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Puget Sound Sediment Quality, Washington State Department of Ecology, 1997-1999

Published by NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce | Metadata Last Checked: January 27, 2026 | Last Modified: 2025-07-07T00:00:00.000+00:00
As a component of a three year cooperative effort of the Washington State Department of Ecology and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, sediments from 100 locations in northern Puget Sound were tested to determine their relative quality. The survey area encompassed the region from Port Gardner Bay north to the US / Canada border, excluding the San Juan Islands. Surficial sediments were tested and analyzed from each of the 100 locations. Data from the chemical analyses indicated that toxicologically significant contamination was restricted in scope to a relatively small portion of the region. The spatial extent of relatively severe contamination varied considerably among chemicals; however, less than 2% of the area was considered contaminated for most substances. Sediments from several sampling locations within Everett Harbor often had the highest chemical concentrations. In addition, samples from some stations in Bellingham Bay and other locations scattered throughout the study area had elevated concentrations of some substances. Data from four kinds of toxicity tests indicated a similar pattern: the degree of toxicity was highest in samples from Everett Harbor followed by those from other locations scattered within the survey region. The spatial extent of significant toxicity ranged from 0% to 5% among the toxicity tests. Wide ranges in several numerical indices of benthic infaunal structure indicated good correspondence with tests of toxicity and the concentrations of numerous chemical substances. That is, there was evidence of altered benthic populations in some areas nearest urban centers. Chemical contamination and toxicity of sediments were less severe in northern Puget Sound than in many other estuarine areas studied in the U.S. by NOAA. Results from similar analyses of samples from the central Puget Sound (sampled in 1998) and southern Puget Sound (sampled in 1999) will be compiled with the data from northern Puget Sound, to provide a broad-scale evaluation and quantitation of the spatial scales and patterns in sediment quality throughout the entire region.

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0000054 0000270 0000425 0000592 BENTHIC COMMUNITIES BENTHIC SPECIES BIOCHEMISTRY ORGANIC CHEMICALS POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS POLYNUCLEAR AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS (PAH) SALINITY SEDIMENT - GRAIN SIZE SEDIMENT PROPERTIES SEDIMENTS SPECIES IDENTIFICATION TOXIC METALS TOXIN TRACE METALS WATER TEMPERATURE ZOOPLANKTON ZOOPLANKTON BIOMASS ZOOPLANKTON IDENTITIES sediment sampler - corer sediment sampler - grab benthic biological chemical geological sediment analysis site samples survey - biological time series water chemistry R/V KITTIWAKE NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science US DOC/NOAA/National Ocean Service - Seattle, WA Washington State Department of Ecology NOAA National Ocean Service Washington State Department of Ecology NATIONAL STATUS and TRENDS (NS&T) PUGET SOUND AMBIENT MONITORING PROGRAM (PSAMP) Coastal Waters of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia Northeast Pacific Ocean (limit-180) Puget Sound oceanography DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NODC > National Oceanographic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce DOC/NOAA/NOS > National Ocean Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce DOC/NOAA/NOS/NCCOS > National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, National Ocean Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce NS&T > National Status and Trends Program EARTH SCIENCE > AGRICULTURE > ANIMAL SCIENCE > ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY AND BIOCHEMISTRY EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS > PLANKTON > ZOOPLANKTON EARTH SCIENCE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > BENTHIC EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > MARINE SEDIMENTS EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN CHEMISTRY EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > OCEAN TEMPERATURE > WATER TEMPERATURE EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > SALINITY/DENSITY > SALINITY GRAB SAMPLERS SEDIMENT CORERS > SEDIMENT CORERS OCEAN > PACIFIC OCEAN > NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN

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