Amphibian Ecological Risk Assessment Guidance Manual - CLU-IN

340 Pages·2004·6.97 MB·English

ENGINEERING SERVICE CENTER
Port Hueneme, California 93043-4370
T R
ECHNICAL EPORT

TR-2245-ENV

DEVELOPMENT OF A STANDARDIZED APPROACH FOR
ASSESSING POTENTIAL RISKS TO AMPHIBIANS
EXPOSED TO SEDIMENT AND HYRDIC SOILS

Prepared by:

ENSR International

May 2004
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

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May 2004 Final
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER
DEVELOPMENT OF A STANDARDIZED APPROACH FOR
ASSESSING POTENTIAL RISKS TO AMPHIBIANS EXPOSED 5b. GRANT NUMBER
TO SEDIMENT AND HYDRIC SOILS
5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER

6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER
John Bleiler, Dave Pillard, David Barclift, Amy Hawkins, and Jason
Speicher 5e. TASK NUMBER

5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER

7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESSES 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER
ENSR International
2 Technology Park Drive TR-2245-ENV
Westford, MA 01886-3140, USA
9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITORS ACRONYM(S)
Commander
Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center
1100 23rd Ave
11. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT NUMBER(S)
Port Hueneme, CA 93043-4370
12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

14. ABSTRACT
The guidance manual presents a standardized two-tiered risk assessment protocol for evaluating potential risks to
amphibians. The Tier I Amphibian ERA Protocol comprises a screening level ERA. This approach uses readily available
information to identify potential amphibian exposure pathways at a site and determine which exposure pathways are
potentially complete. The Tier 1 protocol includes effects-based and background screening steps to determine whether or
not potentially complete exposure pathways have the potential to pose a significant environmental risk. Ultimately, the
results of the Tier 1 protocol are used to determine whether or not additional amphibian ERA is warranted.

15. SUBJECT TERMS
Amphibian, soil, sediment, remediation, ecological risk assessment (ERA)
16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF 18. NUMBER OF 19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON
a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT c. THIS PAGE ABSTRACT PAGES
U U U U 339 19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (include area code)

Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8/98)
Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18
Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center
(NFESC) Port Hueneme, California
DEVELOPMENT OF A STANDARDIZED APPROACH
FOR ASSESSING POTENTIAL RISKS
TO AMPHIBIANS EXPOSED TO SEDIMENT
AND HYDRIC SOILS
FINAL
Deliverable No. 5:
Amphibian Ecological Risk
Assessment Guidance Manual
March 2004
Document Number 09070-045-419
CV03025_A
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This document was prepared by ENSR International (ENSR) for the Naval Facilities Engineering
Command (NAVFAC). Numerous people from ENSR contributed to the development of this
guidance manual including: John Bleiler (Project Manager); Dave Pillard (Lead Aquatic
Toxicologist), Doree Dufresnee, Christine Archer, Kristen Wandland, Andrea Desilets, and Joan
Tracey. Members of NAVFAC's Risk Assessment Workgroup (RAW) have made significant
contributions to this document by providing technical input, review, and direction throughout the
project. Specifically, those members include David Barclift, Amy Hawkins, D.B. Chan, Ed Corl,
Ruth Owens, Lisa Yeutter, and Jason Speicher.

This guidance manual has also gone through a peer review process by independent experts in the
field of ecological risk assessment and amphibian ecology/toxicology. In particular, NAVFAC
would like to acknowledge the insightful technical review comments provided by Ihor
Hlohowskyj (Argonne National Laboratory), Greg Linder (U.S. Geological Service), Ken
Munney (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), Patti Tyler (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency),
and Mark Johnson (U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine).

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.....................................................................................................ES-1

SECTION 1.0 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................1-1
1.1 Project Scope..................................................................................................................1-1
1.2 Project Background.........................................................................................................1-1
1.3 Problem Statement..........................................................................................................1-3
1.4 Tiered Framework for Amphibian Risk Evaluation.......................................................1-5
1.5 Document Organization..................................................................................................1-7

SECTION 2.0 AMPHIBIANS AS ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS.....................................2-1
2.1 Amphibian Classification................................................................................................2-1
2.2 Amphibian Physiology....................................................................................................2-1
2.3 Amphibian Breeding Ecology.........................................................................................2-2
2.4 Habitat Use.....................................................................................................................2-5
2.5 Amphibian Trophic Status..............................................................................................2-5
2.6 Other Stressors................................................................................................................2-7
2.7 State of the Science.........................................................................................................2-8

SECTION 3.0 TIER I INITIAL EVALUATION...................................................................3-1
3.1 Initial Evaluation of Habitat Quality...............................................................................3-1
3.2 Effects Based Screening.................................................................................................3-7
3.3 Refinement of Chemicals of Potential Ecological Concern..........................................3-11
3.4 Recommendations.........................................................................................................3-18

SECTION 4.0 TIER II REFINED EVALUATION...............................................................4-1
4.1 Abiotic Media Sampling and Screening.........................................................................4-1
4.2 Amphibian Toxicity Testing...........................................................................................4-2
4.3 Field Surveys..................................................................................................................4-5
4.4 Bioaccumulation Evaluations.........................................................................................4-6

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SECTION 5.0 SUMMARY.......................................................................................................5-1

SECTION 6.0 LITERATURE CITED....................................................................................6-1

APPENDIX A EXAMPLE FIELD EVALUATION FORMS
APPENDIX B LITERATURE REVIEW & INTERPRETATION
ATTACHMENT B-1 CALCULATION OF LINEAR REGRESSION
APPENDIX C SOP DEVELOPMENT
ATTACHMENT C-1 SOP
APPENDIX D SOP VALIDATION
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LIST OF TABLES

Table 3-1 National and Regional Amphibian Natural History
and Taxonomic References..............................................................................3-3
Table 3-2 Sediment Screening Benchmarks....................................................................3-9
Table 3-3 Surface Water Screening Benchmarks.........................................................3-10
Table 3-4 Summary of Surface Water Toxicity Studies..............................................3-13
Table 3-5 Comparison of Surface Water Screening Benchmarks to Calculated
Centiles............................................................................................................3-15
Table 3-6 Summary of NOECs and LOECs – Lethal Endpoints................................3-16
Table 3-7 Summary of NOECs and LOECs – Sublethal Endpoints...........................3-17
Table 4-1 Critical Body Residues Developed during SOP Validation..........................4-8

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1-1 Amphibian Ecological Assessment Decision Matrix.....................................1-6

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LIST OF ACRONYMS

ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials
AWQC Ambient Water Quality Criteria
BAA Broad Agency Announcement
BCC Bioaccumulative Chemicals of Concern
BNS Binational Toxics Strategy
CBR Critical Body Residue
CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response Cleanup and Liability Act
DAPTF Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force
DDD p,p'-Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethane
DDE p,p'-Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene
DDT p,p'-Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane
DIS Dissolved Water Samples
DO Dissolved Oxygen
DOC Dissolved Organic Carbon
DOD Department of Defense
EC Median Effective Concentration
50
ERED Environmental Residue Effects Database
ERL Effects Range-Low
ERM Effects Range-Median
FETAX Frog-Embryo Teratogenesis Assay-Xenopus
GLWQI Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative
HT Horsetooth Reservoir
IC 25% Inhibition Concentration
25
IR Installation Restoration
LC Median Lethal Concentration
50
LCV Lowest Chronic Value
LEL Low Effects Level
LOEC Low Observed Effect Concentration
NAAMP North American Amphibian Monitoring Program
NARCAM North American Reporting Center for Amphibian Malformations
NAS Naval Air Station (South Weymouth, MA)
NAWQC National Ambient Water Quality Criteria
NFESC Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center
nm Nanometers
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NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NOEC No Observed Effect Concentration
NOED No Observed Effects Dose
NWI National Wetlands Inventory
OMOE Ontario Ministry of the Environment
OPPTS USEPA Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances
PAH Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon
PBT Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic
PCBs Polychlorinated Biphenyls
PEC Probable Effects Concentration
PR Cache la Poudre River, Colorado
RATL Database of Reptile and Amphibian Toxicology Literature
RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
SAP Sampling and Analysis Plan
SEL Severe Effects Level
SETAC Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
SMAV Species Mean Acute Value
SOP Standard Operating Procedures
SCV Secondary Chronic Value
TEC Threshold Effect Concentration
TOC Total Organic Carbon
TR Total Recoverable
USACE United States Army Corps of Engineers
USEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency
USFWS United States Fish and Wildlife Service
USGS United States Geological Survey
UV Ultraviolet Light
UVB Ultraviolet Light Radiation at Wavelengths of 290-320 nm

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