene(ND)
Dibenzo(a,h)anthracene (ND) Dibenzo(a,h)anthracene
(ND)
Acenaphthene (ND) Dibenzo(a,h)anthracene
(ND)
Acenaphthene (ND) Acenaphthene (ND) Anthracene (ND) Acenaphthene (ND)
Fluorene (ND) Fluorene (ND) Dibenzo(a,h)anthracene (ND) Fluorene (ND)

23.  Total and dissolved calcium, iron, magnesium, sodium
and zinc were detected in all the samples for water and
pore
 The heavy metal concentration in the sediment and
water was not found to be alarming or higher than the
guideline
 Sodium concentration in sediment, water and pore
water was noticeably high due to dissolved salt from
highway runoff

24.  S4 – highest P concentration embedded in sediment
 Porewater values exceed maximum allowable limits
outlined in CWA
 Nitrate is not a concern with regards to the ecological
pond condition

25.  Weak acid cyanide was not present in the samples
beyond the method detection limit at any point during
analyses
 Overall increasing trend in Rouge pond for total
cyanide
 the standards for cyanide in groundwater are 5 µg/L, or
0.005 mg/L
 Many of the data points exceed these
guidelines, particularly in spring 2013

26.  Highest: S4 contains heavy metals contains silt and
smaller particles
 The removal efficiency of stormwater ponds is
dependent on flow and influent particle size
distribution
 Removal of small particles is inefficient in the pond
 Failing to remove a high percentage of fine particles
may be a potential issue within the pond

27.  Due to high concentrations of various pollutants:
 The overall condition of the pond is poor
 Unsustainable for the natural ecological habitat and
benthic species
 Maximum contaminant concentrations were detected
in s4 including cyanide, chloride, polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons to name a few

28.  Site 4 - most contaminated site
 Drain the water and excavate the sediment from all
four sites (if not all then at least from s4)
 Dispose of it into secured landfill
 According to the City of Hamilton report “the
estimated annual cost could exceed $1,000,000 once
the facilities age and accumulated sediment needs to
be removed.”

29.  Quintin Rochfort, Physical Scientist, National Water
Research Institute, Environment Canada
 Kristina Parker, Water Resources Engineer, Town of
Oakville
 Francine Kelly Hooper, Kelly Hooper Environmental
Inc., Senior Soils Scientist CH2M Hill
 Danielle Milani, Environment Canada, Canada Center
for Inland Waters

30. Danielle Milani., (2014). Environment Canada. Canada Center for Inland Waters. Lab Studies of
Sediment Toxicity Using Inveterbrates. Question and Answer Discussion, January 20, 2014.
Diya Ma, and Alice Casselman., (2010). Association of Canadian Educational Resources.
Freshwater Benthic Project 2010. University of Toronto.
Available: http://www.acer-acre.ca/LargeFiles/Riparian.pdf
Siegel, Lori. (2007). Department of Environmental Services: Hazard Identification for Human
and Ecological Effects of Sodium Chloride Road Salt. Available:
http://www.rebuildingi93.com/documents/environmental/Chloride%20TMDL%20Toxicological
%20Evaluation.pdf
USEPA (2013). Cyanide Compounds.
Available: http://water.epa.gov/type/rsl/monitoring/vms59.cfm
USEPA (2012). Water: Monitoring & Assessment. 5.9 Conductivity.
Available: http://water.epa.gov/type/rsl/monitoring/vms59.cfm
Versar Inc., (2013) Chesapeake Bay Benthic Monitoring Program.
Available: http://www.baybenthos.versar.com/benthos.htm
University of Minnesota (2012). The Importance of Particle Size Distribution on the
Performance of Sedimentation Practices.
Available: http://stormwaterbook.safl.umn.edu/content/importance-particle-size-distribution-
performance-sedimentation-practices
Mulroy, K. (2010). Assessing the Performance of Two Stormwater Management Ponds in
Waterloo, Ontario.
Available:
https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/handle/10012/5057/Mulroy_Kathleen.pdf?sequence=1
Stormceptor. Particle Size Matters. Available: http://www.stormceptor.ca/pdf/psd_imbrium.pdf

31. Questions ???