Summary

Description

An initial contaminants survey was conducted at Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge HNWR in north central Texas. Contaminants from a variety of sources have the potential to reach and affect HNWR. Effluents from several wastewater treatment plants discharge into Myers Branch, Mineral Creek, and Mustang Creek, all of which flow through HNWR and into the Big Mineral Arm of Lake Texoma. Throughout HNWR, there are over 100 active oil and gas producing wells, pipelines, and associated storage and transfer facilities which could be sources of chronic oil pollution and also constitute the threat of potential spills. Sediment, soil, and whole fish samples were collected in 1991 from 12 locations within and adjacent to the HNWR. The samples were analyzed for metalloids except soils, organochlorine pesticides including polychlorinated biphenyls, aliphatic hydrocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons PAHs, and nutrients only sediment. Concentrations of metalloids, organochlorine pesticides, and nutrients in sediments were not high enough to pose risk to fish and wildlife health. Soil samples contained low concentrations of organochlorine pesticides. The hydrocarbon analysis scan was insufficient to make sound conclusions of the effects to fish and wildlife resources. Few fish tissue samples contained concentrations of mercury and selenium at levels which have been associated with adverse biological effects in piscivorous predators that reside within the HNWR.