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Mitchell McAdoo

Mitch McAdoo is a hydrologist at the Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center.

Mitch has been an employee of the USGS since 2015. He has worked on a variety of water resources studies throughout the United States involving water quality and groundwater availability.

Current projects and interests:

  • Occurrence of per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in West Virginia’s public water supplies

  • Water quality and availability of West Virginia’s abandoned underground coal mine aquifers

  • Understanding surface-water-influenced groundwater systems in the Ohio River Valley alluvial aquifer of West Virginia

  • Aquifer characterization with borehole geophysics

  • Using environmental tracers to understand aquifer vulnerability

Education and Certifications

  • B.S. Geology, Clarion University of Pennsylvania

  • M.S. Geology, West Virginia University

Science and Products

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A hydrologic technician prepares a water sample for testing, working within a protected lab space to prevent contamination.

PFAS Investigations at the Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

Exposure to some per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals. The Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center works with local and regional partners to determine the drivers and distribution of PFAS contamination in groundwater, surface water, and drinking water supplies across Virginia and West Virginia.
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Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center
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PFAS Investigations at the Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

Exposure to some per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been linked to harmful health effects in humans and animals. The Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center works with local and regional partners to determine the drivers and distribution of PFAS contamination in groundwater, surface water, and drinking water supplies across Virginia and West Virginia.
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A hydrologic technician on a boat, documenting water sampling information on an electronic tablet.

PFAS in West Virginia's Groundwater and Surface Water

In 2019, the West Virginia legislature recognized the contamination risk to public source-water supplies posed by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and passed a resolution that required a statewide PFAS study. The purpose of this resulting study was to understand the occurrence and distribution of PFAS contamination throughout the state’s rivers, lakes, and groundwater aquifers. This...
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Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center
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PFAS in West Virginia's Groundwater and Surface Water

In 2019, the West Virginia legislature recognized the contamination risk to public source-water supplies posed by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and passed a resolution that required a statewide PFAS study. The purpose of this resulting study was to understand the occurrence and distribution of PFAS contamination throughout the state’s rivers, lakes, and groundwater aquifers. This...
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Environmental Sampling of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in the Middle Chickahominy River Watershed, Virginia, 2021-2022

These data were collected to understand the occurrence of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in the middle Chickahominy River watershed. Specifically, this effort was initiated to: 1. Determine concentrations of PFAS in surface water at select locations in the middle Chickahominy River watershed; 2. Determine concentrations of PFAS in edible portions of fish at select locations in the mid
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Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

Data Collected to Assess the Occurrence and Distribution of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in West Virginia Public Source-Water Supplies, 2019 - 2021

Source water for West Virginia’s public water systems is pumped from groundwater aquifers or withdrawn from the state’s rivers and lakes. These systems provide drinking water to a majority of the state’s population and require constant monitoring for known and emerging contaminants. Groundwater contamination from Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substa
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Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

Data for Distribution of Groundwater Age in Aquifers Used for Public Supply in the Continental United States, 2004 - 2017 (Version 1.1: June 2022)

This data release documents seven tables that contain environmental tracer data and lumped parameter model (LPM) results that are used for assessing the distribution of groundwater age in 21 Principal Aquifers of the continental United States. Groundwater samples were collected from 1,279 sites and analyzed for environmental tracers: tritium, tritiogenic helium-3, sulfur hexafluoride, carbon-14, a
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California Water Science Center

Dataset of trace dissolved hydrocarbons in surface water and groundwater in North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia between 2014 and 2017

This dataset contains measurements of dissolved hydrocarbons in various water sources, as well as ancillary raw calibration data showing the stability of the gas chromatograph with an atomic emission detector and flame ionization detector (GC-AED-FID) analytical system over time. Across multiple studies, samples from tap water, groundwater, surface water, springs, mine outflows, and blank material
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Water Resources

Site and Groundwater-Quality Sample Data for Abandoned Underground Coal Mine Aquifers in West Virginia, July 13, 1973 through September 7, 2016

This Data Release is a compilation of existing water-quality data associated with groundwater resources originating from abandoned underground coal mines in West Virginia. Data were compiled from multiple sources for the purpose of understanding the suitability of groundwater from abandoned underground coal mines for public supply, industrial, agricultural, and other uses. This compilation include
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Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center
A map of West Virginia with the locations of sampling sites link
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in West Virginia public source water supplies.
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Groundwater quality and geochemistry of the western wet gas part of the Marcellus Shale Oil and Gas Play in West Virginia

Thirty rural residential water wells in the wet gas region of the Marcellus Shale oil and gas play in northwestern West Virginia were sampled by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 2018, in cooperation with West Virginia State agencies, to analyze for a range of water-quality constituents, including major ions, trace metals, radionuclides, bacteria, and methane and other dissolved hydrocarbon gas
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Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

Occurrence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and inorganic analytes in groundwater and surface water used as sources for public water supply in West Virginia

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widely observed anthropogenic compounds found in water supplies worldwide and increasingly linked with adverse health effects in humans. In 2019, the West Virginia Legislature recognized the contamination risk to public source-water supplies posed by PFAS and passed a resolution that required a statewide PFAS study. The purpose of the resolution was t
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Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

Groundwater quality and geochemistry of West Virginia’s southern coal fields

Coal mining has been the dominant industry and land use in West Virginia’s southern coal fields since the mid-1800s. Mortality rates for a variety of serious chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, and some forms of cancer in Appalachian coal mining regions, are higher than in areas lacking substantial coal mining activity within the Appalachian Region or elsewhere in the United State
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Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

Groundwater-quality data associated with abandoned underground coal mine aquifers in West Virginia, 1973-2016: Compilation of existing data from multiple sources

This report describes a compilation of existing water-quality data associated with groundwater resources originating from abandoned underground coal mines in West Virginia. Data were compiled from multiple sources for the purpose of understanding the suitability of groundwater from abandoned underground coal mines for public supply, industrial, agricultural, and other uses. This compilation includ
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Water Resources, Virginia and West Virginia Water Science Center

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