Geochemical data collected from pore water, surface water, and sediment in Unnamed Lake at the National Crude Oil Spill Fate and Natural Attenuation Research Site near Bemidji, Minnesota (2017-2019, 2022, 2024)

The National Crude Oil Spill Fate and Natural Attenuation Research Site near Bemidji, Minnesota is the site of a 1979 high-pressure crude oil pipeline rupture. Approximately 1.7 million liters of crude oil spilled onto the glacial outwash aquifer. After remediation and natural attenuation, an estimated 25% of the oil remains in the subsurface today. Groundwater monitoring at the site demonstrates that the contaminant plume, including hydrocarbon degradation products, is slowly migrating towards Unnamed Lake, which lies approximately 300 meters downgradient from the spill site. Pore water, surface water, and sediments from Unnamed Lake were collected to inform research into contaminant plume discharge into the lake and to study groundwater-surface water interactions at the site. Geophysical data generated from this study can be found in Terry et al (2019).

References:
Terry, N., Bekins, B. A., Trost, J. J., Woda, J., and Day-Lewis, F. D., 2019, Geophysical data from the unnamed lake at the National Crude Oil Spill Fate and Natural Attenuation Research Site, Bemidji, MN (ver. 3.0, May 2022): U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9BLZPJT.