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Geology News
Contamination Current Events

A landfill in Stark County, Ohio has seen numerous problems which include: an underground fire, slope stability, liner leaks and more. It is one of the largest landfills in the state.

The Sierra Club is not satisfied with the environmental protection measures of coal-fired power plants in seven states. The Club’s most recent effort targets plants in Arizona, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas, Missouri and Wyoming for failing to include adequate pollution controls for mercury and other toxics.

Did you know that every day, at least 300 million gallons of sewage water is dumped into the ocean off the coast of Florida? The water is partially treated, but is still not even suitable for watering lawns. Obviously, this is the cause of a multitude of problems. The state is expected to begin working on shutting down the outfall pipes.

Montana State University researchers have identified numerous types of pollution in the Ganges River of India. Their work has been reported to the Indian Supreme Court in support of renewed efforts to clean up the river.

By studying the landscape around the Chesapeake, NASA spacecraft such as Landsat, Terra and Aqua are helping land managers figure out how to battle the harmful pollutants that have added to the destruction of the bay’s once legendary productivity. Many of these harmful pollutants come from the Chesapeake Bay’s watershed, an area of about 64,000 square miles that covers parts of six states.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are a great energy-saving alternative to traditional incandescent bulbs. However, it is worth noting that each fluorescent bulb contains a small amount of mercury, which is highly toxic to humans and pets. What should you do if one of them breaks?

The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has published a Fact Sheet titled “Preventing Groundwater Contamination”. It is a 10-page guide that explains sources of ground water contamination for a variety of types of businesses and how contamination problems can be eliminated or reduced.

Inspired by the 1998 film, A Civil Action, graduate student Desirée Plata seeks ways to curtail contaminants in the environment.

The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources is out looking for water wells that were damaged during the 2005 hurricane season. They are placing a temporary cap on these wells and may close them completely later. The goal is to limit contamination.

The Lower Fox River in northeastern Wisconsin has PCB contamination linked to one of the many pulp and paper mills that line the river. Their insurance company has been ordered to help with the costs.

There were many mercury mines in Oregon in the early 1900s. The miners dug up the ore, heated it and then cooled the vapors to condense the liquid mercury. Now, a century later some sites in the Ochoco National Forest and on private lands remain contaminated from these activities.

“A U.S. Geological Survey study found a variety of pesticides in water samples from the lower Clackamas River mainstem and tributaries, along with trace-level detections of pesticides in treated drinking-water samples collected from a drinking-water treatment plant that uses the river as a raw-water source.” Quoted from the USGS Release.

Over 100 critically endangered gharials have washed up on the riverbanks of India. Researchers believe that their food supply has been contaminated with industrial pollutants.

Lake Baiyangdian is China’s largest lake and an important source of water, transportation and food to the people who live near it. Unfortunately sewage and industrial waste have contaminated the lake. New research suggests that algal blooms in the lake provide local mitigation of these contamination problems.

New EPA rules will subject 345 United States counties to adhere to what is being called “the most stringent standards ever”. These rules lower the amount of certain pollutants that are allowed in the air. The list of counties includes some chronic polluters such as Los Angeles and some newly identified areas of air quality concern.

All waters can be expected to contain small amounts of contaminants. EPA sets standards for nearly 100 of the most common water contaminants. The standards are guides to be used in determining if water is safe for use.

That’s the question asked by a Nunn, Colorado resident who owns property near where Powertech Uranium Corporation of Canada plans to open a uranium mine.

In 1994, Exxon was ordered to pay $5 billion to people who suffered damages from the Valdez oil spill. Now, 14 years after that award and almost 20 years after the spill, the case goes to the Supreme Court. About 20 percent of the people who were to receive the award are no longer alive. This article gives current details on the case.

“A study by UC Irvine ecologists finds that excess nitrogen in tropical forests boosts plant growth by an average of 20 percent, countering the belief that such forests would not respond to nitrogen pollution.” Quoted from the NASA Release.

Here’s an article that explores some of the negative aspects of plastic in our oceans. Certain toxins are attracted to the surface of this plastic and many fish, birds and animals mistakenly eat plastic - then have a large undigestable object in their stomach.

USGS has a new section on the website titled “Differences in Phosphorus and Nitrogen Delivery to the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River Basin”. From the article: “Nine states in the Mississippi River Basin contribute the majority of nutrients to the Northern Gulf of Mexico, threatening the economic and ecological health of one of the nation’s largest and most productive fisheries.”

Midwestern farming increases the amount of water flowing into the Mississippi River and increases the amount of carbon dioxide carried in the water. How farming is done can significantly change the hydrology and chemistry of the Mississippi.

USGS reports that methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), a gasoline additive, is widespread in New Hampshire’s ground water. Ground water from Rockingham, Strafford, Hillsborough and Merrimack Counties were the most likely to contain MTBE. However, even in these counties MTBE concentrations were significantly below the state drinking water limit and the federal drinking water advisory.

This news note at the GEOTIMES website explains that the city of Kabwe in central Zambia is considered to be one of the most contaminated areas on Earth. This results from a history of lead mining and smelting activities. Tens of thousands of the people who live there suffer from lead poisoning.

“Fish tissue samples taken from rainbow trout collected from four Idaho and Nevada reservoirs revealed elevated concentrations of methylmercury, according to data released by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian Reservation.”

Every reservoir has a limited lifespan. Often the limiting factor is the rate of sedimentation in the reservoir. This sediment slowly fills the reservoir, limits its life, reduces its flood capacity, limits its water shortage potential, traps/releases contaminants and impacts aesthetics. This article describes some of the USGS reservoir sediment studies in Kansas.

Two reservoirs that supply water to the city of Los Angeles have been taken offline because of bromate contamination. The bromate formed when water was treated with chlorine and exposed to sunlight. These reservoirs supply a minor amount of water to the city. Submitted by Bill Hecht.

In August, USGS told 25 households in the Lahontan Valley, Churchill County, Nevada, that their water supply well contained radioactive polonium-210. Thirteen of these wells exceeded the EPA maximum contaminant level for a public water supply well. A GEOTIMES article reports on this issue.

The title line of this story is about funding being pulled on a recreational project, however, the geological story is about arsenic contaminated ground water in residential water supply wells.

Coal-fired power plants emit trace amounts of mercury. Some of this airborne mercury ends up in lakes and rivers - and accumulates there long term. Fish at the top of the food chain can accumulate damaging amounts of mercury because they eat smaller fish, who have eaten smaller fish and the amount of mercury in their bodies can build up to toxic levels over time.

USGS Image

As population and business activity increase around public water supply wells the number of contamination problems increase. USGS has released a report: Anthropogenic Organic Compounds in Ground Water and Finished Water of Community Water Systems in the Northern Tampa Bay Area, Florida, which documents this problem.

The U.S. Geological Survey has documented the occurrence of elevated polonium levels in 17 wells near the town of Fallon, Churchill County, Nevada. Evidence available suggests that the elevated levels are from natural causes and not human actions.

NASA Image

The State of Florida is using the low water stand of Lake Okeechobee as an opportunity to remove some sediments from the lake bed. They are found to contain elevated levels of arsenic and other pesticides.

Colorado Map

In 1969 a 43 kiloton nuclear bomb was detonated at a depth of 8,426 feed below Colorado. This was Project Rulison, a test to determine if an underground nuclear blast could be used to stimulate natural gas production from a low grade field. The gas was too reactive to be sold commercially. Today drillers are seeking permission to drill close to the buffer zone around the Rulison site and property owners are concerned about escaping radiation or the contamination of ground waters.

Massachusetts Map

Contamination from the Massachusetts Military Reservation has caused extensive environmental damage and produced a decades-long, billion dollar clean-up project. Denis LeBlanc, a graduate of MIT and an expert on the hydrology of Cape Cod gave the 2007 Freeman Lecture sponsored by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. A summary of his lecture is posted at WebWire. It details the history of contamination, study and clean-up at this site.