Benthos and Plankton data for Waukegan Harbor Area of Concern, Illinois, and Burns Harbor-Port of Indiana Non-Area of Concern, Indiana, in 2015

During two seasonal sampling events in spring (June) and fall (August) of 2015, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, collected benthos (benthic invertebrates) and plankton (zooplankton and phytoplankton) at three sites each in the Waukegan Harbor Area of Concern (AOC) in Illinois and in Burns Harbor-Port of Indiana, a non-AOC, in Indiana. Physical and chemical data were sampled concurrently (specific conductance, temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll-a, total and volatile suspended solids in water samples; particle size and volatile-on-ignition solids of sediment in benthic grab samples). Benthos were collected by using Hester-Dendy artificial substrate samplers and composite dredge grab samples of bottom sediment; zooplankton were collected by using tows from depth to the surface with a 63-micrometer mesh plankton net; phytoplankton were collected by using whole water samples composited from set depth intervals. The interpretive report based on these data is Scudder Eikenberry, B.C., Templar, H.A., Burns, D.J., Dobrowolski, E.G., and Schmude, K.L., 2017, Comparison of benthos and plankton for Waukegan Harbor Area of Concern, Illinois, and Burns Harbor-Port of Indiana non-Area of Concern, Indiana, in 2015: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5039, 29 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175039. QA/QC of the data is documented in this report.