Sediment Monitoring

Sediment Core Sampling

Sediment monitoring has been conducted throughout the watershed to characterize the quality of the river bottom sediments. The monitoring involved the collection of a single sample at 182 locations along the river. These samples were analyzed for metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Results were compared to a toxicity-based guideline as a means of identifying those sites with the potential for impacting aquatic organisms.

To view the report on sediment monitoring click on:

Rouge River Watershed Sediment Reconnaissance Survey (3.5 MB - PDF file)

Rouge River Watershed Sediment Reconnaissance Survey Quality Assurance Project Plan (1.8 MB - PDF file)

In the fall of 1993, the Wayne County Rouge Program Office (RPO), with the assistance of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Office of Research and Development, completed a sediment survey of Newburgh Lake. Newburgh Lake is an impoundment on the Middle Rouge River. The sediment survey involved the collection, subsampling, and analysis of sediment from a total of 21 locations.

During the sediment survey, 21 sediment cores were collected, subsampled, and analyzed. A total of 101 samples were analyzed for metals using x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using modified enzyme immunoassay test kits.

The data were contour-mapped and examined for contaminant distribution patterns. The results of the Newburgh Lake Coring Survey can be viewed by clicking:

Newburgh Lake Sediment Core Sampling and Analysis

Sediment data from RPO sampling activities can be found in: DataView and RPO Data CD