Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Accelerating recovery of the mercury-contaminated Wabigoon/English River system

  • Published:
Hydrobiologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mercury levels (essentially methyl mercury — MeHg) in sportfish in a 250 km section of the Wabigoon-English River system remain seriously elevated as a result if the discharge of approximately 10 tonnes of inorganic Hg from a chlor-alkali plant at Dryden, Ontario, Canada which occurred primarily between 1962 and 1970. The discharges resulted in elevated mercury concentrations in water, sediments and biota. For example, Hg in adult Northern Pike in Clay Lake routinely exceeded 3 µg/g (ppm). Field studies in 1978–1981 suggest that partitioning of inorganic and MeHg between surface sediment, water and suspended particles occurs within days. MeHg levels in water were partitioned with total (essentially inorganic) Hg. Temperature affects both Hg and MeHg levels in water; concentrations fluctuated seasonally by an order of magnitude at some sites. Hg in contaminated surface sediments is almost certainly the primary source of the mercury now entering the water and biota in this contaminated watercourse. Mercury levels in biota decline less dramatically with distance downstream of Dryden than mercury concentrations in sediments. Natural erosion, resuspension and sedimentation processes have helped to reduce the amount of mercury in the active layer at the sediment/water interface and the most effective means of accelerating the recovery of the system will probably involve measures to accelerate these natural processes. Enclosure experiments, regional surveys and geochemical studies all provide evidence that the biological uptake of upstream anthropogenic Hg loadings at any given site would likely be reduced dramatically by the continuous addition of very modest quantities of pristine clay sediment. The quantities contemplated, when resuspended, would result in suspended solids concentrations on the order of 15–25 ppm, a value higher than for most shield waters but well within the range of many other productive watercourses in North America. The ability to mitigate local sources and ameliorate the adverse biological effects of anthropogenic loadings from upstream sources by resuspension of clean clay sediments permits ‘targeting’ of sites for restoration and opens a wide array of ameliorative options. The authors believe that some of these options would be more effective and less costly than other restoration procedures commonly considered such as dredging and on land disposal of contaminated sediment.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acres Consulting Services, Ltd., 1983. Studies on Moving Sediments in the Wabigoon River for the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, 1982. Available from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. 121 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Allan, R. J., T. Brydes, D. Dodge, R. D. Hamilton, D. G. Jeffs & K. Shikaze, 1984. Mercury Pollution in the Wabigoon-English River System of Northwestern Ontario and Possible Remedial Measures. Final Report of the Steering Committee, Volumes 1 and 2. Governments of Canada and Ontario. 570 pp.

  • Armstrong, F A. J. & A. L. Hamilton, 1973. Pathways of mercury in a polluted northwestern Ontario lake. In Trace Metals and Metal-Organic Interaction in Natural Waters. Ann Arbor Science Publishers, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, F. A. J. & D. P. Scott, 1979. Decrease in content of fishes in Ball Lake, Ontario, since imposition of controls in mercury discharges. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 36: 670–672.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benes, P. & B. Havlik, 1979. Speciation of mercury in natural waters. In The Biogeochemistry of Mercury in the Environment. Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press, New York, New York, pp. 176–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biejer, K. & A. Jernelov, 1979. Methylation of mercury in aquatic environments. In The Biogeochemistry of Mercury in the Environment. Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press, New York, New York, pp. 203–210.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, J. N. & B. P. Neary, 1974. The form of mercury in freshwater fish. Proceedings of an international conference on Transport of Persistent Chemicals in Aquatic Ecosystems, Ottawa, Canada, III-25–III-29.

  • Bishop, J. N. & B. P. Neary, 1976. Mercury Levels in Fish from Northwestern Ontario, 1970–1975. Report of Laboratory. Services Branch, Ontario Ministry of the Environment, 84 pp.

  • Bisogni, J. J., 1979. Kinetics of methyl mercury formation and decomposition in aquatic environments. In The Biogeochemistry of Mercury in the Environment. Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press, New York, New York, pp. 211–230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colby, P. J., R. E. McNicol & R. A. Ryder, 1979. Synopsis of biological data on the walleye Stitzostedion v vitreum (Mitchell, 1918). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Fisheries Synopsis No. 119, 139 pp.

  • Curry, C. & K. Suns, 1980. A young fish survey of the Wabigoon River-Clay Lake System, 1978. In Mercury Pollution in the Wabigoon-English River System of Northwestern Ontario and Possible Remedial Measures, 1980. Governments of Canada and Ontario, 4 pp.

  • deFreitas, A. S. W., Q. N. Laham, M. A. J. Gidney, B. A. MacKenzie, J. G. Trepanies, D. Rodges, M. A. Sharpe, S. Quadri, A. E. McKinnon, P. Clay & E. Javorski, 1977. Mercury uptake and retention by fish. In Distribution and Transport of Pollutants in Flowing Water Ecosystems. Ottawa River Project Final Report, National Research Council of Canada, 30.1–30.61.

  • D'Itri, F. M., 1973. Mercury in the aquatic system. In Bioassay Techniques and Environmental Chemistry. Ann Arbor Science Publishers, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, pp. 3–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Donnan, A., 1986. Mercury pollution in the Wabigoon-English River system: A Socio-economic assessment of remedial measures. Ontario Ministry of the Environment 80 pp.

  • European Inland Fisheries Advisory Commission. 1965. Water Quality Criteria for European Freshwater Fish. Report on finely divided solids and inland fisheries Int. J. Air Water Poll 9: 151.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furutani, A. & J. W. M. Rudd, 1980. Measurement of mercury methylation in lake water and sediment samples. Appl. environ. Microbiol. 40: 770–776.

    Google Scholar 

  • German, M. J., 1969. Water Pollution Survey of the Wabigoon River. Report of the Ontario Water Resources Commission, predecessor of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, 24 pp.

  • Hannerez, L., 1968. Experimental Investigation on the Accumulation of Mercury in Freshwater Organisms. Inst. Freshwater Res., Drottningholm, Sweden. Rep 48: 120–176.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hem, J. D., 1970. Chemical behavior of mercury in aqueous media. In Mercury in the Environment. Geol. Surv. Prof. Paper 713, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.: 19–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hesslein, R. M., W. S. Broeker & D. W. Schindler, 1980. Fates of metal radiotracers added to a whole lake: sediment-water interactions. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 37: 378–386.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huckabee, J. W., R. A. Goldstein, S. A. Jenzen & S. E. Woock, 1975. Methyl mercury in a freshwater food chain. Proceedings of an International Conference on Heavy Metals in the Environment, Toronto, Canada, October 27–31, pp. 199–215.

  • Huckabee, J. W., S. A. Janzen, B. G. Blaylock, Y. Talmi & J. J. Beauchamp, 1978. Methylated mercury brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis): Absence of an in vivo methylating process. Trans. am. Fish. Soc. 107: 848–852.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, T. A., J. W. Parks, P. D. Jones, R. N. Woychuk, J. A. Sutton & J. D. Hollinger, 1982. Dissolved and suspended mercury species in the Wabigoon River (Ontario, Canada: seasonal and regional variations). Hydrobiologia 92: 473–487.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, T. A. & R. N. Woychuk, 1980. The biogeochemistry and distribution of mercury in the Wabigoon River system. In Mercury Pollution in the Wabigoon/English River System of Northwestern Ontario and Possible Remedial Measures: a Progress Report. T. A. Jackson (ed.) Governments of Canada and Ontario, 28 pp.

  • Jernelov, A., 1972. Mercury in food chains. In Environmental Mercury Contamination. Ann Arbor Science Publishers, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan, pp. 174–177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jernelov, A. & H. Lan, 1971. Mercury accumulation in food chains. Oikos 22: 403–406.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnels, A. G., T. Westermark, W. Berg, P. I. Persson & B. Sjostrand, 1967. Pike (Esox lucius L.) and some other aquatic organisms in Sweden as indicators of mercury contamination in the environment. Oikos 18: 323–333.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindberg, S. E. & R. C. Harriss, 1977. Release of mercury and organics from resuspended near-shore sediments. J. Water Poll. Control Fed. 49: 2479–2487.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lockhart, W. L., J. F. Uthe, A. R. Kenney & P. H. Mehrle, 1972. Methyl mercury in northern pike (Esox lucius): distribution, elimination and some biochemical characteristics of contaminated fish. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 29: 1519–1523.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miettinen, K., 1969. Methyl Mercury as a food chain problem in Scandinavia. Proc. 1st Int. Symp. on Chemical and Toxicological Aspects of Environmental Quality. Munich, Germany, July 10–11, 1969.

  • Muller, D. & U. Schleichert, 1977. Release of oxygen-consuming and toxic substances from anaerobic sediments by whirling up aeration. Proceedings of an international symposium on Interactions between sediments and freshwater, Sept. 6–10, 1976. H. L. Golterman (ed.), Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Centre for Agricultural Publishing and Documentation, Wageningen, pp. 415–422.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norstrom, R. J., A. E. McKinnon & A. S. W. deFreitas, 1976. A bioenergentics-based model for pollutant accumulation in fish. Simulation of PCB and methyl mercury residual levels in Ottawa River perch (Perca flavescens). J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 33: 248–267.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ontario Water Resources Commission, 1970. A Water Use Study of the Wabigoon River. Ontario Ministry of the Environment. 23 pp.

  • Ottawa River Project Group, 1979. Mercury in the Ottawa River. Environmental Research 19: 231–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parks, J. W., 1976. Mercury in Sediment and Water in the Wabigoon-English River System, 1970–1975. Ontario Ministry of the Environment. 28 pp.

  • Parks, J. W., J. D. Hollinger & P. M. Almost, 1980. The transport and dynamics of total and methyl mercury in the Wabigoon River and Clay Lake. In Mercury Pollution in the Wabigoon-English River System of Northwestern Ontario and Possible Remedial Measures. Governments of Canada and Ontario, pp. 1–32.

  • Parks, J. W., J. A. Sutton & J. D. Hollinger, 1984. Mercury contamination of the Wabigoon/English/Winnipeg River System, 1980 — Causes, effects and selected remedial measures. In Mercury Pollution in the Wabigoon-English River System of Northwestern Ontario and Possible Remedial Measures. Governments of Canada and Ontario, pp. 2–352.

  • Parks, J. W., J. A. Sutton and A. Lutz, 1986. Effect of point and diffuse source loadings on mercury concentrations in the Wabigoon River; evidence of a seasonally varying sediment-water partition. Can. J. Fish. aquat Sci. 43 (7): 1426–1444.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parks, J. W., A. L. Hamilton, J. D. Hollinger, A. L. Lutz, J. A. Sutton, B. E. Townsend & M. A. Turner, in preparation. Methyl mercury in the Wabigoon-English River System: The production, partitioning and transport of a microbially mediated diffuse source contaminant.

  • Parks, J. W., M. A. Turner, J. A. Sutton & B. E. Townsend, in preparation, Total mercury dynamics in a contaminated lake.

  • Peddicord, R. K. & V. A. McFarland, 1976. Effects of Suspended Dredged Material on Aquatic Animals. Tech. Rept. D-78–29, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Environ. Lab., Vicksburg, Miss. 102 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pennacchioni, A., R. Marchetti & G. F. Gaggino, 1976. Inability of fish to methylate mercuric chloride in vivo. J. environ. Qual. 5: 451–454.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, G. R. & D. R. Buhler, 1978. The relative contributions of methyl mercury from food and water to rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri) in a controlled laboratory environment. Trans. am. Fish Soc. 107: 853–861.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramamoorthy, S. & B. R. Rust, 1976. Mercury sorption and desorption characteristics of some Ottawa River sediments. Can. J. Earth Sci. 13: 530–536.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rudd, J. W. M., M. A. Turner, B. E. Townsend, A. Swick & A. Furutani, 1980. Mechanisms of movement of mercury into aquatic biota and a preliminary examination of some amelioration procedures. In Mercury Pollution in the Wabigoon-English River System of Northwestern Ontario and Possible Remedial Measures. Governments of Canada and Ontario, 41 pp.

  • Rudd, J. W. M., M. A. Turner, A. Furutani, J. F. Klaverkamp, B. E. Townsend & A. Swick, 1984. Factors controlling mercury bioaccumulation in aquatic ecosystems. In Mercury Pollution in the Wabigoon-English River System of Northwestern Ontario and Possible Remedial Measures. Governments of Canada and Ontario. pp. 388–538.

  • Rudd, J. W. M., M. A. Turner, A. Furutani, A. Swick & B. E. Townsend, 1983. The English-Wabigoon River System: I, A synthesis of recent research with a view towards mercury amelioration. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 40: 2206–2217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rudd, J. W. M. & M. A. Turner, 1983a. The English-Wabigoon River System: II, Suppression of mercury and selenium bioaccumulation by suspended and bottom sediment. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 40: 2218–2227.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rudd, J. W. M. & M. A. Turner, 1983b. The English-Wabigoon River System: V, Mercury and selenium bioaccumulation as a function of aquatic and primary productivity. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 40: 2251–2259.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schindler, D. W., R. H. Hesslein, R. Wagemann & W. S. Broeker, 1980. Effects of acidification on molulization of heavy metals and radionuclides from the sediments of a freshwater lake. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 37: 373–377.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, D. P., 1974. Mercury concentration of white muscle in relation to age, growth and condition in four species of fish from Clay Lake. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 31: 1723–1729.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, D. P. & F. A. J. Armstrong, 1972. Mercury concentration in relation to size in several freshwater fishes from Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 29: 1685–1690.

    Google Scholar 

  • Suns, K., C. Curry & D. Russell, 1980. The effects of water quality and morphometric parameters on mercury uptake by yearling yellow perch. Ont. Min. Envi. Tech. Report LTS 80-1.

  • Tarao, R., T. Takonori & M. Yasuhara, 1976. The accumulation of mercury in the fishes reared in the sea water contaminated by suspended solids containing mercury (in Japanese, English summary). Bull. jap. Soc. Scientific Fish. 42: 1411–1422.

    Google Scholar 

  • Troyer, W., 1977. No Safe Place. Clark and Irwin, Ltd., Toronto and Vancouver, 267 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, M. A. & J. W. M. Rudd, 1983. The English-Wabigoon River System: III, Selenium in lake enclosures: its geochemistry, bioaccumulation and ability to reduce mercury bioaccumulation. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 40: 2228–2240.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, M. A. & A. L. Swick, 1983. The English-Wabigoon River System: IV, Interaction between mercury and selenium accumulated from waterborne and dietary sources by northern pike (Esox lucius). Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 40: 2241–2250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Uthe, J. F, F. M. A. Hon & L. Royer, 1972. Mercury uptake in caged rainbow trout in the Saskatchewan River. A summary of research carried out by the Freshwater Institute, 1970–1971. Fish. Res. Bd Can. Ms. Rep. # 1167. Water Survey of Canada, 1983. Historical Streamflow Summary, Ontario, to 1982. Environment Canada, Ottawa. 520 pp.

  • Water Survey of Canada, 1979. Surface Water Data, Ontario, 1978. Environment Canada, Ottawa. 243 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Water Survey of Canada, 1980. Surface Water Data, Ontario, 1979. Environment Canada, Ottawa. 241 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Water Survey of Canada, 1981. Surface Water Data, Ontario, 1980. Environment Canada, Ottawa. 247 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wobeser, G., N. O. Nielsen & R. H. Dunlop, 1970. Mercury concentrations in tissues of fish from the Saskatchewan River. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 27: 830–834.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, J. M., 1974. Biological cycles for toxic elements in the environment. Science 183: 1049–1052.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright, D. R. & R. D. Hamilton, 1982. Release of methyl mercury from sediments: effects of mercury concentration, low temperature and nutrient addition. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 39: 1459–1466.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Thunder Bay, Ontario

    J. W. Parks

  2. International Joint Commission, Ottawa, Ontario

    A. L. Hamilton

Authors
  1. J. W. Parks
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. L. Hamilton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ontario Ministry of the Environment or the International Joint Commission. No endorsement should be inferred.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Parks, J.W., Hamilton, A.L. Accelerating recovery of the mercury-contaminated Wabigoon/English River system. Hydrobiologia 149, 159–188 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00048659

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00048659

Keywords

Search

Navigation