Atmospheric Deposition of Pcbs in the Spokane River Watershed

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Atmospheric Deposition of Pcbs in the Spokane River Watershed Atmospheric Deposition of PCBs in the Spokane River Watershed March 2019 Publication No. 19-03-003 Publication Information This report is available on the Department of Ecology’s website at https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/SummaryPages/1903003.html. Data for this project are available at Ecology’s Environmental Information Management (EIM) website: www.ecology.wa.gov/eim/index.htm, search Study ID BERA0013. The Activity Tracker Code for this study is 16-032. Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) and 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) numbers for the study area: WRIAs HUC numbers 56 – Hangman 17010305 57 – Middle Spokane 17010306 Contact Information Publications Coordinator Environmental Assessment Program P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600 Phone: (360) 407–6764 Washington State Department of Ecology – www.ecology.wa.gov. Headquarters, Olympia (360) 407-6000 Northwest Regional Office, Bellevue (425) 649-7000 Southwest Regional Office, Olympia (360) 407-6300 Central Regional Office, Union Gap (509) 575-2490 Eastern Regional Office, Spokane (509) 329-3400 Cover photo: Atmospheric deposition samplers on the roof of the Spokane Clean Air Agency Building. Photo by Brandee Era-Miller. Any use of product or firm names in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the author or the Department of Ecology. Accommodation Requests: To request ADA accommodation, including materials in a format for the visually impaired, call Ecology at 360-407-6764, or visit https://ecology.wa.gov/ accessibility. People with impaired hearing may call Washington Relay Service at 711. People with speech disability may call TTY at 877-833-6341. Atmospheric Deposition of PCBs in the Spokane River Watershed by Brandee Era-Miller and Siana Wong Environmental Assessment Program and Tesfamichael Ghidey Air Quality Program Washington State Department of Ecology Olympia, Washington This page is purposely left blank March 2019 page ii Publication 19-03-003 Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. v List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vii Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................ viii Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2 Study Area ................................................................................................................................................ 3 Methods........................................................................................................................................... 5 Study Design ............................................................................................................................................ 5 Bulk Atmospheric Deposition ............................................................................................................................... 5 Dry Deposition ...................................................................................................................................................... 8 Laboratory Procedures ............................................................................................................................ 10 Bulk Deposition .................................................................................................................................................. 10 Dry Deposition .................................................................................................................................................... 10 Calculations ............................................................................................................................................ 10 Bulk Deposition Flux ........................................................................................................................................... 10 Dry Deposition .................................................................................................................................................... 10 PCB Summing ..................................................................................................................................................... 11 Censoring for Method Blank Contamination ...................................................................................................... 11 Waste to Energy Facility Plume Dispersion Modeling .......................................................................... 12 Data Quality .................................................................................................................................. 13 Bulk Deposition ...................................................................................................................................... 13 Proofing .............................................................................................................................................................. 13 Method Blanks ................................................................................................................................................... 14 Equipment Blanks ............................................................................................................................................... 14 Field Replicates ................................................................................................................................................... 14 Sample Outlier .................................................................................................................................................... 15 Field Spikes ......................................................................................................................................................... 15 Efficiency Wipes ................................................................................................................................................. 15 Dry Deposition ....................................................................................................................................... 16 Waste to Energy Facility Plume Dispersion Modeling .......................................................................... 16 Results ........................................................................................................................................... 17 Bulk Deposition ...................................................................................................................................... 17 Equipment Blank Correction ............................................................................................................................... 19 Environmental Data ........................................................................................................................................... 20 Dry Deposition ....................................................................................................................................... 23 Proof-of-Concept Study ...................................................................................................................................... 23 Summer PUF Sampling ....................................................................................................................................... 24 Waste to Energy Facility Plume Dispersion Modeling .......................................................................... 26 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 29 Bulk Deposition of PCBs in Spokane ..................................................................................................... 29 Site-Specific Congener Patterns in Bulk Deposition .............................................................................. 30 Modeled PCBs from Waste to Energy Versus Measured PCBs ............................................................. 31 March 2019 page iii Publication 19-03-003 Contribution of Atmospheric PCBs to Stormwater in the Cochran Basin.............................................. 33 PCBs in Wildfire Smoke ........................................................................................................................ 33 Air Mass Movement ........................................................................................................................................... 34 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 40 Bulk Deposition ...................................................................................................................................... 40 Dry Deposition ....................................................................................................................................... 40 PCBs from the Waste to Energy Facility ................................................................................................ 40 Recommendations ........................................................................................................................
Recommended publications
  • Part II: Practical Uses of Air Modeling in Litigation And
    Air Modeling as a Tool in Environmental Law and Policy: A Guide for Communities and Environmental Groups Part II: Practical Uses of Air Modeling in Litigation and Regulatory Contexts Clean Air Council 135 South 19th Street Suite 300 Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 567-4004 www.cleanair.org September 16, 2016 Authors and Purpose The authors are attorneys at the Clean Air Council at its headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The attorneys working on this White Paper were: Augusta Wilson, Esq., Aaron Jacobs-Smith, Esq., Benjamin Hartung, Esq., Christopher D. Ahlers, Esq., and Joseph Otis Minott, Esq., Executive Director and Chief Counsel. Clean Air Council is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) corporation with headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Acknowledgments The Clean Air Council thanks the Colcom Foundation. This paper would not have been possible without its generous funding and support. The authors would also like to thank Jini Chatterjee, Tessa Roberts and Paul Townsend, students at the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s Environmental Law Project, who conducted invaluable research for this paper, and Sonya Shea, who supervised their work at the Environmental Law Project. Disclaimer This paper is intended as a general introduction to the law and policy of air modeling under the Clean Air Act. Nothing in this paper is intended, nor shall it be construed as creating an attorney-client relationship or providing legal advice. © 2016 Clean Air Council 135 S. 19th Street Suite 300 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103 Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................1 1. Use of Air Modeling to Support Tort Claims .....................................................................2 a. Challenges to the Use of Particular Modeling Software or to Underlying Assumptions .............................................................................................................2 b.
    [Show full text]
  • Air Dispersion Modeling Guidelines
    Air Quality Modeling Guidelines for Arizona Air Quality Permits PREPARED BY: FACILITIES EMISSIONS CONTROL SECTION AIR QUALITY DIVISION ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY November 1, 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview of Regulatory Modeling ........................................................................... 1 1.2 Purpose of an Air Quality Modeling Analysis .......................................................... 2 1.3 Authority for Modeling ............................................................................................. 3 1.4 Acceptable Models.................................................................................................... 3 1.5 Overview of Modeling Protocols and Checklists ..................................................... 4 1.6 Overview of Modeling Reports ................................................................................ 5 2 LEVELS OF MODELING ANALYSIS SOPHISTICATION .................................. 5 2.1 Screening Models or Screening Techniques ............................................................. 6 2.1.1 Screening Models for Near-Field Assessments ................................................. 6 2.1.2 Screening Techniques for Long-Range Transport Assessments ....................... 7 2.2 Refined Modeling ..................................................................................................... 8 2.2.1 AERMOD .........................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • 10.5 Development of a Wrf-Aermod Tool for Use in Regulatory Applications
    10.5 DEVELOPMENT OF A WRF-AERMOD TOOL FOR USE IN REGULATORY APPLICATIONS Toree Myers-Cook*, Jon Mallard, and Qi Mao Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) ABSTRACT available. For rural sources, the closest representative NWS station may be greater than 50- The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has developed 100 kilometers away. Furthermore, NWS data a WRF-AERMOD tool which transforms the Weather limitations - instrumentation limits, missing data, and Research and Forecasting (WRF) model output into lack of surface parameters required by AERMET - the meteorological input needed by AERMOD have motivated the EPA to explore the use of (AERMAP/AERMET/AERMOD), the EPA- prognostic meteorological models, specifically MM5 recommended model for short-range dispersion (Brode 2008), which can provide a timely and spatially modeling. The tool was used to model 2002 comprehensive meteorological dataset for input to emissions from TVA’s Allen Fossil (ALF) Plant in AERMOD. The EPA has been testing an in-house Memphis, Tennessee. Modeling using NWS data MM5-AERMOD tool for possible use in future was also performed and results were compared. regulatory applications. However, since MM5 is no Analyses of modeling results showed several longer supported by its developers and the WRF differences between the two approaches, with much (Weather Research Forecasting) model is now of the inconsistencies attributed to four main findings. considered the state-of-the-art meteorological model First, the NWS-AERMOD approach tended to stay to replace it, TVA developed a WRF-AERMOD tool more unstable in the summer and stable in the winter that takes WRF three-dimensional meteorological with unrealistically high mechanical boundary layer output (surface and upper air) and transforms it into (MBL) heights.
    [Show full text]
  • Machine Learning Approaches for Outdoor Air Quality Modelling: a Systematic Review
    applied sciences Review Machine Learning Approaches for Outdoor Air Quality Modelling: A Systematic Review Yves Rybarczyk 1,2 and Rasa Zalakeviciute 1,* 1 Intelligent & Interactive Systems Lab (SI2 Lab), Universidad de Las Américas, 170125 Quito, Ecuador; [email protected] 2 Department of Electrical Engineering, CTS/UNINOVA, Nova University of Lisbon, 2829-516 Monte de Caparica, Portugal * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +351-593-23-981-000 Received: 15 November 2018; Accepted: 8 December 2018; Published: 11 December 2018 Abstract: Current studies show that traditional deterministic models tend to struggle to capture the non-linear relationship between the concentration of air pollutants and their sources of emission and dispersion. To tackle such a limitation, the most promising approach is to use statistical models based on machine learning techniques. Nevertheless, it is puzzling why a certain algorithm is chosen over another for a given task. This systematic review intends to clarify this question by providing the reader with a comprehensive description of the principles underlying these algorithms and how they are applied to enhance prediction accuracy. A rigorous search that conforms to the PRISMA guideline is performed and results in the selection of the 46 most relevant journal papers in the area. Through a factorial analysis method these studies are synthetized and linked to each other. The main findings of this literature review show that: (i) machine learning is mainly applied in Eurasian and North American continents and (ii) estimation problems tend to implement Ensemble Learning and Regressions, whereas forecasting make use of Neural Networks and Support Vector Machines.
    [Show full text]
  • Feasibility Study: Modelling Environmental Concentrations of Chemicals from Emission Data
    EEA Technical report No 8/2007 Feasibility study: modelling environmental concentrations of chemicals from emission data ISSN 1725-2237 EEA Technical report No 8/2007 Feasibility study: modelling environmental concentrations of chemicals from emission data Cover design: EEA Layout: Diadeis and EEA Legal notice The contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the official opinions of the European Commission or other institutions of the European Communities. Neither the European Environment Agency nor any person or company acting on behalf of the Agency is responsible for the use that may be made of the information contained in this report. All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the copyright holder. For translation or reproduction rights please contact EEA (address information below). Information about the European Union is available on the Internet. It can be accessed through the Europa server (www.europa.eu). Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2007 ISBN 978-92-9167-925-6 ISSN 1725-2237 © EEA, Copenhagen, 2007 European Environment Agency Kongens Nytorv 6 1050 Copenhagen K Denmark Tel.: +45 33 36 71 00 Fax: +45 33 36 71 99 Web: eea.europa.eu Enquiries: eea.europa.eu/enquiries Contents Contents Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Dispersion V3.23
    Volume 2 Airviro User’s Reference Working with the Dispersion Module How to simulate the dispersion of pollutants Working with the Dispersion Module How to simulate the dispersion of pollutants Amendments Version Date changed Cause of change Signature 3.11 Ago2007 Upgrade GS 3.12 January2009 Upgrade GS 3.13 January2009 Upgrade GS 3.20 May 2010 Upgrade GS 3.21 Dec 2010 Upgrade GS 3.21 June 2012 Review GS 3.22 April 2013 Release GS 3.23 Jan 2014 Upgrade GS 3.23 January 2014 Review GS 3.23 June 2015 Review GS Contents 2.1 Introduction..............................................................................................................7 2.1.1 Why You Need to Use Dispersion Models.........................................................7 2.1.1.1 What’s the Use of Dispersion Simulations.....................................................7 2.1.1.2 How Can Airviro Help?......................................................................................7 2.1.2 Model Assumptions..............................................................................................8 2.1.3 Brief description of the available models..........................................................9 2.1.4 How does Dispersion Module client work?.....................................................18 2.1.5 Guidance for the beginner:................................................................................18 2.1.6 Overview of the Dispersion Module Main Window.........................................19 2.1.6.1 Changing Weather Conditions – Model settings.........................................19
    [Show full text]
  • Evaluation of ISC3, AERMOD, and ADMS Dispersion Models with Observations from Five Field Sites
    EVALUATION OF THE ADMS, AERMOD, AND ISC3 DISPERSION MODELS WITH THE OPTEX, DUKE FOREST, KINCAID, INDIANAPOLIS, AND LOVETT FIELD DATA SETS Steven R. Hanna*, Bruce A. Egan**, John Purdum***, and Jen Wagler**** *CSI MS 5C3, George Mason Univ., Fairfax, VA 22030-4444 USA **Egan Environmental, 75 Lothrop St., Beverly, MA 01915 USA ***17 Peters Way, North Attleboro, MA 02760 USA ****URS Greiner Woodward-Clyde, 38 Chauncy St., Boston, MA 02111 USA ABSTRACT The model evaluation exercise addresses the question whether the new models, ADMS and AERMOD, produce improvements over ISC3 when compared with a range of field observations. ADMS and AERMOD have similar state-of-the-art scientific components, whereas ISC3 contains 1960s technology. The five sets of field observations used in the statistical evaluation represent a cross-section of typical scenarios encountered by modelers. The OPTEX data base concerns non-buoyant tracer releases within an oil refinery complex, and the Duke Forest data base involves non-buoyant tracer releases from area and volume sources in an open field. The Kincaid, Indianapolis, and Lovett data bases all deal with buoyant plumes from tall stacks at power plants. However, the settings are quite different, since the Kincaid plant is surrounded by flat farmland, the Indianapolis plant is located in an urban environment, and the Lovett plant is sited in a valley surrounded by complex terrain with monitors at elevations higher than the stack. Analysis of the model performance measures suggest that ISC3 typically overpredicts, has a scatter of about a factor of three, and has about 33% of its predictions within a factor of two of observations.
    [Show full text]
  • Air Dispersion Modeling Guidelines for Arizona Air Quality Permits
    Air Dispersion Modeling Guidelines for Arizona Air Quality Permits PREPARED BY: AIR QUALITY PERMIT SECTION AIR QUALITY DIVISION ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY September 23, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview of Regulatory Modeling ........................................................................... 2 1.2 Purpose of an Air Quality Modeling Analysis .......................................................... 2 1.3 Authority for Modeling ............................................................................................. 3 1.4 Acceptable Models.................................................................................................... 3 1.5 Overview of Modeling Protocols and Checklists ..................................................... 4 1.6 Overview of Modeling Reports ................................................................................ 5 2 LEVELS OF MODELING ANALYSIS SOPHISTICATION .................................. 5 2.1 Screening Modeling .................................................................................................. 6 2.2 Refined Modeling ..................................................................................................... 7 3 MODELING ANALYSIS FEATURES ..................................................................... 10 3.1 Modeling Worst-Case Scenarios............................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Appendix 4-A Part 1 Air Modeling Protocol
    Draft Environmental Impact Statement Cricket Valley Energy Project – Dover, NY Appendix 4-A: Modeling Protocol and Agency Correspondence Appendix 4-A Modeling Protocol and Agency Correspondence List of Contents Protocol Document Cricket Valley Energy Dispersion Modeling Protocol, September 2009 Agency Correspondence NYSDEC protocol review letter, November 19, 2009 USEPA protocol review letter, December 15, 2009 USEPA additional protocol comment letter, January 26, 2010 Revisions to Cricket Valley Energy Dispersion Modeling Protocol, January 27, 2010 Request for Preconstruction Monitoring Waiver, February 25, 2010 USEPA Preconstruction Monitoring Waiver Response, March 24, 2010 Request for Applicability of Class I Modeling Analysis Federal Land Manager response letter, November 12, 2009 Modeling inventory request letter – New York, January 19, 2010 Modeling inventory request letter – Massachusetts, January 19, 2010 Modeling inventory request letter – Connecticut, January 19, 2010 Request for USFWS review, June 2, 2009 USFWS response letter, July 20, 2009 Follow-up correspondence with USFWS, August 17, 2010 USFWS response letter, September 21, 2009 NOx Inventory Request Letter to NYSDEC, November 10, 2010 NOx Inventory Request Letter to MADEP, November 10, 2010 NOx Inventory Request Letter to CTDEP, November 10, 2010 MADEP Response to Inventory Request, November 16, 2010 CTDEP Response to Inventory Request, November 19, 2010 NO2 Modeling Procedures with PVMRM, November 30, 2010 Imagine the result Cricket Valley Energy Center, LLC Cricket
    [Show full text]
  • Performance Evaluation of CALPUFF and AERMOD Dispersion Models for Air Quality Assessment of an Industrial Complex
    Journal of Scientific & Industrial Research Vol. 74, May 2015, pp. 302-307 Performance evaluation of CALPUFF and AERMOD dispersion models for air quality assessment of an industrial complex S Gulia1, A Kumar2 and M Khare3* 1,2 & *3Civil Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, India Received 18 December 2013; revised 7 October 2014; accepted 23 April 2015 Air quality model (AQM) is an essential tool for management of air quality in near field region of an industrial complex. Model validation study using site specific input data can boost the consistency on accuracy of model’s performance for air quality management. This study describes the validation of CALPUFF and AERMOD for assessment of NOx concentrations in near field region of a steel industry in Bellary district of Karnataka state in India. Relative model performances are evaluated by comparing monitored and predicted pollutants using well referred statistical descriptors. Further, the performance of CALPUFF has evaluated with different dispersion options (i.e., PGT-ISC dispersion curve and similarity theory) and vertical layers option (i.e., two and ten vertical layers) in CALMET, meteorological pre-processor of CALUFF. Both models performed satisfactorily for predicting NOx concentrations. Further, CALPUFF with different dispersion options performed more satisfactorily than AERMOD. CALPUFF with PGT- ISC dispersion curve option performed more satisfactorily than similarity theory based dispersion option for the selected pollutant. In addition to this, CALPUFF with two vertical layers option performed better than ten vertical layers option. The satisfactory performance of CALPUFF over AERMOD might be due to its predicting capability in calm condition, in which all plume dispersion models failed.
    [Show full text]
  • DUSTRAN 2.0 User's Guide
    PNNL-24049 DUSTRAN 2.0 User’s Guide: A GIS-Based Atmospheric Dust Dispersion Modeling System March 2015 WJ Shaw FC Rutz JP Rishel EG Chapman Prepared for the U.S. Department of Defense Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program under a Related Services Agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-76RL01830 PNNL-24049 DUSTRAN 2.0 User’s Guide: A GIS-Based Atmospheric Dust Dispersion Modeling System WJ Shaw FC Rutz JP Rishel EG Chapman March 2015 Prepared for the U.S. Department of Defense Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program under a Related Services Agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-76RL01830 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Richland, Washington 99352 Summary The U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) completed a multi-year project to update the DUSTRAN atmospheric dispersion modeling system, which is being used to assist the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) in addressing particulate air quality issues at military training and testing ranges. This version—DUSTRAN V2.0—includes (1) a complete replacement of the geographic information system (GIS) platform to include the utilization of open-source GIS software (MapWindow) (2) user profiles to allow multiple users to run individual simulations using separate sites (3) integration of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) AERMOD air-dispersion model for modeling near- field (less than 50 km) releases, including an option to use a formulation for near-field deposition derived from new work by the Desert Research Institute; and (4) updates to the dust source-term module for military vehicles to include additional vehicle and soil types, as well as enhanced formulations for particle deposition.
    [Show full text]
  • A User's Guide for the CALPUFF Dispersion Model
    A User’s Guide for the CALPUFF Dispersion Model (Version 5) Prepared by: Joseph S. Scire David G. Strimaitis Robert J. Yamartino Earth Tech, Inc. 196 Baker Avenue Concord, MA 01742 January 2000 Copyright © 1998, 1999,2000 by Earth Tech, Inc. All Rights Reserved Table of Contents 1. OVERVIEW ...................................................................1-1 1.1 Background ..........................................................1-1 1.2 Overview of the CALPUFF Modeling System ...............................1-3 1.3 CALPUFF Features and Options.........................................1-11 1.4 Summary of CALPUFF Data and Computer Requirements....................1-15 2. TECHNICAL DISCUSSION ......................................................2-1 2.1 Solution of the Puff Equations............................................2-1 2.1.1 Integrated Puff Sampling Function Formulation .......................2-4 2.1.2 Slug Formulation and Sampling Functions ...........................2-7 2.1.3 Sampling Function Testing .......................................2-15 2.2 Dispersion ..........................................................2-23 2.2.1 Atmospheric Turbulence Components ..............................2-24 2.2.2 Buoyancy - Induced Dispersion ...................................2-36 2.2.3 Initial Plume Size ..............................................2-37 2.2.4 Puff Splitting (Vertical Wind Shear) ...............................2-37 2.2.5 The P.D.F. Option for the Convective Boundary Layer .................2-39 2.2.6 Vertical Puff Stretching
    [Show full text]