Diver-less Deployment System for In-Situ Sediment Samplers NESDI Project #529 Air and Port Operations (EEC-4) Project

Previously passive samplers used to assess sediment contamination were deployed and retrieved by divers. This method had the issue of limiting the number of samplers that could be deployed or recovered each day to approx. 5 samplers. Also 50% of the samplers were not relocated and recovered, leaving a 50% loss of samplers. Additionally, diving in suspected or known contaminated sites posed health risks to the divers deploying samplers. The Passive Push diverless deployment system was designed to overcome these limitations. Details showing how this was done and the advantages of the Passive Push diverless system is detailed in this report. The Passive Push system was refined and tested in San Diego Bay and Pearl Harbor. Five performance criteria were evaluated: (1) whether the sampler could deploy multiple types of passive samplers, (2) the rate of sampler deployment and retrieval, (3) the percentage of samples successfully retrieved, (4) the ability to use the system under a range of environmental conditions, and (5) that the system was qualitatively easy to use. During these tests and demonstrations, the system was able to (1) accommodate multiple types of passive sampling materials, (2) install and recover samplers from approximately 20 stations per day, (3) successfully recover 80-90% of samplers, (4) deploy and recover samplers in a range of water depths, currents, and bottom types, and (5) be used easily by a small field team. The increased rate of sampler deployment and recovery, and increased number of recovered samples both lead to the use of this system being much more cost effective than traditional diver-deployed methods.