Installation and sampling of observation wells and analyses of water from the shallow aquifer at selected waste-disposal sites in the Memphis area, Tennessee

Observation wells were installed and sampled at six abandoned waste-disposal sites in the Memphis area that have been identified as having received unknown quantities and types of industrial wastes. These sites are: (1) Bellevue Dump, (2) Brooks Road Dump, (3) Hollywood Dump, (4) Jackson Pit Dump, (5) Millington Dump-Landfill, and (6) Old Ordnance Dump. Ten wells were installed adjacent to and downgradient from these sites in the shallow water-table aquifer. This aquifer is made up chiefly of the alluvium and fluvial (terrace) deposits of Quaternary age, but locally may include sand in the uppermost part of the Jackson Formation and Claiborne Group of Tertiary age.

Water samples were collected from these 10 wells and from two other wells in the shallow water-table aquifer at the Hollywood Dump. Most wells were sampled twice --initially in the early summer when water levels were high and again in the fall when water levels were low. Other wells were sampled only once in either summer or fall. The water was analyzed for common constituents, selected trace constituents, and selected organic compounds.