Vertical Contaminant Profiling of Volatile Organic* in a Deep Fractured Basalt Aquifer |
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| Authors: | J.F. Kaminsky A.H. Wylie |
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| Affiliation: | Jon F. Kaminsky;received a bachelor's degree in geology from Western State College of Colorado and subsequently worked in mining exploration before obtaining an M.S. in hydrogeology from Idaho State University and joining Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). He left INEL in 1994 to join Robinson &Noble Inc., a private consulting firm in Tacoma, Washington. Kaminsky is now an independent consultant specializing in environmental hydrogeology (Northwest Environmental Geoscience Co., 2522 North Proctor St., Ste. 135, Tacoma, WA 98406). Allan Wylie;received his bachelor's degree from Chadron State College in Chadron, Nebraska. He worked in uranium exploration and the oil fields for eight years before obtaining an M.S. in geology from the University of Montana. Wylie is now a hydrogeologist at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory. His interests are in geostatistical applications to aquifer and hazardous waste site characterization. He may be reached at Lockheed Idaho Technologies Co., P.O. Box 1625, Mailstop 2107, Idaho Falls, ID 83415. |
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| Abstract: | Volatile organic compounds delected in ground water from wells at Test Area North (TAN) at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) prompted RCRA facility investigations in 1989 and 1990 and a CERCLA-driven RI/FS in 1992. In order to address ground water treatment feasibility, one of the main objectives, of the 1992 remedial investigation was to determine the vertical extent of ground water contamination, where the principle contaminant, of concern is trichloroethylene (TCE). It was hypothesized that a sedimentary interbed at depth in the fractured basalt aquifer could be inhibiting vertical migration of contaminants to lower aquifers. Due to the high cost of drilling and installation of ground water monitoring wells at this facility (greater than $100,000 per well), a real time method was proposed for obtaining and analyzing ground water samples during drilling to allow accurate placement of well screens in zones of predicted VOC contamination. This method utilized an inflatable pump packer pressure transducer system interfaced with a datalogger and PC at land surface. This arrangement allowed for real lime monitoring of hydraulic head above and below the packer to detect leakage around the packer during pumping and enabled collection of head data during pumping for estimating hydrologic properties. Analytical results were obtained in about an hour from an on-site mobile laboratory equipped with a gas chromalograplvmass spectrometer (GC/MS). With the hydrologic and analytical results in hand, a decision was made to either complete the well or continue drilling to the next test zone. In almost every case, analytical results of ground water samples taken from the newly installed wells closely replicated the water quality of ground water samples obtained through the pump packer system. |
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