Patrick Bayou, a section of the Houston Ship Channel near Deer Park, Texas, has accumulated permitted industrial wastewater discharges, municipal wastewater treatment plant effluent, and stormwater runoff from adjacent industrial facilities and nearby urban and residential areas. These discharges are suspected to be the primary sources of the sediment contamination in the Patrick Bayou section of the Houston Ship Channel near Deer Park, Texas. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) placed Patrick Bayou on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List because of sediment contamination detected in the wetlands bordering Patrick Bayou, posing a threat to downstream fisheries. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with EPA, collected sediment cores and surface water samples from pre-selected locations at the Patrick Bayou outlet and along the Houston Ship Channel to gain a better understanding of the nature and extent of sediment and surface water contaminants. The USGS collected sediment samples from five locations in the study area in January 2021. The USGS revisited the study area in October 2021 and collected sediment samples from 14 locations and water samples from five locations. An EPA-designated laboratory analyzed the sediment and surface water samples for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, including congeners and aroclors), dioxin and furan compounds, trace elements (including mercury and lead), and total organic carbon (TOC). VOCs, SVOCs, and aroclors were analyzed by Pace Analytical Services in West Columbia, South Carolina. PCB congeners as well as dioxin and furan compounds were analyzed by Cape Fear Analytical in Wilmington, North Carolina. Trace elements were analyzed by Bonner Analytical Testing in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and TOC were analyzed by the USGS National Water Quality Laboratory in Denver, Colorado. Sediment samples were also analyzed for cesium-137 by ALS Environmental in Ft. Collins, Colo. The dataset includes the results from these analyses of the sediment and water samples.
