The 1981-1982 survey of Massachusetts Bay radioactive waste sites (see Chapter 2A) concluded that radionuclide contamination in Massachusetts Bay fell within or below background concentrations. Therefore, the past disposal of 4,008 containers with low level radioactive waste (LLW) in the bay did not appear to pose a threat to seafood safety or the marine environment. But in the 1990’s, public and Congressional concern about the adequacy of the earlier investigations led to a growing need for more information (NOAA, 1996). Consequently, several investigations refocused efforts on historic radioactive waste disposal in Massachusetts Bay. In addition some of the investigations included fate and effects examinations of historic industrial chemical waste. One of the primary sites re-examined was the 1980-81 Area 1, which was the Industrial Waste Site (IWS).

This survey led by the International Wildlife Coalition (IWC), with funding support from the EPA, searched the IWS with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for waste containers. The results of this investigation concluded that potentially several tens of thousands of waste barrels littered the sea floor in and about the IWS, and that an evaluation of seafood safety and threat to the marine environment was warranted (Wiley and others, 1992).

The IWC strategy involved deployment of the ROV from various anchorage points using alpha designations (i.e. A, B, C, etc.). Records of targets, including waste barrels and other objects, were logged during the survey along with fixes (latitude/longitude coordinates) of their location.

Some coverages in Chapter 2B relating to the 1991 IWS surveys include:

• 1991 Waste Containers (ArcView shapefile Iws91.shp): Each point represents the location of potential waste container; targets are designated alpha numerically. The letter designation refers to the anchorage point occupied during the search.
• 1991 ROV Observations (ArcView shapefile Rovfixes.shp): Each point represents observations of objects, such as biota, large rocks and manmade debris recorded during the dive.

This investigation was an outgrowth of the IWC survey in 1991 (Wiley and others, 1992). The investigation focused on barrel targets in the vicinity of the IWS, but some limited inspections involved the former Boston Lightship area (NOAA, 1996). The survey requirements depended upon the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution’s (HBOI’s) submersible Johnson Sea Link-II (JSL-II) to gather sediment samples for chemical analysis at individual targets, and then to interrogate the barrel and contents with a US Department of Energy underwater gamma spectrometer (NOAA, 1996). A NOAA National Underwater Research Center for the North Atlantic and Great Lakes (NURC NA&GL) remotely operated vehicle (Phantom S2) conducted target search operations off of the NOAA research vessel (R/V) Gloria Michel. Seafood safety samples of groundfish and lobsters were collected with traps and otter trawls for an assessment by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA); the data from this portion of the investigation will be included in a future version of this CD-ROM.

Some coverages in Chapter 2B relating to the 1992 IWS surveys include:

• JSL-II Organic Samples (see ArcView shapefile Jslorg.shp): Each point indicates the location of a sediment sample taken by the submersible for organic chemical analysis; analytical results are in the attribute table.
• JSL-II Inorganic Samples (see ArcView shapefile Jslinorg.shp): Each point indicates the location of a sediment sample taken by the submersible for inorganic chemical analysis; analytical results are in the attribute table.
• The location of waste barrels encountered during JSL-II dive operations.

The survey sponsored by ACOE involved towing an analog Laser Linescan System (LLSS) operated by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC, 1993a).

Some coverages in Chapter 2b relating to the 1993 IWS surveys include:

• The LLSS tracklines over which analog video imagery was recorded (see ArcView shapefile Llssline.shp)
• LLSS video snapshots depicting selected objects of interest that can be viewed via hot link (see ArcView shapefile llsspnt.shp).

NOAA and EPA began this survey with a focus on the former BLS disposal area and with the intention of locating radioactive waste containers. Potential targets were identified from an interpretation (EPA, 1997) of sidescan sonar records taken in 1991 (Keith and others, 1992). Potential target location first relied on surface positioning with the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution’s (HBOI) R/V Sea Diver. Once in the vicinity of a potential target or target cluster, the Sea Diver deployed the HBOI submersible Clelia (Perry Model PC-1204) or a NOAA/ NURC NA&GL Phantom S2 ROV. Both the submersible and ROV relied on sector scanning sonar and forward looking sonar to locate potential targets once near the sea floor. The Clelia was outfitted with a Raytheon Electronic Services (RES) digital fluorescing laser line scan system (FILLS), that was to validate target identification and provide views of the sea floor environment. Laser image snapshots processed on board the Sea Diver by RES and the U.S. Navy Coastal Systems Station enabled NOAA and EPA to make critical decisions regarding the direction of search efforts. The ROV configured with a HI-8 mm video recording camera provided additional imagery of the sea floor environment and potential targets. The ROV was also outfitted with a US Department of Energy underwater gamma spectrometer to interrogate radioactivity potential at suspect targets. All potential targets searched in the BLS based upon the sidescan sonar interpretation did not reveal themselves as targets of concern (Lindsay and others, 1998). During field operations, a decision was made to apply the FILLS and ROV to the IWS, an area of known potential targets. Only a single dive with the Clelia and the ROV were possible due to a deterioration in sea state, however containers were observed with both vehicles (Lindsay and others, 1998), although none demonstrated radioactivity. As noted above, the survey began with a focus on the BLS, but it expanded through collateral partnerships with the ACOE and the MWRA. Only the IWS coverages are included in this subchapter (see Chapters 2C and 3 for the BLS and MWRA coverages, respectively).

Some coverages in Chapter 2B relating to 1997 surveys include:

Clelia dive 483 records, including fixes and FILLS snapshot locations.

• Fixes: Each point represents the location of the submersible during the course of its dive.
• FILLS Images: Each point indicates the location at which a laser linescan system snapshot was taken.  Due to space limitations on this CD-ROM, only a few monochromatic examples are included via hot link.

ROV dive taken on 28 September 1997

• Location of example sector scan record taken with the Phantom S2 (see ArcView shapefile 928_1ss.shp).
• Fixes (see ArcView shapefile 928_1ps2.shp): Each point represents the location of the ROV during the course of its dive. Note that some points are quite distant from the primary trackline. This anomaly is attributable to errors in the tracking system.
• Video Clips (see ArcView shapefile 928_1vdo.shp): Due to space limitations on the CD-ROM, only a few examples of video can be viewed via hot link.

Coverages provided in chapter 2B: (Summary metadata for files in the Chapter 2B view are listed alphabetically in the table below. For complete metadata, go to directory "9_biblio" on this CD-ROM and open the file metadata.mdb using Microsoft Access or the file Gismeta.htm using your browser.)