Kinnetic Laboratories, Inc

Scope Of Work

Kinnetic Laboratories, Inc. was selected to assist the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in a large coastal wetland restoration project at Bolsa Chica in Huntington Beach in Southern California. The project involved construction of a new opening to the sea, dredging and re-contouring some of the wetlands, and restoration to a preserved wetland system. A complicating factor was that extensive oil production and processing has occurred in these wetlands, leaving pockets of contamination throughout the area. Working closely with interagency (Federal and State) Technical Working Group, a Sampling and Analysis Plan (SAP) was designed to support all of the characterization and ecological risk assessment data needs.

Kinnetic Laboratories, Inc. was tasked to collect and analyze storm water, sediments, sediment pore water, soils, and biota from the Bolsa Chica Lowlands. Analytical chemistry and bioassay tests were performed on sediments and pore water extracts. Kinnetic Laboratories successfully carried out the extensive field and laboratory studies involving over 1,300 samples, to obtain biological and sediment quality data for the engineering design and dredge disposal issues. A special tracked vehicle and a shallow barge were both used to sample the varied wetland and associated upland areas with a 4-inch continuous coring vibracore. Dredging areas and subsurface sand deposits were also explored to a maximum depth of 40 feet. Data was used to characterize the Lowlands and to support an Ecological Risk Assessment that would determine the extent of cleanup necessary to restore the Lowlands to a mix of full tidal, coastal wetland, and non-tidal seasonal ponds. The second and difficult phase was to design and get approval for an efficient, cost-effective approach to delineating boundaries (to the defined cleanup criteria of the risk assessment) of the multiple sites of contamination within the wetlands. Subsequent site cleanup, dredging and reconfiguring of the wetland, and construction of the new opening to the ocean resulted in a successful new, restored wetland.