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| Title | Quality Assurance Project Plan: Potential Impacts from Mercury Used in Historic Gold Mining on Six Rivers and Streams | |||
| Month-Year Published | August 2009 | |||
| Online Availability |
373 kilobytes, requires version 4.0 or later of Adobe Acrobat Reader Software get Acrobat Reader
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| Short Description |
This is the study plan for potential impacts from mercury used in historic gold mining on six rivers and streams. (Also see abstract below) | |||
| Publication Number | 09-03-123 | |||
| Author(s) | Johnson, A. | |||
| Print Availability | ||||
| Number of pages | 35 pp. | |||
| Keywords | county, creek, Ecology, fish, gold, internet, mercury, mining, quality, quality assurance, quality assurance project plan, river, Snohomish, Snohomish county, stream, water | |||
| Subject Waterbodies |
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| Abstract | Long Description |
Each study conducted by the Washington State Department of Ecology must have an approved Quality Assurance Project Plan. The plan describes the objectives of the study and the procedures to be followed to achieve those objectives. After completion of the study, a final report describing the results will be posted to the Internet. In the present study, mercury will be analyzed in water, sediment, fish, and invertebrate samples from six rivers and creeks potentially impacted by the use of elemental mercury to recover gold in historic mining operations. The waterbodies of interest are: --Sultan River (Snohomish County) --Swauk Creek (Kittitas County) --Peshastin Creek (Chelan County) --Similkameen River (Okanogan County) --Mary Ann Creek (Okanogan County) --Strawberry Creek (Okanogan County) The goal of the study will be to determine if mercury levels represent a potential human health risk for fish consumers or could adversely affect aquatic life. Field work will be conducted between August 2009 and June 2010. The results will be evaluated for elevation above background and compared to environmental criteria and guidelines for mercury. A weight of evidence approach will be used to conclude if significant contamination exists. |
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This page last updated August 19, 2009
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