Partitioning and Transport Behavior of Pathogen Indicator Organisms at Four Cold Region Solid Waste Sites
Publication: Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
Volume 31, Issue 1
Abstract
Freshwater resources in rural Alaska communities, especially those underlain by permafrost, are particularly vulnerable to impacts from nearby waste facilities. The authors investigated the connection between rural solid waste facilities and transmission of pathogenic organisms into nearby water resources by evaluating the (1) prevalence of pathogen indicators E. coli and Enterococcus sp. proximal to cold region waste facilities, and (2) partitioning behavior of both organisms in a controlled snowmelt lysimeter test. Results reveal that E. coli and Enterococcus sp. preferentially attach to and migrate with soil particles in surface waters and are transported off-site during snowmelt runoff. Enterococcus sp. had higher and more sustained viability in cold environmental conditions than E. coli. E. coli and Enterococcus sp. were found in surface waters and soils in the concentration range of 0.7–3.5 mean log most probably number . All microbial samples indicated strong site-specific variability.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the U.S. EPA Regional Applied Research Effort (RARE) program, the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) National Research Initiative program, the USGS Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI) program, the University of Alaska Anchorage Applied Science, Engineering and Technology (ASET) laboratory, and the University of Alaska Fairbanks Water and Environmental Research Center for funding and support of this research. We would like to specifically dedicate our greatest appreciation to Indian Environmental General Assistance Program representatives Lorraine King, Eric Morris, Nick Carter, Edna Beebe, Clayton Tackett, and Pamela Vent for all their assistance and support, as well as Bill Lee for his geographic information system (GIS) support. This research was previously published as part of the lead author’s Ph.D. dissertation (Mutter 2014).
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Published In
Journal of Cold Regions Engineering
Volume 31 • Issue 1 • March 2017
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 29, 2015
Accepted: Mar 21, 2016
Published online: Jun 17, 2016
Discussion open until: Nov 17, 2016
Published in print: Mar 1, 2017
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