Assessment of potential mercury toxicity to native invertebrates in a high-gradient stream.

This study evaluated potential effects of mercury (Hg) on benthic macroinvertebrates in the South River, Virginia, USA. The study used a multiple lines of evidence approach, including spatially and temporally matched sediment chemistry, biological, and toxicological information (Sediment Quality Triad), exposure and effect analysis in bulk and interstitial sediment and interstitial water, and critical body residue analysis. Ten-day Chironomus dilutus and Hyalella azteca toxicity tests established site-specific no-effect concentrations (NOEC) at 18.9 µg/g total Hg (THg) and 102 ng/g methylmercury (MeHg). However, the benthic community at these locations was impaired, with lower mayfly and caddisfly composition. Few locations had concentrations of THg and MeHg that exceeded the NOEC in bulk or interstitial sediment. The THg concentrations in interstitial water were far below concentrations expected to reduce survival in benthic invertebrates, and only a low percentage of samples exceeded sublethal (growth) low-effect concentrations (LOEC) for THg or MeHg. The THg concentrations in invertebrate tissue did not exceed the NOEC or LOEC in the South River, and MeHg concentrations exceeded the LOEC at all locations, including those with no evidence of benthic impairment, illustrating the uncertainty associated with this line of evidence. Finally, statistical modeling that evaluated diversity of sensitive invertebrate species as a function of Hg exposure, geomorphological parameters, and physicochemical variables indicated that physicochemical and geomorphological parameters were most predictive of benthic community; where Hg was indicated, we were unable to distinguish between models with or without interstitial water Hg. Overall, the lines of evidence indicate that Hg, while clearly toxic to invertebrates at sufficiently high exposure concentrations, is not negatively impacting invertebrate communities in the South River. This study illustrates the difficulty of assessing risks to invertebrates using traditional tools of risk assessment and identifies critical gaps in knowledge that complicate the management of Hg risk. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2019;00:000-000. © 2019 SETAC.

Natural Stimuli Calibration with Fining Direction Regularization in an Integrated Hydrologic Model.

The interaction between surface water and groundwater during flood events is a complex process that has traditionally been described using simplified analytical solutions, or abstracted numerical models. To make the problem tractable, it is common to idealize the flood event, simplify river channel geometry, and ignore bank soil heterogeneity, often resulting in a model that only loosely represents the site, thus limiting its applicability to any specific river cross-section. In this study, we calibrate a site-specific fully-integrated surface and subsurface HydroGeoSphere model using flood events for a cross-section along the South River near Waynesboro, VA. The calibration approach presented in this study demonstrates the incorporation of fining direction regularization with a highly parameterized inversion driven by natural stimuli, to develop several realistic realizations of hydraulic conductivity fields that reflect the depositional history of the system. Specifically, we calibrate a model with 365 unique material zones to multiple flood events recorded in a dense well network while incorporating possible fining sequences consistent with the depositional history of the riverbank. Over 25,000 individual simulations were completed using calibration software and a cloud platform specifically designed for highly parallelized computing environments. The results of this study demonstrate the use of fining direction regularization during model calibration to generate multiple calibrated model realizations that account for the depositional environment of the system.

An enhanced adaptive management approach for remediation of legacy mercury in the South River.

Uncertainties about future conditions and the effects of chosen actions, as well as increasing resource scarcity, have been driving forces in the utilization of adaptive management strategies. However, many applications of adaptive management have been criticized for a number of shortcomings, including a limited ability to learn from actions and a lack of consideration of stakeholder objectives. To address these criticisms, we supplement existing adaptive management approaches with a decision-analytical approach that first informs the initial selection of management alternatives and then allows for periodic re-evaluation or phased implementation of management alternatives based on monitoring information and incorporation of stakeholder values. We describe the application of this enhanced adaptive management (EAM) framework to compare remedial alternatives for mercury in the South River, based on an understanding of the loading and behavior of mercury in the South River near Waynesboro, VA. The outcomes show that the ranking of remedial alternatives is influenced by uncertainty in the mercury loading model, by the relative importance placed on different criteria, and by cost estimates. The process itself demonstrates that a decision model can link project performance criteria, decision-maker preferences, environmental models, and short- and long-term monitoring information with management choices to help shape a remediation approach that provides useful information for adaptive, incremental implementation.

Natural attenuation of chlorinated solvents at Area 6, Dover Air Force Base: groundwater biogeochemistry.

Monitored natural attenuation (MNA) has recently emerged as a viable groundwater remediation technology in the United States. Area 6 at Dover Air Force Base (Dover, DE) was chosen as a test site to examine the potential for MNA of tetrachloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE) in groundwater and aquifer sediments. A "lines of evidence" approach was used to document the occurrence of natural attenuation. Chlorinated hydrocarbon and biogeochemical data were used to develop a site-specific conceptual model where both anaerobic and aerobic biological processes are responsible for the destruction of PCE, TCE, and daughter metabolites. An examination of groundwater biogeochemical data showed a region of depleted dissolved oxygen with elevated dissolved methane and hydrogen concentrations. Reductive dechlorination likely dominated in the anaerobic portion of the aquifer where PCE and TCE levels were observed to decrease with a simultaneous increase in cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cis-DCE), vinyl chloride (VC), ethene, and dissolved chloride. Near the anaerobic/ aerobic interface, concentrations of cis-DCE and VC decreased to below detection limits, presumably due to aerobic biotransformation processes. Therefore, the contaminant and daughter product plumes present at the site appear to have been naturally atteuated by a combination of active anaerobic and aerobic biotransformation processes.