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Matthew
Small, U.S. EPA Region 9, San Francisco, CA
Jim Weaver, U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development,
Athens, GA, Y.R. Rong, Regional Water Quality Control
Board, Los Angeles, CA
Regulators
and consultants alike are routinely tasked with predicting
potential future impacts to ground water
resources. Site data is usually sparse,
variable, and uncertain at best. This type
of data may be best suited to evaluation using simple
models with minimal input requirements, and
explicit consideration of uncertainty. From a
practical perspective, simple scientific approaches are often
the most convincing and most
understandable. In
addition, using simple models allows the
user to quickly simulate multiple scenarios to evaluate uncertainty in input parameters.
The user may also compare results obtained using
different models to help develop multiple lines of evidence to corroborate
and strengthen conclusions.
This workshop will present simple concepts,
tools, and mathematical models that have been developed by
U.S. EPA Office of Research and Development and U.S. EPA Region
9, and States to estimate the impact of chemical releases
on groundwater. Models
will be made available to attendees either on
disc or by download from the Internet.
Workshop
# 8: The Role of Anaerobic Biodegradation Processes in
Passive and Enhanced Monitored Natural Attenuation
Programs
Eric C.
Hince, P.G., RSM, Geovation
Technologies, Inc., Florida NY, Aaron Peacock,
Microbial Insights, Inc., Rockford TN
Anaerobic
microbial processes are now thought to play an important
if not dominant role in the catabolism and natural
attenuation of chemical contaminants present in soils,
sediments and aquifer media at many sites.
The intent of the proposed workshop is to provide
participants with a working knowledge of anaerobic
biodegradation processes within the context of passive and
enhanced monitored natural attenuation (MNA) programs.
The workshop will provide participants with an
overview of the following topics:
- biogeochemical
reactions and fundamental scientific concepts
associated with the major anaerobic respiration
pathways;
- the
state-of-the-science concerning anaerobic
biodegradation and transformation processes for
halogenated organic contaminants and reducible metals;
- data
requirements and sampling considerations for the
evaluation of anaerobic biodegradation processes;
- analytical
tools and methods to investigate quantitative and
qualitative aspects of microbial ecology;
- the
utility and limitations of using MNA scoring/ranking
systems to evaluate environmental data and site
conditions;
- a
survey of current knowledge and research concerning
the microbial ecology of anaerobic microorganisms
Participants
will be encouraged to bring site characterization and
ground-water sampling data from their own projects/sites
into the workshop to facilitate an interactive case study
/ data-review session with the presenters and other
participants.
Workshop
# 9: Workshop
on Application and Challenges in Groundwater Modeling for
Environmental Forensic Investigations
Dr. Brendan M. Harley,
CDM Inc., Cambridge, MA
Recent
developments in the operational capabilities of
groundwater models and display capabilities have
enormously increased the effectiveness
of using groundwater modelling in forensic
investigations of environmental problems.
The workshop will focus on the application of long-term transient modeling
using fully 3-dimensional codes for groundwater flow and
mass transport modeling, and discussing how these models
can provide very effective tools to the forensic
investigator. Graphical display techniques to
enable detailed viewing of the varying groundwater flow
system and plume migration will be presented.
The
workshop will
present a modeling effort which enabled the development of
a comprehensive understanding of a commingled regional
plume emanating from several facilities along an
industrial corridor.
The simulations included a period of more than 50
years, and required the incorporation of regional pumping
for municipal water supply and varying local industrial
pumping, both of which impacted the migration of the
plumes. This project
illustrates the ability of the investigator to
narrow the location of possible past releases to a
relatively small area of the site.
We will also examine possible causes for temporal
variations observed in a series of water quality samples
at a monitoring well. These “pulses” may also provide
very useful information in determining the source location
of the contaminant plume.
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