Changes in Aluminum, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Nickel, Lead, And Zinc Concentrations in Water, Sediment, and Fish Tissues Over 2 Years Following the 2008 Kingston, TN Coal Ash Spill

ASU Author/Contributor (non-ASU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Yosuke Sakamachi (Creator)
Institution
Appalachian State University (ASU )
Web Site: https://library.appstate.edu/
Advisor
Shea Tuberty

Abstract: On December 22, 2008, TVA’s sixty-foot wall enclosing several decades of stored wet coal fly ash (CFA) collapsed and released 4.13 million cubic meters of CFA into the Watts Bar Reservoir in Kingston, TN. CFA is known to contain toxic elements such as aluminum, cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, lead, and zinc which can become bioavailable to the aquatic biota and pose a threat to the ecosystem. In this study, analysis of sediment, water, and fish samples was conducted from the spill and nearby sites for the elements listed above. The fish of interest in this study were the largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), redear sunfish (Lepomis microlophus), gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum), and channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus). Elevated levels of these metals were observed in the sediment for two years following the spill except for copper. The aluminum, copper, and lead contents in the water were initially elevated above the EPA Criterion Continuous Concentration (EPA CCC) after the spill in January 2009, though these values decreased below the EPA CCC by May 2010. Elevation of these metals were observed in a subset of the fish tissues shortly after the spill, though our study suggests that these levels were not sustained and are not of toxicological concern.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Sakamachi, Y. (2011). Changes in Aluminum, Cadmium, Chromium, Copper, Nickel, Lead, And Zinc Concentrations in Water, Sediment, and Fish Tissues Over 2 Years Following the 2008 Kingston, TN Coal Ash Spill. Unpublished master’s thesis. Appalachian State University, Boone, NC.
Language: English
Date: 2011
Keywords
Aquatic, Fish, Metals, Bioconcentration, Body Burdens

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