Legacy of a Chemical Factory Site: Contaminated Groundwater Impacts Stream Macroinvertebrates

Rasmussen, Jes J.; McKnight, Ursula S.; Sonne, Anne Thobo; Wiberg‐Larsen, Peter; Bjerg, Poul Løgstrup

doi:10.1007/s00244-015-0211-2

Cited by 17 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…This approach relies on the one‐dimensional analytical solution:

q_{z} = - \frac{κ_{f s}}{p_{f} c_{f} z} l n (\frac{T_{Z} - T_{L}}{T_{0} - T_{L}})

where q z is Darcy flux in the vertical direction (m/s), k fs is the thermal conductivity of the solid‐fluid system (2.2 J/s m K) (Hopmans et al ), p f c f is the volumetric heat capacity of the fluid (4.19 × 10 6 J/m 3 K), z is the depth of measurement (0.4 m), T z is the temperature at depth z (°C) (ranged from 9.8 to 12.2 °C), T L is the temperature of the groundwater which is fixed for all calculations (8.6 °C), and T 0 is the temperature at z = 0 (°C) (ranged from 10 to 12.3°C). This value was measured along with a surface water temperature ( T sw = 18°C) and a bed‐water temperature at depth z ( T z ) at every measurement location (Rasmussen et al ). The T z measurements were made at z = 0.4 m in an effort to reach a zone beneath active horizontal hyporheic flow.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparison of Tools and Methods for Estimating Groundwater‐Surface Water Exchange

Cremeans¹,

Devlin²,

Osorno³

et al. 2020

Groundwater Monitoring Rem

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A comparison of tools for measuring discharge rates in a sandy streambed was conducted along a transect near the north bank of the Grindsted Å (stream), Denmark. Four tools were evaluated at six locations spaced 3 m apart in the stream: mini‐piezometers, streambed point velocity probes (SBPVPs), temperature profilers, and seepage meters. Comparison of the methods showed that all identified a similar trend of low to high groundwater discharges moving westward along the transect. Furthermore, it was found that the differences between discharges estimated from Darcy calculations (using the mini‐pizometers), and SBPVPs were not statistically different from zero, at the 90% confidence level. Seepage meter estimates were consistently lower than those of the other two methods, but compared more reasonably with the application of a correction factor of 1.7, taken from the literature. In contrast, discharges estimated from temperature profiling (to a depth of 40 cm) were found to be about an order of magnitude less than those determined with the other methods, possibly due to interferences from horizontal hyporheic flow. Where the various methods produced statistically different discharge estimations at the same location, it is hypothesized that the differences arose from method‐specific sources of bias, including installation depths. On the basis of this work, practitioners interested in measuring flow across the groundwater‐surface water interface achieve the least variability with seepage meters and the SBPVP. However the accuracy of the seepage meter depended on a calibrated correction factor while that of the SBPVP did not.

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“…This approach relies on the one‐dimensional analytical solution:

q_{z} = - \frac{κ_{f s}}{p_{f} c_{f} z} l n (\frac{T_{Z} - T_{L}}{T_{0} - T_{L}})

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Comparison of Tools and Methods for Estimating Groundwater‐Surface Water Exchange

Cremeans¹,

Devlin²,

Osorno³

et al. 2020

Groundwater Monitoring Rem

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“…The annual average flow is 2000 L/s and the stream is 8‐ to 12‐m wide and 1‐ to 2.5‐m deep (Balbarini et al ). Groundwater and hyporheic zone water samples collected below the streambed showed that groundwater contaminated by pharmaceutical compounds discharges along a 2‐km stretch of the stream (Rasmussen et al ; Sonne et al ). A discharge area (red rectangle in Figure ) with high groundwater concentrations of benzene, chlorinated ethenes, mainly cis DCE ( cis ‐1,2‐dichloroethene) and vinyl chloride (VC), and pharmaceutical compounds was found (Rønde et al ; Sonne et al ; Balbarini et al ).…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Transport of Pharmaceutical Compounds in a Layered Aquifer Discharging to a Stream

Balbarini¹,

Frederiksen

Rønde

et al. 2019

Groundwater

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A groundwater plume containing high concentrations of pharmaceutical compounds, mainly sulfonamides, barbiturates, and ethyl urethane, in addition to chlorinated ethenes and benzene was investigated. The contamination originating from a former pharmaceutical industry discharges into a multilayered aquifer system and a downgradient stream. In this study, geological and hydrogeological data were integrated into a numerical flow model to examine identified trends using statistical approaches, including principal component analysis and hierarchal cluster analysis. A joint interpretation of the groundwater flow paths and contaminant concentrations in the different compartments (i.e., groundwater and hyporheic zone) provided insight on the transport processes of the different contaminant plumes to the stream. The analysis of historical groundwater concentrations of pharmaceutical compounds at the site suggested these compounds are slowly degrading. The pharmaceutical compounds migrate in both a deep semiconfined aquifer, as well as in the shallow unconfined aquifer, and enter the stream along a 2‐km stretch. This contrasted with the chlorinated ethenes, which mainly discharge to the stream as a focused plume from the unconfined aquifer. The integrated approach developed here, combining groundwater flow modeling and statistical analyses of the contaminant concentration data collected in groundwater and the hyporheic zone, lead to an improved understanding of the observed distribution of contaminants in the unconfined and semiconfined aquifers, and thus to their discharge to the stream. This approach is particularly relevant for large and long‐lasting contaminant sources and plumes, such as abandoned landfills and industrial production sites, where field investigations may be very expensive.

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“…The stream has a width of 8 to 12 m and a depth of 1 to 2.5 m. The catchment is dominated by sand and sandy clay and is approximately 200 km 2 . The stream flow ranges from 1500 to 4100 L/s, and the stream is gaining along this specific section (Sonne et al ). A plume of chlorinated ethenes and other contaminants migrates from the former Grindsted factory site, located 1.5 km north of the stream, towards the stream.…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Groundwater contamination with chlorinated ethenes has, in recent studies, shown to be a matter of concern for stream water quality (McKnight et al ; Weatherill et al. ; Rasmussen et al ). When groundwater discharges into streams, contaminant plumes appear close to the surface.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phytoscreening for Vinyl Chloride in Groundwater Discharging to a Stream

Ottosen¹,

Rønde²,

Trapp³

et al. 2018

Groundwater Monitoring Rem

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This study applies an optimized phytoscreening method to locate a chlorinated ethene plume discharging into a stream. To evaluate the conditions most suitable for successful phytoscreening, trees along the stream bank were monitored through different seasons with different environmental conditions and hence different uptake/loss scenarios. Vinyl chloride (VC) as well as cis-dichloroethylene (cis-DCE), trichloroethylene (TCE), and tetrachloroethylene (PCE) were detected in the trees, documenting that phytoscreening is a viable method to locate chlorinated ethene plumes, including VC, discharging to streams. The results reveal, that phytoscreening for VC is more sensitive to environmental conditions affecting transpiration than for the other chlorinated ethenes detected. Conditions leading to higher groundwater uptake by transpiration than contaminant loss by diffusion from the tree trunks are optimal (e.g., low relative humidity, plentiful hours of sunshine and an intermediate air temperature). Additionally, low precipitation prior to the sampling event is beneficial, as uptake of infiltrating precipitation dilutes the concentration in the trees. All chlorinated ethenes were sensitive to dilution by clean precipitation and in some months, this resulted in no detection of contaminants in the trees at all. Under optimal environmental conditions the tree cores allowed detection of chlorinated solvents and their metabolites in the underlying groundwater. Whereas, for less ideal conditions there was a risk of no detection of the more volatile VC. This study is promising for the future applicability of phytoscreening to locate shallow groundwater contamination with the degradation products of chlorinated solvents.

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Legacy of a Chemical Factory Site: Contaminated Groundwater Impacts Stream Macroinvertebrates

Cited by 17 publications

References 53 publications

A Comparison of Tools and Methods for Estimating Groundwater‐Surface Water Exchange

A Comparison of Tools and Methods for Estimating Groundwater‐Surface Water Exchange

Assessing the Transport of Pharmaceutical Compounds in a Layered Aquifer Discharging to a Stream

Phytoscreening for Vinyl Chloride in Groundwater Discharging to a Stream

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