Hydrogeologic reconnaissance of the Swope Oil Superfund site and vicinity, Camden and Burlington counties, New Jersey

Abstract

From 1965-79, a chemical reclamation facility, now known as the Swope Oil Superfund site, sold and processed a variety of chemical compounds. Operation of the facility resulted in contamination of ground water beneath the 1.9-acre site. During 1984, the maximum concentrations of chromium and lead in ground water were 64 and 90 jug/L (micrograms per liter), respectively; the maximum concentration of total purgeable organic compounds (POCs) was 108 jug/L; and the maximum concentration of total base/neutraland acid-extractable organic compounds was 116 jug/L. Although the off-site migration of these compounds has not been studied, a public-supply well 300 feet from the site is contaminated, and a public-supply well 1,400 feet from the site may be threatened. The study area is adjacent to the tidally influenced Delaware River and is situated in the New Jersey part of the Atlantic Coastal Plain physiographic province. This province consists of a wedge of unconsolidated sediment which thickens and dips toward the Atlantic Ocean. The study area is underlain by alluvial deposits, the Cretaceous Merchantville-Woodbury confining unit, and the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system. These deposits, which are composed of gravel, sand, silt, and clay, crop out in the study area and are underlain by bedrock. These hydrogeologic units comprise the water-table aquifer, the confining units, and the confined aquifer found throughout the study area. The Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system is incised by the Delaware River and is hydraulically connected to it. Regional estimates of hydraulic conductivities of aquifers and confining units in Cretaceous rocks are 130 to 350 ft/d (feet per day), and approximately 2.0 x 10 2 ft/d, respectively. The average yield of wells 6 inches or larger in the confined aquifer is approximately 1190 gallons per minute; specific capacity ranges from 17 to 80 gallons per minute per foot of drawdown. The surface of the water table beneath the Swope Oil Superfund site is approximately 17 feet below sea level. Groundwater levels throughout the study area are believed to be below the stage of the Delaware River, causing induced recharge to the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system from the river. Precipitation is the principal source of recharge to the water-table aquifer. Induced recharge into aquifers of the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system from the Delaware River and downward leakage of water through confining units toward pumping centers in Camden County are the principal sources of recharge to the confined aquifer. Five public-supply well fields are located in the study area, primarily adjacent to the Delaware River. During 1983 public-supply wells pumped approximately 25 million gallons per day of water, which accounts for approximately 30 percent of all groundwater withdrawals by public-supply wells in Camden County. Four waste-disposal sites with observation-well networks are also located in the study area. The water-table and confined aquifers are contaminated in several locations in the s...

Reconnaissance of hydrogeology and ground-water quality in Pennsauken Township and vicinity, Camden County, New Jersey, 1996-98

“…Some additional commercial and industrial supply wells screened in the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifers are present in the study area. Ground-water contaminants are not confined to the area of the Puchack well field; VOCs were detected at some of the Merchantville-Pennsauken Water Supply Commissions wells at the Park Avenue and National Highway well fields as early as 1980 (Barton and Krebs, 1990).…”

“…They found that VOC contamination was detected most commonly in the Lower Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer in and near the outcrop area, and concluded that the presence of VOCs was the result of human activities in the extensive urbanized areas overlying the outcrops. Barton and Krebs (1990) compiled geochemical, geohydrologic, and geophysical data from wells and boreholes in the vicinity of the Swope Oil Superfund site in Pennsauken Township.…”