Selenium in the Blackfoot, Salt, and Bear River Watersheds

Abstract

Nine stream sites in the Blackfoot River, Salt River, and Bear River watersheds in southeast Idaho, USA were sampled in May 2001 for water, surficial sediment, aquatic plants, aquatic invertebrates, and fish. Selenium was measured in these aquatic ecosystem components, and a hazard assessment was performed on the data. Water quality characteristics such as pH, hardness, and specific conductance were relatively uniform among the nine sites. Of the aquatic components assessed, water was the least contaminated with selenium because measured concentrations were below the national water quality criterion of 5 microg/L at eight of the nine sites. In contrast, selenium was elevated in sediment, aquatic plants, aquatic invertebrates, and fish from several sites, suggesting deposition in sediments and food web cycling through plants and invertebrates. Selenium was elevated to concentrations of concern in fish at eight sites (> 4 microg/g in whole body). A hazard assessment of selenium in the aquatic environment suggested a moderate hazard at upper Angus Creek (UAC) and Smoky Creek (SC), and high hazard at Little Blackfoot River (LiB), Blackfoot River gaging station (BGS), State Land Creek (SLC), upper (UGC) and lower Georgetown Creek (LGC), Deer Creek (DC), and Crow Creek (CC). The results of this study indicate that selenium concentrations from the phosphate mining area of southeast Idaho were sufficiently eleated in several ecosystem components to cause adverse effects to aquatic resources in southeastern Idaho.

Food chain transfer and exposure effects of selenium in salmonid fish communities in two watersheds in the Canadian Rocky Mountains

“…Transects were restricted to shallow riffles, defined as swift water habitats with turbulent flow and broken water surface. Samples were transferred to freezer bags and placed on ice until they could be frozen for further processing (Hamilton and Buhl 2005). In the laboratory, all macroinvertebrates from each sample were sorted from debris and identified to the family level of taxonomic resolution according to Clifford (1991).…”

Effects of a century of mining and industrial production on metal contamination of a model saline ecosystem, Great Salt Lake, Utah

“…Selenium occurs at low, but geochemically anomalous levels in the Bingham Canyon porphyry copper deposits and is released from smelting activity (Newman et al No Date). Selenium is also released in the Bear River watershed that drains phosphate mining districts in Idaho and the Uinta Mountains (Mars andCrowley 2003, Hamilton andBuhl 2005). Strip mining of phosphate has increased in recent years (Hughes and Thackray 1999) and thus contributions from this source may be increasing.…”

“…Although Se is also released into the Bear River watershed from phosphate mining districts in 361 Idaho and the Uinta Mountains (Hamilton and Buhl, 2005;Mars and Crowley, 2003), this river 362 provides only 26% of Se influx compared to riverine inputs from the Salt Lake Valley watershed 363 (Diaz et al, 2009a). Instead, both As and Se are emitted from smelting activities in the Great Salt Lake Valley, as demonstrated locally from tailings wastewater (EPA, 2002).…”

“…In addition to phosphorus, these mines release significant quantities of selenium (Hamilton and Buhl 2005). Industrial activities in the greater metropolitan Salt Lake City have included metallurgical plants, railroad maintenance, petroleum refining and other The accumulation of metals near the Salt Lake area has been measured previously utilizing sediment cores retrieved from lakes that record the chronology of deposition.…”

A Procedure for NEPA Assessment of Selenium Hazards Associated With Mining

“…The Dry Valley and Enoch Valley phosphate mines on Caribou National Forest, Idaho, were examined using data from existing reports (Desborough et al 1999;Hamilton and Buhl 2003a, b, 2004, 2005Hamilton et al 2002Herring 2004;Montgomery Watson 1998, 2001a, b, 2002Skorupa et al 2002;Tetra Tech EMI 2002;TRC Environmental 1999). The following key information was obtained:…”