PCB Levels at 26 New York City and New Jersey WPCPs That Discharge to the New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary

Abstract

The New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary contains environmentally significant amounts of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB). It is well-known that sources in the upper Hudson River have contributed much of this contamination, but little is known about the direct inputs from water pollution control plant (WPCP) and combined sewer overflow (CSO) discharges to the Estuary. Therefore, a detailed PCB characterization was performed by determining concentrations of 71 individual PCB congeners in the waste streams at the 26 New York City and New Jersey WPCPs that discharge to the Estuary. Individual congener concentrations were typically well below 1 ng/L in the effluent and the total PCB concentration ranged from 10 to 55 ng/L, and averaged 25 ng/L, in the effluent at the 26 WPCPs. The total PCB concentration in the WPCP influent stream during normal flow conditions ranged from 31 to 625 ng/L, with an average of 110 ng/L for the 26 plants; the influent PCB levels became slightly elevated at most plants during storms. ...