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Long-Term Benthic Macroinvertebrate Community Monitoring to Assess Pollution Abatement Effectiveness

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Abstract

The benthic macroinvertebrate community of East Fork Poplar Creek (EFPC) in East Tennessee was monitored for 18 years to evaluate the effectiveness of a water pollution control program implemented at a major United States (U.S.) Department of Energy facility. Several actions were implemented to reduce and control releases of pollutants into the headwaters of the stream. Four of the most significant actions were implemented during different time periods, which allowed assessment of each action. Macroinvertebrate samples were collected annually in April from three locations in EFPC (EFK24, EFK23, and EFK14) and two nearby reference streams from 1986 through 2003. Significant improvements occurred in the macroinvertebrate community at the headwater sites (EFK24 and EFK23) after implementation of each action, while changes detected 9 km further downstream (EFK14) could not be clearly attributed to any of the actions. Because the stream was impacted at its origin, invertebrate recolonization was primarily limited to aerial immigration, thus, recovery has been slow. As recovery progressed, abundances of small pollution-tolerant taxa (e.g., Orthocladiinae chironomids) decreased and longer lived taxa colonized (e.g., hydropsychid caddisflies, riffle beetles, Baetis). While assessments lasting three to four years may be long enough to detect a response to new pollution controls at highly impacted locations, more time may be needed to understand the full effects. Studies on the effectiveness of pollution controls can be improved if impacted and reference sites are selected to maximize spatial and temporal trending, and if a multidisciplinary approach is used to broadly assess environmental responses (e.g., water quality trends, invertebrate and fish community assessments, toxicity testing, etc.).

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Acknowledgments

Many individuals have contributed to this effort. LM Stubbs (ORNL/retired), WC Kyker (ORNL/deceased), and MK McCracken (ORNL) spent many hours assisting with sample collection, and MR Smith (American Aquatics, now with USACE) contributed in both the field and laboratory. Samples were processed by many individuals, but most were processed by a core group of individuals from first JAYCOR and then American Aquatics: BF Clark, WS Wilkerson, JA Wojtowicz, WC Dickenson, and AW McWhorter. We would like to thank Yetta Jager and Marshall Adams (ORNL/Environmental Sciences Division) for their reviews and constructive comments on earlier draft. Dale Robertson (journal editor) and two anonymous reviewers provided many helpful suggestions. This work was funded by the Environmental Compliance Department of the Y-12 National Security Complex, which is managed by BWXT Y-12, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract number DE-AC05-00OR22800. ORNL is managed by the University of Tennessee-Battelle LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Building 1504, MS-6351, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA

    John G. Smith

  2. Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Building 1505, MS-6038, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA

    Craig C. Brandt

  3. Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Building 2040, MS-6290, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831, USA

    Sigurd W. Christensen

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  1. John G. Smith
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Correspondence to John G. Smith.

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The submitted manuscript has been authored by a contractor of the U.S. Government under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. Accordingly, the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, royalty-free license to publish or reproduce the published form of this contribution, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purpose.

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Smith, J.G., Brandt, C.C. & Christensen, S.W. Long-Term Benthic Macroinvertebrate Community Monitoring to Assess Pollution Abatement Effectiveness. Environmental Management 47, 1077–1095 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-010-9610-3

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