Wastewater Indicator Compounds in Wastewater Effluent, Surface Water, and Bed Sediment in the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway and Implications for

The U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service cooperated on a study to determine the occurrence of wastewater indicator compounds including nutrients; organic wastewater compounds (OWCs), such as compounds used in plastic components, surfactant metabolites, antimicrobials, fragrances, and fire retardants; and pharmaceuticals in the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway in Minnesota and Wiscon-sin. Samples of treated wastewater effluent from two waste-water-treatment plants (WWTPs), located in St. Croix Falls, Wisc. (SCF-WWTP) and Taylors Falls, Minn. (TF-WWTP), were collected from 2007 to 2008. During this time, surface-water and bed-sediment samples from the St. Croix River below Sunrise River near Sunrise, Minn., upstream from the two WWTPs (Sunrise site), and from the St. Croix River above Rock Island near Franconia, Minn., downstream from the WWTPs (Franconia site), also were collected. The Franconia site was selected because of the two large WWTP discharge points and the presence of mussel beds in this area of the St. Croix River.