National Water-Quality Assessment MTBE Support for the USEPA - In FY 2001, NAWQA presented the findings of a special investigation to compile and report water-utility information on the concentrations of the gasoline oxygenate methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the drinking water of Community Water Systems in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Regions. MTBE, chloroform, trichloroethene, tetrachloroethene, and other VOCs were frequently detected at low concentrations. Future regulations under the Safe Drinking Water Act will be based, in part, on the information provided through efforts of the NAWQA Program. Justification of Program Change 2003 Program Request Change $(000) 57,321 -6,429 In accordance with the Department's strategy of increasing cost-sharing arrangements with USGS partners and customers, USGS is aggressively pursuing cost-sharing options with USEPA and other beneficiaries of the NAWQA Program, to offset the proposed program decrease (-$5,796) in FY 2003. If cost-sharing funds cannot be obtained, it will require the termination of activity in 6 out of the 42 study units currently operating. Which specific study units would be suspended and the concurrent reduction in coverage (with respect to population served by municipal supply or irrigated agriculture) is not presently known; however, by the end of summer 2002 the planning process will be concluded. Six study units eliminated from the program will be terminated in an orderly fashion to ensure that the maximum value is obtained from data analysis already underway. In addition to concluding sampling and analysis in 6 study units, NAWQA will also eliminate the addition of microbial sampling intended to identify potential pathogens (bacteria or virus) present in water-quality samples. USGS would also have to slow down (invest less in) implementation of new studies identifying the actual causes of waterquality degradation. The decrease of -$633 includes a reduction of -$119 for travel and transportation and -$514 in streamlining savings resulting from organizational restructuring and workforce balancing. Hydrologic Monitoring, Assessments and Research Subactivity Hydrologic Monitoring, Assessments and Research Uncontrollable cost increases for this subactivity total$2,747, of which $1,255 will be budgeted and $1.492 will be absorbed through increased efficiencies. Uncontrollable cost increases for this program element total $285, of which $130 will be budgeted and $155 will be absorbed through increased efficiencies. Program changes for this program element total include: a reduction of -$24 for travel and transportation and -$106 in streamlining savings resulting from organizational restructuring and workforce balancing. Toxic Substances Hydrology Current Program Highlights The Toxic Substances Hydrology (Toxics) Program provides unbiased and reliable scientific information and tools that explain the occurrence, behavior, and effects of toxic substances in the Nation's hydrologic environments. These results support sound decision-making by resource managers, regulators, industry, and the public. Work is performed in-house by USGS scientists, who collaborate with a wide range of Federal and non-Federal organizations and individuals. The contamination problems investigated by the Toxics Program are widespread and pose significant risk to human health and the environment. Field-based investigations are conducted at representative sites that focus on subsurface, point-source contamination or on watershedscale and regional-scale contamination. Program products are used to improve environmental monitoring, characterize and manage contamination, develop best management practices, form regulatory policies and standards, register use of new chemicals, and guide chemical manufacture and use. The Program complements other USGS programs that monitor and assess the quality of the Nation's waters (including the National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program, the National Stream Quality Accounting Network (NASQAN), and the Cooperative Water Program) by focusing rapidly on new issues, emerging contaminants, identifying which issues warrant future concern, and developing improved and needed methods. The Toxics Program works in partnership with other Department of Interior (DOI) bureaus, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Departments of Defense and Energy (DOD and DOE), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and other Federal agencies to ensure that priorities for science needs are coordinated. 232 Toxic Substances Hydrology Because USGS is viewed as an objective science agency, program information and methods often provide a basis for consensus in contentious issues and for achieving cost efficiencies by meeting management and regulatory needs of numerous agencies. Scientists from universities, other Federal agencies, and industry find significant research opportunities through collaboration in Toxics Program activities and research sites. The results of studies are distributed at briefings for regulatory agencies and industry groups, at workshops, at national scientific meetings, in USGS reports, and in scientific journals and books. Additional information on the use of results from the Toxics Program is available on the internet at http://toxics.usgs.gov/topics/faq/index.html. This program also provides support ($1.1 million) for various interdisciplinary ecosystem studies, which are described in the Regional Activities section beginning on page 35. More information about the Toxics Program is available on the Internet at http://toxics.usgs.gov/. Investigations of Subsurface, Point-Source Contamination (estimates for FY 2001, $5.2 million; FY 2002, $5.5 million; FY 2003, $0) - Interdisciplinary USGS research teams conduct long-term intensive field investigations of common types of subsurface contamination at representative sites. These investigations provide fundamental knowledge (of the processes that control contamination) and tools (for management and remediation) that can be applied to similar contamination sites across the Nation. • Sewage Effluent Disposal. Massachusetts Military Reservation. Cape Cod, MA • Landfill Leachate - Municipal Landfill, • Chlorinated Solvents - Picatinny ⚫ Waste Disposal and Contaminant Migration in Deep Unsaturated Zones in the Arid West, Amargosa Desert Research Site (ADRS), NV – Arid Western desert environments are being utilized to isolate mixed (low-level radioactive and other hazardous) wastes. ADRS, located on Bureau Other subsurface point-source of Land Management (BLM) lands and investigations: adjacent to a closed mixed-waste landfill, is the site of intensive studies of moisture and contaminant movement in thick dry unsaturated zones (between land surface and the water table). Improved contaminant transport models are being developed to guide decisions concerning waste disposal. The research team has shown that co-occurrence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), such as industrial solvents, increased the rate of transport of radionuclides. Standard methods for characterizing the direction and rate of water movement in unsaturated zones are of limited use in arid and semiarid regions. Expertise and tools developed at ADRS are being used to test the hydrologic performance of an alternative landfill cover at Fort Carson Military Reservation, CO. As the first non-conventional landfill-cover design to be approved by the State of Colorado, this testing is of particular interest to regulators, land managers, and industry. More information on this project is available on the internet at http://toxics.usgs.gov/sites/adrs_page.html. • Crude oil (hydrocarbon) Releases - • Environmental Impact of Petroleum Production Brines - Osage-Skiatook Petroleum Environmental Research Project - Drilling for oil can produce large volumes of highly saline and contaminant-laden water. Safe disposal of this "produced" water and Hydrologic Monitoring, Assessments and Research Subactivity water and mitigating contamination is a concern for State and Federal land managers. The USGS Toxics Program and Energy Resources Program, along with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Reclamation, DOE, USEPA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other partners have initiated this study at Skiatook Lake in the Osage Indian Reservation, northeastern Oklahoma. Toxics Program scientists bring established expertise in fate and transport of petroleum-related compounds developed at long-term petroleum research sites (see inset). Among other things, USGS researchers will investigate the potential for the natural processes to mitigate the effects of contamination. More information on this project is available on the Internet at http://toxics.usgs.gov/sites/ph20_page.html. • Contamination in Fractured-Rock Aquifers - Water and contaminant movement in fractured rock is fundamentally different than in sand and gravel aquifers. Great uncertainty exists in determining the direction and rate of movement and the ability of chemical and microbial reactions to mitigate contamination. At many contaminated sites, remediation is delayed or stymied by the complexity of fractured-rock aquifers. Long-term study of the physical processes that affect water and contaminant movement (including microbial pathogens) has been conducted at the Toxics Program's uncontaminated fractured-rock research site at Mirror Lake, NH. More information on this project is available on the Internet at http://toxics.usgs.gov/sites/mirror_page.html. In 2002, research is being initiated at a contaminated fractured-rock research site at the Naval Air Warfare Center, West Trenton, NJ. This site, contaminated by industrial solvents, was selected in consultation with Federal partners. Research here will develop the understanding of contaminant processes, including natural cleanup mechanisms, for fractured-rock aquifers that Toxics Program scientists developed previously for unconsolidated aquifers. Other research priorities include understanding the effects of dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPL, a pure product that sinks, forming a longterm source of contamination) on contaminant transport and persistence, and development of simulation models for varied fractured-rock terrain. More information on this project is available on the Internet at http://toxics.usgs.gov/sites/nawc_page.html. Investigations of Watershed- and Regional-Scale Contamination (estimates for FY 2001, $5.8 million; FY 2002, $5.9 million; FY 2003, $0)- Watershed- and regional-scale investigations address contamination problems typical of widespread land uses or human activities that may pose a threat to human and environmental health throughout a significant portion of the Nation. These investigations involve characterizing contaminant sources, the mechanisms by which nonpoint-source contamination affects aquatic ecosystems, and the processes that transform contaminants into different and possibly more toxic forms. 234 The Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Initiative – USGS is a partner in the DO! AML Toxic Substances Hydrology for expanding the applicability of the watershed approach to other high priority watersheds with different hydrogeologic and mining conditions. More information on this Project is available on the Internet at: http://toxics.usgs.gov/topics/minelands.html. Other watershed- and regional-scale • Agricultural chemicals in cotton- • Agricultural chemicals in the Midwest • Contaminants and ecosystem effects in San Francisco Bay ⚫A national assessment of emerging water contaminants • Hard-rock mining research in: ⚫ Mercury in Aquatic Ecosystems - Atmospheric mercury from natural and industrial activities has resulted in the accumulation of a toxic form of mercury (methylmercury) in remote wetlands, lakes, and streams. In some ecosystems, mercury is converted readily to methylmercury, which accumulates to dangerous levels in the food web and threatens the health of fish-eating wildlife and humans. The USEPA, in the Mercury Study Report to Congress (1997), estimates that emission controls for mercury would cost about $2.9 billion a year and indicates that the limits of current scientific understanding make it difficult to accurately define the environmental improvements that would result from decreased emissions. To provide a scientific basis for answering this difficult and relevant question, the Toxics Program has completed the first systematic national assessment of the occurrence of the different chemical forms of mercury in water, sediment, and fish. This information is needed to understand whether specific ecosystem types or specific regions of the Nation are more susceptible to mercury contamination and if reductions in mercury emissions will have a beneficial effect on contaminated ecosystems. Toxics Program scientists also are part of an international study, Metaalicus, to define the expected response, in terms of reduced human and wildlife exposure, if global mercury emissions are reduced. Toxics Program research efforts also have provided scientific information on the hydrologic, biologic, and geochemical processes controlling mercury cycling in the Everglades National Park. More information on Toxics Program Mercury research is available on the Internet at: http://toxics.usgs.gov/regional/mercury.html. Arid Southwest basins (Pinal Creek, Rocky Mountain terrain (Upper • Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative (ARMI) – Scientists from the Toxics Program have joined USGS biologists and scientists from other DOI bureaus to develop a national framework for monitoring status and trends in amphibian populations and for research into factors that affect amphibian declines and deformities. Program contributions relate to defining critical hydrologic and water-quality habitat characteristics and exploring causal factors related to hydrologic, climatic, and contaminant stressors. In 2001, science teams were established for 7 geographic regions across the Nation and herpetologists, hydrologists, and other scientists have been collecting data together at representative field sites. Program scientists have tested potential linkages between pesticide occurrence and deformities at sites where alternative causal factors such as parasites have been tested. More detailed studies have been conducted in specific aquatic habitats in Minnesota and Puerto Rico. More information on Toxics Program activities in support of ARMI is available on the Internet: http://www.colka.cr.usgs.gov/armi. |