Hydrologic and geochemical research has identified and characterized the physical and chemical processes that control the evolution and movement of metal contaminants in ground water beneath Miami Wash and lower Pinal Creek. The dissolution of calcite in the alluvial aquifer has slowed and neutralized part of the acidic plume, and the sorption of some metals such as nickel and copper to other solids in the subsurface has lowered concentrations of these metals in the ground water.