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Person

Elena B Nilsen

Research Chemist, Team Lead
Oregon Water Science Center

Email: enilsen@usgs.gov
Office Phone: 971-404-5658
ORCID: 0000-0002-0104-6321

Location
Moda Tower
601 SW 2nd Ave
Ste 1950
Portland , OR 97204
US

Supervisor: Alexandra B Etheridge
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The Columbia Slough is located south and parallel to the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon and consists of approximately 19 miles of predominantly urbanized waterway that drains approximately 32,700 acres of land with industrial, commercial, residential, and agricultural uses. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are found in aqueous film forming foams (AFFF) used for firefighting, and soil and groundwater contamination by PFASs has been detected at Portland International Airport (PDX) and the adjacent Portland Air National Guard base (PANG). PFASs have also been detected in sediments from Columbia Slough, which receives stormwater runoff from both PDX and PANG. Fish tissue samples were collected from the...
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This data release contains analytical results of organohalogenated compounds and mercury in lamprey and sediment that were collected from rivers in Oregon and along the Pacific northwest coast from 2017 to 2021. In 2017, 20 lamprey were collected off the Washington and Oregon coasts by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. These ocean-caught juvenile lamprey were parasitizing targeted fish and were bycatch. In 2019, larval lamprey were collected by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs of Oregon from 8 sites on the Warm Springs Reservation. Larval lamprey were collected by electroshocking depositional sediment areas. Collocated depositional sediment samples also were collected along with the larval...
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This dataset provides baseline concentrations (from 2014) of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), other aromatic organic compounds, mercury (Hg), and trace metal concentrations in sediment and biota collected from two sites along an existing rail line used for coal transport in the Columbia River Gorge, Washington. For this study, aquatic surface sediments, aquatic insects, and juvenile fish were collected in 2014 from Horsethief Lake in Columbia Hills State Park and Steigerwald Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), both located in close proximity to the rail line and within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Samples were collected from two subsites in each area: one closer to the rail line and one...
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This dataset contains concentrations of 25 organochlorine pesticides, 6 industrial or personal care products, 6 polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardant congeners, and 15 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners in brain, muscle, gonad, and liver tissues of white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus). All concentrations are reported on a wet-weight basis. Fish samples were collected from the Columbia River directly adjacent to and immediately downstream from the Hanford Site in Washington State. The site was used as a weapons-grade plutonium plant from 1944 to 1987, at which time liquid effluents were discharged directly into the Columbia River. Contaminants from past and present waste leaks from the Hanford...
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