Aquatic Field Survey at Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Abstract
Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant is a TNT manufacturing facility located northwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Wastewater from VAAP drains northward into a series of treatment lagoons and is discharged into the head of Waconda Bay after undergoing pH adjustment with lime. In each of two field surveys conducted during the summer of 1975, sampling was carried out at 20 locations in Waconda Bay and in two similar reference bays unaffected by munitions plant effluent. Both chemical and biological analyses were conducted. Water and sediment samples were analyzed for major ions, nutrients, and munitions residues. Biological components selected were periphyton, phytoplankton, and benthic macroinvertebrates. Data gathered during the summer show that nitrobodies, nitrogen compounds, and dissolved solids discharged in the VAAP waste maintain a chemical environment in upper Waconda Bay significantly different from the other study areas. Munitions residues during the survey ranged to 345 ppb at the point of waste entry to near zero, one-half to three-quarters of a mile downbay. Biologic reposnse by periphyton and macroinvertebrates was observed in similar areas of Waconda Bay where chemical characteristics were altered. It is concluded that environmental impact of TNT waste effluent would be minimal if the combined concentration of alpha-TNT, 2,4- DNT, and 2,6-DNT did not exceed 20 ppb in the receiving waters.

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