Experimental bypass of Lake Reality, Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Studies conducted by the Y-12 Reduction of Mercury in Plant Effluent (RMPE) Program and Y-12 Biological Monitoring and Abatement Program (BMAP) in 1995 and 1996 (Y/ER-251, Y/ER-277) identified concerns regarding Lake Reality`s effect on the transport and transformation of mercury in East Fork Poplar Creek (EFPC). The pond appeared to have two potentially adverse effects on mercury transport. First, it acted as a biochemical reactor, converting inorganic mercury in inflowing water to methylmercury, a more toxic substance with extremely high bioaccumulation potential in aquatic environments. Second, the pond appeared to trap mercury associated with suspended particulates during periods of stormflow, and slowly released that mercury via the export of resuspended particles during periods of baseflow. The net effect was to raise the day-to-day exposure of aquatic life to mercury in the stream downstream from the pond, and add to the calculated mercury loading of the stream under baseflow conditions. Scientific investigations thus indicated that diversion of the flow of EFPC around Lake Reality had the potential to reduce time-averaged concentrations of methylmercury and total mercury in the creek below its discharge, but that such diversion might also interfere with possible beneficial effects of the retention pond. Therefore, an experimental bypass of the pond was undertaken in late 1996 to evaluate the consequences of such an action before embarking on a more permanent change