Analysis of river pollution data from low-flow period by means of multivariate techniques

Abstract

The oil-shale industry has created serious pollution problems in northeastern Estonia. Untreated, phenol-rich leachate from semi-coke mounds formed as a by-product of oil-shale processing is discharged into the Baltic Sea via channels and rivers. An exploratory analysis of water chemical and microbiological data sets from the low-flow period was carried out using different multivariate analysis techniques. Principal component analysis allowed us to distinguish different locations in the river system. The riverine microbial community response to water chemical parameters was assessed by co-inertia analysis. Water pH, COD and total nitrogen were negatively related to the number of biodegradative bacteria, while oxygen concentration promoted the abundance of these bacteria. The results demonstrate the utility of multivariate statistical techniques as tools for estimating the magnitude and extent of pollution based on river water chemical and microbiological parameters. An evaluation of river chemical and microbiological data suggests that the ambient natural attenuation mechanisms only partly eliminate pollutants from river water, and that a sufficient reduction of more recalcitrant compounds could be achieved through the reduction of wastewater discharge from the oil-shale chemical industry into the rivers.

Survival and catabolic performance of introducedPseudomonasstrains during phytoremediation and bioaugmentation field experiment

“…Hence, the depository area is of serious environmental concern, as open deposition of the solid waste causes distribution of pollutants via air (dust). Liquid pollution from the dump area deteriorates surface water as well as the underlying aquifers (Truu et al , 2002).…”

Responses of freshwater biota to human disturbances: contribution ofJ-NABSto developments in ecological integrity assessments

“…Others regard them as useful tools in bioassessment because they can be used to determine the most important variables that influence community composition (e.g., Houghton 2007) and to describe and predict the effects of human disturbance on aquatic biota (e.g., Mykra et al 2008). CCA or COIA currently are used to identify sites with different levels and types of pollution (e.g., Zamora-Munoz and Alba-Tercedor 1996, Truu et al 2002, Hicham and Lofti 2007, assess the effects of land use on aquatic biota (e.g., Aznar et al 2004, Kratzer et al 2006, Couceiro et al 2007, design new metrics or indices for diagnosing environmental stressors (Griffith et al 2001, Haase andNolte 2008), and validate metric performance (Prygiel et al 1999).…”

Temporal Dynamics of Microbial Community in Soil During Phytoremediation Field Experiment

“…Composition of mineral part of fresh unhydrated semi-coke is mainly characterized by calcite, dolomite, quartz, K-feldspar and clay minerals. Liquid wastes (leachate) from depository area contain high concentration of oil products, phenol, cresols, dimethylphenols and resorcinols [2,3]. Open deposition of semi-coke causes distribution of pollutants via air (dust) as well as via aqueous vectors (leaching by rainfall and snowmelt).…”