Sunday in Stockton Harbor' field investigation continues.

On Sunday May 6  from 3-6 pm Friends of Penobscot Bay will be doing a core sampling project in the Stockton Harbor intertidal flats between the Sears Island causeway and Kidder Point. See aerial photo below.

GAC-tainted clamflat in 1998. Time to look again.

This is a follow up on our April 22nd examination of the crumbling waste slopes of GAC Chemical Corp that found that alum-tainted waste spoils continue to erode from the shore and into the clamflats  along the shore

Weather Service says Sunday afternoon will be sunny and in the lower 60's. Feel free to show up at any time over those 3 hours.

For location, see "contaminated flat" site in attached aerial photo. Parking is available at the little red asterix or  along the Sears Island road. 

Note the dug up alum-tainted intertidal mud that we are looking for. In 1998 DEP guessed "about an acre" is contaminated.We'll be taking another look

What is Core Sampling? Core sampling consists of pounding a 1 inch wide piece of PVC pipe about a foot  into the mud, pulling it out, then pushing the sample out of the pipe with a wooden dowel onto a flat surface. There it is first photographed, then samples taken from the different colored  strata. Then the sample is crumpled and sluiced with water to see if any amphipods or other life is in the mud. (cont'd below aerial photo)

Then we  proceed twenty paces further in the line of  sampling and repeat. By keeping to a sight line we can then map out a general idea of the extent of the gunk, then fine tune it later

To limit personal muddiness, bring kneepads or a doormat-sized mat to kneel or sit upon when core sampling and examining  the samples and photographinhg.  Bring a snack and something to drink as well.

Ron