Source: PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to
BENEFICIAL REUSE OF RESIDUALS AND RECLAIMED WATER: IMPACT ON SOIL ECOSYSTEM AND HUMAN HEALTH (FORMERLY W2170)
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1004448
Grant No.
(N/A)
Project No.
PEN04574
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
W-3170
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Oct 1, 2014
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2019
Grant Year
(N/A)
Project Director
Elliott, HE.
Recipient Organization
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
208 MUELLER LABORATORY
UNIVERSITY PARK,PA 16802
Performing Department
Agri & Biological Engineering
Non Technical Summary
As regulations on disposal of contaminants into air and water become increasingly stringent, there is greater interest in using the land for treatment and disposal of an ever-widening array of wastes. An understanding of the reactivity and mobility of pollutants in soil systems is essential for enhancing soil productivity, protecting soil ecosystems and the food chain, and maintaining water quality. Project efforts aim to provide better understanding of how contaminants behave in soil-plant-water systems.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
4030110202050%
1330110200025%
1020110200025%
Knowledge Area
403 - Waste Disposal, Recycling, and Reuse; 133 - Pollution Prevention and Mitigation; 102 - Soil, Plant, Water, Nutrient Relationships;

Subject Of Investigation
0110 - Soil;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering; 2000 - Chemistry;
Goals / Objectives
Evaluate the short- and long-term chemistry and bioavailability of nutrients, potentially toxic inorganic trace elements, and pharmaceuticals and personal care products (TOrCs) in residuals, reclaimed water, and amended soils in order to assess the environmental and health risk-based effects of their application at a watershed scale. Specific tasks: (i) To develop and evaluate in vitro (including chemical speciation) and novel in vivo methods to correlate human and ecological health responses with risk-based bioavailability of trace elements and TOrCs in residuals and residual-treated soils. (ii) Predict the long-term bioavailability and toxicity of trace elements and TOrCs in residual-amended urban, agricultural and contaminated soils. (iii) Evaluate long-term effects of residuals application and reclaimed wastewater irrigation on fate and transport of nutrients, trace elements, TOrCs, and emergence/spread of antibiotic resistance in high application rate systems. (iv) Evaluate plant uptake and ecological effects of potentially toxic trace elements and TOrCs from soils amended with residuals and reclaimed wastewater. Evaluate the uses and associated agronomic and environmental benefits for residuals in agricultural and urban systems. Specific tasks: (i) Evaluate the ability of in situ treatment of contaminated soil with residuals to reduce chemical contaminant bioavailability and toxicity. (ii) Determine the climate change impacts of organic residuals end use options (i.e., C sequestration, N2O emissions). (iii) Quantify sustainability impacts such as water quality (reduced N impairment) and quantity benefits (increased plant available water, increased drought tolerance) and soil quality improvements associated with a range of organic residuals end uses. (iv) Explore the potential for waste by-products to be used in urban areas including urban agriculture, stormwater infrastructure, green roofs, and in urban green space. (v)Evaluate ecosystem services of degraded urban soils amended with residuals. (vi) Use tools such as life cycle assessment to understand and compare the impacts of a range of residuals end use/disposal options.
Project Methods
We are interested in a sceince-based understanding of the fate of trace inorganic and organic contaminants in residuals and wastewater effluents that have been applied to land. Methods include adsorption experiences, column leaching experiments, and quantification of contaminant levels in soil and aquatic systems impacted by waste disposal activities. Impacts of high salinity wastes on plants and soils will also be explored.

Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:The project efforts are aimed at agencies responsible for natural resource management (United States Department of Agriculture, PA Department of Agriculture, State Conservation Commission, NRCS), regulators (PADEP), municipalities dealing with disposal of effluents, biosolids, and water treatment residuals, and industries using the land for residuals disposal and recycling (mining, animal agriculture, composting, mushroom producers). Changes/Problems:This is the final year of a 5-yr project renewal and there were no major project modifications during the final year reporting period. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Technology transfer in the areas of effects of contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) and land-based recycling of residuals has occurred through workshops, seminars, courses, correspondence between professionals, a webinar, and presentations at professional meetings. Results of research work have been disseminated to the scientific community on- and off-campus through reports to the Penn State Office of Physical Plant (OPP) Wastewater Management Committee, professional conferences (Water Environment Federation, American Geophysical Union, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, the Northeastern Agricultural and Biological Engineering Conference, Environmental & Water Resources Institute Conference, and the Pennsylvania Groundwater Symposium). Results of some of the antibiotic work and hormone were published and were then publically promoted by the Journal of Environmental Quality as "Research Highlights". Additional news stories regarding CEC research have been released through Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, with at least 10 press releases over the past 5 years. Research results were published in the Journal of Environmental Quality (JEQ), Agricultural Water Management, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment (AGEE), Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, Science of the Total Environment (STOTEN) and Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE). Results of some sensor development work to measure stress under water limited conditions were disseminated to the scientific community through professional conferences. Results of soil, plant, and well water antibiotic concentrations were reported to the OPP wastewater committee and through professional conferences (SSSA and ACS). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1: a) Three vernal pools impacted by spray-irrigated wastewater effluent were studied to assess the impact of weekly irrigation on the occurrence, persistence, and fate of estrogens (17alpha- and 17beta-estradiol, estrone, estriol, and ethinylestradiol) during an 8-week study. Nearly 100% of the daily samples (n>130) collected contained estrogens, and the concentrations were several times higher compared to the wastewater. Data suggest transformation of estrone back to 17alpha- and 17beta-estradiol potentially due to anaerobic conditions in the vernal pools. b) Measured uptake of antibiotics by wheat irrigated by wastewater revealed the concentrations in grain are six orders of magnitude below a single therapeutic dose based on the average daily wheat consumption of 166 g per adult. c) Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), such as carbamazepine, estrogens, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, ofloxacin) were quantified in soils, monitoring wells, and plants at a site receiving treated wastewater since 1983. Evidence indicates an increase in antibiotic resistance in soil microorganisms exposed long-term to wastewater antibiotics. Pharmaceuticals were detected in site groundwater wells; however, concentrations were typically 100x lower than in the effluent, suggesting that the site soil acts as an effective biogeochemical filter. Risk calculations suggest effluent CEC levels pose moderate to high risk to aquatic organisms but minimal risk for humans drinking groundwater. d) Pennsylvania is currently promoting riparian buffers, such as vegetated filter strips (VFSs), to reduce nutrient/sediment loads from ag runoff. A model coupling field-scale water balance and process-based VFS sediment-trapping was developed models to test whether the simple average of event-specific removal efficiencies differs from a load-weighted Simulation results suggest ignoring temporal inequality can lead to overestimation of VFS annual performance by < 2% and to as much as > 20%, with greatest disparities observed for high clay soils. e) Well water samples were collected from 26 households in the West Branch Susquehanna River Basin and tested for 7 pharmaceuticals. The detection frequencies were: ofloxacin (100%), sulfamethoxazole (58%), caffeine and ampicillin (46%), and acetaminophen and trimethoprim (12%) whereas naproxen was not detected in any sample. Concentrations and detection frequencies were not correlated with well depth but were related to compound biodegradation half-life and mobility in soil. Risk quotients for human health were found to be either low or moderate for the average concentrations detected across the wells. However, the highest concentrations of caffeine detected posed high risks to infant health if the water were to be used for making infant formula. f) The potential benefits of shallow-disk injection (compared to surface broadcasting) for reducing the mass of hormones and veterinary antibiotics in surface runoff follow application of dairy manure were assessed. Ten natural surface runoff events were sampled for hormones, and the results suggested that shallow disk injection reduced the mass of hormones transported during surface runoff by 400 times. Veterinary antibiotics transported during surface runoff during rainfall simulation experiments found that the mass of antibiotics transported from plots that received manure via shallow disk injection were ~4 times lower than from plots that received dairy manure via surface broadcasting. Overall, the results suggest that shallow disk injection of dairy manure can substantially reduce the potential environmental impacts of hormones and antibiotics. Objective 2: Biosolids were placed in trenches (at 386 Mg per ha) and hybrid poplar were planted in the cover soil. Two downgradient monitoring wells monitored for 1 year suggest no impact from the biosolids. For biosolids trenching, biosolids should be applied into plow-layer depth soils to facilitate growth of poplars and surface-cover vegetation to reduce erosional losses. A greenhouse study was conducted to establish thresholds for negative effects on vegetation and soils from Marcellus Shale production water. The salinity threshold for negative effects on grasses (fescue and ryegrass) was an electrical conductivity of about 40 mS per cm for a single spill with periodic small rain events. A greenhouse study conducted with high copper biosolids revealed that ryegrass did not experience phytotoxicity due to the neutral soil pH conditions. Odor detection threshold (DT) was used to investigate relationships between odor and biosolids properties/treatment technologies. Low odor was associated with high Fe content, thermal hydrolysis of solids, belt-press dewatering, and blending with wood products. A regression model revealed that DT is most influenced by biosolids methionine level, respiratory activity, total solids, total volatile solids, and total S and Al contents. Measured versus predicted log-DT had an R-squared of 0.66 with all data falling within the 95% prediction interval.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kibuye, F.A., H.E. Gall, K.R. Elkin, B. Swistock, T.L. Veith, J.E. Watson, and H.A. Elliott. 2019. Occurrence, concentrations, and risks of pharmaceutical compounds in private wells in Central Pennsylvania. Journal of Environmental Quality. 48(4):1057-1066. DOI:10.2134/jeq2018.08.0301
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kibuye, F.A., H. E. Gall, K.R Elkin, B. Ayres, Tamie L. Veith, M. Miller, S. Jacobs, K.R. Hayden, J. E. Watson, and H.A. Elliott. 2019. Fate of pharmaceuticals in a spray-irrigation system: From wastewater to ground water. Science of the Total Environment. 654: 197-208. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.10.442
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Miller, M. D., H. E. Gall, A.R. Buda, L. S. Saporito, T. L. Veith, C. M. White, C. F. Williams, K. J. Brasier, P. J. A. Kleinman, J. E. Watson. 2019. Load  discharge relationships reveal the efficacy of manure application practices on phosphorus and total solids losses from agricultural fields. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 272:19-28. DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2018.11.001
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Sharma, S., H.E. Gall, J. Gironas, and A. Mej�a. 2019. Seasonal hydro climatic ensemble forecasts anticipate nutrient and suspended sediment loads using a dynamical-statistical approach. Environmental Research Letters, 14: 084016 DOI:10.1088/1748-9326/ab2c26
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2019 Citation: Veith, T.L., H.E. Gall, K.R. Elkin. 2019. Characterizing transport of natural and anthropogenic constituents in a long-term agricultural watershed in the northeastern U.S. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. In press.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kibuye, F.A., H.E. Gall, T.L. Veith, K.R. Elkin, J.P. Harper, H.A. Elliott, and J.E. Watson. 2019. Seasonal variations of emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) in drinking water sources in the Susquehanna River Basin. ASABE Paper No. 1901742. St. Joseph, MI. 16pp. DOI: 10.13031/aim.201901742.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Jiang, F., H.E. Gall, T. L. Veith, R. Cibin, and P. Drohan. 2019. Assessment of riparian buffers effectiveness in controlling nutrient and sediment loads as a function of buffer design, site characteristics and upland loadings. ASABE Paper No. 1901516. 11pp. DOI: 10.13031/aim.201901516.


Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:The project efforts are aimed at agencies responsible for natural resource management (United States Department of Agriculture, PA Department of Agriculture, State Conservation Commission, NRCS), regulators (PADEP), municipalities dealing with disposal of effluents, biosolids, and water treatment residuals, and industries using the land for residuals disposal and recycling (mining, animal agriculture, composting, mushroom producers). Changes/Problems:This is the fourth year of a 5-yr project renewal and there are no major project modifications during the reporting period. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Severalundergraduate and graduate students were involved in project research. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Technology transfer in the area of land-based recycling of residuals has occurred through workshops, seminars, courses, correspondence between professionals, a webinar, and presentations at professional meetings. Results of research work have been disseminated to the scientific community on and off campus through reports to OPP committee for management of wastewater effluent, professional conferences (Water Environment Federation, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, and the Northeastern Agricultural and Biological Engineering Conference). Results of some of the antibiotic work were published and were then publically promoted by the Journal of Environmental Quality through media outlets. Results of other studies were published in the Journal of Environmental Quality, Agricultural Water Management, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, and Journal of Visualized Experiments. Results of some sensor development work to measure stress under water limited conditions were disseminated to the scientific community through professional conferences. Results of soil, plant, and well water antibiotic concentrations were reported to the OPP wastewater committee and through professional conferences (SSSA and ACS). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Reuse of residuals is often prevented by odor complaints. Odor detection threshold (DT) was used to investigate relationships between odor and biosolids properties/treatment technologies. The mean log-DT for 16 biosolids was 2.81 and ranged from 2.1 to 3.51. Low odor was associated with high Fe content, thermal hydrolysis of solids, belt-press dewatering, and blending with wood products. A regression model was used to examine the relationship between biosolids parameters and log-DT. Parameters with the most influence on log-DT were methionine level, respiratory activity, total solids, total volatile solids, and total S and Al contents. A plot of measured versus predicted log-DT had an R-squared of 0.66 with all data falling within the 95% prediction interval. Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), such as carbamazepine, estrogens, sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim, ofloxacin) were quantified in soil. Some have also been quantified in wastewater, monitoring wells, and plants. Initial evidence indicates an increase in antibiotic resistance in soil microorganisms exposed long-term to wastewater antibiotics. Penn State has spray-irrigated all wastewater effluent at a site called the "Living Filter" (∼245 ha) since 1983. However, vernal pools at the site directly receive effluent which contains CECs. Investigation revealed persistence of estrogens above levels known to impact sensitive aquatic organisms (> 1 ng/L), and a range of prescription and over-the-counter medications, including antibiotics, caffeine, and painkillers. Pharmaceuticals (7) were identified in site groundwater monitoring wells; however, concentrations were typically 100x lower than in the effluent, suggesting that the Living Filter acts as an effective biogeochemical filter. Risk calculations suggest effluent CEC levels pose moderate to high risk to aquatic organisms but minimal risk for humans drinking groundwater. To meet EPA-mandated Chesapeake Bay goals, Pennsylvania is currently promoting riparian buffers, such as vegetated filter strips (VFSs), to reduce nutrient/sediment loads from ag runoff. Current knowledge is insufficient to understand short and long-term VFS performance, and current models do not account for the temporal inequality of loads, and thus VFS removal efficiency at an annual time scale may differ from per-event averages reported in literature. We developed a model coupling field-scale water balance and process-based VFS sediment-trapping models to test whether the simple average of event-specific removal efficiencies differs from a load-weighted average evaluated at an annual scale. Using a stochastic approach, we studied the extent of disparity between average efficiencies from each runoff event over 1 yr versus the total annual load reduction. We also examined the effects of soil texture, concentration-discharge relationship, and VFS slope on the disparity, with the goal of revealing potential errors in quantifying VFS performance. Simulation results suggest ignoring temporal inequality can lead to overestimation of annual performance by < 2% and to as much as > 20%, with greatest disparities observed for high clay soils.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2108 Citation: Gall, H.E., D. Schultz, T.L. Veith, S.C. Goslee, A. Mej�a, C.J. Harman, R. Cibin, and P.H. Patterson. 2018. The effects of disproportional load contributions on quantifying vegetated filter strip trapping efficiencies. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment. 32:2369-2380. DOI: 10.1007/s00477-017-1505-x
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Franklin, A.M., C.F. Williams, J.E. Watson. 2018. Assessment of soil to mitigate antibiotics in the environment due to release of wastewater treatment plant effluent. J. Environ. Qual. doi:10.2134/jeq2018.02.0076
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Mina, O., H.E. Gall, J.W. Chandler, J. Harper, M. Taylor. 2017. Continuous hydrologic and water quality monitoring of vernal ponds. Journal of Visualized Experiments. 129:e56466. DOI: 10.3791/56466.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Mina, O., H.E. Gall, H.A. Elliott, J.E. Watson, M.L. Mashtare, T. Langkilde, J.P. Harper, and E.W. Boyer. 2018. Estrogen occurrence and persistence in vernal pools impacted by wastewater irrigation practices. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 257:103-112. DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2018.01.022.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Saha, D., A.R. Kemanian, F. Montes, H.E. Gall, P.R. Adler, B.M. Rau. 2018. Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient reveal hot spots and hot moments for nitrous oxide emissions. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. 123:1-14. DOI: 10.1002/2017JG004041
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Taylor, M., H.A. Elliott, and L.O. Navitsky. 2018. Relationship between total dissolved solids and electrical conductivity in Marcellus hydraulic fracturing fluids. Water Science & Tech. 77(8):1998-2004.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Watson, J.E., Robb, T., Andrews-Brown, D., Miller, M. Wastewater Irrigation Impacts on Soil Hydraulic Conductivity: Coupled Field Sampling and Laboratory Determination of Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity. J. Vis. Exp. (138), e57181, doi:10.3791/57181 (2018).


Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:The project efforts are aimed at agencies responsible for natural resource management (PA Department of Agriculture, State Conservation Commission, NRCS), regulators (PADEP), municipalities dealing with disposal of effluents, biosolids, and water treatment residuals, and industries using the land for residuals disposal and recycling (mining, animal agriculture, composting, mushroom producers). Changes/Problems:This is the third year of a 5-year projectrenewal and there are no major project modifications to report. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has involved 3 undergraduate and5 graduate students who have recevied significant training in data collection, analytical techniques, field work, and statistical analysis of data. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Technology transfer in the area of land-based recycling of residuals has occurred through workshops, seminars, courses, correspondence between professionals, a webinar, and presentations at professional meetings. Results of research work have been disseminated to the scientific community on and off campus through reports to OPP wastewater committee for management of wastewater effluent, professional conferences (Water Environment Federation, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, and the Northeastern Agricultural and Biological Engineering Conference). Results of some of the antibiotic work were published and were then publically promoted by the Journal of Environmental Quality through media outlets. Results of other studies were published in the Journal of Environmental Quality, Agricultural Water Management, Advances in Water Research, and Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. Results of some sensor development work to measure stress under water limited conditions were disseminated to the scientific community through professional conferences. Results of soil, plant, and well water antibiotic concentrations were reported to the OPP wastewater committee and through professional conferences (SSSA and ACS). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Many of the reported results represent on-going research projects that will be continued.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Design irrigation rates for reclaimed water require estimation of the fraction of nitrogen (N) lost to the atmosphere (f). Tabulated design f values are used, but these were developed decades ago when wastewater effluents were higher in total N and dominated by ammonium. Increasingly stringent effluent discharge requirements and the widespread adoption of nitrification-denitrification render the tabulated f values less applicable for current design purposes. A study was conducted to identify the source of anomalously high copper (Cu) in Penn State's biosolids. All other regulated trace elements are low, but the Cu level sometimes exceeds 1500 mg/kg, precluding land based recycling as an exceptional quality (EQ) material according to federal regulations. The source of Cu was determined to be heat exchangers where steam impacts Cu tube bundles. The condensate is softened prior to reuse and Cu-rich reject stream is sewer disposed. A process was designed to remove Cu via precipitation and settling prior to discharge. Assessing stress in plants directly, rather than estimating stress conditions based on soil data, is an ongoing challenge and one that is important to meet as land-based recycling of effluent increases in both humid and arid regions. Both leaf capacitance and leaf thickness measurements were determined using sensors developed. Results were published in appropriate engineering journals. A patent was applied for and discussions were held with potential patent purchasers. Additional collection of soil samples occurred in this past year. Extractions were completed and analyses are being conducted. Soil samples were also prepared for analysis for antibiotic resistance development. Initial data indicates an enhancement in antibiotic resistance in soils irrigated with effluent, when compared with non-irrigated soils. Miscanthus biomass production on mined land and response to nutrient application as inorganic fertilizer or as spent mushroom compost (SMC) is being investigated in a multi-year experiment. Biomass production has increased in each of the first three years since establishment and yield was increased by nutrient addition. In year three the yield response to nutrient addition as SMC was greater than to comparable amounts inorganic fertilizer. While there were some periods when soil N availability was greater with SMC addition than with fertilizer, the difference was not consistent through the growing season and miscanthus N uptake did not differ between nutrient sources.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Mina, O., H. E. Gall, L. Saporito, H.A. Elliott, P.J.A. Kleinman. 2017. Relative role of transport and source-limited controls for estrogen, TDP, and DOC export for two manure application methods. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environ. 247:308-318.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Sendagi, S.M. and H.A. Elliott. 2017. Atmospheric nitrogen loss factor (f) used in determining nitrogen-based municipal wastewater effluent irrigation rates: Design and nitrogen-balance estimated F values. Nutr. Cycl. Agroecosyst. 109:181-191.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Afzal, A., S. Duiker, and J. Watson. 2017. Leaf thickness to predict plant water status. Biosystems Engineering 156:148-156.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Afzal, A., S. Duiker, S., J. Watson, J. and D. Luthe. 2017. Leaf thickness and electrical capacitance as measures of plant water status. Transactions of the ASABE 60 (40), 1063  1074.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2017 Citation: Mina, O., H.E. Gall, J.W. Chandler, J. Harper, M. Taylor. 2017. Continuous hydrologic and water quality monitoring of vernal ponds. JOVE-J. Vis. Exp. (In press).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Ayers, B., K. Elkin, F. Kibuye, H.E. Gall. 2017. Pharmaceuticals at Penn States Living Filter: from wastewater to groundwater. ASABE Paper No. 1700255. St. Joseph, MI.: ASABE.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Tischendorf, Z., R.C. Stehouwer, and M.H. Hall. 2016. Soil nitrogen dynamics and miscanthus yield of an amended, Reclaimed Mine Soil. SSSA Annual Meetings Abstracts, Nov. 6-9, 2016. Phoenix, AZ.


Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:The project efforts are aimed at agencies responsible for natural resource management (PA Department of Agriculture, State Conservation Commission, NRCS), regulators (PADEP), municipalities dealing with disposal of effluents, biosolids, and water treatment residuals, and industries using the land for residuals disposal and recycling (mining, animal agriculture, composting, mushroom producers). Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The project has involved 3 undergraduate and 7 graduate students who have received significant training in data collection, analytical techniques, field work, and statistical analysis of data. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Many of the reported results represent on-going research projects that will be continued.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Miscanthus biomass production on mined land and response to nutrient application as inorganic fertilizer or as spent mushroom compost (SMC) is being investigated in a multi-year experiment. Year two production was greater than year one and in both years yield was increased by nutrient addition. There was no difference in yield response between SMC and inorganic fertilizer. Soil N availability and miscanthus N uptake also did not differ between nutrient sources. A greenhouse study was conducted to establish thresholds for negative effects on vegetation and soils from Marcellus Shale production water (PW). A PW spill assessment decision matrix was developed to guide response to small PW spills. Based on visual observations and soil testing, the matrix provides a framework for choosing between standards remedial action (excavation and landfilling) and natural attenuation. Antibiotic uptake results indicate that there is possibility for uptake of some of the antibiotics by wheat irrigated by wastewater, but the concentrations in grain would indicate that the average daily wheat consumption of 166 g per adult would result in amounts that are six orders of magnitude below a single dose. A 9-month field study was conducted to compare two methods of dairy manure application - surface broadcast and shallow disk injection - on the transport of estrogens in surface runoff. The field study was conducted from October 2014 - June 2015 on 12 research plots, with 10 natural surface runoff events sampled during this period. Overall, the estrogen loads leaving the fields that had received manure applications via shallow disk injection were an average of two orders of magnitude lower than the loads leaving the fields that had received manure via surface broadcast. A 2-month field study was conducted in April - June 2015 to assess the impacts of wastewater irrigation activities on the presence of estrogens in vernal pools at Penn State's Living Filter. High-temporal resolution (2 minute) soil moisture data monitored at 6 depths at 4 locations were assessed to understand the impacts of wastewater irrigation activities on the frequency of preferential flow occurrence. Irrigated sites experienced preferential flow for ~45% of events (where an event is defined as rainfall or an irrigation event) compared to ~25% of rainfall events at the non-irrigated control sites. The HERD model (Hormone Export and Recovery Dynamics) model, a hydrologic and biogeochemical model that predicts the fate and transport of estrogens in tile-drained fields receiving animal residual applications, was developed and validated. The model simulations suggest that the manure application history of a site matters in the ability of the model to adequately predict field observations. Additionally, the simulation results suggest that the long-term application of animal wastes may result in the build-up of legacy sources within the soil profile that could result in a water quality recovery lag time on the order of a few decades, which is similar to nutrient recovery lag times.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Franklin, A.M., C.F. Williams, D.M. Andrews, E.E. Woodward, J.E. Watson. 2016 Uptake of three antibiotics and an anti-epileptic drug by wheat crops spray irrigated with wastewater treatment plant effluent. Journal of Environmental Quality 45:546-554.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Franklin, A.M., D.S. Aga, E. Cytryn, L. Durso, J.E. McLain, A. Pruden, M.C. Roberts, M.J. Rothrock, Jr., D. Snow, J.E. Watson, R.S. Dungan. 2016. Antibiotics in Agroecosystems: Introduction to the Special Section. Journal of Environmental Quality 45:377-393.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Gall, H.E., N.B. Basu, M.L. Mashtare, P.S.C. Rao, L.S. Lee. 2016. Assessing the impacts of anthropogenic and hydro-climatic drivers on estrogen legacies and trajectories. Advances in water Resources 87: 19-28.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hopkins, I., H.E. Gall, H. Lin. 2016. Natural and anthropogenic controls on the frequency of preferential flow occurrence in a wastewater spray irrigation field. Agricultural Water Management In Press. DOI:dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2016.09.011.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2016 Citation: Mina, O., H.E. Gall, L.S. Saporito, P.J.A. Kleinman. 2016. Estrogen transport in surface runoff from agricultural fields treated with two application methods of dairy manure. Journal of Environmental Quality In Press. DOI:10.2134/jeq2016.05.0173.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Tian, G., A.E. Cox, K. Kumar, T.C. Granato, G.A. OConnor, and H.A. Elliott. 2016. Assessment of plant availability and environmental risk of biosolids-phosphorus in a U.S. Midwest Corn-Belt Soil. Journal of Environmental Management 172:171-176.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: International Journal of Rural Law and Policy. 2015 Special Edition 1. UTS ePress. New South Wales. .


Progress 10/01/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:The project efforts are aimed at agencies responsible for natural resource management (PA Department of Agriculture, State Conservation Commission, NRCS), regulators (PADEP), municipalities dealing with disposal of effluents, biosolids, and water treatment residuals, and industries using the land for residuals disposal and recycling (mining, animal agriculture, composting, mushroom producers). Changes/Problems:This the first year of a 5-yr project renewal so there are no major project modifications during the reporting period. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training of several graduate students: J. Gogno, M.S. student, field work, data collection and analysis Laura Navitsky, M.S. student, greenhouse work, data collection and analysis James Banfill, M.S. student, field work, sample analysis, data analysis and interpretation E. Woodward, PhD. student, soil sampling and extraction, thesis development, manuscript preparation, statistical analyses, results presentation. A. Franklin. M.S. student, soil sampling and extraction, microbial analysis, thesis development, manuscript preparation, statistical analyses, results presentation. Z. Tischendorf, M.S. student, field work, sample analysis, data analysis and interpretation, thesis development. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Technology transfer in the area of land-based recycling of residuals has occurred through workshops, seminars, courses, a webinar, and presentations at professional meetings. A short course on use of spent mushroom compost for biomass production on mined land was presented. A presentation was given on soil testing for an EPA Urban Lead Forum. Results of research work have been disseminated to the scientific community on and off campus through reports to OPP wastewater committee for management of wastewater effluent, seminars, and national scientific meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Three vernal pools impacted by spray-irrigated wastewater effluent were studied to assess the impact of weekly irrigation on the occurrence, persistence, and fate of estrogens (17alpha- and 17beta-estradiol, estrone, estriol, and ethinylestradiol) during an 8-week study. Nearly 100% of the daily samples (n>130) collected contained estrogens, and the concentrations were several times higher compared to the wastewater. Data suggest transformation of estrone back to 17alpha- and 17beta-estradiol potentially due to anaerobic conditions in the vernal pools. Uptake of antibiotics into wheat was documented for wheat growing in soil irrigated with wastewater effluent. Concentrations were in the ng/g range. Freundlich coefficients were determined for antibiotics sorbed to soil. HPLC-MS/MS approaches for analysis of estrogens were investigated to determine the extent to which matrix effects from soil extractions interfere with analytical reliability, and to optimize column stationary phases and mobile phases for separations of 10 estrogenic compounds. Biosolids were placed in trenches (at 386 Mg per ha) and hybrid poplar were planted in the cover soil. Two downgradient monitoring wells were analyzed for various parameters including nitrate. Ten months after entrenchment, well water quality suggests no impact from the biosolids. Longer term monitoring is needed draw conclusions about the impact of biosolids trenching on groundwater quality. Erosion and acidic soil conditions contributed to poor poplar growth and mortality in the first year. Some of the lime-stabilized biosolids should be applied into plow-layer depth soils to facilitate growth of poplars and surface-cover vegetation to reduce erosional losses. A greenhouse study was conducted to establish thresholds for negative effects on vegetation and soils from Marcellus Shale production water. The salinity threshold for negative effects on grasses (fescue and ryegrass) was an electrical conductivity of about 40 mS per cm for a single spill with periodic small rain events.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Woodward. E.E., D.M. Andrews, C.F. Williams, J.E. Watson. 2014. Vadose zone transport of natural and synthetic estrogen hormones at Penn States Living Filter wastewater irrigation site. J. Environ. Qual. 43:1933-1941.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Sterner, G. R. Bryant, P. Kleinman, J. Watson, T. Alter. 2015. Community implementation dynamics: Nutrient management in the New York City and Chesapeake Bay watersheds. Intl. J. Rural Law Policy. 2015 Special Edition 1. pp. 1-15.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Gall, H.E., S.A. Sassman, B. Jenkinson, L.S. Lee, C.T. Jafvert. 2015. Comparison of export dynamics of nutrients and animal-borne estrogens from a tile-drained Midwestern agroecosystem. Water Res. 72:162-173.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Dutta, T., C.J. Dell, R.C. Stehouwer. 2015. Nitrous oxide emissions from a coal mine land reclaimed with stabilized manure. Land Degrad. Develop., doi: 10.1002/ldr.2408.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Franklin, A.M., C.F. Williams, D.M. Andrews, E.E. Woodward, J.E. Watson. 2015 Uptake of three antibiotics and an anti-epileptic drug by wheat crops spray irrigated with wastewater treatment plant effluent. J. Environ. Qual. (Accepted 9/9/2015).