Natural Aquifer Restoration
Type |
- Performance Monitoring
- Natural Attenuation Evaluation
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Location |
Massachusetts Military Reservation, Cape Cod, MA |
Partners |
National
Guard Bureau |
Technology |
Natural Restoration |
Contaminants |
Treated Sewage
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Description |
Vertical cross section through the wastewater (treated sewage) plume on Cape Cod, MA, showing the distribution of dissolved ammonium (NH4+ ) in micromoles per liter (µmol/L) during 1994. Small dots indicate data points. The cross-section shows a cloud of NH4+ in the center of the wastewater plume that is moving much slower than ground water. The cross section is a modified version of figure 3 from Böhlke and others, 2006, and is based on data from Savoie and LeBlanc, 1998.
(click image for a larger version)
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A team of USGS scientists is studying the natural restoration of an aquifer that was contaminated by 60 years of land disposal of treated wastewater on the Massachusetts Military Reservation, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. In 1995 land disposal to infiltration beds of the wastewater from the treatment of sewage was discontinued, and natural processes in the contaminated aquifer have begun to gradually restore the water quality. The natural processes involved are often referred to as natural attenuation. Many questions arose about how long the natural restoration of the aquifer will take. To answer these questions the USGS is conducting:
Methods and approaches to measure and predict the rate of natural restoration of contaminated ground water are needed by cleanup professionals and natural-resource managers nationwide. These professionals can use the results of this information to develop sound decisions regarding the restoration of aquifers through the use of natural attenuation. |
More Information |
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Contact |
Denis LeBlanc, USGS, Massachusetts District, Northborough,
MA, |
Publications |
- Barber, L.B., and Keefe, S.H., 1999, Evolution
of a ground-water sewage plume after removal of the 60-year-long
source, Cape Cod, Massachusetts--Changes in the distribution of
dissolved oxygen, boron, and organic carbon, 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. 261-270.
- Böhlke, J.K., Smith, R.L., and Miller, D.N., 2006, Ammonium transport and reaction in contaminated groundwater–Application of isotope tracers and isotope fractionation studies: Water Resources Research, v. 42, W05411, doi: 10.1029/2005WR004349.
- Hess, K.M., LeBlanc, D.R., Kent, D.B., and Smith, R.L., 1996, Natural restoration of a sewage-contaminated aquifer, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in Hydrology and Hydrogeology of Urban and Urbanizing Areas—Proceedings of the conference, Boston, Mass., April 21-24, 1996: American Institute of Hydrology, p. WQE13-WQE25.
- Kent, D.B., and Maeder, V., 1999, Evolution
of a ground-water sewage plume after removal of the 60-year-long
source, Cape Cod, Massachusetts--pH and the fate of phosphate
and metals, 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. 293-304.
- LeBlanc, D.R., Hess, K.M., Kent, D.B., Smith, R.L., Barber,
L.B., Stollenwerk, K.G., and Campo, K.W., 1999, Natural
restoration of a sewage plume in a sand and gravel aquifer, 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. 245-259.
- Miller, D.N., Smith, R.L., and Böhlke, J.K., 1999, Nitrification in a shallow, nitrogen-contaminated aquifer, 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. 329-335.
- Parkhurst, D.L., Stollenwerk, K.G. and Colman, J.A., 2003, Reactive-Transport Simulation of Phosphorus in the Sewage Plume at the Massachusetts Military Reservation, Cape Cod, Massachusetts: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 03-4017, 40 p.
- Repert, D.A., Barber, L.B., Hess, K.M., Keefe, S.H., Kent, D.B., LeBlanc, D.R., and Smith, R.L., 2006, Long-term natural attenuation of carbon and nitrogen within a groundwater plume after removal of the treated wastewater source: Environmental Science and Technology, v. 40, no. 4, p. 1154-1162.
- Savoie, J., and LeBlanc, D.R., eds., 1998, Water-quality data and methods of analysis for samples collected near a plume of sewage-contaminated ground water, Ashumet Valley, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 1993-94: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 97-4269, 208 p.
- Smith, R.L., Baumgartner, L.K., Miller, D.N., Repert, D.A., and Böhlke, J.K., 2006, Assessment of nitrification potential in ground water using short term, single-well injection experiments: Microbial Ecology, v. 51, no. 1, p. 22-35, doi: 10.1007/s00248-004-0159-7.
- Smith, R.L., Böhlke, J.K., Revesz, K.M., Yoshinari, T.D., Hatzinger, P.B., Penarrieta, C.T., and Repert, D.A., 1999, In situ assessment of the transport and microbial consumption of oxygen in ground water, 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. 317-322
- Smith, R.L., Rea Kumler, B.A., Peacock, T.R., and Miller, D.N.,
1999, Evolution
of a ground-water sewage plume after removal of the 60-year-long
source, Cape Cod, Massachusetts--Inorganic nitrogen species,
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. 285-291.
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Links |
USGS Information on Natural Attenuation
Other Toxics Remediation Studies on Cape Cod
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