Evaluation of the Extent of Contaminated Sediments in the West Branch of the Grand Calumet River, Indiana-Illinois, USA

Abstract

The extent of contamination in river sediments is often not rigorously evaluated. In many cases, only surface sediment samples are taken. In other cases, entire sediment cores are composited for analysis, an approach that limits the ability to identify discrete zones of contamination. In addition, few studies include information on the rate of sedimentation. Composited sediment cores, subsamples of cores made at discrete intervals, and surface samples were obtained from locations in the West Branch of the Grand Calumet River. The organic carbon content and concentrations of up to 26 major, minor, and trace elements were determined. Sedimentation rates at the ten locations were estimated using 137Cs. The mean concentrations of metals in the surface samples were considerably higher than concentrations in samples obtained by the two coring approaches. Only by analyzing discrete subsamples was it possible to plot the concentrations by depth and location. This approach was used to demonstrate that high levels of organic carbon and trace elements are confined between river miles 5 and 7.5. Sedimentation rate information combined with chemical analyses of the same cores indicate that contamination of this part of the river began in the 1930s.

Application of pollution indices to quantify the pollution status of shallow sediments of the Bolgoda Lake, Sri Lanka

“…Many studies have assessed the heavy metal concentrations in sediments of aquatic ecosystems in many parts of the world (Cahill & Unger, 1993;Bertin & Bourg, 1995;Sin et al, 2001;Zhang & Wang, 2001;…”

Physico-chemical and biological sediment properties determining erosion resistance of contaminated riverine sediments – Temporal and vertical pattern at the Lauffen reservoir/River Neckar, Germany

“…Large quantities of hazardous contaminants such as heavy metals and organic micropollutants are accumulated within the sediments of lakes, rivers and marine areas world-wide (Cahill & Unger, 1993;Golden et al, 1993;Tuncer, Tuncel, Tuncel, & Balkas, 1993). Some rivers sites in Germany are well-known for their high level of contamination with specific pollutants such as cadmium in the Lauffen weir of the River Neckar (Foerstner & Mueller, 1974;Haag, Kern, & Westrich, 2000), lead and zinc in the River Ruhr catchment area (Ruhrverband, 1998), HCB in the Iffezheim reservoir of the River Rhine (LfU, 2004), PCBs in the Oder-Spree river system (Heinisch, Schramm, & Kettrup, 1997) or PAHs in the Schwarze Elster, Mulde (Foerstner, Heise, Schwartz, Westrich, & Ahlf, 2004).…”

Silicone in the Environment: A Worst-Case Assessment of Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) in Sediments

“…This stretch of the Calumet River system is essentially a constructed waterway used to divert municipal wastewater from the cities of Chicago, IL and Hammond, IN away from Lake Michigan. Organic carbon content of sediments in the west branch of the Grand Calumet River range from 7.4 to 22% dry wt ( , ), demonstrating that the river system receives substantial amounts of sewage sludge. Similarly, organic carbon content of Little Calumet River sediments having the greatest concentrations of PDMS (i.e., 309 and 183 μg·g -1 dry wt) were 12 and 6.8% dry wt, respectively.…”