Theses and Dissertations at Montana State University (MSU)
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Item Analysis of cleanups of lead-contaminated residential soils at u.s. smelter superfund sites(Montana State University, 2021) Tan, RobertLead contamination from historic smelting operations continues to pose a public health risk in the United States, particularly from exposure to contaminated soils. Epidemiological studies have shown that concentrations of lead in residential soils can result in unacceptable exposures, and that there is no apparent blood lead concentration that may entirely avoid adverse health effects. These findings have caused regulatory agencies to gradually reevaluate previous blood lead targets and cleanup levels for lead sites. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which is responsible for conducting cleanups of large-scale lead smelting sites that are on the National Priorities List, has acknowledged current literature that demonstrates risks from trace exposures, but has not yet revised the 1994 blood lead level target of 10 ?g/dL. This ambiguity is coupled with regional delegations of authority that have resulted in varied approaches to addressing lead contamination within the Superfund program. These inconsistencies create a challenge to remedial project teams tasked with determining strategies to address these future sites. I address this challenge by conducting a first-of-its-kind comprehensive evaluation of residential cleanups at lead smelter Superfund sites. By using publicly available data from decision documents for 31 lead smelter sites across the US, I identify predominant cleanup strategies. Although the evaluations demonstrate inconsistent blood lead targets and cleanup levels used between sites, they also illustrate commonalities in the type of remedy selected as well as general costs for residential cleanups conducted by EPA's removal and remedial programs. My results indicate that remedial project teams should embrace strategies that use both removal and remedial actions to address residential soil contamination and should expect to select a remedy based on excavation and backfill of contaminated properties. Soil amendments may be able to reduce lead bioavailability but have only been used for residential properties at one site and were unable to achieve residential cleanup standards. Last, my paper provides average preliminary cost estimates for residential cleanups, ranging from $434 per yd3 removal actions, and $125 per yd3 for remedial actions. Although costs differ substantially between sites, these general estimates provide a starting point for early planning efforts.Item Structural controls and chemical characterization of brecciation and uranium vanadium mineralization in the northern Bighorn Basin(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2016) Moore-Nall, Anita Louise; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: David R. Lageson; Margaret Eggers, John Doyle, Myra Lefthand, Sara Young, Ada Bends, Anne Camper and CEHSC were co-authors of the article, 'Potential health risks from uranium in home well water: an investigation by the Apsaalooke (Crow) Tribal Research Group' in the journal 'GeoSciences' which is contained within this thesis.; Ranalda Tsosie was a co-author of the article, 'Ree data support oil with a Permian phosphoria formation source as a source of metals for U and V mineralization in the northern Bighorn Basin' submitted to the journal 'Minerals' which is contained within this thesis.The goals of this research were to determine if the mode of mineralization and the geology of two abandoned uranium and vanadium mining districts that border the Crow Reservation might be a source for contaminants in the Bighorn River and a source of elevated uranium in home water wells on the Reservation. Surface and spring waters of the Crow Reservation have always been greatly respected by the Crow people, valued as a source of life and health and relied upon for drinking water. Upon learning that the Bighorn River has an EPA 303d impaired water listing due to elevated lead and mercury and that mercury has been detected in the fish from rivers of the Crow Reservation this study was implemented. Watersheds from both mining districts contribute to the Bighorn River that flows through the Crow Reservation. Initial research used the National Uranium Resource Evaluation database to analyze available geochemistry for the study areas using GIS. The data showed elevated concentrations of lead in drainages related to the mining areas. The data also showed elevated uranium in many of the surface waters and wells that were tested as a part of the study on the Crow Reservation. The author attended meetings and presented results of the National Uranium Resource Evaluation data analyses to the Crow Environmental Health Steering Committee. Thus, both uranium and lead were added to the list of elements that were being tested in home water wells as part of a community based participatory research project addressing many issues of water quality on the Crow Reservation. Results from home wells tested on the reservation did show elevated uranium. Rock samples were collected in the study areas and geochemically analyzed. The results of the analyses support a Permian Phosphoria Formation oil source of metals in the two mining districts. Structural data support fracturing accompanied by tectonic hydrothermal brecciation as a process that introduced oil and brines from the Bighorn Basin into the deposits where the uranium vanadium deposits later formed.Item Cadmium and lead removal with direct filtration(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Engineering, 1984) Engleson, Thomas PaulItem Analysis of fish tissue for trace amounts of lead by furnace atomic absorption spectroscopy(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 1972) Neuman, Dennis R.Item The toxicity of some commercial lead arsenates with a comparison of methods for determination(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1936) Eichmann, Robert D.Item Living with lead : an environmental history of Idaho's Coeur d'Alenes, 1885-2011(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2012) Snow, Bradley Dean; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Mary Murphy.The Coeur d'Alenes, a twenty-five by ten mile portion of the Idaho Panhandle, is home to one of the most productive mining districts in world history. Historically the globe's richest silver district and also one of the nation's biggest lead and zinc producers, the Coeur d'Alenes' legacy also includes environmental pollution on an epic scale. For decades local waters were fouled with tailings from the mining district's more than one hundred mines and mills and the air surrounding Kellogg, Idaho was laced with lead and other toxic heavy metals issuing from the Bunker Hill Company's smelter. The same industrial processes that damaged the environment and harmed human health, however, also provided economic sustenance to thousands of local residents and a string of proud, working class communities. This dissertation constitutes an effort to explore and untangle the costs and benefits of a century of mining, milling and smelting in a relatively small, isolated Western enclave.