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DIVINING ROD May 2006 <br />Students present water - related science fair <br />projects at state competition <br />Middle and high school students <br />received recognition from the WRRI for <br />their water - related science projects on <br />April 8 at the 2006 New Mexico Science <br />and Engineering Fair. Students from <br />around the state qualified through their <br />local science fair competitions to <br />compete at the state fair in Socorro. <br />In the Senior Division, Tara Elkins <br />of Grants High School was awarded first <br />the polluted water just a few hundred <br />feet below them, but only a small few <br />have a fact - based, strong understanding <br />of the issue." Tara looked at the trends <br />in migration of contaminants in the <br />alluvial aquifer southwest of the tailings <br />pile. She reviewed the data collected <br />from 16 wells over a nine -year period <br />by Homestake Mining Company. <br />Tara concluded it is possible that <br />plotting more data points and further <br />research of the idea could possibly <br />uncover a more apparent trend. <br />Tara will attend Hillsdale College in <br />Hillsdale, Michigan next fall and is <br />interested in public policy. She plans to <br />double major in political economics and <br />international business with a minor in <br />biology. She has participated in the New <br />place and $100 for her project entitled, <br />Contamination Migration: An Analysis <br />of Contamination in the AlluvialAquifer <br />Southwest of the Grants Mill and Tailing <br />Pond. Tara, a high school senior, studied <br />a controversial debate concerning <br />contamination in and near the <br />Homestake Milan Uranium Mill /tailing <br />ponds located to the northeast of the <br />housing development where she and her <br />family live. <br />According to Tara, "Every family <br />that lives or raises livestock in the area <br />has a different fear, a different <br />complaint, and a different statistic about <br />0 <br />Bushrah Hossain <br />Concentrations of uranium, <br />selenium, total dissolved solids (TDS), <br />and sulfate were then analyzed, and <br />average yearly changes in concentration <br />were calculated. The results were plotted <br />on maps of the site to show migration <br />trends. Tara also took additional water <br />samples from four of the sites. Her <br />samples were filtered, preserved, and <br />tested for the four constituents. After <br />analyzing her data, Tara found small <br />correlations suggesting a southwesterly <br />contamination flow, but no strong <br />overall trend in migration of uranium, <br />selenium, TDS, or sulfate was observed. <br />Nicole Puissant <br />Mexico science fair since 6t' grade and <br />attended the international competition in <br />Portland, Oregon in 2004. She will <br />represent the Four Corners region this <br />spring at the national competition in <br />Indianapolis. Of her experience at the <br />international competition, Tara said, "It <br />was so much fun to talk with Nobel Prize <br />winners and kids from all over the world <br />and to see the things they are doing is <br />unreal." <br />The WRRI awarded second place <br />and $50 to Bushrah Hossain, a senior at <br />Menaul School in Albuquerque. She has <br />been participating in the science fair for <br />(continued on page 7) <br />