• Testing of Remediation Technologies
• Performance Monitoring

• Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence (AFCEE)
• National Guard Bureau
• University of Waterloo

An innovative remediation system--a permeable, reactive barrier--was installed on the Massachusetts Military Reservation (MMR), Cape Cod, MA. This pilot study was a joint effort between the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence (AFCEE), the University of Waterloo, the National Guard Bureau, and the USGS. The reactive barrier consisted of a subsurface wall of permeable zero-valent iron. The barrier was installed in the path of the MMR's Chemical Spill-10 plume to remediate chlorinated solvents leaching from the plume's source area. USGS scientists monitored geochemical changes that occurred in the aquifer downgradient of the permeable zero-valent iron wall and used geophysical techniques to document the integrity of the wall. Water-quality data indicate that a reducing (no oxygen) environment developed and persisted at least 60 ft downgradient from the iron wall. Results of geophysical tests (cross-hole radar tomography) of the iron wall documented the location and the integrity of the barrier. The scientists were particularly interested in detecting any holes or windows in the subsurface permeable iron wall. The geophysical tests documented the thickness of the wall and showed that there were no holes present in the wall. AFCEE and environmental managers for the MMR used the results of this study to evaluate the effectiveness of permeable reactive barriers for remediating similar plumes on MMR and other military bases.

• Borehole Radar Imaging of Injected Permeable Reactive-Iron Wall at the Cape Cod Research Site
• Massachusetts Military Reservation Installation Restoration Program Home Page

Granato, G.E., and Smith, K.P., 1999,

Robowell--A reliable and accurate automated data-collection process applied to reactive-wall monitoring at the Massachusetts Military Reservation, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in Morganwalp, D.W., and Buxton, H.T., eds., U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program--Proceedings of the Technical Meeting, Charleston, South Carolina, March 8-12, 1999--Volume 3 of 3--Subsurface Contamination from Point Sources: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 99-4018C, p. 447-455.

Hubble, D.W., and Gillham, R.W., 1999,

Installation of deep reactive walls at MMR using a granular iron-guar slurry, in Morganwalp, D.W., and Buxton, H.T., eds., U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program--Proceedings of the Technical Meeting, Charleston, South Carolina, March 8-12, 1999--Volume 3 of 3--Subsurface Contamination from Point Sources: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 99-4018C, p. 431-438.

Joesten, P.K., Lane, J.W., Jr., Savoie, J.G., and Versteeg, R.J., 2001,

Application of borehole-radar methods to image two permeable reactive-iron walls at the Massachusetts Military Reservation, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engineering and Environmental Problems, Denver, Colorado, March 4-7, 2001: Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society, p. CD-ROM.

Lane, J.W. Jr., Joesten, P.K., and Savoie, J.G., 2001,

Cross-hole radar scanning of two vertical, permeable, reactive-iron walls at the Massachusetts Military Reservation, Cape Cod, Massachusetts: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigation Report 00-4145, 17 p.

Lane, J.W., Jr., Joesten, P.K., and Savoie, J.G., 1999,

Monitoring a permeable reactive iron wall installation in unconsolidated sediments by using a cross-hole radar method, in Morganwalp, D.W., and Buxton, H.T., eds., U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program--Proceedings of the Technical Meeting, Charleston, South Carolina, March 8-12, 1999--Volume 3 of 3--Subsurface Contamination from Point Sources: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 99-4018C, p. 439-445.

Other USGS Permeable Reactive Barrier Projects

• Stopping Contamination in Its Tracks, Denver Federal Center Permeable Reactive Barrier
• Deep Aquifer Remediation Tools (DARTs) -- A New Technology for Ground-Water Remediation (pdf)
• Field Demonstration of Reactive Chemical Barriers to Control Radionuclide and Trace-Element Contamination in Ground Water
• Handbook on Permeable Reactive Barriers Published - The handbook gives guidance on the use of permeable reactive barriers to remediate radionuclide, trace metal, and nutrient contamination.

Other Toxics Program In-Situ Chemical Oxidation Projects

• Chlorinated Benzene Plume Source Area Containment Test (Oxygen-Release Compound Injection), Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida
  
• Oxygen-Release Compound Remediation Tests, Laurel Bay, South Carolina
  
• Solvent Plume Source Removal Test (Fenton's Reagent), Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia
  

Other Toxics Remediation Studies on Cape Cod

• Natural Aquifer Restoration
• Nitrate Remediation
• Phosphorus Plume Remediation

Information on Ground-Water Contamination on Cape Cod

• Cape Cod Toxics Research Project, Cape Cod, Massachusetts