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ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF WESTERN COAL COMBUSTION. PART III. THE WATER QUALITY OF ROSEBUD CREEK, MONTANA
Citation:
Skogerboe, R., M. Miller, D. Dick, R. Thurston, AND R. Russo. ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF WESTERN COAL COMBUSTION. PART III. THE WATER QUALITY OF ROSEBUD CREEK, MONTANA. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/3-80/071 (NTIS PB81113615), 1980.
Description:
The results of a study on Rosebud Creek, Montana, designed to assess the impacts on water quality of surface coal mining and/or coal combustion at Colstrip are summarized herein. A general degradation of water quality has been observed along the stream course but direct impacts of groundwater from the mine areas have not been demonstrated. Influxes of arsenic, mercury, selenium, and polynuclear aromatic compounds during snowmelt periods have been linked by analyses of snow samples to their accumulation in snowfall via scavenging of the power plume and subsequent delivery to the stream via surface runoff. Although this contaminant transfer route may prove highly significant, it is emphasized that this will depend on site specific conditions.