You are the environmental manager of the site and there has been a release of VO

Question

You are the environmental manager of the site and there has been a release of VOC's and metals onto the ground surface and have migrated into the subsurface sediments and groundwater. The underlying aquifer is very close to the surface, only about 2 feet< and the groundwater generally flows toward the lake. From benchmarks, the elevation of the site is 20 feet above sea level and the lake is about 7 feet above sea level. This distance to the lake from the release is about 300 feet.

The subsurface sediments are: lacustrine (lake deposts) to a depth of 8 feet from the surface with a permeability of 10-3. Underlying the lake deposits is 10 feet of glacial till with a permeability of 10-2. Underlying the till is a thick layer of shale with a permeability of 10-8. Which acts as a impermeable barrier.

1. Develop a management plan to address this problem. What kind of questions might you ask in-order to identify a possible technology?

2. Is there any other information you can identify and provide that would be useful in solving this problem?

Explanation / Answer

1. As Volatile organic compounds (VOC) are very harmful and hazardious for human being as it contains evaporites, unstable compounds and carbon contents. As the aquifer is very shallow and a minimal infiltration (despite of higher rate of evapotranspiration) can hamper the quality of it. Further the permeabilty is decreasing with depth and thus the rate of flow of water will be in the upper formation. Thus, A barrier of aquiclude or aquitard can be made which resist this shallow aquifer to mix with lake water.

2.  The gradient of the bedding of these formation can help to estimate the head values in peizometer and the quantitative analysis for further proceddings.

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