Science and the Billion-Dollar Ground-Water Cleanup at the Massachusetts Military Reservation

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientist Denis LeBlanc, with the Toxic Substances Hydrology Program, gave an invited topical lecture on "Science and the Billion-Dollar Ground-Water Cleanup at the Massachusetts Military Reservation" at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) held in Boston, Massachusetts, on February 16, 2002. The lecture described the scientific, engineering, and political challenges of the massive and costly cleanup of the Cape Cod aquifer that has been contaminated with fuels, solvents, treated sewage, landfill leachate, and explosive and propellant compounds from military ordnance.

USGS scientists are working closely with the Defense Department agencies managing the ground-water cleanup at the Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR), including the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence and the National Guard Bureau. For example, LeBlanc is a member of the Technical Review and Evaluation Team for the cleanup at the MMR. The MMR cleanup benefits from research findings at the Toxic Substances Hydrology Program’s Cape Cod Research Site. USGS scientists are developing approaches to understand the physical, chemical, and microbiological processes that affect the movement and fate of contaminants, such as treated sewage, in aquifers. The restoration and protection of ground-water quality depend on the ability to characterize these processes.

Information on the AAAS Meeting

• Abstract -- Science and the Billion-Dollar Ground-Water Cleanup at the Massachusetts Military Reservation, by Denis LeBlanc
• General Information on the Meeting

More Information on the Cleanup at MMR

• Installation Restoration Program at the MMR -- This page contains links to fact sheets, historical information, and the administrative record on the cleanup. The site contains a wealth of information about the cleanup of the ground-water plumes, which is being managed for the Department of Defense by the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence (AFCEE) http://www.afcee.brooks.af.mil/.
• Impact Area Groundwater Study Program of the Army National Guard
• Joint Program Office of the Department of Defense at the MMR
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency MMR Project
• Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection MMR Project

More Information on the USGS Cape Cod Investigation

Sewage-Contaminated Ground Water -- Cape Cod, Massachusetts

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