Summary

Description

In 1999, the Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Superfund Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 initiated a joint investigation to evaluate extent and severity of mercury contamination in ecologically important wetlands in Lahontan Valley, Churchill County, Nevada. Total mercury HgT and methylmercury MeHg concentrations were determined in water and sediment in principal wetlands on Stillwater and Fallon National Wildlife Refuges NWR. HgT and MeHg concentrations were also determined in aquatic invertebrate samples collected from important wetlands throughout Lahontan Valley. A single invertebrate species of the genus Corisella corixid was selected as a representative aquatic invertebrate species.