American Electric Power's (AEP) coal-fired Clinch River Plant, a power-generating facility in Carbo, Russell County, Virginia (USA), has impaired Clinch River biota through toxic spills in 1967 and 1970, and effluent copper (Cu) concentrations that were reported to have exceeded water quality criteria from 1985-1989. These impacts have provided impetus for many research projects addressing the absence of bivalves, including federally protected species of native mussels (Unionoidea), from sites influenced by CRP effluent. Modifications in CRP effluent during 1987 and 1993 drastically reduced Cu levels and warranted the present study, which assessed long-term biological recovery in Clinch River biota near the CRP. In 2000-2001, surveys of benthic macroinvertebrate communities and instantaneous measures of effluent toxicity did not foretell significant reductions in survivorship and growth of field-caged Asian clams (Corbicula fluminea) at sites downstream of the CRP. More importantly, these results indicated renewed toxicity in CRP effluent. Additional transplant studies using two enclosure types were conducted to isolate effects attributable to CRP effluent from the potentially confounding effects of substrate variability among study sites. While it was found that mean growth of clams was greatest in the enclosure that minimized substrate variability (p=0.0157), both enclosure types clearly distinguished significant impairment of survivorship and growth at sites downstream of the CRP discharge, and strengthened the association between impairment and CRP effluent. An intensive field investigation was undertaken to determine whether impairment observed in transplant studies extended to resident bivalves. During 2001-2002, densities and age structures of C. fluminea and distributions of mussels suggested that impairment indeed extended to resident bivalves for a distance of 0.5 to 0.6 km downstream of the CRP discharge. Impairment of bivalves was less evident below (1) a fly ash landfill and (2) coal mining activities and low-volume leachate from a bottom ash settling pond. With respect to long-term recovery, modifications in CRP effluent treatment have reduced Cu concentrations from an average of 436 mg/L in 1985-1989 to 13 mg/L in 1991-2002. Subsequently, Cu body burdens of Asian clams (Corbicula fluminea) transplanted within CRP influence have decreased from 442% of levels accumulated at reference sites in 1986, to 163% of these levels in 2002. The reduction in effluent Cu largely explains recovery of most benthic macroinvertebrate community parameters (e.g., richness, diversity) at influenced sites from levels that were typically less than 70% of reference levels, to levels that frequently range from 80 to greater than 100% of reference levels. Nevertheless, bivalves remain impaired downstream of the CRP; survivorship and growth of C. fluminea transplanted to CRP-influenced sites have typically been less than 40 and 20% of reference values, respectively. Furthermore, C. fluminea has seldom been encountered within CRP influence for nearly two decades. Likewise, native mussels remain absent within CRP influence, but recent surveys suggest their downstream distributions are more proximate to the CRP discharge than has been reported previously. A preliminary assessment of factors potentially contributing to toxicity revealed that (1) water reclaimed from settling basins for discharge with CRP effluent significantly impaired fecundity of ceriodaphnids at concentrations of 50%, (2) LC50 values for industrial treatment chemicals were misrepresented on Material Safety Data Sheets and consequently, were subject to misapplication by operators, (3) Cu concentrations of 96 mg/L significantly impaired growth of Asian clams in artificial stream testing, and (4) effluent Al exceeded acute and chronic water quality criteria, suggesting this ion should receive further consideration in future studies. / Master of Science

Le secteur industriel du traitement de surface (TS), secteur d’excellence en Bourgogne Franche-Comté, est contraint de recourir à de nouvelles méthodes d’épuration des eaux du fait d’une règlementation européenne de plus en plus stricte. En effet, notamment dans le cadre de la Directive Cadre sur l’Eau, les industriels doivent sans cesse améliorer la qualité de leurs rejets et diminuer les impacts générés par ceux-ci. Ce travail de thèse s’inscrit dans cet objectif. Ainsi, trois grands types d’investigations ont été menés : le premier a permis de définir la composition qualitative et quantitative en substances dangereuses (SD) des rejets de TS et d’étudier leur variabilité temporelle ; le second a validé des modifications d’une station physico-chimique de traitement des eaux franc-comtoise pour diminuer le flux de SD ; le dernier a proposé des solutions innovantes par bioadsorption sur des matériaux de cyclodextrine et par procédé d’oxydation avancée (POA) soit par ozone/UV, soit par l’utilisation de catalyseurs Pd-Cu pour atteindre le même objectif.[...] / The industrial sector of surface treatment (ST), sector of excellence in Bourgogne Franche-Comté, is forced to resort to new methods for water treatment due to European regulations increasingly strict. Indeed, particularly in the context of the Water Framework Directive, industries must continually improve the quality of their discharge waters and reduce the impacts generated by them. This work is part of this. Thus, three types of investigations were conducted: the first has defined qualitative and quantitative composition of hazardous substances (HS) in ST discharge waters and study their temporal variability; the second has approved changes in a physicochemical wastewater decontamination station to decrease HS water flow; the last proposed innovative solutions by biosorption on cyclodextrin materials and advanced oxidation process (AOP) by ozone / UV, or by the use of Pd-Cu catalysts to achieve the same objective.[...]