Biological Survey Buffalo River and Outer Harbor of Buffalo, N.Y.

Abstract

The shoreline of the Buffalo River is developed with heavy industry such as Republic Steel, Allied Chemical, Mobil Oil and numerous grain elevators. Similarly, on southeast shore o f the Outer Harbor, heavy industry such as Bethlehem Steel, Huron Cement and Lackawanna Steel is evident. On the eastern shore o f the Outer Harbor, freighters unload salt, taconite, coal, etc. into large storage piles for later use by the area industries. Large lake-going freighters and oilers routinely use the previously dredged channel existing along the entire length of the study area (Fig. 1) while servicing the industries located along the water front. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers is considering the feasibility of dredging the Outer Harbor and Buffalo River channels deeper to accommodate deeper draft vessels and/or to construct alternative means of transshipment of raw materials. An intensive study of the Buffalo River, Ship Canal and Outer Harbor of Buffalo, New was undertaken between April 1981 and May 1982 with the following general objectives: (1) To evaluate existing conditions in the river and harbor and to evaluate the biological impact of dredging the channel deeper in the Buffalo River and Outer Harbor; (2) To evaluate the biological impact of alternative proposals to dredging such as transshipment of raw materials by conveyor; (3) To evaluate the biological impact of removal of debris, old pilings, etc. along the Buffalo shoreline; (4) To evaluate existing conditions in potential disposal areas (Fig. 2) and to evaluate the biological impact of spoil disposal in these areas; and (5) To provide a functional assessment of the ecological components studied and evaluate their significance with and without project implementation to the area ecosystem. In Volume 1, the Final Report, our analysis and interpretation of existing conditions and our assessment of impacts are presented. In Volume 2, the Data Report, the raw field data is presented in tabular form.