HOW POLLUTING IS STORM RUNOFF FROM UNPAVED ROADS?

THE IMPACT OF STORM-WATER RUNOFF FROM UNPAVED ROADS ON STREAM QUALITY IS REPORTED. IT WAS FOUND THAT WHILE THE TURBIDITY OF A STREAM IN UNDEVELOPED AREAS REMAINS UNCHANGED, THAT BESIDE A 2-LANE COUNTRY GRAVEL ROAD JUMPED TWO ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE. THIS INCREASE MAY HAVE HARMFUL EFFECTS ON PLANKTON, BENTHOS AND OTHER ORGANISMS. THE COMPOSITION OF BOTTOM SEDIMENTS INFLUENCES THE QUALITY OF THE OVERLYING WATER. NUTRIENT MATERIALS ARE RELEASED INTO OVERLYING WATERS THROUGH STIRRING UP OF MUDS, TRANSFER AT THE INTERFACE, AND INGESTON OF LIVING ANIMALS. TOXIC METAL DUMPED INTO A STREAM CAN HAVE A DRASTIC EFFECT ON FISH LIFE MANY MILES DOWNSTREAM. THE EXAMPLE IS DESCRIBED OF AN 80- YEAR LONG POLLUTION OF A MAJOR WATERWAY BY WASTE-WATER LADEN WITH MERCURY. TWELVE YEARS AGO, A DAM WAS BUILT JUST UPSTREAM FROM THIS WATERWAY, CREATING $40 MILLION DOLLARS IN COMMERCIAL FISHING. A METHOD IS BEING DEVELOPED WHEREBY OILS FOUND IN WATER AND SEDIMENT WAY BE IDENTIFIED BY MEANS OF INFRARED SPECTRA OR BY USING ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROPHOTOMETRY TO ANALYZE THE OILS NICKEL-VANADIUM RATIO.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/10480594
• Publication Date: 1972-7

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 91
• Serial:
  • Civil Engineering
  • Volume: 42
  • Issue Number: 7
  • Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
  • ISSN: 0885-7024
  • Serial URL: http://www.pubs.asce.org/ceonline/newce/html

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Aquatic life; Dams; Drainage; Fishes; Highways; Infrared spectroscopy; Mercury; Metals; Nickel; Oils; Pollution; Roads; Storms; Streams; Toxicity; Turbidity; Wastewater; Waterways
• Old TRIS Terms: Waterways (Watercourses)
• Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Hydraulics and Hydrology; Marine Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00204513
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 11 1974 12:00AM