ANAMAR performed activities to support long-term monitoring and obtain background information from activities related to the ocean disposal of dredged material in the San Juan, Ponce, and Yabucoa Ocean Dredge Material Disposal Sites (ODMDS) in Puerto Rico. This monitoring will provide a baseline assessment and feedback of the ODMDS conditions, allow regulatory agencies to evaluate the useful life of and alternatives for the ODMDS, and corroborate that no significant adverse environmental impacts have occurred as a result of disposal activities.
In February 2006, USACE, EPA, and other partnering agencies deployed two moorings in approximately 250 feet of water offshore from Yabucoa, Puerto Rico. One mooring anchored a subsurface buoy-mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) and the other mooring anchored a sediment trap. These moorings were deployed using acoustic releases to allow for surface retrieval of the equipment. ANAMAR provided a vessel and crew for instrument retrieval, measured in situ profiles of the water column, provided quantitative and qualitative analysis of the sediment trap samples, and downloaded and analyzed ADCP time series data. The ADCP data analysis included providing a full oceano¬graphic report with vector diagrams, representative profiles, and maximum/minimum current conditions. Additionally, ANAMAR collected sediment samples from Yabucoa Harbor for chemical analysis and compared the analytical results of the samples to the results from samples collected in the sediment trap to determine the chemical differences between dredge material and natural site sedimentation.