Hg-Contaminated Industrial and Mining Sites in N. America
91
began a process of characterization and classification of currently generated
wastes destined for disposal, and of historically contaminated sites, which
continues today.
The purpose of this chapter is to summarize typical contamination scenarios,
their environmental consequences, and their remediation or natural recovery,
using a series of case studies. Although hundreds of mercury-contaminated sites
are known to exist in North America (e.g., Fig. 1), comprehensive information is
available in accessible form for only a few dozen sites. Often the most abundant
and accessible information pertains to aquatic systems (lakes, streams, marine
bays) which received discharges from facilities in their respective watersheds.
Facility-specific information is often typically absent in the published literature,
or is contained only in the files of site owners, their consultants and governmental
agencies. This review chapter includes in most cases only the information that
was easily accessible to the authors, including some kindly provided by site
owners and governmental agencies. Omission of one or more significant sites is
likely but the review is believed to be representative of the diversity of sites
present on this continent. By design, the emphasis is on "industrial" sites and not
• Industrial sites
"" Hg mining sites
o Gold mining sites
•
ORNL 97-0828B1rra
Mile
o 200
W
o 200
km
Fig. 1. Locations of some mercury-contaminated sites in North America. Additional known sites in
Alaska and Puerto Rico and numerous small sites, such as associated with mercury manometer spills,
are not shown
91
began a process of characterization and classification of currently generated
wastes destined for disposal, and of historically contaminated sites, which
continues today.
The purpose of this chapter is to summarize typical contamination scenarios,
their environmental consequences, and their remediation or natural recovery,
using a series of case studies. Although hundreds of mercury-contaminated sites
are known to exist in North America (e.g., Fig. 1), comprehensive information is
available in accessible form for only a few dozen sites. Often the most abundant
and accessible information pertains to aquatic systems (lakes, streams, marine
bays) which received discharges from facilities in their respective watersheds.
Facility-specific information is often typically absent in the published literature,
or is contained only in the files of site owners, their consultants and governmental
agencies. This review chapter includes in most cases only the information that
was easily accessible to the authors, including some kindly provided by site
owners and governmental agencies. Omission of one or more significant sites is
likely but the review is believed to be representative of the diversity of sites
present on this continent. By design, the emphasis is on "industrial" sites and not
• Industrial sites
"" Hg mining sites
o Gold mining sites
•
ORNL 97-0828B1rra
Mile
o 200
W
o 200
km
Fig. 1. Locations of some mercury-contaminated sites in North America. Additional known sites in
Alaska and Puerto Rico and numerous small sites, such as associated with mercury manometer spills,
are not shown