Abstract
The holistic river basin approach of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires the combined assessment of ecological risks and the development of remediation measures. This paper presents a three-step strategy for the assessment of risks on Rotterdam harbour arising from historical contaminated sediment in the Rhine river basin, by the identification of (1) substances of concern, (2) areas of concern and (3) areas of risk with regard to the probability of polluting the sediments in the downstream reaches. The pragmatic approach provides initial evidence, that sediment-associated hexachlorobenzene (HCB) from the Higher and Upper Rhine has a significant effect on the quality of dredged material from Rotterdam harbour and that this HCB contamination is a candidate for the Category 1 of WFD Article 16 Source/Pathway S.11.1 ‘Historical Pollution from Sediments’: This HCB source can contribute to a failure of the objectives of the WFD in the Rhine Basin and may require additional measures for its control.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Ahlf, W., Hollert, H., Neumann-Hensel, H., & Ricking, M. (2002). A guidance for the assessment and evaluation of sediment quality: A German approach based on ecotoxicological and chemical measurements. Journal of Soils and Sediments, 2, 37–42.
Anonymous (2004). Concept paper on emission control from 8 June 2004. Expert Advisory Forum (EAF) on Priority Substances and Pollution Control. 7th EAF meeting. Brussels, 14–15 (June 2004).
Apitz, S. E., & White, S. (2003). A conceptual framework for river-scale sediment management. Journal of Soils and Sediments, 3, 132–138.
Babut, M., Oen, A., Hollert, H., Apitz, S. E., Heise, S., & White, S. (2007). Prioritization at river basin scale, risk assessment at site-specific scale: Suggested approaches. In S. Heise (Ed.), Sediment risk management and communication. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier, pp. 107–152 (in press).
EG-WRRL (2005). Internationale Flussgebietseinheit Rhein. Internationales Bearbeitungsgebiet Oberrhein. Bericht zur Bestandsaufnahme. 10 März 2005, (158 pp.) http://www.iksr.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Dokumente/Bestandsaufnahme_Teilberichte/BAG_Oberrhein/or_gesamtbericht.pdf.
Förstner, U. (2003). Geochemical techniques on contaminated sediments — river basin view. Environmental Science and Pollution Research International, 10, 58–68.
Götz, R., & Lauer, R. (2003). Analysis of sources of dioxin contamination in sediments and soils using multivariate statistical methods and neural networks. Environmental Science & Technology, 37, 5559–5565.
Heise, S., Förstner, U., Westrich, B., Jancke, T., Karnahl, J., Salomons, W., et al. (2004). Inventory of historical contaminated sediment in Rhine Basin and its tributaries. Report on Behalf of the Port of Rotterdam, p. 223.
Lycklama, T., representing the NGOs Stichting Reinwater, Stichting De Noordzee, Waddenvereniging, Gelderse Milieufederatie, Natuur en Milieufederatie Utrecht, Rhein Kolleg. (2005). Complaint about Iffezheim. http://www.reinwater.nl/docs/Iffezheim.pdf.
Salomons, W., & Brils, J. (Eds.) (2004). Contaminated sediments in European River Basins. European Sediment Research Network SedNet, EC Contract No. EVKI-CT-2001-20002, Key Action 1.4.1 Abatement of water pollution from contaminated land, landfills and sediments. TNO Den Helder/The Netherlands, p. 80.
Schipper, C., & Schout, P. (2003). De weg naar implementatie van de Chemie-Toxiciteit-Toets. Werkdocument: RIKZ/2003.036. AKWA/RIKZ 04.005. ISBN: 36934761, p. 82.
Vink, R., & Behrendt, H. (2001). Present and future quality of sediments in the Rhine catchment area — heavy metals. In J. Gandrass & W. Salomons (Eds.), Dredged material in the Port of Rotterdam — interface between Rhine catchment area and North Sea. Germany: GKSS Research Centre Geesthacht.
Witt, O., & Westrich, B. (2003). Quantification of erosion rates for undisturbed cohesive sediment cores by image analysis. Hydrobiologia, 494, 271–276.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 Springer Science + Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Heise, S., Förstner, U. (2006). Risks from Historical Contaminated Sediments in the Rhine Basin. In: Kronvang, B., Faganeli, J., Ogrinc, N. (eds) The Interactions Between Sediments and Water. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5478-5_27
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-5478-5_27
Received:
Accepted:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-5477-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-5478-5
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)