TY - JOUR
T1 - Post Gold King Mine Spill Investigation of Metal Stability in Water and Sediments of the Animas River Watershed
AU - Rodriguez-Freire, Lucia
AU - Avasarala, Sumant
AU - Ali, Abdul Mehdi S.
AU - Agnew, Diane
AU - Hoover, Joseph H.
AU - Artyushkova, Kateryna
AU - Latta, Drew E.
AU - Peterson, Eric J.
AU - Lewis, Johnnye
AU - Crossey, Laura J.
AU - Brearley, Adrian J.
AU - Cerrato, José M.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2016/11/1
Y1 - 2016/11/1
N2 - We applied spectroscopy, microscopy, diffraction, and aqueous chemistry methods to investigate the persistence of metals in water and sediments from the Animas River 13 days after the Gold King Mine spill (August 5, 2015). The Upper Animas River watershed, located in San Juan Colorado, is heavily mineralized and impacted by acid mine drainage, with low pH water and elevated metal concentrations in sediments (108.4 ± 1.8 mg kg-1 Pb, 32.4 ± 0.5 mg kg-1 Cu, 729.6 ± 5.7 mg kg-1 Zn, and 51 314.6 ± 295.4 mg kg-1 Fe). Phosphate and nitrogen species were detected in water and sediment samples from Farmington, New Mexico, an intensive agricultural area downstream from the Animas River, while metal concentrations were low compared to those observed upstream. Solid-phase analyses of sediments suggest that Pb, Cu, and Zn are associated with metal-bearing jarosite and other minerals (e.g., clays, Fe-(oxy)hydroxides). The solubility of jarosite at near-neutral pH and biogeochemical processes occurring downstream could affect the stability of metal-bearing minerals in river sediments. This study contributes relevant information about the association of metal mixtures in a heavy mineralized semiarid region, providing a foundation to better understand long-term metal release in a public and agricultural water supply.
AB - We applied spectroscopy, microscopy, diffraction, and aqueous chemistry methods to investigate the persistence of metals in water and sediments from the Animas River 13 days after the Gold King Mine spill (August 5, 2015). The Upper Animas River watershed, located in San Juan Colorado, is heavily mineralized and impacted by acid mine drainage, with low pH water and elevated metal concentrations in sediments (108.4 ± 1.8 mg kg-1 Pb, 32.4 ± 0.5 mg kg-1 Cu, 729.6 ± 5.7 mg kg-1 Zn, and 51 314.6 ± 295.4 mg kg-1 Fe). Phosphate and nitrogen species were detected in water and sediment samples from Farmington, New Mexico, an intensive agricultural area downstream from the Animas River, while metal concentrations were low compared to those observed upstream. Solid-phase analyses of sediments suggest that Pb, Cu, and Zn are associated with metal-bearing jarosite and other minerals (e.g., clays, Fe-(oxy)hydroxides). The solubility of jarosite at near-neutral pH and biogeochemical processes occurring downstream could affect the stability of metal-bearing minerals in river sediments. This study contributes relevant information about the association of metal mixtures in a heavy mineralized semiarid region, providing a foundation to better understand long-term metal release in a public and agricultural water supply.
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U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.6b03092
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.6b03092
M3 - Article
C2 - 27704799
AN - SCOPUS:84994310686
SN - 0013-936X
VL - 50
SP - 11539
EP - 11548
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
JF - Environmental Science and Technology
IS - 21
ER -