2004 Report to Congress

• Overview
• Basic Information
• Technical Resources
• CS Data

2004 Contaminated Sediment Report to Congress

The Incidence and Severity of Sediment Contamination in Surface Waters of the United States: National Sediment Quality Survey, Second Edition

December 2004

The Water Resources Development Act of 1992 directs us to assess the quality of aquatic sediments in the United States and to report our findings to the Congress.

This report identifies areas in the United States where the sediment may be contaminated at potentially harmful levels. The report also assesses changes in sediment contamination over time for areas in the United States where we have enough data. The first National Sediment Quality Survey report was released in 1997, and this is the first update to that report.

• Press Release (December 8, 2004)
• Fact sheet (summary) about the report
• The complete report (PDF) (280 pp, 10.2MB; EPA 823-R-04-007; About PDF)