– Start of a New Routine New Contaminant Survey in 2018

The MHWESG has commissioned numerous reviews relating to sediment contaminants in the Milford Haven Waterway over the years.

A consistent recommendation has been the need to establish surveillance of sediment contamination in the waterway as a core component of the Group’s routine environmental quality surveillance.

The MHWESG made the decision to initiate a programme of routine sediment contaminant surveillance in 2018, to be repeated every 3 years.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) undertook MHWESG sampling at the same time as their own sampling in 2018. It is hoped that this arrangement can continue, as apart from obvious financial and logistical benefits, this arrangement provides a more comprehensive representation of the waterway in any year.

MHWESG’s data can be used alongside NRW’s data, but MHWESG’s sampling strategy was designed such that it can stand alone from NRW’s data to provide information specific to the needs of the MHWESG. 

Twenty-four sediment samples were collected from 12 locations in the waterway. Each sediment sample was analysed for total hydrocarbon concentration, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, metals, particle size analysis and moisture content.

Once a few sampling events have occurred, the data will be added to the established timeline of sediment contaminants in the waterway. Sediment contamination data will also complement interpretation of macrobenthic surveillance undertaken by the MHWESG. For more information on this project, please Contact Us.