The pre-remediation condition of aquatic life near the Bunker Hill, Idaho, mine/smelter complex
- Pentec Environmental, Inc., Edmonds, WA (United States)
A coordinated field sampling program was conducted between September 1987 and July 1988 to evaluate the condition of aquatic assemblages in the South Fork Coeur d`Alene River (SFCDR), Idaho following a century of intensive mining activity in the watershed. The focus of the study was on the health of fish and invertebrate populations in a 7.5-mile reach of river affected by the mining, smelting, and fertilizer plant operations of Bunker Hill mine in Kellogg. Field sampling demonstrated that fish, including trout, were present throughout the reach despite expectations to the contrary. However, populations were severely impacted by the high metals levels present; in the reach closest to the mine influence, metals-tolerant warm-water species dominated the fish fauna in late summer sampling. In-situ bioassays with hatchery rainbow trout showed 1 00 percent mortality in 48 hours in response to high levels of dissolved cadmium, lead, and zinc above the Bunker Hill influence (at the upstream boundary of the Superfund site); indigenous cutthroat trout captured and held in live cages survived until the end of the exposure (4 days). Conditions worsened somewhat in the vicinity of the mine as reflected in reduced trout populations, laboratory bioassays using Ceriodaphnia, shifts in benthic community composition, and reduced survival of rainbow trout in in-situ bioassays. Toxicity of the SFCDR to trout in the in-situ bioassays was similar at the downstream and upstream Superfund site boundaries. These data showed a significant improvement in conditions since the previous descriptions of aquatic habitat as some sources of metals input have been reduced. The 1987--88 data should be compared with present conditions to assess subsequent progress in aquatic recovery.
- OSTI ID:
- 242413
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137-; ISBN 1-880611-03-1; TRN: IM9626%%241
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 2. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) world conference, Vancouver (Canada), 5-9 Nov 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Second SETAC world congress (16. annual meeting): Abstract book. Global environmental protection: Science, politics, and common sense; PB: 378 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Implementation of Fisheries Enhancement Opportunities on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation; Coeur d'Alene Tribe Fish, Water, and Wildlife Program, REVISED 2002 Annual Report.
Implementation of Fisheries Enhancement Opportunities on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation; Coeur d'Alene Tribe Fish, Water, and Wildlife Program, Progress Report 1996-1998.