Trinity River bottom sediment reconnaissance study. Final report.

This reconnaissance study was conducted to develop preliminary data on the quality of river water and bottom sediments in various areas of the Trinity River and determine the mobility of various contaminants when bottom sediments are mixed with river water under simulated dredging conditions. Chemical analyses were conducted on filtered and unfiltered river water, filtered and unfiltered elutriates and bottom sediments. Also, static bioassays were conducted on filtered and unfiltered elutriates using the test organism Daphnia magna. Study indicates that some sub-areas of the Trinity were unfit for D. magna and probably for other forms of aquatic life while in other sub-areas survival was excellent in river water and elutriates. Pollutants appear to be the limiting factor for survival of test organisms.