Assessment of Hydrocarbons (C10-C50), Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), and Trace Metals (TMs) Contamination in the Riverbanks of the Chaudière River Three Years after the Lac-Mégantic Railway Disaster (Southern Québec, Canada)

ABSTRACTOn July 6, 2013, in downtown Lac-Megantic (southern Quebec, Canada), several tank cars carrying crude oil derailed. This resulted in a series of explosions and a huge fire that led to the terrible Lac-Megantic disaster. This study deals with the characterization of the Chaudiere River banks and bed in order to determine the current state of contamination by hydrocarbons (C10-C50), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and trace metals (TMs). The highest concentrations of hydrocarbons found in the Chaudiere River are respectively 960 mg kg−1 dry weight in soil and 760 mg kg−1 dry weight in river sediment. Over half of the all samples were under the detection threshold (i.e. > 300 mg kg−1 in soil and > 832 mg kg−1 in sediment). The concentration in river sediment PAH concentrations were low, with values below the detection threshold. TM concentrations in the soil and sediment are also very low, rarely exceeding class A and B thresholds and chronic effect reference values (164 mg kg−1) which const...