The Energy Lifecycle Integrated Science Team focuses on the potential for contaminant exposures in the environment that might originate from energy resource activities including, extraction, production, transportation, storage, extraction, waste management and restoration. Perceived health risks to humans and other organisms will be distinguished from actual risks, if any. If actual risks are identified this project will inform how to economically and effectively minimize risk by providing scientific data and understandings about the environmental transport, fate, and exposure pathways of contaminants. Emphasis will be placed on addressing these issues on public and Department of Interior managed lands.
The United States is one of the largest users of energy, consuming annually about one-quarter of the energy resources produced in the world. The energy industry and government regulators work to provide energy resources to the public safely and effectively. Management of energy byproducts such as waste materials (including both solid and liquid wastes) from oil and gas development are a critical part of that work. However, spills, leaks, and other factors can create pathways for contaminants to enter the environment and result in exposures to humans and biota.
The associated health effects of specific spills have not been demonstrated in many cases, yet the perception of risk can drive action by industry and regulators. Hydrologists, chemists, biologists, and geologists on the Team conduct studies outside the mission of other federal agencies, by assessing actual versus perceived health effects to humans and biota due to exposures to energy production materials in the environment. This effort utilizes a watershed-and aquifer-based interdisciplinary science approach, providing a "big picture" that helps show where energy development activities are causing adverse health impacts on biota due to environmental contaminant exposures, as well as where they are not causing impacts. With this information in hand industry, land managers and other decision makers are able to balance the critical need for energy with further action, if any, to minimize health risks associated with energy production materials in the environment.
The USGS Energy Lifecycle Integrated Science Team (IST), a part of the Environmental Health Program, conducts research on potential contaminant exposures in the environment that might originate from the life cycle of energy resources. Their research is completed in laboratories, at targeted field sites, and in watersheds across the Nation to collectively deliver science on exposures and risks to wildlife, humans, ecosystems, and water resources. Potential contaminant releases are associated with transportation, storage, extraction, and management of energy-related products and wastes.
The team provides science to support balanced utilization and protection of our Nation’s resources. The Team is combining their findings on sources, fate, transport, and degradation of the contaminants with an understanding of the exposure and effects on wildlife and humans for a One-Health approach that recognizes the inextricable connections between the physical and living environment.
The Energy IST is unique in that they bring together geochemists, microbiologists, ecologists, toxicologists, geophysicists, hydrologists, and modelers along with remote sensing capabilities with more than 60 scientists from 16science centers across USGS. This breadth of research abilities allows the Team to address complex nationwide questions related to the lifecycle of energy resources that would be out of reach for individual and small groups of scientists The value of their research is enhanced by the active participation of stakeholders.
The Team Aims to:
- Identify Sources of Contaminants from Energy-Related Materials
- Identify Potential Pathways of Contaminants to/in the Environment
- Determine Toxicity and Risks to Organisms from Energy-Associated Materials in the Environment
- Evaluate Environmental Responses and Recovery from Energy Lifecycle Activities
- Evaluate Reuse Potential of Unconventional Oil and Gas (UOG) Wastes
Current Science Questions and Activities
- Materials from oil and gas (OG) extraction may contain toxic or radioactive elements from the geologic formation, additives such as biocides used during OG development, and products of natural degradation. What is the composition of the materials generated, the potential pathways to the environment, the mode-of-action and the effects, if any, on receptor organisms from exposure to these constituents?
- Energy development occurs nationwide on public and private lands at scales ranging from town to regional to state-level development. This work is focused on the regional, and especially watershed or aquifer scale, energy-resource associated releases (for example spills, pipeline breaks) to the environment. Are there contaminant exposures and actual, not perceived, public health concerns throughout the watershed or underlying aquifers downstream or downgradient of the release?
- Releases of energy-associated materials to the environment can occur at various time scales thereby altering biogeochemistry and potential health effects on fish and wildlife as well as contaminant exposures to humans. Is persistence related to actual health effects?
Selected Science Feature Article Listed Below.
See the publications tab for a complete list of publications
Geochemical Signatures of Oil and Gas Wastewater from an Accidental Release Detected in Stream Sediment and Pore Waters Two Years Post Spill
Framework for Examining Stream Ecosystem Health in Areas of Shale Gas Development—A Multi-Parameter Watershed-Based Case Study in Pennsylvania
Wastewaters from Unconventional Oil and Gas Development
Amphibians Exposed to Oil and Gas Co-Produced Wastewaters: Differentiating the Actual and the Perceived Inorganic Contaminant Hazards — Prairie Pothole Region
Cyclical Mobilization and Attenuation of Naturally Occurring Arsenic in an Underground Petroleum Plume
Two Scientists Receive Early Career Excellence in Leadership Award
Trace Levels of Organic Chemicals Limited to Local Reaches of a Stream near an Oil and Gas Wastewater Disposal Facility
Examining Shifts in Stream Microbial Communities Exposed to Oil and Gas Wastewaters
Understanding Pathways of Unconventional Oil and Gas Produced Water Spills in the Environment
Landscape Effects of Oil and Gas Development
Indication of Unconventional Oil and Gas Wastewaters Found in Local Surface Waters
Natural Breakdown of Petroleum Results in Arsenic Mobilization in Groundwater
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Quantitation of estrogens in water, alone and in combination with atrazine, using two chemically-activated luciferase expression, CALUX, bioassays and quadrupole-time of flight ultraperformance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, UPLC-MS
Water quality and survival data for 96 hour bioassays conducted near the Blacktail Creek wastewater spill, North Dakota, 2015-17
Biological and chemical data from chloride bioassays with native wetland species in natural and reconstituted Prairie Pothole waters
Chemical and biological data from a study on sensitivity of a unionid mussel (Lampsilis siliquoidea) to a permitted effluent and elevated potassium
Data on barium, strontium, cobalt, and nickel plumes formed during microbial iron-reduction on sediments and in water from a crude-oil-contaminated aquifer, Bemidji, Minnesota (2009-2019)
Microbial Community Composition Data from Blacktail Creek near Williston, North Dakota
Geochemistry data collected (1985-2015) for understanding the evolution of groundwater-contaminant plume chemistry emanating from legacy contaminant sources, an example from a long-term crude oil spill near Bemidji, Minnesota
Geochemistry Data for Wastewater Samples Collected at a Separator Tank and from an On-Site Storage Tank at the Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory (MSEEL) 2015-2019, Morgantown Industrial Park (MIP), West Virginia (ver. 2.0, May 2023)
Data on the Effects of Oil and Gas Wastewater Components on Microbial Community Structure and Function
Data Sets from the National Crude Oil Spill Fate and Natural Attenuation Research Site near Bemidji, Minnesota, USA (ver. 3.0, March 2020)
Organic Analysis of Oilfield Wastewater from the Williston Basin, North Dakota
Sampling site information, well construction details, and data dictionaries for data sets associated with the National Crude Oil Spill Fate and Natural Attenuation Site near Bemidji, Minnesota
Below are publications associated with this project.
Comparison of two estrogen chemically activated luciferase expression cell bioassays to liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry for quantifying estrone in water samples
Using biological responses to monitor freshwater post-spill conditions over 3 years in Blacktail Creek, North Dakota, USA
Using biological responses to monitor freshwater post-spill conditions over 3 years in Blacktail Creek, North Dakota, USA
Understanding the evolution of groundwater-contaminant plume chemistry emanating from legacy contaminant sources: An example from a long-term crude oil spill
Characterization of the partial oxidation products of crude oil contaminating groundwater at the U.S. Geological Survey Bemidji research site in Minnesota by elemental analysis, radiocarbon dating, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and Fourier tran
Microbially induced anaerobic oxidation of magnetite to maghemite in a hydrocarbon-contaminated aquifer
Chloride toxicity to native freshwater species in natural and reconstituted prairie pothole waters
Oil and gas wastewater components alter streambed microbial community structure and function
The sensitivity of a unionid mussel (Lampsilis siliquoidea) to a permitted effluent and elevated potassium in the effluent
Arsenic in petroleum-contaminated groundwater near Bemidji, Minnesota is predicted to persist for centuries
We used a reactive transport model to investigate the cycling of geogenic arsenic (As) in a petroleum-contaminated aquifer. We simulated As mobilization and sequestration using surface complexation reactions with Fe(OH)3 during petroleum biodegradation coupled with Fe-reduction. Model results predict that dissolved As in the plume will exceed the U.S. and EU 10 µg/L drinking water standard for ~40
Methanogens and their syntrophic partners dominate zones of enhanced magnetic susceptibility at a petroleum contaminated site
Arsenic release to the environment from hydrocarbon production, storage, transportation, use and waste management
- Overview
The Energy Lifecycle Integrated Science Team focuses on the potential for contaminant exposures in the environment that might originate from energy resource activities including, extraction, production, transportation, storage, extraction, waste management and restoration. Perceived health risks to humans and other organisms will be distinguished from actual risks, if any. If actual risks are identified this project will inform how to economically and effectively minimize risk by providing scientific data and understandings about the environmental transport, fate, and exposure pathways of contaminants. Emphasis will be placed on addressing these issues on public and Department of Interior managed lands.
Contaminant releases can be associated with transportation, storage, extraction, use, disposal of energy-related products and wastes. The United States is one of the largest users of energy, consuming annually about one-quarter of the energy resources produced in the world. The energy industry and government regulators work to provide energy resources to the public safely and effectively. Management of energy byproducts such as waste materials (including both solid and liquid wastes) from oil and gas development are a critical part of that work. However, spills, leaks, and other factors can create pathways for contaminants to enter the environment and result in exposures to humans and biota.
The associated health effects of specific spills have not been demonstrated in many cases, yet the perception of risk can drive action by industry and regulators. Hydrologists, chemists, biologists, and geologists on the Team conduct studies outside the mission of other federal agencies, by assessing actual versus perceived health effects to humans and biota due to exposures to energy production materials in the environment. This effort utilizes a watershed-and aquifer-based interdisciplinary science approach, providing a "big picture" that helps show where energy development activities are causing adverse health impacts on biota due to environmental contaminant exposures, as well as where they are not causing impacts. With this information in hand industry, land managers and other decision makers are able to balance the critical need for energy with further action, if any, to minimize health risks associated with energy production materials in the environment.
The USGS Energy Lifecycle Integrated Science Team (IST), a part of the Environmental Health Program, conducts research on potential contaminant exposures in the environment that might originate from the life cycle of energy resources. Their research is completed in laboratories, at targeted field sites, and in watersheds across the Nation to collectively deliver science on exposures and risks to wildlife, humans, ecosystems, and water resources. Potential contaminant releases are associated with transportation, storage, extraction, and management of energy-related products and wastes.
The team provides science to support balanced utilization and protection of our Nation’s resources. The Team is combining their findings on sources, fate, transport, and degradation of the contaminants with an understanding of the exposure and effects on wildlife and humans for a One-Health approach that recognizes the inextricable connections between the physical and living environment.
The Energy IST is unique in that they bring together geochemists, microbiologists, ecologists, toxicologists, geophysicists, hydrologists, and modelers along with remote sensing capabilities with more than 60 scientists from 16science centers across USGS. This breadth of research abilities allows the Team to address complex nationwide questions related to the lifecycle of energy resources that would be out of reach for individual and small groups of scientists The value of their research is enhanced by the active participation of stakeholders.
The Team Aims to:
- Identify Sources of Contaminants from Energy-Related Materials
- Identify Potential Pathways of Contaminants to/in the Environment
- Determine Toxicity and Risks to Organisms from Energy-Associated Materials in the Environment
- Evaluate Environmental Responses and Recovery from Energy Lifecycle Activities
- Evaluate Reuse Potential of Unconventional Oil and Gas (UOG) Wastes
Current Science Questions and Activities
- Materials from oil and gas (OG) extraction may contain toxic or radioactive elements from the geologic formation, additives such as biocides used during OG development, and products of natural degradation. What is the composition of the materials generated, the potential pathways to the environment, the mode-of-action and the effects, if any, on receptor organisms from exposure to these constituents?
- Energy development occurs nationwide on public and private lands at scales ranging from town to regional to state-level development. This work is focused on the regional, and especially watershed or aquifer scale, energy-resource associated releases (for example spills, pipeline breaks) to the environment. Are there contaminant exposures and actual, not perceived, public health concerns throughout the watershed or underlying aquifers downstream or downgradient of the release?
- Releases of energy-associated materials to the environment can occur at various time scales thereby altering biogeochemistry and potential health effects on fish and wildlife as well as contaminant exposures to humans. Is persistence related to actual health effects?
- Science
Selected Science Feature Article Listed Below.
See the publications tab for a complete list of publications
Filter Total Items: 14Geochemical Signatures of Oil and Gas Wastewater from an Accidental Release Detected in Stream Sediment and Pore Waters Two Years Post Spill
Scientists identified geochemical signatures of wastewater in Blacktail Creek, North Dakota, as a result of a 2015 pipeline leak. They demonstrated that environmental signatures from wastewater spills are persistent within a short (1-3 year) time frame, can enter the creek through subsurface pathways, and can create the potential for extended environmental exposures.Framework for Examining Stream Ecosystem Health in Areas of Shale Gas Development—A Multi-Parameter Watershed-Based Case Study in Pennsylvania
In a case study of 25 headwater streams in Pennsylvania, no statistically significant associations were determined between shale gas development and geochemical tracers of produced waters or measures of microbial and macroinvertebrate community composition. Although the results are specific to the region studied, the integrated biological and geochemical framework provides a tool for examining...Wastewaters from Unconventional Oil and Gas Development
The Reston Biogeochemical Processes in Groundwater Laboratory (RBPGL) is assessing the potential risks to human and ecosystem health associated with Unconventional Oil and Gas (UOG) development.Amphibians Exposed to Oil and Gas Co-Produced Wastewaters: Differentiating the Actual and the Perceived Inorganic Contaminant Hazards — Prairie Pothole Region
Chloride and metals in oil and gas co-produced wastewaters (often referred to as brines) are commonly perceived as contaminant hazards for biota. Amphibian abundance in the Prairie Pothole Region affected by historic oil and gas co-produced wastewaters was lower in wetlands with high concentrations of chloride indicating an actual contaminant hazard. Metals detected in sediments and amphibian...Cyclical Mobilization and Attenuation of Naturally Occurring Arsenic in an Underground Petroleum Plume
Scientists found that naturally occurring arsenic in aquifer sediments was mobilized into groundwater and attenuated through reattachment to sediments within an underground petroleum plume. Understanding these patterns identifies anthropogenic factors that affect arsenic presence and magnitude in groundwater.Two Scientists Receive Early Career Excellence in Leadership Award
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 2016 Early Career Excellence in Leadership Award was given to Dr. Denise M. Akob and Dr. Karl B. Haase. Drs. Akob and Haase have demonstrated outstanding leadership through their scientific accomplishments and service to the USGS.Trace Levels of Organic Chemicals Limited to Local Reaches of a Stream near an Oil and Gas Wastewater Disposal Facility
Organic contaminants that were present in Wolf Creek near a wastewater disposal facility were not evident farther downstream where Wolf Creek enters the New River. Wolf Creek and the New River are used for drinking water and recreational purposes.Examining Shifts in Stream Microbial Communities Exposed to Oil and Gas Wastewaters
Shifts in the overall microbial community structure were present in stream sediments that contained chemicals associated with unconventional oil and gas wastewaters. This work is part of a long-term study designed to understand persistence of chemicals from oil and gas wastewaters in sediments and water and how those factors might be related to exposures and adverse health effects, if any, on...Understanding Pathways of Unconventional Oil and Gas Produced Water Spills in the Environment
A new study measures the transport of chemicals associated with unconventional oil and gas (UOG) produced waters downstream from a pipeline leak in North Dakota. This work is part of a long-term study designed to understand chemical persistence in sediments and water and how those factors might be related to contaminant exposures and associated with adverse health effects, if any, on organisms.Landscape Effects of Oil and Gas Development
Relatively new deep well drilling technology, such as is currently utilized in hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”), has created an economic boom in the market for hydrocarbons. Previously untapped deposits of oil and natural gas can now be accessed in areas that include the Marcellus and Utica Shale deposits in the east and the Bakken Formation in Montana and the Dakotas.Indication of Unconventional Oil and Gas Wastewaters Found in Local Surface Waters
Evidence indicating the presence of wastewaters from unconventional oil and gas (UOG) production was found in surface waters and surficial sediments near an UOG disposal facility in West Virginia.Natural Breakdown of Petroleum Results in Arsenic Mobilization in Groundwater
Changes in geochemistry from the natural breakdown of petroleum hydrocarbons in groundwater promote mobilization of naturally occurring arsenic from aquifer sediments into groundwater. This geochemical change can result in potentially significant and overlooked arsenic groundwater contamination. Arsenic is a toxin and carcinogen linked to numerous forms of skin, bladder, and lung cancer. Of... - Data
Below are data or web applications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 14Quantitation of estrogens in water, alone and in combination with atrazine, using two chemically-activated luciferase expression, CALUX, bioassays and quadrupole-time of flight ultraperformance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry, UPLC-MS
This data describes the relative luminescence units and relative fluorescence units of lysates of two estrogen responsive chemically-activated luciferase expression human breast VM7Luc4E2 and VM7LucERbc9 cells which were exposed for 24 hours to estrone and 17beta-estradiol dilutions alone and in mixture with atrazine or water extracts collected from dilutor tanks during a fish exposure study utiliWater quality and survival data for 96 hour bioassays conducted near the Blacktail Creek wastewater spill, North Dakota, 2015-17
Data set contains water quality measurements and survival of fathead minnow from in situ and laboratory bioassay exposures to wastewater from a spill on Blacktail Creek, North Dakota, USABiological and chemical data from chloride bioassays with native wetland species in natural and reconstituted Prairie Pothole waters
Biological endpoints for three focal test species [Daphnia magna (mortality), Psuedacris maculata (mortality, growth, and development), and Lemna gibba (growth)] in response to exposure to reconstituted or field-collected water under laboratory conditions. Field-collected waters were collected from wetlands within the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of the United States. Reconstituted water was mixedChemical and biological data from a study on sensitivity of a unionid mussel (Lampsilis siliquoidea) to a permitted effluent and elevated potassium
The data release includes data from four studies: (1) toxicity of a permitted effluent, which entered the Deep Fork River (DFR), Oklahoma, USA, to a unionid mussel (Lampsilis siliquoidea) and to 2 standard test species (cladoceran Ceriodaphnia dubia; and fathead minnow Pimephales promelas) in short-term 7-d effluent tests; (2) relative sensitivities of the 3 species to potassium (K), an elevated mData on barium, strontium, cobalt, and nickel plumes formed during microbial iron-reduction on sediments and in water from a crude-oil-contaminated aquifer, Bemidji, Minnesota (2009-2019)
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data Release provides concentrations from groundwater and soil extracts for iron (Fe), barium (Ba), strontium (Sr), cobalt (Co), and nickel (Ni). Groundwater analyses for pH and alkalinity are also included. Samples were collected at the National Crude Oil Spill Fate and Natural Attenuation Research Site, near Bemidji MN (USA) between 2009-2019. The site is in BeMicrobial Community Composition Data from Blacktail Creek near Williston, North Dakota
A large spill of wastewater from oil and gas operations was discovered adjacent to Blacktail Creek near Williston, North Dakota in January 2015. To determine the effects of this spill on streambed microbial communities over time, bed sediment samples were taken from Blacktail Creek upstream, adjacent to, and at several locations downstream from the spill site. Blacktail Creek is a tributary of theGeochemistry data collected (1985-2015) for understanding the evolution of groundwater-contaminant plume chemistry emanating from legacy contaminant sources, an example from a long-term crude oil spill near Bemidji, Minnesota
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data Release is focused on the geochemistry of wells within the oil zone and groundwater monitoring wells away from the oiled zone at the National Crude Oil Spill Fate and Natural Attenuation Research Site, Bemidji MN (USA) from 1985-2015. The site located in Beltrami County is where a high-pressure pipeline carrying crude oil burst in 1979 and spilled approximatGeochemistry Data for Wastewater Samples Collected at a Separator Tank and from an On-Site Storage Tank at the Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory (MSEEL) 2015-2019, Morgantown Industrial Park (MIP), West Virginia (ver. 2.0, May 2023)
This U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data Release is focused on the geochemistry of wastewater (including flowback and produced water) samples, co-produced with natural gas, collected from the Marcellus Shale Energy and Environment Laboratory (MSEEL) site. MSEEL is a long-term field site and laboratory at the Northeast Natural Energy LLC (NNE) production facility, adjacent to the Monongahela River,Data on the Effects of Oil and Gas Wastewater Components on Microbial Community Structure and Function
Oil and gas (OG) wastewaters are commonly disposed of by underground injection and previous research showed that activities at a disposal facility in West Virginia affected stream biogeochemistry and sediment microbial communities downstream from the facility. Microorganisms can control the fate and transport of organic and inorganic components of OG wastewater highlighting the need to characterizData Sets from the National Crude Oil Spill Fate and Natural Attenuation Research Site near Bemidji, Minnesota, USA (ver. 3.0, March 2020)
This version supersedes the previous version of this data release: Trost, J.J., Krall, A.L., Baedecker, M., Cozzarelli, I.M., Herkelrath, W.N., Jaeschke, J.B., and Bekins, B.A., 2018, Historical data sets including inorganic and organic chemistry of water, oil, and sediments, aquifer hydraulic conductivity, and sediment grain size distribution at the National Crude Oil Spill Fate and Natural AttenOrganic Analysis of Oilfield Wastewater from the Williston Basin, North Dakota
The organic composition of produced waters (flowback and formation waters) from the Bakken Formation and the Three Forks Formation in the Williston Basin, North Dakota were examined in this study in order to aid in the remediation of surface contamination due to spills during transport and help develop treatment methods for recycling. Twelve produced water samples were collected from wells in theSampling site information, well construction details, and data dictionaries for data sets associated with the National Crude Oil Spill Fate and Natural Attenuation Site near Bemidji, Minnesota
This U.S. Geological Survey data release provides detailed sampling site information, hole and well construction details, and data dictionaries necessary to interpret historical and future physical, chemical, and biological data sets derived from samples collected and measurements made in association with the National Crude Oil Spill Fate and Natural Attenuation Research Site. In 1979, a high- - Publications
Below are publications associated with this project.
Filter Total Items: 37Comparison of two estrogen chemically activated luciferase expression cell bioassays to liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry for quantifying estrone in water samples
Chemically activated luciferase expression (CALUX) cell bioassays are popular tools for assessing endocrine activity of chemicals such as certain environmental contaminants. Although activity equivalents can be obtained from CALUX analysis, directly comparing these equivalents to those obtained from analytical chemistry methods can be problematic because of the complexity of endocrine active pathwAuthorsJennifer C. Brennan, Abigail Henke, Robert Gale, Diane K. Nicks, Donald TillittUsing biological responses to monitor freshwater post-spill conditions over 3 years in Blacktail Creek, North Dakota, USA
A pipeline carrying unconventional oil and gas (OG) wastewater spilled approximately 11 million liters of wastewater into Blacktail Creek, North Dakota, USA. Flow of the mix of stream water and wastewater down the channel resulted in storage of contaminants in the hyporheic zone and along the banks, providing a long-term source of wastewater constituents to the stream. A multi-level investigationAuthorsAida Farag, David Harper, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Douglas B. Kent, Adam Mumford, Denise M. Akob, Travis W. Schaeffer, Luke R. IwanowiczByEcosystems Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Eastern Ecological Science Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Reston Microbiology LaboratoryUsing biological responses to monitor freshwater post-spill conditions over 3 years in Blacktail Creek, North Dakota, USA
A pipeline carrying unconventional oil and gas (OG) wastewater spilled approximately 11 million liters of wastewater into Blacktail Creek, North Dakota, USA. Flow of the mix of stream water and wastewater down the channel resulted in storage of contaminants in the hyporheic zone and along the banks, providing a long-term source of wastewater constituents to the stream. A multi-level investigationAuthorsAida Farag, David Harper, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Douglas B. Kent, Adam Mumford, Denise M. Akob, Travis W. Schaeffer, Luke R. IwanowiczByEcosystems Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology, Columbia Environmental Research Center, Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center , Eastern Ecological Science Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Reston Microbiology LaboratoryUnderstanding the evolution of groundwater-contaminant plume chemistry emanating from legacy contaminant sources: An example from a long-term crude oil spill
Understanding the evolution of plumes emanating from residual hydrocarbon contaminant sources requires evaluating how changes in source compositions over time cause changes in dissolved plume chemistry as residual sources age. This study investigates such changes at the site of a 1979 crude-oil pipeline spill and is the first comprehensive look at groundwater chemistry associated with a residual hAuthorsIsabelle M. Cozzarelli, Mary Jo Baedecker, Adam Mumford, Jeanne B. Jaeschke, Tracey SpencerCharacterization of the partial oxidation products of crude oil contaminating groundwater at the U.S. Geological Survey Bemidji research site in Minnesota by elemental analysis, radiocarbon dating, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and Fourier tran
In oil spill research, a topic of increasing attention during the last decade has been the environmental impact of the partial oxidation products that result from transformation of the petroleum in freshwater, marine, and terrestrial ecosystems. This report describes the isolation and characterization of the partial oxidation products from crude oil contaminating groundwater at the long-term U.S.AuthorsKevin A. Thorn, Ananna Islam, Sunghwan KimMicrobially induced anaerobic oxidation of magnetite to maghemite in a hydrocarbon-contaminated aquifer
Iron mineral transformations occurring in hydrocarbon-contaminated sites are linked to the biodegradation of the hydrocarbons. At a hydrocarbon-contaminated site near Bemidji, Minnesota, USA, measurements of magnetic susceptibility (MS) are useful for monitoring the natural attenuation of hydrocarbons related to iron cycling. However, a transient MS, previously observed at the site, remains poorlyAuthorsLeonard O. Ohenhen, Joshua M. Feinberg, Lee Slater, Dimitrios Ntarlagiannis, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Miriam Rios-Sanchez, Carl W. Isaacson, Alexis Stricker, Estella A. AtekwanaChloride toxicity to native freshwater species in natural and reconstituted prairie pothole waters
Oil and gas extraction in the Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) of the northern USA has resulted in elevated chloride concentrations in ground and surface water due to widespread contamination with highly saline produced water, or brine. The toxicity of chloride is poorly understood in the high hardness waters characteristic of the region. We evaluated the toxicity of chloride to two endemic species, DAuthorsDavid Harper, Holly J. Puglis, Bethany K. Kunz, Aida FaragOil and gas wastewater components alter streambed microbial community structure and function
The widespread application of directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies expanded oil and gas (OG) development to previously inaccessible resources. A single OG well can generate millions of liters of wastewater, which is a mixture of brine produced from the fractured formations and injected hydraulic fracturing fluids (HFFs). With thousands of wells completed each year, safe managAuthorsDenise M. Akob, Adam Mumford, Andrea Fraser, Cassandra Rashan Harris, William H. Orem, Matthew S. Varonka, Isabelle M. CozzarelliThe sensitivity of a unionid mussel (Lampsilis siliquoidea) to a permitted effluent and elevated potassium in the effluent
Freshwater mussels are one of the most imperiled groups of animals in the world and are among the most sensitive species to a variety of chemicals. However, little is known about the sensitivity of freshwater mussels to wastewater effluents. The objectives of the present study were to (1) assess the toxicity of a permitted effluent, which entered the Deep Fork River, Oklahoma (USA), to a unionid mAuthorsJames L. Kunz, Ning Wang, David Martinez, Suzanne Dunn, Danielle M. Cleveland, Jeffery A. SteevensArsenic in petroleum-contaminated groundwater near Bemidji, Minnesota is predicted to persist for centuries
We used a reactive transport model to investigate the cycling of geogenic arsenic (As) in a petroleum-contaminated aquifer. We simulated As mobilization and sequestration using surface complexation reactions with Fe(OH)3 during petroleum biodegradation coupled with Fe-reduction. Model results predict that dissolved As in the plume will exceed the U.S. and EU 10 µg/L drinking water standard for ~40
AuthorsBrady A. Ziegler, G.-H. Crystal Ng, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli, Aubrey J. Dunshee, Madeline E. SchreiberMethanogens and their syntrophic partners dominate zones of enhanced magnetic susceptibility at a petroleum contaminated site
Geophysical investigations documenting enhanced magnetic susceptibility (MS) within the water table fluctuation zone at hydrocarbon contaminated sites suggest that MS can be used as a proxy for investigating microbial mediated iron reduction during intrinsic bioremediation. Here, we investigated the microbial community composition over a 5-year period at a hydrocarbon-contaminated site that exhibiAuthorsCarol L. Beaver, Estella A. Atekwana, Barbara A. Bekins, Dimitrios Ntarlagiannis, Lee D. Slater, Silvia RossbachArsenic release to the environment from hydrocarbon production, storage, transportation, use and waste management
Arsenic (As) is a toxic trace element with many sources, including hydrocarbons such as oil, natural gas, oil sands, and oil- and gas-bearing shales. Arsenic from these hydrocarbon sources can be released to the environment through human activities of hydrocarbon production, storage, transportation and use. In addition, accidental release of hydrocarbons to aquifers with naturally occurring (geogeAuthorsMadeline Schreiber, Isabelle M. Cozzarelli