Grantee Research Project Results
2001 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: R826199Title: 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: Chung, Serena
Project Period: April 1, 1998 through March 31, 2001 (Extended to September 30, 2002)
Project Period Covered by this Report: April 1, 2000 through March 31, 2001
Project Amount: $449,558
RFA: Contaminated Sediments (1997) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration , Hazardous Waste/Remediation , Land and Waste Management
Objective:
The objective of this project is to use a typical Rocky Mountain stream 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, flowing west from the Continental Divide in Carbon County, Wyoming. Over a 3-year period (1998-2001), we used this site as a model system that represents a typical mine-impacted, montane stream in the Rocky Mountains. 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. The locations of the sampling sites were based on preliminary findings of Rockwell (2001) concerning metal bioaccumulation in the creek's food web. Field bouts in July, August, and September of each of the three project years included collection of: (1) sediment samples for determination of acid volatile sulfides (AVS), simultaneously extracted metals (SEM), and 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). In-situ sediment and water toxicity tests using laboratory-reared (Chironomus tentans and Hyalella azteca) and field-collected (Hesperoperla pacifica and Polycelis coronata) macroinvertebrates were conducted at each station during each sampling bout, and metal accumulation was analyzed in the organisms that survived those tests as well as in simultaneously collected native benthos. Laboratory reference toxicity tests were conducted to determine LC50s for the test species. Although we tested five metals (Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) individually in the Year 1 laboratory toxicity tests, we only tested Cu toxicity in Years 2 and 3 because Cu was the only metal measured at toxicologically relevant concentrations in Haggarty Creek.
In Year 4, we continued spatiotemporal comparisons of geochemical and toxicological
data within project years and began similar analyses comparing results across
all three project years. Additionally, we analyzed water chemistry and benthic
community data that were collected in the Haggarty Creek system prior to this
project (Rockwell, 2001). The combination of these two
data sets provided a comprehensive, six-year record of the recovery of a montane
stream as Cu concentrations decreased during remediation efforts.
Because remediation equipment at the Rudefeha Mine was removed in 2000, an opportunity exists to document the changes in community structure and function that are expected to accompany the increases in water column and sediment Cu concentrations during coming years. The extensive database we established during the summers of 1995 through 2000 will provide a valuable reference set for before-and-after comparisons.
Future Activities:
During the next reporting period, we will continue to conduct data analyses, report the results of the research project, and prepare manuscripts for submission to journals.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 2 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
water, sediment, ecological effects, bioavailability, animal, organism, macroinvertebrates, benthos, population, heavy metals, aquatic, biology, ecology, limnology, zoology, EPA Region VIII, Rocky Mountains, Wyoming, WY., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Geographic Area, Waste, Water, Ecological Indicators, Ecological Risk Assessment, EPA Region, State, Ecosystem Protection, Ecology, Biology, Environmental Chemistry, Ecosystem/Assessment/Indicators, Contaminated Sediments, Ecological Effects - Environmental Exposure & Risk, Bioavailability, heavy metals, Haggarty Creek, acid mine drainage, copper, lead, water quality, montane stream system, contaminated sediment, sediment quality criteria, benthic biota, cadmium, hesperoperla pacifica, aquatic ecosystem, ecosystem, Region 7, metal release, bioaccumulation, LC50s, Wyoming, ecological exposure, Zinc, hyalella azteca, dose-response, heavy metal contamination, metals, nickel, chironomus tentans, Carbon County, WY, copper mine, Montane Lotic ecosystem, mesocosm, field validationProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe 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.