• Army Corps to draw down reservoirs at Francis E. Walter Dam and Blue Marsh Lake in advance of Hurricane Ida

    The U.S. Army Corps Engineers Philadelphia District has announced it will draw down the reservoirs at Blue Marsh Lake and Francis E. Walter Dam in preparation for significant forecasted rainfall associated with Hurricane Ida. Blue Marsh Lake is located on the Tulpehocken Creek, a tributary of the Schuylkill River, about four miles northwest of Reading, Pa. Francis E. Walter Dam is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River and Bear Creek in Luzerne and Carbon Counties, Pa.
  • Temporary emergency power team readies for peak hurricane season

    SAVANNAH, GA. – More than 20 volunteers from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District completed a 3-day virtual power response team training course Aug. 27.
  • Contract awarded for access road work for the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain project

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District, recently awarded a contract for constructing access roads on the West Shore Lake Pontchartrain (WSLP) Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction project. This construction will support the construction of approximately 17.5 miles of levee system that will provide 100-year level risk reduction to the area extending from Bonnet Carrė spillway to Garyville.
  • Photo-transformation of Aqueous Nitroguanidine and 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one: Emerging Munitions Compounds

    Abstract: Two major components of insensitive munition formulations, nitroguanidine (NQ) and 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazol-5-one (NTO), are highly water soluble and therefore likely to photo-transform while in solution in the environment. The ecotoxicities of NQ and NTO solutions are known to increase with UV exposure, but a detailed accounting of aqueous degradation rates, products, and pathways under different exposure wavelengths is currently lacking. Here, we irradiated aqueous solutions of NQ and NTO over a 32-h period at three ultraviolet wavelengths (254 nm, 300 nm, and 350 nm) and analyzed their degradation rates and transformation products. NQ was completely degraded by 30 min at 254 nm and by 4 h at 300 nm, but it was only 10% degraded after 32 h at 350 nm. Mass recoveries of NQ and its transformation products were >80% for all three wavelengths, and consisted of large amounts of guanidine, nitrate, and nitrite, and smaller amounts of cyanamide, cyanoguanidine, urea, and ammonium. NTO degradation was greatest at 300 nm with 3% remaining after 32 h, followed by 254 nm (7% remaining) and 350 nm (20% remaining). Mass recoveries of NTO and its transformation products were high for the first 8 h but decreased to 22e48% by 32 h, with the major aqueous products identified as ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, and a urazole intermediate. Environmental half-lives of NQ and NTO in pure water were estimated as 4 and 6 days, respectively. We propose photo-degradation pathways for NQ and NTO supported by observed and quantified degradation products and changes in solution pH.
  • Variation in Inhibitor Effects on qPCR Assays and implications for eDNA Surveys

    Abstract: Aquatic environmental DNA (eDNA) surveys are sometimes impacted by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) inhibitors. We tested varying concentrations of different inhibitors (humic, phytic, and tannic acids; crude leaf extracts) for impacts on quantitative PCR (qPCR) assays designed for eDNA surveys of bighead and silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix). We also tested for inhibition by high concentrations of exogenous DNA, hypothesizing that DNA from increasingly closely related species would be increasingly inhibitory. All tested inhibitors impacted qPCR, though only at very high concentrations — likely a function, in part, of having used an inhibitor-resistant qPCR solution. Closer phylogenetic relatedness resulted in inhibition at lower exogenous DNA concentrations, but not at relatively close phylogenetic scales. Inhibition was also influenced by the qPCR reporter dye used. Importantly, different qPCR assays responded differently to the same inhibitor concentrations. Implications of these results are that the inclusion of more than one assay for the same target taxa in an eDNA survey may be an important countermeasure against false negatives and that internal positive controls may not, in the absence of efforts to maximize inhibition compatibility, provide useful information about the inhibition of an eDNA assay.
  • USACE Memphis District Team deployed to Louisiana in support of FEMA Hurricane Ida relief efforts

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Memphis District deployed an Emergency Power Planning and Response Team (PRT) in support of FEMA’s Hurricane Ida recovery efforts.
  • Veterans bring legacy of service to USACE

    SACRAMENTO, California -- Veterans make up around 31 percent of the federal workforce—but did you
  • Joe Pool Lake Access to Dam Road Still Closed

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District officials at Joe Pool Lake have temporarily closed the dam access road for embankment repair work; a reminder to all citizens, access is prohibited.
  • SBA policy decision improves ability to include socially, economically disadvantaged small business

    Since the Small Business Administration is suspending the requirement, 8(a) businesses are more competitive in the contracting award process.
  • Boating fun and fundamentals: Pittsburgh District hosts motorboat training

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District hosted a 24-hour Motorboat Operator Training Course at Crooked Creek Lake in Ford City, Pennsylvania.