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Philip T. Harte, P.G.

Philip Harte is a Research Hydrologist in the New England Water Science Center. 

Philip's research incorporates the development of novel tools and methods to address important societal questions related to fate and transport of contaminants in complex groundwater systems to help safeguard our natural resources. He focuses on the study of groundwater flow and contaminant transport in natural and remediated settings with complex, hetereogeneous formations. Experience includes over 30 years of work on the national and international arena studying the occurrence, distribution, and fate of natural and anthropogenic contamination problems. Research includes the development of new tools and methods that provide new insight into contaminant occurrence. An important component of Philip's work is the new insight provided through the identification of new findings related to the unique linkage between physical flow processes and water chemistry results. This work requires multidiscipline application and a comprehensive understanding of groundwater hydraulics, geophysics, and geochemistry. 

 

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Groundwater sampling array Cape Cod Massachusetts

The Purge Analyzer Tool (PAT) to Assess Optimal Pumping Parameters in the Collection of Representative Groundwater Samples from Wells

The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is developing analytical models to assess in-well groundwater flow conditions during the collection of groundwater samples from wells being pumped. This information can be used to inform groundwater samplers on when and how to collect samples that are most reflective of the targeted aquifer or hydrogeologiic...
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New England Water Science Center
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The Purge Analyzer Tool (PAT) to Assess Optimal Pumping Parameters in the Collection of Representative Groundwater Samples from Wells

The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is developing analytical models to assess in-well groundwater flow conditions during the collection of groundwater samples from wells being pumped. This information can be used to inform groundwater samplers on when and how to collect samples that are most reflective of the targeted aquifer or hydrogeologiic...
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Estimation of hydraulic properties in the Ogallala aquifer near Happy, Texas from slug test results at the North East 2nd Street Superfund site, U.S. Geological Survey data release

The North East 2nd Street Superfund site in Happy, Texas, overlies a groundwater plume of primarily carbon tetrachloride (CT) that is contained within an upper transmissive zone (EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, Inc., 2019) of the Ogallala aquifer. The Ogallala aquifer is contained at the site in Tertiary-age sediments of the Ogallala Formation, which are described by Nordstrom and Fallin
By
Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center

MODFLOW-2005, MODPATH, and MOC3D used for groundwater flow simulation, pathlines analysis, and solute transport in the crystalline-rock aquifer in the vicinity of the Savage Municipal Water-Supply Well Superfund Site, Milford, New Hampshire

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, developed a model for used with MODFLOW-2005 and MODPATH5 to evaluate groundwater flow and advective transport under pre- and post-remediation conditions in the crystalline-rock aquifer in the vicinity of the Savage Municipal Water-Supply Well Superf
By
New England Water Science Center

Data associated with the evaluation of the PAT (Purge Analyzer Tool), Stringfellow Superfund site, Jurupa Valley, California, 2017

Data presented here were collected in support of analyzing the analytical model PAT (Purge Analyzer Tool). There are manual measurements of well construction, hydraulic, and chemical data for several wells from the Stringfellow Superfund site, Jurupa Valley, California. The hydraulic data includes hydraulic head. Chemical data includes physiocochemical data. Physiocochemical profiles of the well w
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New England Water Science Center
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A Monte-Carlo chemical budget approach to assess ambient groundwater flow in bedrock open boreholes

In low-permeability rocks, ambient groundwater flow in open boreholes may go undetected using conventional borehole-flowmeter tools and alternative approaches may be needed to identify flow. Understanding ambient flow in open boreholes is important for tracking of cross contamination in groundwater. Chlorinated volatile organic compound (CVOC) concentrations from three open boreholes set in a crys
Authors
Philip Harte
By
Water Resources Mission Area, New England Water Science Center

Numerical modeling of groundwater flow in the crystalline-rock aquifer in the vicinity of the Savage Municipal Water-Supply Well Superfund site, Milford, New Hampshire

In 2010, tetrachloroethylene (PCE), a chlorinated volatile organic compound, was detected in groundwater from deep (more than 300 feet below land surface) fractures in monitoring wells tapping a crystalline-rock aquifer. The aquifer underlies the Milford-Souhegan glacial-drift aquifer, a high water-producing aquifer, and the Savage Municipal Water-Supply Well Superfund site in Milford, New Hampshi
Authors
Philip T. Harte
By
Water Resources Mission Area, New England Water Science Center

Evaluation and application of the Purge Analyzer Tool (PAT) to determine in-well flow and purge criteria for sampling monitoring wells at the Stringfellow Superfund site in Jurupa Valley, California, in 2017

The U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are developing analytical tools to assess the representativeness of groundwater samples from fractured-rock aquifers. As part of this effort, monitoring wells from the Stringfellow Superfund site in Jurupa Valley in Riverside County, California, approximately 50 miles east of Los Angeles, were field tested to collect information t
Authors
Philip T. Harte, Tomas Perina, Kent Becher, Herb Levine, Daewon Rojas-Mickelson, Lesley Walther, Anthony A. Brown
By
Water Resources Mission Area, New England Water Science Center

Passive sampling of groundwater wells for determination of water chemistry

IntroductionPassive groundwater sampling is defined as the collection of a water sample from a well without the use of purging by a pump or retrieval by a bailer (Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council [ITRC], 2006; American Society for Testing and Materials [ASTM], 2014). No purging means that advection of water is not involved in collecting the water sample from the well. Passive samplers
Authors
Thomas E. Imbrigiotta, Philip T. Harte
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Water Resources Mission Area, New Jersey Water Science Center

Borehole‐scale testing of matrix diffusion for contaminated‐rock aquifers

A new method was developed to assess the effect of matrix diffusion on contaminant transport and remediation of groundwater in fractured rock. This method utilizes monitoring wells constructed of open boreholes in fractured rock to conduct backward diffusion experiments on chlorinated volatile organic compounds (CVOCs) in groundwater. The experiments are performed on relatively unfractured zones (
Authors
Philip Harte, William C. Brandon
By
Water Resources Mission Area, New England Water Science Center

Instructions for running the analytical code PAT (Purge Analyzer Tool) for computation of in-well time of travel of groundwater under pumping conditions

IntroductionUnderstanding the optimal time needed to purge a well while pumping to collect a representative groundwater sample requires an understanding of groundwater flow in wells (in-well flow). Parameters that affect in-well flow include the hydraulic properties of the aquifer, well construction, drawdown from pumping, and pump rate. The time of travel relative to in-well flow is affected by t
Authors
P.T. Harte, B. J. Huffman, Tomas Perina, Herb Levine, Daewon Rojas-Mickelson
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Water Resources Mission Area, New England Water Science Center

Differentiating anthropogenic and natural sources of uranium by geochemical fingerprinting of groundwater at the Homestake Uranium Mill, Milan, New Mexico, USA

A multiparameter geochemical-isotopic fingerprinting approach was used to differentiate natural and anthropogenic signatures of uranium contamination near the Homestake uranium mill site (Site), near Milan, New Mexico, USA. The Site consists of two tailings piles from milling operations and groundwater contamination from these tailings have been noted. The Site lies within the lower San Mateo Cree
Authors
Johanna Blake, Philip Harte, Kent Becher
By
Water Resources Mission Area, New Mexico Water Science Center, Oklahoma-Texas Water Science Center

Identifying natural and anthropogenic variability of uranium at the well scale, Homestake Superfund site, near Milan, New Mexico, USA

The San Mateo Creek Basin in New Mexico, USA is located within the Grants Mineral Belt-an area with numerous uranium (U) ore deposits, mines, and milling operations. Six monitoring wells set in an alluvial aquifer near the Homestake Mining Co. Superfund site in the lower San Mateo Creek Basin were logged with a suite of borehole geophysical tools including spectral gamma-ray (SGR), vertically prof
Authors
Philip T. Harte, Johanna M. Blake, Jonathan V. Thomas, Kent Becher
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Water Resources Mission Area, Contaminant Biology, Environmental Health Program, Toxic Substances Hydrology, New England Water Science Center, New Mexico Water Science Center

Determination of representative uranium and selenium concentrations from groundwater, 2016, Homestake Mining Company Superfund site, Milan, New Mexico

In 2016, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, collected data on isotopes, age dating, and geochemistry including aqueous uranium concentrations of samples from 20 locations in the vicinity of the Homestake Mining Company Superfund site near Milan, New Mexico. The 20 sampled locations include 19 groundwater wells and 1 treatment plant for water u
Authors
Philip T. Harte, Johanna M. Blake, Kent Becher
By
Water Resources Mission Area, New England Water Science Center, New Mexico Water Science Center

In-well time-of-travel approach to evaluate optimal purge duration during low-flow sampling of monitoring wells

A common assumption with groundwater sampling is that low (<0.5 L/min) pumping rates during well purging and sampling captures primarily lateral flow from the formation through the well-screened interval at a depth coincident with the pump intake. However, if the intake is adjacent to a low hydraulic conductivity part of the screened formation, this scenario will induce vertical groundwater flow t
Authors
Philip T. Harte
By
Water Resources Mission Area, New England Water Science Center

Groundwater level trends and drivers in two northern New England glacial aquifers

We evaluated long-term trends and predictors of groundwater levels by month from two well-studied northern New England forested headwater glacial aquifers: Sleepers River, Vermont, 44 wells, 1992-2013; and Hubbard Brook, New Hampshire, 15 wells, 1979-2004. Based on Kendall Tau tests with Sen slope determination, a surprising number of well-month combinations had negative trends (decreasing water l
Authors
James B. Shanley, Ann T. Chalmers, Thomas J. Mack, Thor E. Smith, Philip T. Harte
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Water Resources Mission Area, Climate Research and Development Program, Land Change Science Program, New England Water Science Center

Distributional patterns of arsenic concentrations in contaminant plumes offer clues to the source of arsenic in groundwater at landfills

The distributional pattern of dissolved arsenic concentrations from landfill plumes can provide clues to the source of arsenic contamination. Under simple idealized conditions, arsenic concentrations along flow paths in aquifers proximal to a landfill will decrease under anthropogenic sources but potentially increase under in situ sources. This paper presents several conceptual distributional patt
Authors
Philip T. Harte
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Water Resources Mission Area, New England Water Science Center

Software for the analytical code PAT (Purge Analyzer Tool) for computation of in-well time of travel of groundwater under pumping conditions

Purge Analyzer Tool - For computation of in-well time of travel of groundwater under pumping conditions.

By
New England Water Science Center

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