Los Angeles Region Dredge Material Management: CSTF Purpose, Goals, Relationship to Pilot/Bench Studies

The multi-agency Los Angeles Basin Contaminated Sediments Task Force (CSTF) was established in 1998 to develop a long-term management plan by 2003, for dredging and disposal of contaminated sediments from coastal waters in Los Angeles County. The plan's goal is to include measures to identify environmentally preferable, practicable disposal alternatives, promote multiuse disposal facilities and beneficial re-use, and support efforts for watershed management to control contaminants at their source. To identify the most appropriate sediment disposal alternatives, four pilot and/or bench scale studies were conducted and led by one of the CSTF executive members, the Los Angeles District Army Corps of Engineers. This paper describes how the CSTF identified and is evaluating the pilot and/or bench scale projects for the purposes of long-term dredge material management.