The Impact Area Groundwater Study Program at the Massachusetts Military Reservation is a large and complex effort by the Department of Defense to identify and remediate contamination of the Cape Cod sole-source aquifer by military ordnance compounds. Several contaminant plumes composed of explosive compounds and perchlorate emanate from training and test firing ranges and a central impact area that overlie the sand and gravel aquifer. The plumes are up to a mile long and radiate outward from the top of the water-table mound beneath western Cape Cod. The success of the cleanup is based on sound scientific and technical understanding of contaminant fate and transport. USGS scientists support the IAGWSP team through innovative field and modeling investigations, methods development, and access to the USGS's extensive knowledge of the Cape Cod aquifer and ongoing research at the USGS Cape Cod Toxic Substances Hydrology Research site at the MMR.

August 2007 – USGS Studies Show Slow Lead Transport Relative to Ground-Water Flow in Cape Cod Sands
Results from tracer studies and sampling of the Ashumet Valley treated-wastewater plume indicated that lead generally is transported slowly relative to the rate of ground-water flow in the Cape Cod sand and gravel. However, USGS scientists noted that geochemical changes, such as a decrease in pH, could increase lead mobility. The USGS results were provided to the Mass. National Guard during its studies related to the proposed resumption of firing lead ammunition at training ranges on Camp Edwards. In July 2007, the USEPA gave the MANG conditional permission to resume the use of lead ammunition at selected training ranges.

USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2006-5054
Ground-water levels near the top of the western Cape Cod water-table mound, Massachusetts Military Reservation, 2002-2004
Abstract Full PDF

USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 03-4133
Diffusion and drive-point sampling to detect ordnance-related compounds in shallow ground water beneath Snake Pond, Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 2001-02
Abstract Full PDF

USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 03-4053
Simulation of advective flow under steady-state and transient recharge conditions, Camp Edwards, Massachusetts Military Reservation, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Abstract Full PDF

USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 02-4143
Simulated changes in the sources of ground water for public-supply wells, ponds, streams, and coastal areas on western Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Abstract Full PDF

USGS Water-Resources Investigations Report 99-4174
Simulated pond-aquifer interactions under natural and stressed conditions near Snake Pond, Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Abstract Full PDF

July 2007 – Western Cape Cod Water Table Remains at Historically High Levels
The altitude of the water table at the top of the Sagamore Lens of the Cape Cod Aquifer remained near its historically high level during July 2007. The water-table altitude is monitoring continuously by the USGS in cooperation with AEC at a site on Camp Edwards northwest of Snake Pond. The data are available online near real-time.

April 2007 - LeBlanc Presents the MIT Freeman Lecture
Denis LeBlanc, research hydrologist from the U.S. Geological Survey, presented the 2007 John R. Freeman Lecture at MIT on April 6. The talk, titled "Cape Cod's Billion Dollar Ground-Water Cleanup - The Hydrologic Story," was well-attended by a diverse group of environmental professionals from the academic, regulatory, scientific, and consulting communities. The annual Freeman Lecture is sponsored by the Boston Society of Civil Engineers and the MIT Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering (http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/capecodclean.html).

Jan. 2007 - Initial Test of Diffusion Sampling in Wells for Monitoring Explosives and Perchlorate Shows Promise
A field study conducted in summer 2005 in 15 wells in the Impact Area at the MMR indicates that concentrations of explosive compounds and perchlorate measured in water samples from down-well diffusion samplers compared favorably with concentrations measured in pumped water samples. Diffusion sampling may be a simple, cost-effective method for long-term monitoring of the ground-water cleanup on the MMR.