Showing papers by "John A. Cherry published in 1985"

Transport of organic contaminants in groundwater

Abstract: Distribution et devenir des polluants dans des aquiferes de sable et gravier. Processus chimiques, physiques et biologiques dans la zone saturee

Geochemical evolution of inactive pyritic tailings in the Elliot Lake uranium district

Abstract: Geochemical data obtained between 1979 and 1983 from a network of piezometer nests and cores from three inactive uranium tailings impoundments in the Elliot Lake district indicate that oxidation of...

The Dual Formulation of Flow for Contaminant Transport Modeling: 2. The Borden Aquifer

Abstract: The dual formulation of flow in terms of potentials and stream functions is applied to a groundwater system containing a well-monitored chloride plume. It is found that field measurements of head alone, regardless of detail, are not sufficient to arrive at a description of the flow system that is meaningful within the context of a contaminant transport modeling study. Problems identified include the incompatibility of the time-specific hydraulic data with the longer time frame of the transport phenomenon and the susceptibility of the potential solution to numerical error. In overcoming these problems, plumebased data are used in the dual model of potentials and stream functions to determine the hydrogeologic parameters that are needed for the description of the flow system in a transport model. A companion paper reviews the underlying theory.

Treating groundwater by sparging

Abstract: A process for removing volatile contaminants from flowing groundwater on a substantially continuous basin, comprises placing a tube 3 in the ground in the path of the flowing groundwater, the tube 3 being such that it allows water through its walls, and bubbling compressed gas through a head 7 into the water to carry the contaminants to the surface. A cut- off wall may be provided in the ground to guide the flowing groundwater through gaps at which a number of tubes may be located in series. The gas may be air.

A Tube and Cartridge Method for Down‐Hole Sampling for Trace Organic Compounds in Ground Water

Abstract: A small ground-water sampling device has been developed which extends the down-hole use of the adsorption/thermal desorption (ATD) analysis method for nonpolar organic compounds to very narrow piezometers (I.D. > 0.64 cm). The sampler consists of a sorbent cartridge, a flow restrictor, and a tube leading to the ground surface. The device is lowered down a piezometer, and water-column pressure forces the sample through the cartridge. In the laboratory, the water is removed from the cartridge and the sorbed compounds are thermally desorbed to a gas chromatography (GC) column for analysis. Since the analytes are sorbed on the cartridge down-hole, volatilization losses are avoided. Samples can be obtained without being influenced by the water column above the sampler or by tubing or pumps; many uncertainties associated with well purging and contamination from well casings and samplers can be minimized. The method was tested by sampling at a landfill. The coefficients of variation were in the 10-18% range at the low μg/1 level. The limits of detection for several compounds were all under 0.1 μg/1, some being less than 1 ng/1. Sorption efficiencies of >93% were found for a variety of compounds. The method will be attractive when sensitivity and freedom from volatilization losses and sampler-related contamination are required.

Distribution coefficients for strontium and cesium in overburden at a storage area for low-level radioactive waste

Abstract: Distribution coefficients for strontium and cesium, as one component of a hydrogeological site investigation, were determined by the batch method on 12 samples of glacial till and 7 samples of sand from the radioactive waste operations site 2 of the Bruce Nuclear Power Development. The tests were performed using two types of equilibrating solutions traced with radioisotopes; one was a solution with cation concentrations equal to the concentrations obtained in 1:1 solid–solution extracts and the other was natural groundwater obtained from piezometers at or near the depths from which the soil samples were obtained. The measured Kd values were relatively uniform within an individual hydrogeological unit, and differences between units were related to the chemical properties of both the solid and solution phases. The Kd values for both Sr and Cs obtained in the tests performed using the synthetic solutions differed from those obtained in tests using natural groundwater. The differences appeared to be related t...