The Bloomington, Indiana, Field Office completed an update to the Contaminant Assessment Process (CAP) for Muscatatuck National Wildllife Refuge, near Seymour, Indiana. The CAP is a standardized approach for documenting and assessing threats posed by environmental contaminants to lands and biota managed by the Department of Interior.

Muscatatuck NWR is located in southcentral Indiana, midway between Indianapolis and Louisville, KY. (A small 78 acre parcel northwest of Bloomington, Indiana, known as the Restle Unit, was donated in 1990 as part of the refuge.) The 7,724 acre refuge lies in a flat, relatively well-drained area of the Wabash River Basin. Approximately 36% of the refuge lies within the annual floodplain of the Muscatatuck River-Vernon Fork which forms the southern boundary. The refuge consists of bottomlands and uplands with a relief ranging from 540 to 620 msl. 60% of the refuge was originally farmland.

The primary disturbances within the watershed are related to agriculture and rapid urban development (including industrial facilities) of the surrounding area. These activities have resulted in increased agricultural and urban run-off leading to flooding and elevated sediment, nutrient, and contaminant loads into the watershed.