Environmental
Monitoring and
Support
Laboratory
Las Vegas

SB532 SiU^f/1
First Quarter - January, February, March 1977
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FIRST QUARTER REPORT
OF THE
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND SUPPORT LABORATORY
LAS VEGAS
January through March 1977
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND SUPPORT LABORATORY
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA 89114

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CONTENTS
Page
EVENTS OF GENERAL INTEREST	1
BIOLOGICAL MONITORING	4
MONITORING SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT	7
EQUIPMENT AND TECHNIQUES DEVELOPMENT	10
MONITORING	13
QUALITY ASSURANCE	16
TECHNICAL SUPPORT	18

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EVENTS OF GENERAL INTEREST
Mr. George B. Morgan, Director of the Environmental
Monitoring and Support Laboratory-Las Vegas, and Dr. Bruce
Wiersma of the Laboratory's Monitoring Systems Research and
Development Division, attended the Man and the Biosphere (MAB)
Conference in Reno, Nevada, March 28 through 30. The Las Vegas
Laboratory seeks to participate in the MAB Program of the United
Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO).
Biosphere reserves are pristine areas that are being set
aside perpetually by cooperating nations to protect representa-
tive segments of the world's natural biomes. The purpose is to
conserve the diversity and integrity of biotic communities of
plants and animals within natural ecosystems for present and
future use and to safeguard the genetic diversity of species,
thus permitting their continuing evolution.
Another purpose of the biosphere reserves will be to use
them as environmental baseline research and monitoring sites.
Cost-effective and non-destructive monitoring techniques are
needed to assess pollutant exposures and impacts. The monitoring
systems developed and implemented for the biosphere reserves also
may be incorporated into the Global Environmental Monitoring
System (GEMS).
The Las Vegas Laboratory has developed a detailed concept
paper on how to monitor pollutants and their impact on the eco-
systems of the biosphere reserves. This paper discusses the
applicability of the advanced monitoring systems being developed
by the Laboratory to the monitoring requirements of the biosphere
reserves and the GEMS. The Laboratory is proposing to study
several of the sites being set aside in the United States to
develop generally applicable monitoring techniques and criteria
which can be used as the bases for designing responsive monitor-
ing systems for each individual biosphere reserve. In the paper,
emphasis was placed on the development of monitoring systems
which are capable of economically acquiring reliable and compara-
ble data on ultra-low levels of environmental pollutants and
their impacts.
Mr. Morgan welcomed the Second Workshop on Sampling and
Analysis of Geothermal Effluents in Las Vegas, February 15
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through 17. This was the second in a seriek of workshops con-
vened to present and discuss data on the state-of-the-art of
geothermal sampling and analytical methods. The overall objec-
tive of this series of workshops is to produce a recognized
standard monitoring methods handbook. Standardized methods are
needed to assure that the appropriate quality control procedures
have been exercised in sample collections, handling, and analy-
sis, and that the data obtained are scientifically acceptable and
legally defensible.
The participants represented government agencies, universi-
ties, and industrial firms concerned with the environmental
impact and monitoring of geothermal developments. Thirty-five
papers contributed by the 135 participants formed the basis for
discussion at the second workshop. The Las Vegas Laboratory and
the Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory of Cincinnati,
Ohio, cosponsored the workshop on behalf of EPA's Office of
Research and Development. The proceedings are expected to be
available this summer.
Mr. Arthur Jarvis, Chief of the Quality Assurance Branch of
the Laboratory's Monitoring Systems Research and Development
Division, participated in the Region IV Drinking Water Symposium
in Atlanta, Georgia, February 2 and 3, The purpose of this
symposium was to discuss implementation of the public water
supply supervision program under P.L. 93-523 with emphasis on
radiochemistry issues. Mr. Jarvis led the discussion of labora-
tory certification and quality assurance during the radiation
session. He also presented an overview and update on laboratory
certification and analysis and data control during the joint
session.
Mr. Jarvis also participated in the Drinking Water Quality
Assurance Work Group meeting at the Environmental Monitoring and
Support Laboratory-Cincinnati on March 21 through 23. He served
as chairman of the Radiochemistry Sub-Group. The purpose of the
meeting was to prepare the final criteria and procedures for the
certification of laboratories involved in the analysis of potable
waters.
The Laboratory's Remote Sensing Division participated in the
technology transfer course conducted by the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration at the Earth Resources Laboratory,
Slidell, Louisiana, in December. The course was designed to
provide the necessary training and "hands-on" experience for
processing and analyzing multispectral scanner data. Las Vegas
Laboratory representatives demonstrated the processing of air-
craft multispectral scanner data. Classification was designated
for 12 characteristics from data on a power company mine in
Converse County, Wyoming.
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Mr. Frank Jakubowski of the Laboratory's Monitoring
Operations Division became the first radiation monitor at the
Laboratory to be listed in the National Registry of Radiation
Protection Technologists, His qualification for the Registry
resulted from an examination taken in November 1976.
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BIOLOGICAL MONITORING
SOIL MICROORGANISMS
During this quarter, research was conducted to determine the
feasibility of using a common soil microorganism, Alcaligenes
paradoxus, to determine the availability of toxic materials in
soils to biological systems.
Preliminary tests have shown a relationship between the
activity of this organism and the availability of mercury and
lead. Alaaligenes paradoxus also may be sensitive to sulfur
dioxide.
If further research confirms these findings, microorganisms
of this type eventually may be used as part of simple and low-
cost monitoring systems to determine the extent of ecological
damage caused by toxic chemicals. Monitoring for this kind of
damage is required by the Toxic Substances Control Act.
SMALL MAMMALS
A series of studies to develop a relatively rapid method of
determining the biological availability of toxic substances was
begun. By using various species of small mammals as biological
monitors of environmental pollution, an indication of biological
availability may be determined as the form of the pollutant
changes with time after physical and chemical interaction with
other materials.
In order to be able to select the correct samples to monitor
these changes and to interpret what has occurred, it is necessary
to determine the intestinal absorption, routes of excretion,
blood content, and tissue deposition. Data on the fetal transfer
of various chemical and physical forms of these toxic materials
are also necessary for estimating the relationship between expo-
sure to selected toxic substances and the dose received by fetuses
and infants. Studies are being conducted with rats to provide
such data on lead and cadmium.
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DAIRY COWS
A study of americium uptake, excretion, and tissue retention
in dairy cows was recently conducted at the experimental farm on
the Nevada Test Site. Four lactating cows were used for this
phase of a continuing program to determine the biological trans-
port of transuranic elements. Previous studies have included
work with plutonium as a contaminant and, if the use of nuclear
power is increased, both plutonium and americium are expected to
be produced in greater quantities.
A fundamental objective of these metabolism studies is to
determine what fraction of a dose administered to an animal will
reach edible animal products such as milk, liver, and muscle.
Following either an acute oral dose of 42 millicuries (mCi), or a
singl e intravenous (citrate-buffered) dose of 1 mCi, samples of
milk, blood, urine, and fecal material were collected daily from
the four animals. The cows were sacrificed for tissue collection
approximately 200 hours after dosing.
Americium concentrations in the sample material are being
determined by counting the 60 keV gamma-ray of americium-241
using a phoswich detector. Selected samples will also be pre-
pared for radiochemical analyses. Data are not yet available.
Persons participating in this study were whole-body counted
before and after the study to determine individual plutonium
levels as a result of possible exposure. The phoswich detector
was used as a background check. The results indicated that there
was no detectable contamination in any of these persons.
BEEF CATTLE
The actinide concentrations in selected organ and tissue
samples have been determined for beef cattle sacrificed and
sampled periodically during a 3-year grazing study on a plutonium-
contaminated range of the Nevada Test Site.
Actinide concentrations in the skeletons of the cows origi-
nally introduced into the study areas showed little increase with
increased time of exposure, while those of animals born in the
study areas showed a continued upward trend with time.
The plutonium-239/americium-241 ratios found in tissue and
ingesta samples suggest little differentiation in the uptake of
these radionuclides. However, the plutonium-239/plutonium-238
ratios indicate that plutonium-238 is more readily absorbed.
Gonadal actinide concentrations were significantly higher than
those found in the blood and muscle samples and approached those
measured in bone samples.
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These data indicate that in estimating human exposure con-
sideration should be given to the plutonium-239 dose to the
gonads as well as that to the bone, liver, and lungs.
MULE DEER
During the summer of 1976, 11 mule deer captured on the
Nevada Test Site were outfitted with radio transmitters and
released. Their movements were monitored during weekly ground
and biweekly aerial surveys to determine their migratory behavior.
Some of the deer began to migrate in December and by early
March, only three of the deer remained in the general vicinity of
their capture on Rainier Mesa. The other eight deer migrated to
the Timber Mountain and Forty Mile Canyon areas of the Nevada
Test Site. My mid-March, two of the three remaining deer had
also migrated to these areas. The study is sponsored by the U.S.
Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) and is
being carried out in cooperation with the Nevada Department of
Fish and Game.
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MONITORING SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT
The Laboratory is preparing a Western Energy/Environment
Monitoring Atlas to present an overview of five minor drainage
basins in the Western Energy Resource Development Area. It will
give policy makers at EPA and State levels a regional perspective
of the impacts of the pattern of energy-dedicated land use on
environmental quality. Resource development, basin morphometry
and available monitoring stations within each are are included,
with additional sections devoted to discussion of water quality
parameters and data.
The purpose of the Atlas is to synthesize monitoring infor-
mation into an integrated format wherein both the geographical
pattern of sources and the geographical extent of media quality
(air, land and water) can be displayed. While information of
air, surface and ground water quality and land character in the
vicinity of each distinct source of energy-related pollution is
important, how the overall pattern of energy development is
affecting and will affect environmental quality is the key ques-
tion to be answered. The Atlas, scheduled for publication this
summer, will be updated annually and will enable planners to
place local energy-related environmental trends in a balanced
regional context.
CARCINOGENS
In October 1976, the Las Vegas Laboratory was assigned
responsibility for part of a study to develop a monitoring system
for assessing the movement and potential exposure of critical
receptors to environmental carcinogens.
Using existing data bases, counties in the United States
were ranked in two ways. One ranking was by production capacity
of primary organic chemicals that appear in the list of suspected
carcinogens published by the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health (NIOSH). This list includes such chemicals as
formaldehyde, benzene, carbon tetrachloride and phenol. The
other ranking was by cancer mortality rate between 1950 and 1969
for selected cancer types.
Statistically significant positive correlations have been
found between benzene and phenol production capacity and mortal-
ity rate from lung cancer in white and non-white males and also
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between benzene production capacity and the mortality rate for
breast cancer in non-white females.
Counties that produce benzene and carbon tetrachloride had
significantly higher cancer rates in white males for the large
intestine, the rectum, and the lung compared to randomly selected
adjacent counties. The results indicated significantly elevated
lung cancer rates in counties that produce phenol and
formaldehyde.
Also, significant correlation coefficients were found for
total cancer incidence and total chemical production for all of
the chemicals studied for both white and non-white males. A
complete description of the study and a report on the results of
this preliminary analysis of the data are being prepared.
PHOTOCHEMICAL OXIDANTS
The Tampa Bay, Florida, Photochemical Oxidant Study, which
begins April 1, is expected to show whether additional air pollu-
tion control measures are needed to meet air quality standards in
the Tampa Bay area. This study is a cooperative effort between
EPA, the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission,
the Manatee County Health Department, the Pinellas County Depart-
ment of Environmental Management, the St. Petersburg Environ-
mental Affairs Department and the Sarasota County Department of
Environmental Control.
Photochemical oxidants result from complex atmospheric
reactions involving hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides in the
presence of sunlight. Oxidants are irritating to the respiratory
tract and can damage vegetation.
An intensive field monitoring program and an air quality
network have been established to collect data for the validation
of a photochemical oxidant model for the Tampa Bay area. This
network consists of 25 meteorological stations, 17 ozone monitors,
8 oxides of nitrogen monitors, 7 hydrocarbons monitors, 1 tether-
sonde station and 1 hydrocarbon grab-sample network. The Labora-
tory's responsibility is to act as technical director for the
network monitoring, to provide data analysis, to validate the
photochemical model, and to provide meteorological scenarios to
assess oxidant concentrations under selected meteorological
regimes.
GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
An exposure/dose assessment study is being conducted to
establish baseline concentrations of selected elements in tissue
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of the fauna of the Imperial Valley, California, and Roosevelt
Hot Springs, Utah. Collections are made as part of an effort to
design suitable environmental monitoring techniques for geother-
mal resource developments. On a recent trip to the Imperial
Valley, samples of blood and hair were taken from beef cattle.
Eggs, feathers and feed samples were obtained from local poultry
production facilities. The sampling of beef cattle will be
emphasized in this study. However, game birds, resident water-
fowl, and poultry products may be sampled on a limited basis.
All collections are being analyzed at the Las Vegas Laboratory.
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EQUIPMENT AND TECHNIQUES DEVELOPMENT
GAMMA SPECTROSCOPY
A sophisticated gamma spectroscopy system which reduces
manual data handling and provides a more reliable means of data
transfer for large-scale computer processing became operational
this quarter.
The system uses three high-speed mini-computers, each with
dedicated functions. Two of the computers control data acquisi-
tion and display on a TV-like screen, while the third computer
handles all programming and storage. The computers communicate
with each other over an electrical data highway at a speed that
is 6.5 times faster than any conventional system available.
The new system can handle data acquisition from eight inde-
pendent gamma detectors at rates up to 250,000 nuclear events per
second. A rapid data rate such as this could not be handled in
conventional systems.
During sample analysis, analytical data are stored directly
in the computer memory and are later transferred to magnetic
tape. The record on tape contains all necessary sample identifi-
cation codes and experimental parameters along with the raw data;
thus the raw data can always be located for each sample. The
tape records can then be processed by computer to reduce the data
and to generate all of the required reports.
Although the entire system is now dedicated to gamma spec-
tral analyses, future expansions will allow the incorporation of
many other types of nuclear radiation counting instrumentation.
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
The FAMULUS information management system, which was devel-
oped by the U.S. Forestry Service for storing and retrieving
information, was used extensively this quarter for processing
cross-check program data.
Summary reports have been prepared for EPA Regions I, VII,
and X, and for the Las Vegas Laboratory. The Laboratory's sum-
mary report is a typical example of the capability of the system
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and the manpower savings possible. For this report, all of the
Laboratory's historical data were rearranged by study type and
sorted both by isotope and date. To accomplish this, the com-
puter had to search about 28,000 individual laboratory reports
and select the data needed for each listing.
Since the inception of the cross-check program, about
30,000 isotope measurement reports have been received from
133 laboratories. About 15 minutes was required to prepare the
computer instructions, and about 15 minutes of computer time was
required to search the files for the Las Vegas Laboratory data,
rearrange it in the desired sequence, and print it.
ALPHA PARTICLE DETECTION
A one-pi alpha particle detector, similar to one being used
by the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), has been fabricated
and is currently being installed in the Laboratory for use on
quality assurance programs. This instrument will permit more
precise measurements of alpha-emitting radioactive sources.
REMOTE SENSING TECHNIQUES
The Laboratory has published a report outlining its method
for using the new Daedalus DS-1260 multispectral scanner system
and the new Data Analysis System computer. This new system, to
be operational in the next quarter, will be more efficient,
accurate and reliable than the current system for processing
thermal pollution data.
Application of aerial multispectral techniques for quantita-
tive determination of turbidity is proceeding. The Rapid Scan-
ning Spectrometer system was installed in a helicopter and is
operational. A 6-month data collection project is being planned,
including the processing of water samples by the Laboratory.
Efforts are underway to optimize the Laboratory's Image
Analysis System (IAS) by upgrading present equipment and inte-
grating applicable techniques and equipment used in other systems.
Standard off-the-shelf equipment was surveyed and a report pre-
pared by a contractor which documents recommended equipment to be
integrated into the IAS.
The development of environmental keys is an ongoing and
continuous program. Currently the Laboratory's Environmental
Photographic Interpretation Complex at Vint Hill, Virginia, is
working on keys that will aid in monitoring damage to vegetation
by sulfur dioxide from coal-fired power plants.
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Also, a prototype key for detecting and identifying leachate
from landfills is nearing completion. It was developed both from
in-house programs and a research and development program con-
ducted for EPA by Cornell University. Also in the final stages
is a key detailing real and potential pollution problems in a
major harbor area.
The Light Aircraft Sensor Pod (Enviro-Pod) has been certi-
fied by the Federal Aviation Administration and is undergoing
preliminary tests. The first familiarization test was completed
at Manassas Airport March 15.
Laboratory measurements of fluorescent spectra of selected
water pollutants were completed on water samples taken from Lakes
Mead and Mohave and the Atchafalaya Basin to correlate total
organic carbon and fluorescence. The project dealing with the
search for changes in fluorescent spectra from plants stressed
from various air pollutants has not yielded data which would
support a full-scale greenhouse study. Plants have been exposed
to ozone, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, with only nitrogen
dioxide exhibiting any changes in the fluorescent spectra, and
that only a change in magnitude.
Laboratory studies were completed on determining the absorp-
tion characteristics of candidate tracer gases to be ultimately
monitored using differential absorption techniques. A sulfur
dioxide remote sensor based on ultraviolet differential absorp-
tion techniques was designed.
A computer model simulating LIDAR returns from plumes has
been written and will be used to test various display configura-
tions. A microprocessor-based data readout station has been
assembled, including supportive software which reads digital
LIDAR tapes and displays the data on a color cathode ray tube.
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MONITORING
AIR
Continuous data collection for the Hawaii Power Plant Study
has been underway for 2 months. The first performance survey by
the contractor is complete, an operations manual has been com-
pleted, and preliminary data processing routines have been pre-
pared. Three ground stations are operating on Maui and addi-
tional stations are to be located at Kahe point. This study is
designed to collect ambient sulfur dioxide and particulate data,
as well as meteorological data, in the downwind vicinity of
two fuel oil-fired electrical generating plants. The data col-
lected will be used to validate a dispersion model for each plant
location.
All data have been collected for the Anaconda, Montana,
Smelter Study, begun on October 1, 1976. The purpose of the
study is to measure plume rise, horizontal and vertical disper-
sion coefficients, and centerline concentrations of the stack
plume from the smelter and to obtain ground level sulfur dioxide
concentrations averaged over 3- to 24-hour periods during times
when the plume is at or near the surface of elevated terrain in
the vicinity of the smelter. Aerial data collection was done
with the Laboratory's H-34 helicopters equipped with air quality
and 3-dimensional positioning equipment. Ground level sulfur
dioxide measurements were made using a system designed to be
transported by sling with one of the UH-1 helicopters. The
ground system was designed to be moved quickly to any location
where the visible plume could be seen striking the elevated
terrain which surrounds the smelter. This system ceased opera-
tion on February 28 after sampling 17 sites. Data collected are
now being compiled and processed.
Collection and processing of air quality data in the Williams
Air Force Base air pollution monitoring project will continue
into the summer. This study was begun on June 1, 1976, with a
five-station air quality monitoring network conducted in coopera-
tion with the U.S. Air Force Civil Engineering Center and the
Argonne National Laboratory to test the ability of existing air
quality simulation models to estimate the air quality impact of
airport emissions. One-hour averaged data tapes have been gener-
ated for October, November and December 1976 and acoustic sounder
data have been brought up to date.
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RADIATION
Whole-body counts were made on 62 residents (20 families) to
measure body burdens of radioactive contamination in off-site
residents who may have been exposed to radioactivity from nuclear
testing activities at the Nevada Test Site. Radiation levels
detected have not been any different from those found in the
general population.
In the projects to determine the areal distribution of
Plutonium around the Nevada Test Site, 104 air samples were
collected to investigate the possibility of resuspension by high
winds. An additional 105 soil samples were collected to fill
gaps in, and extend the coverage of, the off-site soil survey.
Special soil samples collected from a box canyon northeast of the
Nevada Test Site showed about twice as much plutonium in soil
collected from the wash as from the canyon sides. Runoff water
and sediment collected from Forty Mile Canyon showed no evidence
of hydraulic movement of plutonium. An updated report of pluto-
nium trends in air and distribution in soil was presented at the
March 1977 meeting of the Nevada Applied Ecology Group.
A special project was conducted to measure airborne tritium
in the vicinity of a waste storage area in Area 15 of the Nevada
Test Site. Although tritium concentrations as high as
35,000 picocuries per cubic meter were measured at the storage
area, no tritium related to this storage was detected off-site.
Several refinements in the dosimetry program have provided
improved accuracy of exposure dose measurements and increased the
ability to detect small increases above background exposure. An
evaluation of data from thermoluminescent dosimeters revealed
that an incorrect value had been used to calibrate the high
temperature conditions prevailing at most of the stations during
the summer. An improved predictive model was developed to pro-
vide a more precise estimate of expected background at a given
station for the current quarter of exposure.
WATER
Final data collection for the energetics phase of the Atcha-
falaya Basin, Louisiana, Water and Land Quality Management Study
was completed. Intensive sampling of selected management units
and major inlets and outlets was conducted on a monthly basis
using small boats. A helicopter sampling team collected samples
from 120 sites established through the Basin during four 10-day
surveys to provide synoptic water quality data. Pesticide sam-
ples were collected at four sites in a management unit which
receives extensive agricultural drainage. The samples are being
analyzed for pesticides at the EPA facility at the National Space
Technology Laboratory in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
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The staff of the Laboratory's Baton Rouge field station will
initiate an investigation of spoil disposal sites in April. This
study will provide a basis for evaluating the relative suitabil-
ity, location and nature of habitat types to save as dredge spoil
deposition areas. Such suitability will be defined in terms of
minimal impact upon water quality, internal water circulation and
management unit integrity.
A project to develop LANDSAT satellite data application for
determining the trophic state of freshwater lakes is scheduled to
be completed this summer. The accuracy of the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory LANDSAT lake-image extractions has been checked and
forwarded to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for
verification. Correlation and regression analyses have been
performed on LANDSAT data and lake sampling and measurement data
for 11 of 31 proposed baseline lakes.
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QUALITY ASSURANCE
An agreement to identify and establish conditions under
which the EPA will provide the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC) with certain quality assurance services under the EPA
National Quality Assurance Program has been finalized. On
March 17, NRC personnel were briefed by Laboratory personnel on
what is available through the program and how it is administered.
In particular, the implementation of the EPA/NRC interagency
agreement, the Radioactivity Standards Distribution Program, and
the Environmental Radioactivity Laboratory Intercomparison Stud-
ies Program were discussed.
A study of the effects of time and sample preservation
techniques on the results of nutrient analyses has been initiated
at the Las Vegas Laboratory. This study will focus on phospho-
rus*, Kjeldahl nitrogen, ammonia, alkalinity, and nitrate-plus-
nitrite analyses. Some 700 samples are expected to be analyzed
for the study.
Three methods are being evaluated for the analysis of
radium-228 in response to the standards set by EPA in the Interim
Primary Drinking Water Regulations (Federal Register, July 9,
1976). The best of three methods with respect to analytical
precision and accuracy as well as ease of performance will be
recommended as the EPA reference method.
Final reports were issued to participants in the Environ-
mental Radioactivity Laboratory Intercomparison Studies Program
for five different cross-check analyses; October - gamma in
water, and tritium in water; November - milk, gross alpha and
gross beta in water, and food. The types of cross-check analyses
and the number of participating laboratories during this quarter
are shown in the following table.
* dissolved, total dissolved and total
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Type of Cross-Check
January
February
March
Air Filter	—	—	67
Gamma in water	—	72
Gross alpha and gross
beta in water	61	—	77
Milk	64	—	80
Radium-226 in water	—	—	39
Tritium in urine	—	--	19
Tritium in water	—	64
Food	—	27
Krypton-85 in air	19

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TECHNICAL SUPPORT
ERDA
Laboratory support provided to the U.S. Energy Research and
Development Administration (ERDA-funded programs) included the
following analyses:
Quantity Analysis
100
Iron-55
44
Gross alpha and beta

in water
3,788
Gross beta on air

filters
30
Radium-226
38
Tritium-enrichment
140
Krypton
89
Plutonium
Quantity Analysis
74 Strontium-89 and -90
100 Ge (Li) Gamma
Spectroscopy
2,678 Nal Gamma Spectroscopy
334	Tritium-routine
140	Xernon
140	Tritiated Methane
2	Uranium
EFA-0RP
Laboratory support provided for the Office of	Radiation
Programs-Las Vegas Facility included the following analyses:
Quantity Analysis	Quantity	Analysis
131
Radium-226
66
Radium-228
64
Lead-210
9
Gross alpha



in water
27
Radon-222
109
Uranium
108
Thorium
37
Polonium
99
Nal Gamma Spectroscopy


EPA-RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK
Mr. Edward Schuck, Chief of the Monitoring Systems Design
and Analysis Staff, and Dr. Robert Kinnison of the Quality Assur-
ance Branch, both of the Laboratory's Monitoring Systems Research
and Development Division, were detailed to the Criteria and
Special Studies Office of the Health Effects Research Laboratory,
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, during the week of
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February 14 to serve on a committee revising the "Air Quality
Criteria for Atmospheric Lead" document.
era-office OF SOLID WASTES MANAGEMENT
During this quarter, partial deliveries were made of aerial
photographic imagery in the ongoing non-point source inventory of
Newcastle County, Delaware, and Gloucester County, New Jersey.
The imagery included non-point source inventories using annotated
overlays to 7£-minute quad sheets and photographs showing site
conditions of active and abandoned landfills.
EPA REGION I
Aerial photographic imagery covering the extent of algae
growth and watershed non-point source contribution to Machang
Pond, West and Quinsigaimond Rivers and landfill leaching into
Webster Lake in central Massachusetts was collected and delivered.
Imagery was also collected to determine the extent of algae
growth in lakes, erosion/sedimentation into the Royal and Stroud-
water watershed, and to locate and delineate landfill leachate
springs in Maine.
Photographs were taken of 13 landfill sites in metropolitan
Boston for use in preparing an environmental impact statement on
the upgrading of the Metropolitan District wastewater system.
Also in Massachusetts, an emergency response aerial survey was
completed to document a Nantucket oil spill and a Buzzards Bay
oil spill.
In Berlin, New Hampshire, imagery was collected and analyzed
to determine the extent of vegetation damage as a result of air
emissions of sulfur dioxide from a paper manufacturing plant.
In support of the Spill Prevention Control and Countermea-
sures Program (SPCC), 23 bulk oil storage facilities in the
Region were surveyed. Color photography was collected to deter-
mine the absence or adequacy of secondary containment, potential
spill threats and other hazardous conditions within each facility.
Two surveys of power plants were completed. These included
photographic display of thermal discharges from power generating
stations and isothermal contour plots of discharges from certain
power generating facilities.
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REGION II
Aerial surveys were conducted along the Hudson River in New
York to determine the location and extent of oil spilled from a
ruptured barge.
REGION III
Photographic support and analysis were completed in defining
the extent of an oil spill in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania. Imagery
also showed broken or ineffective oil transfer booms and indi-
cated effects of the spill on wildlife.
Ice conditions along rivers in the Pittsburg area were
surveyed at the Region's request to aid in contingency planning.
REGION IV
Preliminary field investigations by a variety of personnel
in the fall of 1975 reported widespread plant damage in Mountain
View, Georgia, underneath flight patterns of aircraft landing and
departing from the Atlanta International Airport. There were
also numerous complaints by local residents about unproductive
plant growth and soil sterility. Pathological analysis of plant
specimens collected in October 1975 indicated that the observed
damage was similar to that caused by acid-behaving compounds.
An investigation was initiated at the Region's request to
determine the extent, source, and cause of this plant damage.
During January 1976, large numbers of soil samples were collected
in the vicinity of the Atlanta International Airport. They were
examined for jet fuel residue, microbial activity, germination
capability, and plant growth potential. No fuel residues were
found and no other abnormalities were detected in these soils.
Experimental vegetation plots were established and sown with
seven species of cultivated garden plants commonly used to indi-
cate various types of air pollutants at selected sites in Mountain
View. These plants, in addition to other native and cultivated
species collected in the immediate vicinity, showed no growth
abnormalities nor any physical damage. Also, analysis of these
plant tissues did not indicate the presence of fuel residues of
any other petroleum-based compounds that had been deposited on or
incorporated into the tissues by root absorption.
Fumigation studies in the laboratory using a variety of
plant species did show that jet fuels could produce injuries to
the foliar portions. These injuries, which were observed within
a relatively short time after exposure, were similar to those
observed on the vegetation growing in Mountain View in 1975.
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Investigations concerning the identification and residence
time of fuels in soils showed that jet fuel could readily be
differentiated from gasoline and diesel fuel by gas chromato-
graphy, but was similar in many respects to fuel oils. After
deposition on soils, the residence times for most of the fuels
tested are relatively long as fuel identification was readily
made after a 5-week period. Results also indicated that jet
fuels are relatively immobile once they are incorporated in the
soil; tests showed that the vertical movement of jet fuels in the
soil profile is minimal.
Air monitoring at 11 different locations throughout Mountain
View using high-volume Gelman-Tempest air samplers showed the
presence of the jet fuels, AF001 and DM-12. The presence of
these fuels at each of the sampling sites occurred intermittently
over the 5-month sampling period with the greatest length of
exposure occurring directly under the flight paths. The site of
highest fuel exposure in 1976 was also located in the same area
where the greatest amount of plant damage occurred in 1975.
Results of a supporting ambient air monitoring study showed
that the Federal guidelines for hydrocarbons were exceeded 95% of
the time in late spring of 1976, but that Federal nitrogen diox-
ide and carbon monoxide standards were not exceeded. This condi-
tion was believed to be the result of uncombusted fuel.
In Alabamasurveys were conducted to determine the extent
of residual naptha from barge spills into the Mobile River and
into the Black Warrior River. Photographic imagery depicting
population density and land use in Guilford County, North Carolina,
was provided to the Region.
EPA REGION V
Historical and new imagery were used to determine trends in
beach erosion before and after construction of a power plant and
breakwater in Eastlake, Ohio.
In support of the SPCC, reports were prepared on oilfield
storage facilities in southern Illinois. The reports included
data on fuel capacity, containment provisions, height of revet-
ments and indications of spill.
EPA REGION VI
An air photo documentary of a dike break in an Uranium mil1
waste lagoon in Grants, New Mexico, was completed. Also a survey
was completed to verify and provide a positive record of flow in
an intermittent stream resulting from industrial discharges into
Whitewater Creek.
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Descriptions were provided of a probable source of salt
water which contaminates a lake in Hamlin, in west Texas.
EPA REGION VII
An aerial survey was conducted to locate and determine the
safety of oil barges locked into ice jams along 30 miles of the
Mississippi River.
Also in Region VII, a power plant thermal survey was com-
pleted. Two separate coverages were performed to determine
whether two nuclear and one fossil fuel power plants are exceed-
ing mixing zone limitations specified in their National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System permits.
EPA REGION VIII
Color and color infrared imagery of 90 strip mines in the
western United States were provided to the Region. Other surveys
conducted in the Region include:
a land use analysis of agriculture activity which was
depicted on overlays to quad maps.
•	a determination of harvest practices and other silvicul-
ture activities and their effects on surrounding areas.
Data include indications of stream channel stability,
sediment turbidity, temperature change.
•	a bulk oil storage inventory and description of potential
spill conditions, and an outfall inventory to determine
non-filer discharges.
At the request of the Region and the North Dakota State
Water Commission, land use information was collected in the
Devil's Lake Basin to be used in developing a comprehensive water
resource plan.
The special Water Quality Study of Lake Powell and the San
Juan River is nearing completion. The third and final sampling
effort was conducted in March. The final report is scheduled for
July 1. This study was initiated at the request of Region VIII
to help assess the impact of present and proposed energy resources
development in the Four Corners area upon the river and the Lake
Powell area by establishing baseline water quality data and
defining major pollutant source areas.
At the request of Region VIII, an off-site evaluation of the
U.S. Geodetic Survey Central Laboratory at Denver, Colorado, was
performed by personnel of the Environmental Monitoring and Support
22

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Laboratory-Corvallis and the Las Vegas Laboratory on January 10
through 12. The evaluation included staffing, facilities, equip-
ment, quality assurance program responsibilities, and general
laboratory operations. The radiological portion of the on-site
evaluation was conducted by Mr. David G. Easterly of the Las
Vegas Laboratory.
EPA REGION IX
The Laboratory performed 115 analyses of lead in gasoline in
support of Region IX.
An SPCC reconnaissance of the San Francisco Bay area was
conducted and a survey of activity at the Kennecott copper smelter
in Nevada was completed.
EPA REGION X
A pre-certification briefing was conducted by the Quality
Assurance personnel of the Laboratory for State personnel from
EPA Region X on January 11 and 12. The briefing covered the
Interim Drinking Water Regulations, how these regulations will be
implemented, and the respective roles of the EPA and the States.
The Laboratory certification criteria and procedures and how they
would be used in implementing the Interim Drinking Water Regula-
tions were also discussed. The methodologies for the determina-
tion of gross alpha and beta activities, tritium, strontium-90,
radium-226, and radium-228 in environmental waters were described
along with the instrument systems needed and their associated
costs and physical requirements. In addition, the standards and
the laboratory evaluation procedures needed which are available
from the Las Vegas Laboratory were itemized.
EPA PUBLICATIONS
El-Sheikh, A. S., G. A. Abdel-Kader, S. 0. Amin, and R. E.
Stanley. "Pulmonary Cell Populations in Hamsters Maintained
Under Egyptian Laboratory Conditions." EPA-600/3-77-006.
Quality Assurance Branch. "Environmental Radioactivity
Laboratory Intercomparison Studies Program: FY-1977."
EPA-600/4-77-001.
Rogers, R. D. "Abiological Methylation of Mercury in
Soil." EPA-600/3-77-007.
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PAPERS PRESENTED OR PUBLISHED
The following EMSL-LV papers were presented at the Nevada
Applied Ecology Group (NAEG) Plutonium Information Conference
held at the Marina Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, on March 3, 1977:
"Transuranics in Crops Grown at Ground Zero, Area 13, Nevada
Test Site," by Frederick H. F. Au, Verr D. Leavitt, Werner F.
Beckert, and J. Craig McFarlane.
"The Solubility of Neptunium-234 in an Artificial Rumen and
Simulated Bovine Gastrointestinal Fluids," by Julius Barth.
"Plutonium Retention in Dairy Cows Following Ingestion of
Either In Vitro or In Vivo Labeled Milk," by William W. Sutton,
Robert G. Patzer, Paul B. Hahn, and Gilbert D. Potter.
"Comparisons of Curium-243 and Plutonium-238 Biological
Transport in Dairy Animals Following Intravenous Injection," by
Robert G. Patzer, William W. Sutton, Anita A. Mullen, Stephen R.
Lloyd, Robert E. Mosley, Gilbert D. Potter, and Robert G. Patzer.
"Actinide Concentrations in Tissues from Cattle Grazing a
Contaminated Range," by Donald D. Smith and David E. Bernhardt,
"Environmental Plutonium Levels near the Nevada Test Site,"
by Wayne A. Bliss and Frank M. Jakubowski.
The following EMSL-LV paper was presented at the 1977 Oil
Spill Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, March 7-10, 1977:
"The Detection and Mapping of Oil on a Marshy Area by a
Remote Luminescent Sensor," by J. Craig McFarlane.
24

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MONITORING SYSTEMS
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BRANCHES:
METHODS DEVELOPMENT
AND ANALYTICAL SUPPORT
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EXPOSURE/DOSE
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FARM AND ANIMAL
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DR D.SMITH
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OPERATIONS
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BRANCHES:
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5UAUTY
V. LAMBOU
AIR QUALITY
R EVANS
ENVIRONMENTAL RADUTDN
C. COSTA
AIRCRAFT OPERATIONS
C. DROPP
REMOTE SENSING
DIVISION
DR. S.H. MELFI
BRANCHES:
REMOTE SENSING
OPERATIONS
R. LANDERS, ACTG.
REMOTE MONITORING
METHODS
J. ECKERT
ENVIRONMENTAL
PHOTOGRAPHIC
INTERPRETATION COMPLEX
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LAS VE6AS
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PERSONNEL OFFICE
LAS VEGAS
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REGION IX
LAS VEGAS UNIT
R. CUMMINS

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