Chlorinated Solvents in Fractured Sedimentary Rock - Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) Research Site, West Trenton, NJ

Toxic chemicals such as chlorinated solvents in fractured rock aquifers pose a serious threat to the Nation's ground-water resources. Many industrial centers in America are located in the piedmont physiographic region where fractured rock aquifers are common. Improper disposal methods, leaking tanks and pipes, and chemical spills have contaminated fractured rock aquifers in and around many industrial centers. The restoration and protection of ground-water quality depend on knowledge of the physical, chemical, and microbiological processes that affect the fate of these toxic chemicals in fractured rock aquifers. The intent of this investigation is to help develop the knowledge needed to create practical and cost-effective methods to clean up and protect ground-water resources in fractured rock aquifers.

The NAWC Research Site, West Trenton, NJ, is located 4 miles north of Trenton, NJ. The fractured bedrock at the site has been contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE)--a chlorinated solvent. The plume of TCE was caused by leakage of TCE from aboveground service lines and storage tanks. The TCE was used as a heat transfer agent during jet engine tests. An estimated 100,000 gallons of TCE was lost through leakage and spills at the site. Although dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) has not been identified directly at the site, it is likely that liquid TCE has flowed vertically downward and in the down-dip direction of the fractured sedimentary rocks. The aqueous phase plume of dissolved TCE has flowed along the strike and the up-dip directions of the sedimentary rocks. There is evidence of natural attenuation of TCE, probably and at least in part due to the presence of a jet-fuel oil spill that overlaps part of the plume.

Detail of TCE pipes that were cut during remedial activities at the NAWC Site. Through leakage and spills an estimated 100,000 gallons of TCE was lost

Related Headlines

• USGS Patents the Multifunction Bedrock-Aquifer Transportable Testing Tool (BAT³)
• DNAPL Removal Key to Accelerated, Less Expensive Remediation
• New Paradigm for Fractured Rock Cleanup
• Scientists Discover Analog for Extraterrestrial Life in Idaho Hot Spring -- The same methods used to identify a unique community of microorganisms (Archaea) in Idaho are being used at the NAWC site.

Partners

• U.S. Navy, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Engineering Field Activity Northeast

More Information

• Naval Air Warfare Center Research Site Home Page -- The NAWC research team maintains its own home page that contains additional information about research at the site.
• Project Bibliography
• Photo Gallery
• Abstracts from Selected Meetings/Conferences
• Ground Water Flow and Transport in Fractured Rock -- Mirror Lake, New Hampshire
• Geophysical Research
• Continued Acquisition of Geophysical Logs for Characterization, 2004
• Integrated Borehole Geophysical Logging for Site Characterization, 2003
• Integrated Borehole Geophysical Logging for Characterization, 2002
• Borehole Radar Monitoring of a Steam-Injection Remediation Pilot Study, Loring Air Force Base, Limestone, Maine, 2004
• Borehole Radar Monitoring of a Steam-Injection Remediation Pilot Study, Loring Air Force Base, Limestone, Maine, 2003
• Radar and electrical-resistivity monitoring of landfill leachate, University of Connecticut landfill, Storrs, Connecticut
• NAWC Base Closure Information
  • Trenton Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division - Base Closure
  • Naval Air Warfare Center at West Trenton, NJ -- Base Realignment and Closure
  • U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center, Federal Facilities Restoration and Reuse, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• For more information please contact Daniel J. Goode (USGS, Pennsylvania District, Exton, PA) or Claire Tiedeman (USGS, National Research Program, Menlo Park, CA)

Meetings and Conferences

• USGS co-sponsor the special session Characterizing Ground-Water Flow and Chemical Transport in Fractured-Rock Aquifers at the 2008 Western Pacific Geophysics Meeting in Cairns, Australia, on July 29-August 1, 2008

Upcoming Publications

• Biochemical indicators for the bioavailability of natural dissolved organic carbon in ground water: Chapelle, F.H., Bradley, P.M., Goode, D.J., Tiedeman, C., Lacombe, P.J., Kaiser, K., and Benner, R., Ground Water (IN PRESS).

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