Publications

In the 300 Area of a U(VI)-contaminated aquifer at Hanford, Washington, USA, inorganic carbon and major cations, which have large impacts on U(VI) transport, change on an hourly and seasonal basis near the Columbia River. Batch and column experiments were conducted to investigate the factors controlling U(VI) adsorption/desorption by changing chemical conditions over time. Low alkalinity...

The City of Wilmington, Delaware, is in the downstream part of the Brandywine Creek Basin, on the main stem of Brandywine Creek. Wilmington uses this stream, which drains a mixed-land-use area upstream, for its main drinking-water supply. Because the stream is used for drinking water, Wilmington is in need of information about the occurrence and distribution of specific fecally derived...

We investigated magnetic susceptibility (MS) variations in hydrocarbon contaminated sediments. Our objective was to determine if MS can be used as an intrinsic bioremediation indicator due to the activity of iron-reducing bacteria. A contaminated and an uncontaminated core were retrieved from a site contaminated with crude oil near Bemidji, Minnesota and subsampled for MS measurements...

Coupled intragrain diffusional mass transfer and nonlinear surface complexation processes play an important role in the transport behavior of U(VI) in contaminated aquifers. Two alternative model approaches for simulating these coupled processes were analyzed and compared: (1) the physical nonequilibrium approach that explicitly accounts for aqueous speciation and instantaneous surface

Field-related influences on polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) exposure were evaluated by employing caged deposit-feeders, Neanthes arenaceodentata, along with polyoxymethylene (POM) samplers using parallel in situ and ex situ bioassays with homogenized untreated or activated carbon (AC) amended sediment. The AC amendment achieved a remedial efficiency in reducing bioaccumulation by 90% in...

The light nonaqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) oil pool in an aquifer that resulted from a pipeline spill near Bemidji, Minnesota, was analyzed for volatile hydrocarbons (VHCs) to determine if the composition of the oil remains constant over time. Oil samples were obtained from wells at five locations in the oil pool in an anaerobic part of the glacial outwash aquifer. Samples covering a 21...

Rates of in situ microbial sulfate reduction in response to geochemical perturbations were determined using Native Organism Geochemical Experimentation Enclosures (NOGEEs), a new in situ technique developed to facilitate evaluation of controls on microbial reaction rates. NOGEEs function by first trapping a native microbial community in situ and then subjecting it to geochemical...

Nanoparticulate metal sulfides such as ZnS can influence the transport and bioavailability of pollutant metals in anaerobic environments. The aim of this work was to investigate how the composition of dissolved natural organic matter (NOM) influences the stability of zinc sulfide nanoparticles as they nucleate and aggregate in water with dissolved NOM. We compared NOM fractions that were...

If engineered nanomaterials are released into the environment, some are likely to end up associated with the food of animals due to aggregation and sorption processes. However, few studies have considered dietary exposure of nanomaterials. Here we show that zinc (Zn) from isotopically modified 67ZnO particles is efficiently assimilated by freshwater snails when ingested with food. The...

The effects of “trace” (environmentally relevant) concentrations of the antimicrobial agent sulfamethoxazole (SMX) on the growth, nitrate reduction activity, and bacterial composition of an enrichment culture prepared with groundwater from a pristine zone of a sandy drinking-water aquifer on Cape Cod, MA, were assessed by laboratory incubations. When the enrichments were grown under...

The mountainous areas of Colorado are used for tourism and recreation, and they provide water storage and supply for municipalities, industries, and agriculture. Recent studies suggest that water supply and tourist industries such as skiing are at risk from climate change. In this study, a distributed-parameter watershed model, the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS), is used to...

Adult male fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) were exposed to effluent from the City of Boulder, Colorado wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) under controlled conditions in the field to determine if the effluent induced reproductive disruption in fish. Gonadal intersex and other evidence of reproductive disruption were previously identified in white suckers (Catostomus commersoni) in...