Contaminant Fate and Transport Studies in Fractured Sedimentary Rock Aquifers at the former Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC), West Trenton, N.J.
Field Method to Quantify Chlorinated Solvent Diffusion, Sorption, Abiotic and Biotic Degradation in Low-Permeability Zones
Contaminants associated with industrial, airport, and other activities are present in groundwater in fractured-rock aquifers, posing long-term hazards to drinking-water supplies and ecosystems. The heterogeneous character of fractured rock challenges our understanding, monitoring, and remediation of such sites.
Since 1993, USGS has been providing technical assistance to the U.S. Navy and conducting research at the former Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) in West Trenton, N.J., where trichloroethene (TCE) has migrated in fractures and diffused into, and adsorbed onto, low-permeability mudstone strata, acting as a long-term residual source of contaminants. These studies have helped the Navy efficiently monitor the ongoing natural attenuation of TCE and improve the pump and treat system to remove contaminants and contain impacted groundwater.
Current investigations are focused on understanding flow and transport processes affecting per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in fractured-rock aquifers.
Research results include development of field methods to measure rates and coefficients associated with desorption, reaction, and diffusion of TCE and its degradation products in low-permeability strata (read more). In addition to research by USGS hydrologists, geochemists, and microbiologists, a broad range of studies on characterization, monitoring, and remediation of TCE in fractured rock have been conducted in collaboration with EPA, SERDP and ESTCP, academia, and private industry.
Background information and results prior to 2018 are provided in our Archive.
A Field Method to Quantify Chlorinated Solvent Diffusion, Sorption, Abiotic and Biotic Degradation in Low-Permeability Zones
Reported groundwater levels and groundwater pump-and-treat withdrawal volumes, former Naval Air Warfare Center, West Trenton, New Jersey, 2018
Porosity and pore size distribution in a sedimentary rock: Implications for the distribution of chlorinated solvents
Acetylene fuels TCE reductive dechlorination by defined Dehalococcoides/Pelobacter consortia
A fractured rock geophysical toolbox method selection tool
Imaging pathways in fractured rock using three-dimensional electrical resistivity tomography
High-resolution delineation of chlorinated volatile organic compounds in a dipping, fractured mudstone: depth- and strata-dependent spatial variability from rock-core sampling
Transmissivity and storage coefficient estimates from slug tests, Naval Air Warfare Center, West Trenton, New Jersey
Integration of stable carbon isotope, microbial community, dissolved hydrogen gas, and 2HH2O tracer data to assess bioaugmentation for chlorinated ethene degradation in fractured rocks
A biogeochemical and genetic survey of acetylene fermentation by environmental samples and bacterial isolates
Threshold amounts of organic carbon needed to initiate reductive dechlorination in groundwater systems
Microbial mineralization of cis-dichloroethene and vinyl chloride as a component of natural attenuation of chloroethene contaminants under conditions identified in the field as anoxic
Estimated trichloroethene transformation rates due to naturally occurring biodegradation in a fractured-rock aquifer
Enhanced dichloroethene biodegradation in fractured rock under biostimulated and bioaugmented conditions
Contaminants associated with industrial, airport, and other activities are present in groundwater in fractured-rock aquifers, posing long-term hazards to drinking-water supplies and ecosystems. The heterogeneous character of fractured rock challenges our understanding, monitoring, and remediation of such sites.
Since 1993, USGS has been providing technical assistance to the U.S. Navy and conducting research at the former Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) in West Trenton, N.J., where trichloroethene (TCE) has migrated in fractures and diffused into, and adsorbed onto, low-permeability mudstone strata, acting as a long-term residual source of contaminants. These studies have helped the Navy efficiently monitor the ongoing natural attenuation of TCE and improve the pump and treat system to remove contaminants and contain impacted groundwater.
Current investigations are focused on understanding flow and transport processes affecting per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in fractured-rock aquifers.
Research results include development of field methods to measure rates and coefficients associated with desorption, reaction, and diffusion of TCE and its degradation products in low-permeability strata (read more). In addition to research by USGS hydrologists, geochemists, and microbiologists, a broad range of studies on characterization, monitoring, and remediation of TCE in fractured rock have been conducted in collaboration with EPA, SERDP and ESTCP, academia, and private industry.
Background information and results prior to 2018 are provided in our Archive.