USGS

Selected Trace Metals and Organic Compounds and Bioavailability of Selected Organic Compounds in Soils, Hackberry Flat, Tillman County, Oklahoma, 1994-95

By Mark F. Becker

Open-File Report 97–828

 

Prepared in cooperation with the
Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
and Oklahoma Geological Survey

 

The report is available in PDF format.


ABSTRACT

In 1995 the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation acquired a drained wetland in southwest Oklahoma known as Hackberry Flat. Following restoration by Wildlife Conservation the wetland will be used by migratory birds and waterfowl. If naturally occurring trace metals and residual organic compounds from agriculture and industry were present, they may have posed a potential biohazard and were a concern for Wildlife Conservation. The U. S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Wildlife Conservation and the Oklahoma Geological Survey, examined the soils of Hackberry Flat to determine trace metal concentrations, presence of selected organic compounds, and the bioavailability of selected organic compounds in the soils.

The purpose of this report is to present the data that establish the baseline concentrations of selected trace metals and organic compounds in the soils of Hackberry Flat prior to wetland restoration. Sampling and analysis were performed using two approaches. One was to collect soil samples and analyze the composition with standard laboratory practices. The second exposed composite soils samples to organic-free water and a semipermeable membrane device that mimics an organism and then analyzed the device. Ten soil samples were collected in 1994 to be analyzed for trace metals, organochlorine pesticides, and polychlorinated biphenyls. Soil samples tested for bioavailability of selected organic compounds were collected in 1995. Most of the 182 soil samples collected were from the center of every 40-acre quarter-quarter section owned by the Wildlife Conservation. The samples were grouped by geographical area with a maximum of 16 sample sites per group. Concentrations of most selected trace metals measured from soils in Hackberry Flat are within the range of mean concentrations measured in cultivated soils within the United States. Organochlorine pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons were not found at concentrations above the analytical detection levels and, if present, in the soil samples are at concentrations below the detection level of the analytical method used. Organochlorine pesticides, total polychlorinated biphenyls, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons were not detected in any of the semipermeable membrane devices at the analytical detection levels.

CONTENTS

Abstract

Introduction

Description of Study Area

Method of Data Collection and Analysis

Soil Sampling and Analysis

Bioavailability sampling and analysis using semipermeable membrane devices

Selected Trace Metals and Organic Compounds in Soils

Bioavailability of Selected Organic Chemicals

Summary

Selected References

 


For additional information write to:

 

District Chief

U.S. Geological Survey

Water-Resources Division

202 NW 66 St., Bldg. 7

Oklahoma City, OK 73116

 

Copies of this report can be purchased from:

 

U.S. Geological Survey

Information Services

Box 25286

Federal Center

Denver, CO 80225


Download the PDF version of the report for high-resolution, printable pages (573 KB).

Document Accessibility: Adobe Systems Incorporated has information about PDFs and the visually impaired. This information provides tools to help make PDF files accessible. These tools convert Adobe PDF documents into HTML or ASCII text, which then can be read by a number of common screen-reading programs that synthesize text as audible speech. In addition, an accessible version of Acrobat Reader 5.0 for Windows (English only), which contains support for screen readers, is available. These tools and the accessible reader may be obtained free from Adobe at Adobe Access.


FirstGov button  Take Pride in America button