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An assessment of chemical contaminants in sediments from the St. Thomas East End Reserves, St. Thomas, USVI

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Abstract

The St. Thomas East End Reserves or STEER is located on the southeastern end of the island of St. Thomas, USVI. The STEER contains extensive mangroves and seagrass beds, along with coral reefs, lagoons, and cays. Within the watershed, however, are a large active landfill, numerous marinas, resorts, various commercial activities, an EPA Superfund Site, and residential areas, all of which have the potential to contribute pollutants to the STEER. As part of a project to develop an integrated assessment for the STEER, 185 chemical contaminants were analyzed in sediments from 24 sites. Higher levels of chemical contaminants were found in Mangrove Lagoon and Benner Bay in the western portion of the study area. The concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), zinc, copper, lead, and mercury were above a NOAA Effects Range-Low (ERL) sediment quality guideline at one or more sites, indicating impacts may be present in more sensitive species or life stages. Copper at one site in Benner Bay was above a NOAA Effects Range-Median (ERM) guideline indicating effects on benthic organisms were likely. The antifoulant boat hull ingredient tributyltin (TBT) was found at the third highest concentration in the history of NOAA’s National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program, which monitors the nation’s coastal and estuarine waters for chemical contaminants and bioeffects. The results from this project will provide resource managers with key information needed to make effective decisions affecting coral reef ecosystem health and gauge the efficacy of restoration activities.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the support from NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) for this project. We would also like to thank Jean-Pierre Oriol, Director of the Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR) Division of Coastal Zone Management, Roy Pemberton, Director of DPNR Division of Fish and Wildlife, Jeanne Brown of The Nature Conservancy, Tyler Smith, Sandra Romano, Renata Platenberg, Kevin Brown, and Frank Galdo, Jr. of the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI), and Rob Ferguson and Marlon Hibbert of NOAA’s CRCP for help with the planning, logistics, and fieldwork along with interpretation of results for this project. Sybille Sorrentino of Virgin Island Ecotours graciously provided a base of operations for our fieldwork. Finally, we would like to thank Captain Bobby Vante of the Bright Star for his skill and patience in getting us to the sampling sites within the St. Thomas East End Reserves.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NOAA/NOS/NCCOS Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment, 1305 East/West Highway, Silver Spring, MD, 20910, USA

    Anthony S. Pait, S. Ian Hartwell, Andrew L. Mason, Robert A. Warner, Christopher F. G. Jeffrey, Dennis A. Apeti & Simon J. Pittman

  2. The Nature Conservancy, St. Thomas, VI, USA

    Anne M. Hoffman

  3. The Marine Institute, Plymouth University, Plymouth, UK

    Simon J. Pittman

Authors
  1. Anthony S. Pait
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  2. S. Ian Hartwell
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  3. Andrew L. Mason
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  4. Robert A. Warner
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  5. Christopher F. G. Jeffrey
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  6. Anne M. Hoffman
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  7. Dennis A. Apeti
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  8. Simon J. Pittman
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Correspondence to Anthony S. Pait.

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Pait, A.S., Hartwell, S.I., Mason, A.L. et al. An assessment of chemical contaminants in sediments from the St. Thomas East End Reserves, St. Thomas, USVI. Environ Monit Assess 186, 4793–4806 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-3738-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-3738-1

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