FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE REPORT
The Federal Corner By John Ungvarsky, U.S. EPA

Nutrients in the Nation’s Streams and Groundwater This report presents an assessment of the occurrence and distribution of nutrients in the Nation’s streams and groundwater provided by the National Water-Quality Assessment Program of the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Although the use of artificial fertilizer has supported increasing food production to meet the needs of a growing population, increases in nutrient loadings from agricultural and, to a lesser extent, urban sources have resulted in nutrient concentrations in many streams and parts of aquifers that exceed standards for protection of human health and (or) aquatic life, often by large margins.

GAMA Assessment Report Available for Central Eastside Study Unit

USGS has just released the Priority Basin Project Data Summary and Assessment Report, and informational Fact Sheets, for the Central Eastside study unit (Modesto, Turlock, and Merced area). This work was completed as part of the CA State Water Board’s Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment (GAMA) Program. These and other GAMA reports and fact sheets can be found on the GAMA web site. The assessment report provides a status of groundwater quality using data collected by the USGS and existing water quality data from the California Department of Public Health. The assessment report characterizes the quality of groundwater from the primary aquifer accessed by wells, not necessarily the actual drinking water delivered to consumers.

Treating Contaminants of Emerging Concern: A Literature Review

EPA has published the results of an extensive review of the recent literature on wastewater treatment technologies and their ability to remove a number of chemical contaminants of emerging concern (CECs). EPA is also making available the data from this literature review. The report discusses 16 of the over 200 CECs present in the database, and the average percent removals achieved by full-scale treatment systems that employ six of the more than 20 reported treatment technologies. Wastewater treatment plant operators, designers, and others may find this information useful in their studies of ways to remove CECs from wastewater. The report is not designed to promote any one technology, nor is it intended to set agency policy or priorities in terms of risk. The literature review and the searchable file were peer-reviewed for completeness and usability.

From Lab to Consumer – EPA Research at Work

Arsenic is an odorless, tasteless element that enters groundwater through erosion of natural deposits or from human-made sources such as agricultural and industrial runoff. Arsenic is a human carcinogen; chronic exposure to low levels of arsenic has been linked to skin, kidney, lung and bladder cancers, as well as neurological and cardiovascular effects. The EPA allowable limit for arsenic in drinking water of 10 parts per billion, established by EPA in 2001, impacted around 5,000 water systems, the majority of them serving fewer than 10,000 people. Recognizing the technical and financial burden the new standard could impose on small drinking water systems, EPA, with additional Congressional earmark funding, conducted a technology demonstration program to test a variety of arsenic-removal technologies in small systems across the country. Beginning in 2003, EPA drinking water specialists worked with communities at 50 sites in 27 states to select an optimum removal technology. The technology selection depended on variables such as the quality of the local source waters, estimated capital and operating costs, the quantity and type of waste produced and the disposal options available. Two examples are provided below. For more information, please go to the Arsenic Research website.

Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water by Iron Removal

This report documents the activities performed and the results obtained from January 30, 2006 to April 29, 2007 at the EPA Arsenic Removal Technology Demonstration site in Sabin, MN. Publication No. EPA/600/R-10/033.

Arsenic Removal from Drinking Water by Coagulation/Filtration

This report documents the activities performed during, and the results obtained from the arsenic removal treatment technology demonstration project at the Town of Felton, DE. Publication No. EPA/600/R-10/039.

New Cost and Performance Information on Cleanup Technologies

The Federal Remediation Technologies Roundtable (FRTR) recently announced the release of 26 new case study and technology assessment reports. These reports document the cost, performance, and lessons learned in implementing a wide range of hazardous waste site cleanup technologies in the field, ranging from large-scale demonstrations to full-scale applications. The remediation case studies and general technology assessment reports and other related FRTR information are available at the FRTR web site.

Test/QA Plan for Verification of Nitrate Sensors for GW Remediation Monitoring

The purpose of this test/QA plan is to specify procedures for a verification test applicable to commercial nitrate sensors. Environmental sensors are small, transportable analytical devices that provide data in real time, are rugged enough to withstand a wide range of weather conditions, operate remotely, acquire data continuously or on demand, and provide processed data directly to the user. Underlying any approach to the reduction of nitrogen in the environment (i.e., groundwater) is the need to measure concentrations in a timely and useful manner. This verification test evaluates a newer approach to monitoring of groundwater in a monitoring well, and in an end-of-tile bioreactor using environmental sensors. Publication No. EPA/600/R-10/104.

Program for Simulating Groundwater Flow, Solute Transport, and Multicomponent Geochemical Reactions

The purpose of this document is to provide the user with information about the capabilities and usage of the reactive-transport simulator PHAST (PHREEQC And HST3D). The Federal Corner – Continued The computer program PHAST simulates multicomponent, reactive solute transport in three-dimensional saturated groundwater flow systems. PHAST is a versatile groundwater flow and solute-transport simulator with capabilities to model a wide range of equilibrium and kinetic geochemical reactions. PHAST is applicable to the study of natural and contaminated groundwater systems at a variety of scales ranging from laboratory experiments to local and regional field scales. PHAST is not suitable for some types of reactive-transport modeling; in particular, PHAST is not appropriate for unsaturated-zone flow and does not account for flow and transport of gas or nonaqueous-liquid phases.

John Ungvarsky is an Environmental Scientist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9. He works in the Water Division’s Ground Water Office and oversees source water protection efforts in CA, HI, and NV. For information on any of the above topics, please contact John at 415-972-3963 or ungvarsky.john@epa.gov.
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