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New Meadows River and Quahohg Bay Studies to Begin June 30

Release Date: 06/26/2008
Contact Information: Brooke Cook, (617) 918-1010

(Boston, Mass. - June 26, 2008) Scientists from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's New England Regional Laboratory will begin a sediment oxygen demand (SOD) study of the New Meadows River in the estuary area in the vicinity of Brunswick, Maine on June 30th. EPA's Tim Bridges and interns will collect sediments in the New Meadows River and Quahog Bay for analysis of Sediment Oxygen Demand (SOD) and grain size.

SOD studies investigate the rate that dissolved oxygen (DO) is removed from the water column due to the decomposition of organic material in the sediments. SOD may be a major cause of low dissolved oxygen (DO) in water bodies. The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MEDEP) will use SOD rates for modeling the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) of the New Meadows River and Quahog Bay.

EPA staff will set up the Biology Mobile Laboratory for onsite SOD analysis near the New Meadows River in Brunswick, Maine and will collect data from four stations along the New Meadows River and two stations in Quahog Bay.

For more information on TMDLs, visit EPA's website: https://www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/intro.html.

Technical contact information:

Tim Bridges, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, (617) 918-8603
Don Albert, ME Department of Environmental Protection (207) 287-3901
Mike Doan, Friends of Casco Bay (207)799-8574 x 206