Replication Data for: Washburn and Gillis, Saint John Harbour, New Brunswick (1993) (CC BY 4.0)

This study was undertaken by Washburn and Gillis Associates Ltd during 1992 across the inner and outer Saint John Harbour (SJH), New Brunswick. The study is split into two components: Component A – A Study of the Saint John Harbour Environmental Quality, and Component B - A Study of Wastewater Treatment for the City of Saint John. The data published by COINAtlantic on Dataverse is from Component A. The first phase of Component A sought to characterize the environmental profile of the SJH, including hydrographic and sedimentological conditions, fisheries, and land use, as well as municipal and industrial effluent outfall. Additionally, tributary water quality sampling was undertaken at four stations during high and low flow periods for numerous inorganic, organic, and heavy metal parameters. Lastly, an effluent sampling program sampled effluent discharge across nine industrial sites for numerous inorganic, organic, and heavy metal parameters. The second phase of Component A included a Harbor Sampling Program that looked at sediment contaminant (heavy metals, PCBs, PAHs, organo-chlorinated pesticides, extractable organic chlorine, grain size, oil and grease, carbon content), and biota contaminant burdens of two trophic level species as well as their biotic response to contaminants. Biota included the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) (sampled for heavy metals, PCBs, PAHs), and the winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) (sampled for heavy metals) using a mixed-function oxidase (MFO) test. These data, combined with the environmental profile were used to inform whether and where the SJH acts as a contaminant sink, as well as contribute to the third phase of Component A, the development of recommended parameters to include in a harbour monitoring program. Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Atlantic Ecosystems Initiatives program provided funding for COINAtlantic (coinatlantic.ca) to undertake data rescue work on this study and make this data publicly available under the FAIR data guiding principles.