A lot of sediment contamination is available in MMO marine license applications.
A standard suite of chemicals is set out which has to be sampled for before many types of marine license are granted. The concentration of chemical contaminants is submitted as part of the application in a standard template format Excel macro spreadsheet (xslm). The concentrations are in visible sheets named after the chemical type measured, along with information about the sampling locations and a particle size analysis of each sample. There are also an equal number of hidden sheets with the types of analysis used to assess the data are shown.
Spreadsheets of thousands of concentrations are a useful resource, but comparison and analysis in a spreadsheet format is not possible. The Sediment Template Data Explorer has been developed to allow both comparison and analysis of multiple sheets across multiple locations and over time periods.
While the template is a standard format the completed spreadsheets have many differences. On many occasions dispensations are given based on the history of the site or the application purpose to only measure some of the chemical classes. The quality of completion of the information also varies, from simple differences with information such as digital degree latitudes / longitudes being supplied as northings / eastings instead, to significant differences in the structure of the spreadsheet.
In 2021 CEFAS mined the MMO Sediment Template spreadsheets from applications made between 1998 and 2019 and created the “Dredge Contaminant Seabed Data in Waters 1998-2022”. The Sediment Data Explorer is able to use this information to complement current sediment data as it provides an historical archive. A local copy of the data has been made on this server (Dredge Contaminant Seabed Data 1998 - 2019).
Sediment Data Explorer reads data from a number of different sources, while the data looks identical different units are used, this is explained here - Data Units. Sediment Data Explorer is under active development and so please raise an issue on GitHub or email details to simonrg@northeastfc.uk. The Tests page has a number of example case which test its functionality.
The Sediment Template Data Explorer below shows the data for a number of sediment sampling exercises which have been carrier out as part of MLA/2015/00088, the license for maintenance dredging of the River Tees.
River Tees and Hartlepool Maintenance Dredge Samples
South Bank Quay Dredging - Most recent versions of 5 key spreadsheets from MLA/2020/00506/2
South Bank Quay Dredging - All spreadsheets from MLA/2020/00506/2
Able Seaton Port Berth 8 & 9 - MLA/2015/00334 - 2016
Able Seaton Port Berth 8 & 9 - MLA/2015/00334 - 2017
Able Seaton Port Berth 8 & 9 - MLA/2015/00334 - 2020
Mersey into the Irish Sea Dredging
Pre-1999 England and Wales PAHs Sediment Contamination
taken from: Marine Pollution Bulletin Vol. 38, No. 9, pp. 773±790, 1999 - Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Surface Sediments Around England and Wales, and Their Possible Biological Signicance, R. J. Woodhead1, R. J. Law2 and P. Matthissen2 Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, 1 CEFAS Lowestoft Laboratory, Pake®eld Road, Lowestoft, Sufolk, NR33 0HT, UK / 2 CEFAS Burnham Laboratory, Remembrance Avenue, Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex CM0 8HA, UK
tees_estuary_samples_taken_april_2023