Groundwater Contamination

A pilot-scale phytoremediation system is being implemented to address shallow groundwater contaminated by residual pesticides from a landfill near West Columbia, South Carolina. The pilot-scale phytoremediation system will test the idea that fast growing hybrid poplar trees will take up shallow groundwater that contains organochlorine pesticides, such as β-BHC compounds and toxaphene, at higher...

USGS Technical Assistance to Support U.S. EPA Feasibility Studies, Remedial Designs, and Remedial Actions at Woolfolk Chemical Works Superfund Site, Fort Valley, GA

USGS Technical Assistance to Support U.S. EPA Feasibility Studies, Remedial Designs, and Remedial Actions at Kerr-McGee Chemical Corporation Superfund Site, Columbus, MS

A critical aspect of the uniqueness of coastal drought is the effects on the salinity dynamics of creeks, rivers, and estuaries. The location of the freshwater–saltwater interface along the coast is an important factor in the ecological and socioeconomic dynamics of coastal communities. Salinity is a critical response variable that integrates hydrologic and coastal dynamics including sea level...

The objective of this project is to develop a groundwater-flow model that can be used by Aiken County water managers to manage current and projected reported and unreported demands on groundwater resource and to ensure the highest quality of groundwater. Project Chief: Bruce Campbell Cooperator: Aiken County, Gilbert-Summit Rural Water District, City of Aiken, Breezy Hill Water and Sewer and...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) South Atlantic Water Science Center is conducted an inventory of well records and baseline groundwater-quality sampling to better delineate areas of groundwater use and groundwater-quality characteristics prior to potential shale gas exploration in the Triassic Basins of Lee and Chatham Counties, North Carolina. The compilation of baseline groundwater-quality data...

Water supply in the Augusta–Richmond County, GA area is provided in part by three well fields that withdraw water from the Dublin–Midville aquifer system. The U.S. Geological Survey operates a groundwater-level and water-quality monitoring program to support water-management decisions and provide a basis for future groundwater modeling efforts while adding to regional characterization of...

The US Environmental Protection designated a former electronics manufacturing facility as a Superfund cleanup site near Roxboro, North Carolina. Operations at a former gasoline station/store and electronic component production facility may have resulted in the presence of a volatile-organic compound (VOC) plume in groundwater in the area; referred to as the "GMH Electronics Site". The major...

Land application of municipal wastewater biosolids is the most common method of biosolids management used in North Carolina and the United States. Biosolids have characteristics that may be beneficial to soil and plants. Land application can take advantage of these beneficial qualities, whereas disposal in landfills or incineration poses no beneficial use of the waste. However, recent studies have...

Since 2000, the population of Brunswick County has grown by more than 50%. A growth of this magnitude places significant stress on Brunswick County’s natural resources. County planners have recognized the potential consequences of land use changes associated with growth and the resulting increased demand on water resources by consolidating the many public utility providers into one organization...

In the Brunswick, Georgia area, saltwater has contaminated the Upper Floridan aquifer for nearly 50 years. Saltwater contamination has constrained further development of the Upper Floridan aquifer in the Brunswick area, which has stimulated interest in the development of alternative sources of water supply, primarily from the shallower surficial and Brunswick aquifer systems. USGS is working...

Episodic droughts and increased pumpage since the mid-1970s have caused unprecedented ground-water level decline in the Upper Floridan aquifer in much of the roughly 8,000 square-mile Aucilla-Suwannee-Ochlockonee (ASO) River Basin. To address concerns about water availability, USGS worked with Georgia Environmental Protection Division to improve understanding of the hydrogeologic framework and...