Impact of point and nonpoint source pollution on pore waters of two Chesapeake Bay tributaries

Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries are contaminated by industrial and municipal point sources and agricultural nonpoint sources of pollution. The objective of this study was to compare the porewater characteristics of two Chesapeake Bay tributaries: Wicomico River (WR) contaminated by point source and Pocomoke River (PR) contaminated by both point and nonpoint sources of pollution. Four study sites (1 mile before, adjacent to, and 1 and 2 miles after the sewage treatment plant) were chosen to collect sediment samples in both the rivers. The sediment-pore waters were analyzed for toxicity using Microtox marine luminescent bacteria-Vibrio fischeri. USEPA toxicity identification evaluation tests on these pore waters confirmed that the contaminants (ammonia and heavy metals) in WR were from municipal point sources, whereas in PR the contamination (metals, pesticides, and PCBs) was from nonpoint sources (agriculture) of pollution. The toxicity (and the concentration of contaminants) decreased both upstream and downstream from the most polluted site in both the rivers.