Abstract

As part of an analytical geochemistry course, upper level geology undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette engaged in authentic research to sample both soil and water at a Lafayette Parish site for possible metal and organic chemical contamination. The site chosen borders an active scrap yard that is now an archived Superfund site. Sampling was accomplished in a ditch that is immediately adjacent to the scrap yard. Three soil samples were retrieved with a shallow coring device at each sampling point, with five points selected at consistent intervals along the property. Water was collected from standing pools along the same sampling interval. Samples were subsequently analyzed utilizing a variety of geochemistry techniques and instruments, including ICP-AES, SEM-EDX, XRD, GC-MS, and PIXE. The research group assimilated data and analyzed results against published federal and state guidelines. Water samples showed concentrations of lead and mercury above acute Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality freshwater standards, while cadmium concentrations registered above the chronic freshwater value. Sediment samples exhibited suspicious concentrations of zinc, lead, cadmium, chromium, vanadium, copper, and barium when compared against a local control sample. Mercury levels in sediment samples surpassed the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Risk Evaluation/Corrective Action Program threshold, while cadmium and copper concentrations registered between NOAA-identified low risk and probable contaminant-effect threshold values. In addition to the identification of contamination beyond the property lines of an archived Superfund site, students gained powerful research experience in site identification, literature review, use of instrumentation, and analysis of results, for an authentic research experience.