Ecological risk assessment for residual coal fly ash at Watts Bar Reservoir, Tennessee: Limited alteration of riverine-reservoir benthic invertebrate community following dredging of ash-contaminated sediment

Benthic invertebrate communities were assessed after the December 2008 release of approximately 4.1 million m3 coal fly ash from a disposal dredge cell at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Kingston Fossil Plant on Watts Bar Reservoir in Roane County, Tennessee, USA. Released ash filled the adjacent embayments and the main channel of the Emory River, migrating into reaches of the Emory, Clinch, and Tennessee Rivers. Dredging was completed in summer 2010, and the benthic community sampling was conducted in December 2010. This study is part of a series that supported an Ecological Risk Assessment for the Kingston site. Benthic invertebrate communities were sampled at transects spread across approximately 20 miles of river that includes both riverine and reservoirlike conditions. Community composition was assessed on a grab sample and transect basis across multiple cross-channel transects to gain an understanding of the response of the benthic community to a fly ash release of this magnitude. This assessment used invertebrate community metrics, similarity analysis, geospatial statistics, and correlations with sediment chemistry and habitat. The community composition was reflective of a reservoir system, with dominant taxa being insect larva, bivalves, and aquatic worms. Most community metric results were similar for ash-impacted areas and upstream reference areas. Variation in the benthic community was correlated more with habitat than with sediment chemistry or residual ash. Other studies have reported that a benthic community can take several years to a decade to recover from ash or ash-related constituents. Although released ash undoubtedly had some initial impacts on the benthic community in this study, the severity of these effects appears to be limited to the initial smothering of the organisms followed by a rapid response and the initial start of recovery postdredging. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2015;11:43–55. © 2014 SETAC Key Points The benthic community recolonized the system in a quicker timeframe than other ash-impacted sites. The severity of effects appears to be limited to the initial smothering of benthic organisms. Variation in the community was correlated more with habitat than residual ash. Long-term monitoring of the benthic community will be conducted to assess the effectiveness of the remedial action and natural recovery.