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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Lucia Rodriguez Freire
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We applied spectroscopy, microscopy, diffraction, and aqueous chemistry methods to investigate the persistence of metals in water and sediments from the Animas River 13 days after the Gold King Mine spill (August 5, 2015). The Upper Animas River watershed, located in San Juan Colorado, is heavily mineralized and impacted by acid mine drainage, with low pH water and elevated metal concentrations in sediments (108.4 ± 1.8 mg kg–1 Pb, 32.4 ± 0.5 mg kg–1 Cu, 729.6 ± 5.7 mg kg–1 Zn, and 51 314.6 ± 295.4 mg kg–1 Fe). Phosphate and nitrogen species were detected in water and sediment samples from Farmington, New Mexico, an intensive agricultural area downstream from the Animas River, while metal concentrations were low compared to those observed upstream. Solid-phase analyses of sediments suggest that Pb, Cu, and Zn are associated with metal-bearing jarosite and other minerals (e.g., clays, Fe-(oxy)hydroxides). The solubility of jarosite at near-neutral pH and biogeochemical processes occurring downstream could affect the stability of metal-bearing minerals in river sediments. This study contributes relevant information about the association of metal mixtures in a heavy mineralized semiarid region, providing a foundation to better understand long-term metal release in a public and agricultural water supply.
Author(s): Rodriguez-Freire L, Avasarala S, Ali AM, Agnew D, Hoover JH, Artyushkova K, Latta DE, Peterson EJ, Lewis J, Crossey LJ, Brearley AJ, Cerrato JM
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Environmental Science & Technology
Year: 2016
Volume: 50
Issue: 21
Pages: 11539-11548
Print publication date: 01/11/2016
Online publication date: 20/10/2016
Acceptance date: 05/10/2016
ISSN (print): 0013-936X
ISSN (electronic): 1520-5851
Publisher: American Chemical Society
URL: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b03092
DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b03092
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