Atmospheric Deposition of Pcbs in the Spokane River Watershed
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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 ........................................................................................................................