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2000 Progress Report: Application of Sediment Quality Criteria for Metals to a Montane Lotic Ecosystem: Field Validation During Reclamation of a Copper Mine Causing Acid Mine Drainage

EPA Grant Number: R826199
Title: Application of Sediment Quality Criteria for Metals to a Montane Lotic Ecosystem: Field Validation During Reclamation of a Copper Mine Causing Acid Mine Drainage
Investigators: Meyer, Joseph S. , Lockwood, Jeffrey A. , Rockwell, Richard W.
Institution: University of Wyoming
EPA Project Officer: Stelz, Bill
Project Period: April 1, 1998 through March 31, 2001 (Extended to September 30, 2002)
Project Period Covered by this Report: April 1, 1999 through March 31, 2000
Project Amount: $449,558
RFA: Contaminated Sediments (1997)
Research Category: Hazardous Waste/Remediation

Description:

Objective:

The objective of this research project is to use a typical Rocky Mountain stream that is receiving acid mine drainage to test if a method proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for deriving sediment quality guidelines (SQG) for metals, developed in lowland estuarine, lacustrine, and riverine habitats, can be applied to the dynamic and heterogeneous hydrological and biogeochemical conditions found in high-elevation, lotic waters.

Progress Summary:

Our study stream is Haggarty Creek, which flows west from the Continental Divide in Carbon County, Wyoming. We established three sampling sites on Haggarty Creek at increasing distances downstream from a Cu-contaminated effluent flowing out of the Rudefeha Mine. We also established a reference site in Bachelor Creek, an uncontaminated tributary of Haggarty Creek. Sampling bouts in July, August, and September included collection of: (1) sediment samples for determination of acid volatile sulfides (AVS), simultaneously extracted metals (SEM), organic carbon (OC); and (2) water samples from the water column, sediment-water interface, and interstitial pores in the sediment for measurement of dissolved metals, OC, and routine water chemistry parameters (pH, alkalinity, and major cations and anions). Results from these analyses were compared to: (1) results from corresponding 7-day in-situ sediment and water toxicity tests, using laboratory-reared Chironomus tentans and field-collected Hesperoperla pacifica and Polycelis coronata; and (2) measurements of metals accumulated in native benthos collected from each sampling site. As with Year 2, we conducted laboratory toxicity tests to determine LC50s only for Cu exposure because this was the only metal measured at toxicologically relevant concentrations in Haggarty Creek.

In Year 3, AVS was detected in sediments from all sampling sites in all seasonal collections, although there was no measurable AVS at most or all sites in prior project years. However, the range of AVS concentrations (0.010-0.013 µmol/g dw) were near the detection limit, and no patterns corresponding to spatial or seasonal influences were apparent. As with Years 1 and 2, spatial trends in sediment OC (1.4-45 mg C/g dw) in Year 3 were consistent with increased detritus deposition as a function of distance downstream from the mine. Increases in sediment OC at all stations in September of Year 3 reflected seasonal addition of allochthonous detritus that is consistent with results from prior years. Unlike prior years, concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in all three aqueous compartments in Year 3 were generally similar among sampling sites within each season. Concentrations of DOC in the water column (0.5-3.5 mg C/L), at the sediment-water interface (0.5-4.6 mg C/L), and in interstitial water (0.3-4.1 mg C/L) decreased consistently from July through September at the mine-proximal sampling site; however, DOC concentrations increased slightly at downstream and reference sites in August before decreasing in September. This differs from seasonally associated increases in DOC concentrations in the water column and interstitial water in Year 2, and in in all three aqueous compartments in Year 1.

As with in prior years, sediment Cu concentrations (0.0-0.7 mg Cu/g dw) decreased with distance downstream from the mine, and seasonal distributions of sediment Cu in Year 3 differed from Years 1 and 2. Sediment Cu concentrations increased from July to August at the most upstream and downstream sites on Haggarty Creek before they decreased in September, whereas sediment Cu concentrations steadily decreased at the central sampling site on Haggarty Creek. This is generally consistent with the seasonal trends for DOC in Year 3, as opposed to the similarity between trends in sediment Cu and sediment OC in Year 2. As in prior years, SEM-Cu was consistently in excess of AVS by greater than 1 µmol/g dw at the Haggarty Creek sites. Mortalities for all three species in the in-situ sediment and water toxicity tests correlate with spatial and temporal distributions of dissolved Cu in the water column, at the sediment-water interface, and in the interstitial water, being highest across seasons at the most mine-proximal sampling site. Spatial trends in dissolved Cu concentrations in the water column (0.0-206.5 µg/L), at the sediment-water interface (0.0-179.1 µg/L), and in the interstitial (0.0-87.2 µg/L) waters were similar to prior years, decreasing with distance downstream. However, temporal trends in dissolved Cu differed in Year 3, with concentrations increasing at all stations in September after a decrease from July to August. Trends in tissue concentrations of Cu in survivors of the in-situ toxicity tests and in native benthos were erratic, but generally suggest decreases in Cu accumulation with distance from the mine.

As with prior project years, sediment AVS does not appear to control the toxicity of Cu to benthos in this high-elevation lotic system. Instead, OC (dissolved and/or particulate) is most likely the only major modifier of Cu toxicity.

Future Activities:

We will continue to analyze data, and prepare and submit articles to journals.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 2 publications for this project

Supplemental Keywords:

water, sediment, ecological effects, bioavailability, animal, organism, macroinvertebrates, benthos, population, heavy metals, aquatic, biology, ecology, limnology, zoology, EPA Region 8, Rocky Mountains, Wyoming, WY. , Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Water, Geographic Area, Scientific Discipline, Waste, RFA, Ecosystem/Assessment/Indicators, Biology, Ecology, Bioavailability, Ecological Risk Assessment, Ecological Indicators, EPA Region, Environmental Chemistry, Ecological Effects - Environmental Exposure & Risk, Ecosystem Protection, Contaminated Sediments, State, copper, heavy metal contamination, heavy metals, nickel, water quality, chironomus tentans, Wyoming, WY, aquatic ecosystem, sediment quality criteria, bioaccumulation, lead, mesocosm, acid mine drainage, cadmium, metal release, LC50s, contaminated sediment, dose-response, field validation, hyalella azteca, Haggarty Creek, ecological exposure, benthic biota, metals, Zinc, hesperoperla pacifica, Bachelor Creek, ecosystem, Montane Lotic ecosystem, Region 7, copper mine, montane stream system

Progress and Final Reports:
1999 Progress Report
Original Abstract
2001 Progress Report
Final Report

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The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.

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