Reports concentration of organic compounds here, to serve as a baseline against which future measurements can be compared and to provide a general assessment of the quality of local water treatment efforts.
In all, 56 compounds were detected in samples collected approximately monthly during 2003-05 at the intake for the Clackamas River Water plant. On the basis of this screening-level assessment, adverse effects to human health are assumed to be negligible.
We identified six compounds at concentrations less than human-health benchmarks, but within a factor of 10 of those limits. Those compounds might warrant further study to understand their transport and fate within the watershed.
The 258 organic compounds in this assessment are man-made: pesticides, solvents, gasoline hydrocarbons, personal-care and domestic-use products, pavement and combustion-derived compounds. None were found in concentrations deemed dangerous at this time.
Measured concentrations of many compounds in water people use. Some compounds are regulated as health hazards; a few of these were over the benchmark limits. Others may become issues of concern, so studies such as this give us helpful background levels.
We assess the degree to which a consensus was reached on the flow rate of the well by comparing in situ observations with a time-dependent flow rate model derived from pressure readings taken after the Macondo well was shut in for the well integrity test.
Description of Long Island Sound projects and links to research topics, data, publications, photos, and technology on sediment transport, sea floor mapping, contaminant sampling, sediment texture, and environmental issues.