Adrian Gawedzki

Anthracene and arsenic contamination concentrations at various depths in the Buffalo River were analyzed in this study. The Buffalo River is labelled as an Area of Concern (AOC) defined by the Great Lakes Water Quality agreement between Canada and the United States. It has a long history of industrial activity located in its near vicinity that has contributed to the accumulation of contamination within its sediment. The data were collected in 2005 for a feasibility study conducted by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) with assistance from the United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE), the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper (BNRK) and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). The study was conducted to analyse the hydrology, ecology, and sediment contamination within the Buffalo River so that appropriate actions can be undertaken to restore the natural habitat of the river. An ordinary kriging spatial interpolation technique was used to calculate estimates between sample locations for anthracene and arsenic at various depths. Anthracene is known to cause damage to human skin and arsenic has been linked to lung and liver cancer. The results show that both anthracene and arsenic surface sediment (0-30cm) is less contaminated than all subsurface depths. There is variability of pollution within the different subsurface levels (30-60cm, 60-90cm, 90-120cm, 120-150cm) and along the river course, but major clusters are identified throughout all depths for both anthracene and arsenic. Surface sediment contamination for both anthracene and arsenic is lower when compared to subsurface levels, which signifies that historical contamination was greater than present day contamination.