Riverine Plastic Pollution: Field Sampling Protocol and Implementation in U.S. Rivers

Riverine plastic pollution is increasingly being recognized as a serious environmental concern.The flux of plastic from the United States into the oceans is estimated to be on the order of one million metric tons per year.Plastic pollution has been detected in all major U.S. rivers.The Department of Energy is investigating riverine-energy-powered technology solutions to the problem of riverine plastic pollution with the Waterborne Plastics Resource Assessment and Debris Characterization (WaterPACT) project.Phase one of the WaterPACT project includes the development of a sampling protocol, field sampling events that implement the protocol, numerical modeling studies, impacted-communities engagement, and rigorous valorization of the total accessible market.To identify key opportunities for renewably-powered reclamation and remediation, the field sampling will quantify and characterize the plastic pollution and numerical modeling studies will analyze the movement of the plastic pollution by rivers.This report details the WaterPACT sampling protocol and its implementation in four major U.S. rivers.The WaterPACT sampling protocol was implemented in the Mississippi, Columbia, Delaware, and Los Angeles rivers with at least three sampling events in each river.The rivers represent four types ranging from the large Mississippi with its vast agricultural watershed to the small Los Angeles with its highly engineered urban waterway.The three sampling events covered a variety of discharge conditions from low drought flow to extreme storm events.The data obtained by the WaterPACT sampling of the four rivers will be combined to provide invaluable data to researchers studying the source and chemical composition of plastic pollution and modelers estimating the flux of plastic being transported to and released into the oceans.