Contaminant mass flux is the measurement of the concentration and flow of contaminants from a source area, represented as mass per unit area per unit time. Contaminant flux measurements show how much, how fast, and where a contaminant is moving – more than you can get from traditional groundwater grab samples. Kirk started his presentation… Continue Reading »
Gary Wealthall gave a very informative talk on dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) source zones. He provided an overview of the characteristics of a DNAPL zone, and tools and techniques that can be used to characterize a source zone. Because of their low solubility, high density and viscosity, DNAPLs tend to persist due to mass… Continue Reading »
The theme of this year’s Symposium was “Enhanced Monitoring and Remedial Methods for Contaminated Groundwater”. It became clear that enhancing monitoring and remedial approaches involves recognizing “uncertainty” as a factor in all contaminated site assessments. It was put forth that heterogeneity in the subsurface affects the level of uncertainty in any groundwater study – when… Continue Reading »
In a town in the Piedmont physiographic province, in the mid Atlantic, a proposed water supply well was contaminated with methyl tert butyl ether (MTBE). The well is located down gradient of several gas service stations with multiple known sources of MTBE. As such, a remedial effort was required by Virginia Department of Environmental Quality… Continue Reading »
