metals in the benthic macroinvertebrates in coal creek, crested butte, co

Metals in the Benthic Macroinvertebrates in Coal Creek,

Crested Butte, CO

Scarlett E. Graham

July 10, 2006

University of Colorado at Boulder

Environmental Engineering REU Summer Student

Overview

Motivation Background Hypotheses Methods Results Conclusions

Motivations

Coal Creek Watershed Coalition Standard Mine is an EPA Superfund Site Coal Creek is a drinking water supply Recreation is a major contributor to the

economy

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD)

1/3 of EPA Superfund Sites in Colorado are devoted to cleaning up

abandoned mines. Characteristics:

- low pH- high metal concentrations - elevated sulfate levels- excessive suspended solids

Heavy Metals: Fe, Mn, Al

Geochemical processes:

(1) 4FeS2(s) + 14O2(g) + 4H2O(l)    4Fe2+ + 8SO42- + 8H+       (2) 4Fe2+ + O2(g) + 4H+  ---------->  4Fe3+ + 2H2O(l)   

(3) 4Fe3+ + 12 H2O(l)      4Fe(OH)3 (s) + 12H+  

(4) 4FeS2(s) + 15O2 (g) + 14H2O(l)  4Fe(OH)3(s) + 8SO42- + 16H+

pyrite

“yellow boy”

Acidophilic bacteria

Coal Creek WatershedGunnison County, CO

Coal CreekElk Creek

Standard MineKeystone Mine

Lake Irwin

Slate River

Splain ’ s Gulch

Wildcat Creek

Scarp Ridge

Iron Fen

Mt. Emmons

Crested Butte

Kebler Pass

Forest Queen Mine

N

:

Coal CreekElk Creek

Standard Mine Keystone MineLake Irwin

Slate River

Splain’s Gulch’

Wildcat Creek

Iron Fen

Mt. Emmons

Crested Butte

Kebler Pass

N

Forest Queen Mine

Benthic Macroinvertebrates

Stoneflies, Order Plecoptera: sensitive

Caddisflies , Order Trichoptera: moderately tolerant

Mayflies, Order Ephemeroptera: sensitive

Past Research

Will Clements, CSU: mayfliesSusan Bautts, 2005 Drew Bryenton,

REU 2004: Lefthand Creek.Brianna Shanklin, 2005: Coal Creek

??Axtmann, adkfjljajdf (metal speciation trend)

Hypotheses

Elevated metal concentrations and reduced diversity and abundance of macroinvertebrates after Elk Creek Tributary, Iron Fen Drainages, Mt. Emmons Effluent.

Correlations between sediments and benthic macroinvertebrate metal content.

Concentrations will follow metal speciation trends. --take this out if I don’t have time?!

~CC-203D/S of Elk ~CC-207.5

~CC-210

Iron Fen Drainages

~CC-218

U/S Mt. Emmons Affluent

Wildcat Trail Bridge

~CC-119

D/S of drinking H2O inflow

U/S of Elk

CCUPUP

D/S of Crested Butte

Sample Sites along Coal Creek

Methods: Sampling June 14 & 15 2006 simultaneously

with sediments. 13 sampling sites along 9.5km,

starting point: 2005/Shanklin Injection Site.

In Stream: kick and overturn rocks while dragging mess net behind.

Emptied nets into buckets and trays and sorted stoneflies

Stored in 60 ml bottles on ice until reached the lab

Methods: Sampling June 14 & 15 2006 simultaneously

with sediments. 13 sampling sites along 9.5km,

starting point: 2005/Shanklin Injection Site.

In Stream: kick and overturn rocks while dragging mess net behind.

Emptied nets into buckets and trays and sorted stoneflies

Stored in 60 ml bottles on ice until reached the lab

Frrrannnnnieeeee, give that back!

Frraaannie give that BACK!

Methods: Digestion

Rinsed with Milli-Q waterDried in ovenMeasured dry weightAdded Digestion solution: 1:1 soln. of

15.8M HNO3 and 30% H2O2 + H2OShook in hot water bath Allowed to settle and supernatant

removed and filtered with 0.45µm nylon filters.

Methods: ICP-OES

Diluted 9:1 solutionMeasured Metal Content with ICP-

OES (ARD, Model 3410+) in the LEGS Lab, CU Boulder

Measured Al, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Zn concentrations in ppm.

Results

CHART!

U/S

of

Elk

D/S

of

Elk

D/S

Mt

E E

fflu

en

t

µg

/g d

ry w

eig

ht

U/S

Mt.

Em

mon

s E

fflu

en

t

Iron

Fen

D

rain

ag

es

U/S

of

Elk

D/S

of

Elk

D/S

Mt

E E

fflu

en

t

µg

/g d

ry w

eig

ht

U/S

Mt.

Em

mon

s E

fflu

en

t

Iron

Fen

D

rain

ag

es

Distance (km)

D/S

of

Elk

Iron

Fen

D

rain

ag

es

U/S

Mt.

E. E

fflu

en

t

D/S

Mt.

E.

Effl

uen

tU/S

of

Elk

µg

/g d

ry w

t.

Distance (km)

Distance (km)

µg

/g d

ry w

eig

ht

D/S

of

Elk

Iron

Fen

D

rain

ag

es

U/S

Mt.

E.

Effl

uen

t

D/S

Mt.

E.

Effl

uen

tU/S

of

Elk

Iron Concentrations (modified)

Distance (km)

µg

/g d

ry w

eig

ht

D/S

of

Elk

Iron

Fen

D

rain

ag

es

U/S

Mt.

E.

Effl

uen

t

D/S

Mt.

E.

Effl

uen

tU/S

of

Elk

Iron Concentrations (modified)

D/S

of

Elk

Iron

Fen

D

rain

ag

es

U/S

Mt.

E.

Effl

uen

tD

/S M

t. E

. E

fflu

en

t

U/S

of

Elk

µg

/g d

ry w

eig

ht

Distance (km)

Cu ConcentrationsCopper Concentrations

D/S

of

Elk

Iron

Fen

D

rain

ag

es

U/S

Mt.

E.

Effl

uen

tD

/S M

t. E

. E

fflu

en

t

U/S

of

Elk

µg

/g d

ry w

eig

ht

Distance (km)

Cu ConcentrationsCopper Concentrations

Metal Concentrations (compiled)

D/S

of

Elk

Iron

Fen

Dra

inag

es

U/S

Mt.

Em

mon

s E

fflu

en

t

D/S

Mt

E E

fflu

en

t

U/S

of

Elk

Cre

ek

µg/

g dr

y w

eigh

t

Distance (km)

Zn

Fe

Cu

Conclusions

Elevated metal concentrations occur after Elk Creek, Mt. Emmons treatment plant effluent

Benthic Macroinvertebrate populations affected directly after polluted inflow but then improved down the stream.

High concentrations of iron in background site of stream.

Correlations to Frannie and Hallie’s data

Further Study

Do some practice runs of the macroinvertebrate sampling before actually starting.

Investigate fish populationsUse ICP-MS for other metals found

below detection limit.

Acknowledgements

Questions

Scarlett GrahamAllegheny Collegegrahams@allegheny.edu