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Environmental impacts of the Tennessee Valley Authority Kingston coal ash spill. 1. Source apportionment using mercury stable isotopes.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Bartov, G; Deonarine, A; Johnson, TM; Ruhl, L; Vengosh, A; Hsu-Kim, H
Published in: Environmental science & technology
February 2013

Mercury stable isotope abundances were used to trace transport of Hg-impacted river sediment near a coal ash spill at Harriman, Tennessee, USA. δ(202)Hg values for Kingston coal ash released into the Emory River in 2008 are significantly negative (-1.78 ± 0.35‰), whereas sediments of the Clinch River, into which the Emory River flows, are contaminated by an additional Hg source (potentially from the Y-12 complex near Oak Ridge, Tennessee) with near-zero values (-0.23 ± 0.16‰). Nominally uncontaminated Emory River sediments (12 miles upstream from the Emory-Clinch confluence) have intermediate values (-1.17 ± 0.13‰) and contain lower Hg concentrations. Emory River mile 10 sediments, possibly impacted by an old paper mill has δ(202)Hg values of -0.47 ± 0.04‰. A mixing model, using δ(202)Hg values and Hg concentrations, yielded estimates of the relative contributions of coal ash, Clinch River, and Emory River sediments for a suite of 71 sediment samples taken over a 30 month time period from 13 locations. Emory River samples, with two exceptions, are unaffected by Clinch River sediment, despite occasional upstream flow from the Clinch River. As expected, Clinch River sediment below its confluence with the Emory River are affected by Kingston coal ash; however, the relative contribution of the coal ash varies among sampling sites.

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Published In

Environmental science & technology

DOI

EISSN

1520-5851

ISSN

0013-936X

Publication Date

February 2013

Volume

47

Issue

4

Start / End Page

2092 / 2099

Related Subject Headings

  • Water Pollution
  • Tennessee
  • Rivers
  • Mercury Isotopes
  • Mercury
  • Geologic Sediments
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Disasters
  • Coal Ash
 

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Bartov, G., Deonarine, A., Johnson, T. M., Ruhl, L., Vengosh, A., & Hsu-Kim, H. (2013). Environmental impacts of the Tennessee Valley Authority Kingston coal ash spill. 1. Source apportionment using mercury stable isotopes. Environmental Science & Technology, 47(4), 2092–2099. https://doi.org/10.1021/es303111p
Bartov, Gideon, Amrika Deonarine, Thomas M. Johnson, Laura Ruhl, Avner Vengosh, and Heileen Hsu-Kim. “Environmental impacts of the Tennessee Valley Authority Kingston coal ash spill. 1. Source apportionment using mercury stable isotopes.Environmental Science & Technology 47, no. 4 (February 2013): 2092–99. https://doi.org/10.1021/es303111p.
Bartov G, Deonarine A, Johnson TM, Ruhl L, Vengosh A, Hsu-Kim H. Environmental impacts of the Tennessee Valley Authority Kingston coal ash spill. 1. Source apportionment using mercury stable isotopes. Environmental science & technology. 2013 Feb;47(4):2092–9.
Bartov, Gideon, et al. “Environmental impacts of the Tennessee Valley Authority Kingston coal ash spill. 1. Source apportionment using mercury stable isotopes.Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 47, no. 4, Feb. 2013, pp. 2092–99. Epmc, doi:10.1021/es303111p.
Bartov G, Deonarine A, Johnson TM, Ruhl L, Vengosh A, Hsu-Kim H. Environmental impacts of the Tennessee Valley Authority Kingston coal ash spill. 1. Source apportionment using mercury stable isotopes. Environmental science & technology. 2013 Feb;47(4):2092–2099.
Journal cover image

Published In

Environmental science & technology

DOI

EISSN

1520-5851

ISSN

0013-936X

Publication Date

February 2013

Volume

47

Issue

4

Start / End Page

2092 / 2099

Related Subject Headings

  • Water Pollution
  • Tennessee
  • Rivers
  • Mercury Isotopes
  • Mercury
  • Geologic Sediments
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Disasters
  • Coal Ash