Contaminated Habitats
Mercury, metals, hazardous waste, and other pollutants can adversely affect an entire habitat and its resident species. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) studies contaminated habitats to evaluate the extent of risk and harm, determine causative factors, develop options for remediation and restoration, and monitor the success of restoration at a site. Projects on contaminated habitats are generally local in scope, although results and conclusions are sometimes transferable to other, similarly contaminated sites. The complexity of these studies often requires multiple lines of evidence to determine cause and effect and require investigators to study a wide range of taxa using many different tools. Laboratory work supports field studies to evaluate effects of contaminants under controlled conditions and to eliminate extraneous variables. USGS research supports State Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) programs, Federal Natural Resource Damage Assessment and restoration and cleanup activities.
The Contaminant Biology Program focuses on the following five types of contaminated sites:
- Hazardous Waste Sites
- Contaminants on DOI Lands
- Agricultural Areas, Rangeland, and Forests
- Mining, Metals, Mercury, and Energy Development -Includes acid mine waste, mineral extraction sites, mine tailings, energy resource extraction, etc.
- Urban Environments - Includes oil spills, sewage treatment plant discharge and industrial discharges to land, water or air at specific sites.
Hazardous Waste Sites
Contaminants on the Department of the Interior (DOI) Lands
Agricultural Areas, Rangeland, and Forests
- Comparative Toxicity of Chlorpyrifos, Diazinon,
Malathion and Their Oxons to Amphibians (44 KB, PDF--get Adobe Reader) (WERC) - Publication Brief for Resource Managers from the USGS Western Ecological Research Center about a study, suggesting that the oxon breakdown products
of the three most commonly used Organophosphorus pesticides in
California’s agricultural Central Valley — chlorpyrifos,
malathion, and diazinon — are 10–100 times more toxic
than the parent compounds.
- Ecological Assessment of Seleniferous Agricultural Drainwater on Fish Inhabiting the Grassland Water District and Adjacent Reaches of the San Joaquin River (WFRC)
- Effects of Agricultural Pesticides on Translocated Tadpoles of the Pacific Treefrog in Lassen, Yosemite, and Sequoia National Parks (PWRC)
- Effects of Chlorfenapyr on Adult Birds (PWRC)
- Effects of Environmental Contaminants on Major Wildlife Species of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas(CERC)
- Photoenhanced Toxicity of Forest and Range Management Chemicals to Amphibians (CERC)
- Toxicity of Forest Fire Retardant and Foam Suppressant Chemicals to Aquatic Plant and Animal Communities (CERC)
- Toxicity of Simulated Agricultural Irrigation Drainwater to Colorado Squawfish, Bonytail Chub, and Razorback(CERC)
- Use of Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) and Harmonic Radar to Locate Bird Carcasses in Agricultural Areas (PWRC)
Mining, Metals, Mercury, and Energy Development
Mercury (the list below is identical to the one presented on a separate Mercury page of this Web site)
Mining
Urban Environments
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Computer dump - an example of hazardous waste site. USGS Columbia Environmental Research Center is investigating potential PBDE soil and water pollution from used computer equipment, subjected to a decade of weathering.
Photo Source: Brominated Flame Retardants in the Environment. Fact sheet,USGS CERC
Photo by D. Hardesty, USGS
Streams affected by acid mine drainage can be recognized by the reddish-orange color - the sign of high level of iron precipitates.
Photo Source: Biology in Focus: New Hopes for Acid Srtream. Fact sheet, USGS Leetown Sceince Center
Related USGS Web Sites
- Agricultural Chemicals,
Toxic Substances Hydrology Program, Water Discipline, USGS
- USGS NAWQA Pesticide National Synthesis Project
- USGS Mine Drainage Interest Group (MDIG)
- USGS Abandoned Mine Initiative
- USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program
- USGS Mineral Resources Program
- USGS Upper Arkansas River Toxics Project, Toxic Substances Hydrology Program
- USGS
Mine Waste Characterization Project
- EMMMA: Environmental Mercury Mapping, Modeling & Analysis, USGS Geographic Analysis and Monitoring (GAM) program and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Mercury in Aquatic Ecosystems, Toxic Substances Hydrology Program, Water Discipline, USGS
- Mercury Research, USGS Geological Research Activities with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management
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