Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Soil and Groundwater Sampling

Detailed Description

USGS Hydrologist David Bender using a photoionization detector on a split soil core from 15 to 20 feet for well EAFB FAC MW14_06, Fuels Area C, Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. The photoionization detector measures volatile organic compounds and other gases. In fall of 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey began a study in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force, Ellsworth Air Force Base, to estimate groundwater-flow direction, select locations for permanent monitoring wells, and install and sample monitoring wells for petroleum hydrocarbon compounds within Fuels Area C, which is a fuels storage area that is used to support the mission of the base. Nine monitoring wells were installed for the study within Fuels Area C during November 4–7, 2014. Soil core samples were collected during installation of eight of the monitoring wells and analyzed for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, total xylenes, naphthalene, m- and p-xylene, o-xylene, and gasoline- and diesel-range organic compounds. Groundwater samples were collected from seven of the nine wells (two of the monitoring wells did not contain enough water to sample or were dry) during November 19–21, 2014, and analyzed for select physical properties, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, total xylenes, naphthalene, m- and p-xylene, o-xylene, and gasoline- and diesel-range organic compounds.

Sources/Usage

Public Domain.