USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program

USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

Toxic Substances Hydrology Program

The Toxic Substances Hydrology Program provides objective scientific information on environmental contamination to improve characterization and management of contaminated sites, to protect human and environmental health, and to reduce potential future contamination problems. Read more about the Toxics Program

Recent Headlines

view all headlines

Research Projects

view all research

Antibiotics in Groundwater Affect Natural Bacteria

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in the Slick Scum that Covers Stones in Streams

Chemical Geology Highlights Importance of Diel Processes in Rivers and Lakes

Do Natural Processes Mitigate Contamination from Landfill Leachate?

Understudied Fungicides Common in U.S. Streams Draining Agricultural Land

Algal Blooms Consistently Produce Complex Mixtures of Cyanotoxins and Co-Occur with Taste-and-Odor Causing Compounds in 23 Midwestern Lakes

Mixtures of Pesticides Detected in Crab Embryos

Subsurface Point-Source Contamination
Projects: Petroleum (crude oil, gasoline, produced water) | Chlorinated Solvents | Mixed Wastes (landfills, wastewater) | Fractured-Rock Aquifers
Watershed-and Regional Scale Contamination
Projects: Hard-Rock Mining | Pesticides | Emerging Contaminants | Mercury | Amphibian Research | Priority Ecosystems
Methods Development
Topics: Microbial Geochemistry | Geochemistry | Hydrology | Contaminant Geophysics | Modeling

Photo Gallery

view gallery

Site B on the shores of Skiatook Lake, Okla., is still active, and has a tank battery containing produced water (brine) and oil. The brine is disposed of in the subsurface with this onsite injection well (one of two). Deep-well injection regulations require that injection wells be completed in aquifers with total dissolved solids greater than 10,000 mg/L (milligrams per liter) -- from the Osage-Skiatook Petroleum Environmental Research Project

New Publications

view all publications

Crosscutting Topics

view all topics

Selected New Publications

Fish endocrine disruption responses to a major wastewater treatment facility upgrade: Barber, L.B., Vajda, A.M., Douville, C., Norris, D.O., and Writer, J.H., 2012, Environmental Science and Technology, doi:10.1021/es202880e.

Evaluating remedial alternatives for an acid mine drainage stream--A model post audit: Runkel, R.L., Kimball, B.A., Walton-Day, K., Verplanck, P.L., and Broshears, R.E., Environmental Science and Technology, v. 46, no. 1, p. 340-347, doi:10.1021/es2038504 (IN PRESS).

Tracking nonpoint source nitrogen pollution in human-impacted watersheds: Kaushal, S.S., Groffman, P.M., Band, L.E., Elliott, E.M., Shields, C.A., and Kendall, C., 2011, Environmental Science and Technology, v. 45, no. 19, p. 8225-8232, doi:10.1021/es200779e.

More >

Upcoming Publications

Simultaneous oxidation of arsenic and Antimony at low and circumneutral pH, with and without microbial catalysis: Asta, M.P., Kirk Nordstrom, D., and Blaine McCleskey, R., Applied Geochemistry, doi:10.1016/j.apgeochem.2011.09.002 (IN PRESS).

Loss of volatile hydrocarbons from an LNAPL oil source: Baedecker, M.J., Eganhouse, R.P., Bekins, B.A., and Delin, G.N., Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, doi:10.1016/j.jconhyd.2011.06.006 (IN PRESS).

Comparing the bioavailability of dissolved organic carbon in different aquifer systems: Chapelle, F.H., Bradley, P.M., McMahon, P.B., Kaiser, K., and Benner, R., Ground Water (IN PRESS).

More >

Meetings

view all meetings

USGS cosponsors the special session Fate and Transport of Radionuclides in the Environment at the 2009 AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, California, December 14-18, 2009

USGS cosponsors the special session Nutrient Sources and Cycling in Aquatic Systems at the 2009 AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, California, December 14-18, 2009

USGS cosponsors the special session Fate and Behavior of Pharmaceuticals in Treated Wastewaters, Sludge and River Waters at the SETAC 30th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 19-23, 2009

The USGS sponsored the special session Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals--Analytical Methods and Environment Processes at the SETAC 30th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 19-23, 2009

USGS and Montana Tech of the University of Montana co-sponsor the Special Session Diurnal Biogeochemical Processes in Rivers, Lakes, and Shallow Groundwater at the 2009 GSA Annual Meeting, Portland, Oregon, October 18-21, 2009

USGS science featured at the AAAS symposium San Francisco Bay: Tracking and Understanding a Changing Estuary, San Francisco, California, August 17, 2009

USGS and Colorado State University co-sponsor EmCon2009-2nd International Conference on Occurrence, Fate, Effects, and Analysis of Emerging Contaminants in the Environment, Fort Collins, Colorado, August 4-7, 2009

USGS, University of Texas at El Paso, and the Mountain Studies Institute conducted a field trip on Acid Rock Drainage in the San Juans in Prospect Gulch, near Silverton, Colorado, on August 1, 2009.

Toxics Home
About The Program
Research Projects

Subsurface Point-Source
Watershed-and Regional Scale
Methods Development

Crosscutting Topics

Agricultural Chemicals
Contaminant Occurrence
Contaminant Plumes
Contaminant Transport (GW)
Contaminant Transport (SW)
Geophysical Characterization
Field Methods
Laboratory Methods
Models
Natural Attenuation
Nutrients
Site Remediation
Tracer Tests
Unsaturated Zone

Headlines
Publications

Search Publications
Publications by Category
New Pubs
Upcoming
Publication Headlines
On-Line Fact Sheets

Meetings
Photo Gallery
Frequently Asked Questions
Links to Other Sources

USGS Home Water Climate Change Science Systems Ecosystems Energy, Minerals, & Env. Health Hazards

Accessibility FOIA Privacy Policies and Notices

U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://toxics.usgs.gov/index.html
Page Contact Information: Webmaster
Page Last Modified:Tuesday, 20-Dec-2011 17:03:52 EST