Hydrogeology and ground-water-quality conditions at the Emporia- Lyon County Landfill, eastern Kansas, 1988

Hydrogeology and water-quality conditions at the Emporia-Lyon County Landfill, eastern Kansas, were investigated from April 1988 through April 1989. Potentiometric-surface maps indicated groundwater movement from the northeast and northwest towards the landfill and then south through the landfill to the Cottonwood River. The maps indicate that during periods of low groundwater levels, groundwater flows northward in the north-west part of the landfill, which may have been induced by water withdrawal from wells north of the landfill or by water ponded in waste lagoons south and west of the landfill. Chemical analysis of water samples from monitoring wells upgradient and downgradient of the landfill indicate calcium bicarbonate to be the dominant water type. No inorganic or organic chemical concentrations exceeded Kansas or Federal primary drinking-water standards. Kansas secondary drinking-water standards were equaled or exceeded, however, in water from some or all wells for total hardness, dissolved solids, iron, and manganese. Water from one upgradient well contained larger concentrations of dissolved oxygen and nitrate, and smaller concentrations of bicarbonate, alkalinity, ammonia, arsenic, iron, and manganese as compared to all other monitoring wells. Results of this investigation indicate that groundwater quality downgradient of well MW-2 has increased concentrations of some inorganic and organic compounds. Due to the industrial nature of the area and the changing directions of groundwater flow, it is not clear what the source of these compounds might be. Long-term monitoring, additional wells, and access to nearby waste lagoons and waste-lagoon monitoring wells would help define the sources of increased inorganic and organic compounds. (USGS)