305B REPORT Biennial Assessment of Ohio River Water Quality Conditions

Weight of Evidence Approach Recommended by the Technical Committee and approved by the Commission, October Weight of evidence utilized in the 2016 assessments. Weight of evidence had effects on aquatic life use, mercury fish consumption, and public water supply assessments.

2014 Assessment Summary States Number Miles Use is Impaired Aquatic Life Contact Recreation Public Water Supply Fish Consumption for PCBs & Dioxin Fish Consumption for Mercury PA OH-WV OH-KY IN-KY IL-KY TOTAL

Aquatic Life Use Assessment “Weight-of-Evidence Approach” relies on biological assessments including fish and macroinvertebrate indices. First assessment including macroinvertebrate index. Criteria violations > 10% indicate impairment. Aquatic life criteria exceeded for:  Total iron (states’ criteria)  Dissolved oxygen  Temperature 305b workgroup recommended against using DO & Temperature data that are collected only during worst-case summer months. Bioassessments indicate full support river-wide.

= Avg. Pool Macro Condition = Avg. Pool Fish Condition (b) Biological Data

Aquatic Life Water Criteria Violations July 2008 – June 2013 Mile PointSiteNameWQC AppliedParameterCount of Violations Max Result (ug/L)# of Events% Violations 84.2Pike IslandWV (1500 ug/L)Fe (ug/L)23,297307% 126.4HannibalWV (1500 ug/L)Fe (ug/L)23,030307% 161.8Willow IslandWV (1500 ug/L)Fe (ug/L)34, % 203.9BellevilleWV (1500 ug/L)Fe (ug/L)62, % 279.2R.C. ByrdWV (1500 ug/L)Fe (ug/L)11,649303% 341GreenupWV (1500 ug/L)Fe (ug/L)147, % 436.2MeldahlKY (1000 ug/L)Fe (ug/L)155, % Anderson FerryKY (1000 ug/L)Fe (ug/L)55,292956% 531.5MarklandKY (1000 ug/L)Fe (ug/L)156, % 600.6LouisvilleKY (1000 ug/L)Fe (ug/L)67,132967% 606.8McAlpineKY (1000 ug/L)Fe (ug/L)149, % 720.7CanneltonKY (1000 ug/L)Fe (ug/L)145, % 776NewburghKY (1000 ug/L)Fe (ug/L)158, % 846J.T. MyersKY (1000 ug/L)Fe (ug/L)1514, % 918.5SmithlandKY (1000 ug/L)Fe (ug/L)154, % 938.9L&D 52KY (1000 ug/L)Fe (ug/L)186, %

Contact Recreation Use Assessment Assessment includes:  Bacteria data from 15 historical river-wide longitudinal surveys.  Contact recreation data from the past 5 years collected seasonally in the 6 largest CSO communities.  Vast majority of river is assessed based on historical longitudinal surveys. States’ criteria used for assessment. Criteria violations > 10% indicate Partial Support. > 25% indicate Not Supporting. Approximately 2 / 3 of river impaired for contact recreation use: Consistent with past assessments.

Public Water Supply Use Assessment Impairment based on finished water MCL violations caused by Ohio River water quality. Accessed USEPA data base of MCL violations and water utility surveys. Human health criteria violations in > 10% of samples indicates impairment. 6 utilities had MCL violations for trihalomethanes, one for HAA5’s, two for Fecal coliform. Attributed to treatment issues, not Ohio River water quality. Entire river assessed as fully supporting public water supply use.

Intake Closures Nonroutine Treatment MCL Violations West View5PANo Robinson8.6PANo Moon11.7PANo Beaver Valley (NOVA) 29PA Midland36PA TTHM (6) East Liv40.2OH Buckeye74.1OH Toronto59.2OHNo Arcelor Mittal61.7WVNo Weirton62.5WV TTHM Steubenville65.3OHNo Follansbee (H.H.) 70.8WV Wheeling86.8WV New Martin121.9WVNo Sistersville137.2WV Huntington304WV Ashland319.7KY TTHM (5) Ironton327OH

Intake Closures Nonroutine Treatment MCL Violations Russell327.6KY TTHM (4) Portsmouth350.8OHNo Maysville407.8KYNoYesTurb Cincinnati462.8OHYes N. KY462.9KYNo Louisville600KY Evansville791.5IN Henderson803KYNo Mt Vernon829.3INNo Coliform Morganfield842.5KYNo Sturgis871.4KY TTHM (7), HAA5, Coliform Paducah (WTP)935.5KYNo TTHM Paducah (USEC)945.9KYNo Cairo978IL

Fish Consumption Use Assessment The entire Ohio River is designated as partially supporting for PCBs and dioxin. ORSANCO directed by TEC to use US EPA’s approach for determining impairment based on methylmercury fish tissue data. Collected data necessary to use EPA’s methodology. Violations of mercury water quality criterion in > 10% of samples indicates impairment. Using “WOE Approach”, entire river Full Support for fish consumption based on Methylmercury.

Total Mercury Water Violations Mile Pt.SiteName Count of Hg Violations Max Result, ng/L # of Events% Violations 84.2Pike Island % 126.4Hannibal % 161.8Willow Island % 341Greenup % 436.2Meldahl % 477.5And. Ferry % 531.5Markland % 600.6Louisville % 606.8McAlpine % 776Newburgh % 846J.T. Myers % 918.5Smithland % 938.9L&D %

Averaging Data Across Trophic Levels C avg = 3.8 * C * C * C 4 ( ) Where: C 2 = average mercury concentration for trophic level 2 C 3 = average mercury concentration for trophic level 3 C 4 = average mercury concentration for trophic level 4 **Calculation is based on apportioning the 17.5 grams/day national default consumption rate for freshwater fish by trophic level 5.7 grams/day of TL 4 fish 8.0 grams/day of TL 3 fish 3.8 grams/day of TL 2 fish Guidance for Implementing the January 2001 Methylmercury Water Quality Criterion – US EPA

Fish Consumption-Weighted Methylmercury Fish Tissue Pool# Samples Max. MeHg Conc., ppmN > 0.3 ppm MeHg Concumption- Weighted Avg. Concentration (ppm) Emsworth Dashields Montgomery New Cumb Pike Island Hannibal Willow Island Belleville Racine RC Byrd Greenup Meldahl Markland McAlpine Cannelton Newburgh JT Myers Smithland Olmsted Open Water

TEC Considerations 1) Need consideration by TEC for Approval of Assessments. 2) Bacteria, PCBs & Dioxin data/assessments are old. 3) Continue collection of Methylmercury in fish tissue.