EPA-660/2-74-056
June 1974
Environmental Protection Technology Series
Ground Water Contamination
In The Northeast States
Office of Research and Development
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington. D.C. 20460
-------
RESEARCH REPORTING SERIES
Research reports of the Office of Research and
Monitoring, Environmental Protection Agency, have
been grouped into five series. These five broad
categories were established to facilitate further
development and application of environmental
technology. Elimination of traditional grouping
was consciously planned to foster technology
transfer and a maximum interface in related
fields. The five series are:
1. Environmental Health Effects Research
2. Environmental Protection Technology
3. Ecological Research
4. Environmental Monitoring
5. Socioeconomic Environmental Studies
This report has been assigned to the ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION TECHNOLOGY series. This series
describes research performed to develop and
demonstrate instrumentation, equipment and
methodology to repair or prevent environmental
degradation from point and -non-point sources of
pollution. This work provides the new or improved
technology required for the control and treatment
of pollution sources to meet environmental quality
standards.
EPA REVIEW NOTICE
This report has "been reviewed by the Office of Research and
Development, EPA, and approved for publication. Approval does
not signify that the contents necessarily reflect the views
and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor
does mention of trade names or commercial products constitute
endorsement or recommendation for use.
-------
FILE: Grndwtr: Poll/Prot
EPA-660/2-74-056
June, 1974
GROUND WATER CONTAMINATION
IN THE NORTHEAST STATES
by
David W. Miller, Frank A. DeLuca, and Thomas L. Tessier
Contract No. 68-01-0777
Program Element 1BA024
Project Officer
Marion R. Scalf
Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
Ada, Oklahoma
Prepared for
OFFICE OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
U. S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20460
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price $3.30
-------
ABSTRACT
An evaluation of principal sources of ground-water contami-
nation has been carried out in 11 northeast states, includ-
ing all of New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Maryland, and Delaware. The findings of this study have
been used to determine priorities for research into ways to
reduce the number of sources of contamination and to point
out deficiencies in present control methods for protecting
against further degradation of ground-water quality.
Ground-water quality in the region is generally good to ex-
cellent, except for naturally occurring saline waters in
some coastal and inland aquifers. Principal sources of
ground-water quality degradation caused by man's activities
that are common to most parts of the region are septic tanks
and cesspools, buried tanks and pipelines including sanitary
and storm sewers, the application and storage of highway de-
icing salts, municipal and industrial landfills of solid
waste, unlined surface impoundments, spills, and the uncon-
trolled discharge of pollutants on the land surface. In New
York and Pennsylvania, mining and petroleum exploration and
development have caused many instances of ground-water con-
tamination, but the extent of the problem has not been de-
fined. Salt-water intrusion in coastal areas has been ade-
quately controlled, but little is known of the potential
threat to fresh-water aquifers from the encroachment of sa-
line water that occurs in inland formations underlying the
western portions of the region.
The findings of the investigation indicate that the hundreds
of cases of ground-water contamination recorded to date and
referenced in this report represent only a very small per-
centage of those that actually exist. Furthermore, the
technology to adequately solve problems of ground-water con-
tamination has not been developed and made available to reg-
ulatory agencies. Basic research is needed on how to im-
prove methods to inventory and correct problems of ground-
water contamination and how to prevent future problems
through better management and control of activities that can
affect ground-water quality.
This report was submitted in fulfillment of Contract
68-01-0777 by Geraghty & Miller, Inc., under the sponsorship
of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. Work was com-
pleted as of June, 1974.
ii
-------
CONTENTS
Page
Abstract ii
List of Figures v^
List of Tables ix
Sections
I Conclusions 1
II Recommendations 5
III Introduction 7
Use of Ground Water 8
Future Use 8
References Cited 16
IV Description of Project Area 17
Physiography I7
Population 21
Climate 21
Geology and Ground Water Resources 24
Connecticut 24
Delaware 30
Maine 32
Maryland 37
Massachusetts 40
New Hampshire 45
New Jersey 4*3
New York 51
Pennsylvania 58
Rhode Island 62
Vermont 65
References Cited 69
V Natural Ground-Water Quality 78
Introduction 78
Connecticut 79
Delaware 81
Maine 89
ill
-------
CONTENTS (continued)
V Natural Ground-Water Quality (continued)
Maryland 89
Massachusetts 92
New Hampshire 95
New Jersey 97
New York 99
Pennsylvania 107
Rhode Island 110
Vermont 110
References Cited 113
VI Sources of Ground-Water Contamination 124
Definition of the Problem 124
Importance of the Resource 125
Health and Other Hazards 128
The Relationship of Ground Water
to Surface Water 139
The Problem of Monitoring 140
Technical and Economic Difficulties 155
Summary 163
Septic Tanks and Cesspools 164
Buried Pipelines and Storage Tanks 178
Application and Storage of Highway
Deicing Salts 185
Landfills 199
Surface Impoundments 219
Spills and Surface Discharges 230
Mining Activity 236
Petroleum Exploration and Development 247
Salt-Water Intrusion 251
River Infiltration 265
Underground Storage and Artificial
Recharge of Waste Water 272
Water Wells 279
Agricultural Activities 282
References Cited 285
VII Research and Other Needs 301
General Needs 301
Specific Needs 308
References Cited 315
iv
-------
CONTENTS (continued)
Page
VIII Acknowledgements 316
IX Appendix A - Glossary of Terms 318
Appendix B - Water Quality Standards 324
-------
FIGURES
No. Page
1 Locations of the States 18
2, Ground-Water Regions 19
3 Precipitation Map 23
4 Average Annual Evaporation 25
5 Generalized Geologic Map of Connecticut 26
6 Locations of Principal Sand and Gravel
Aquifers of Connecticut 27
7 Generalized Geologic Map of Delaware 31
8 Generalized Geologic Map of Maine 35
9 Location of Principal Sand and Gravel
Deposits in Maine 36
10 Generalized Geologic Map of Maryland 38
11 Generalized Geologic Map of Massachusetts 43
12 Generalized Geologic Map of New Hampshire 47
13 Generalized Geologic Map of New Jersey 49
14 Generalized Geologic Map of New York 52
15 Generalized Geologic Map of Pennsylvania 59
16 Generalized Geologic Map of Rhode Island 64
17 Generalized Geologic Map of Vermont 66
18 Depth to Mineralized Ground Water 80
19 Inferred Regional Circulation of Ground
Water in Western New York 106
20 Downward Leaching of Pollutants from a
Salt Stockpile 130
VI
-------
FIGURES (continued)
No. Paqe
21 Plan View of Plume of Contaminated
Ground Water Caused by Leakage from
Lagoons and Basins 131
22 Downward Movement of Contaminated Water
from a Leaky Sewer 133
23 Plan View of Contaminated Ground Water
Caused by Leachate from a Landfill 134
24 Movement of Light-Density Fluid in the
Ground-Water System 135
25 Plan View of Water Table Contours
Associated with a Landfill 142
26 Generalized Hydraulic Profile Beneath
a Landfill 143
27 Movement of Contaminated Ground Water
Beneath Leaky Lagoons and Basins 145
28 Long-term Chloride Fluctuation in a
Well Tapping the Cohansey Sand 148
29 Conventional Septic Tank - Soil
Absorption System
30 Relationship of Housing Density to
Residual Conductance and Accretion
of Dissolved Solids
31 Increase in Salt Applied to Massachusetts
State Highways and Chloride Levels in
Ground-Water Sources 190
32 Chloride Concentration in Samples from
Main Pumping Station in Burlington,
Massachusetts
33 Principal Coal Areas of Pennsylvania and
Maryland 240
34 Principal Oil and Gas Exploration and
Development Areas 248
VI1
-------
FIGURES (continued)
No. Page
35 Depth to Mineralized Ground Water in
Major Aquifers in the Coastal and
Inland Regions 252
36 Inland Limit of Saline Ground Water in
the Coastal Plain Formations 253
37 Occurrence of Salty Ground Water in
Southeastern Queens and Southwestern
Nassau Counties 257
38 Variations of Chemical Quality of Ground
Water as Related to Recharge and
Discharge 266
39 Local Ground-Water Circulation, Producing
a Relatively Thin Fresh-Water Zone 267
40 Effect of Infiltration of River Water 270
41 Map of Theoretical Critical Zones 305
viii
-------
TABLES
No. Page
1 Estimated Use of Water 9
2 Estimated and Projected Use and
Requirements of Water 13
3 Projected Per Capita Water Withdrawals 15
4 Population 22
5 Coastal Plain Stratigraphic Units 33
6 Geologic Units and their Characteristics
in the Maryland Coastal Plain Province 41
7 Yields and Depths of Selected Wells in
Sand and Gravel Deposits in
Massachusetts 46
8 Range in and Median Yields of Selected
Wells in Carbonate Rocks 56
9 Range in and Average Yields of Selected
Wells in Sand and Gravel Aquifers 57
10 Range in and Median Yields of Selected
Wells in Sand and Gravel Aquifers in
Vermont 68
11 Chemical Analyses of Ground Water in
Connecticut 82
12 Number of Ground-Water Sources Exceeding
Connecticut Drinking Water Standards 85
13 Chemical Analyses of Ground Water in
Delaware 87
14 Chemical Analyses of Ground Water in
Maine 90
15 Chemical Analyses of Ground Water in
Maryland 91
16 Chemical Analyses of Ground Water in
Massachusetts 93
IX
-------
TABLES (continued)
No. Page
17 Chemical Analyses of Ground Water in
Southeastern New Hampshire 96
18 Chemical Analyses of Ground Water in
New Jersey 98
19 Chemical Analyses of Ground Water in
New York 100
20 Chemical Analyses of Ground Water in
Pennsylvania 108
21 Chemical Analyses of Ground Water in
Rhode Island 111
22 Number of Wells Drilled 127
23 Incidence of Waterborne Disease Due
to Source Contamination 137
24 Incidence of Waterborne Disease:
Treatment Overwhelmed 138
25 Principal Sources of Ground-Water
Contamination 15°
26 Estimated Population Served by Septic
Tanks 151
27 Normal Range of Mineral Pickup in
Domestic Sewage 161
28 Comparison of Pollutional Loads from
Hypothetical City - Street Runoff
Versus Raw Sanitary Sewage 179
29 Quantities of Sodium and Calcium
Chloride Use 186
30 Sources of Salt Contamination of the
Burlington, Massachusetts Well Field 193
31 Summary of Data on 34 Selected
Contamination Cases Related to Deicing
Salts I94
-------
TABLE (continued)
No. Page
32 Physical Characteristics of Municipal
Refuse 202
33 Comparison of the Chemical
Characteristics of Leachate 204
34 Analyses of Leachate from Soil 36 Feet
Below 1962 Refuse Cell 207
35 Partial Chemical Analyses of Water from
Wells Located In and Nearby a Landfill
Site 210
36 Summary of Data on 42 Municipal and 18
Industrial Landfill Contamination
Cases 212
37 Origins and Pollutants in 57 Cases of
Ground-Water Contamination Caused by
Leakage of Waste Water from Surface
Impoundments 222
38 Three Case Histories of Ground-Water
Contamination from Leakage Out of
Surface Impoundments 226
39 Pollutant Reported in 36 Cases of
Ground-Water Contamination Caused by
Spills and Surface Discharges 233
40 Land Disturbed by Strip and Surface
Mining 238
41 Abandoned and Inactive Underground
Mines 239
42 Mine Drainage Classes 243
43 Summary of Water Quality in the Toms
Run Drainage Basin 245
44 Summary of Data on Contamination Cases
Related to Salt-Water Intrusion in
Coastal Areas 258
45 Restrictions on Ground-Water Use in
Critical Zones 306
XI
-------
TABLES (continued)
No. Page
46 Principal Sources of Ground-Water
Contamination and the Priority for
Additional Research and Control 309
47 U. S. Public Health Service Chemical
Standards of Drinking Water, 1962 325
xii
-------
SECTION I
CONCLUSIONS
1. Total use of ground water in the 11-state region in
1970 was approximately 3.4 billion gallons per day,
with ground water supplying 20 percent of community/
93 percent of rural, 14 percent of industrial, and 47
percent of irrigation requirements.
2. Ground water can be developed almost anywhere in the
region. Sand and gravel, and some sedimentary rocks
are the principal aquifers.
3. The natural quality of ground water is generally good
to excellent, except for the occurrence of saline wa-
ters in some coastal and inland aquifers.
4. The most common natural water-quality problems in
fresh-water aquifers are high iron content, often asso-
ciated with a high concentration of manganese; low pH;
and high hardness.
5. The most significant source of ground-water contamina-
tion is the discharge of sewage from septic tanks and
cesspools, serving an estimated 12 million people in
the region. Inadequate experience and lack of sound
scientific planning on the use of on-site disposal sys-
tems have led to some regional and many local problems.
6. Buried storage tanks and pipelines, including sanitary
and storm sewers, are significant sources of ground-
water contamination where pollutants have leaked di-
rectly into shallow aquifers. The most troublesome
pollutants from this source are hydrocarbons and indus-
trial wastes containing toxic substances.
7. The storage and spreading of several million tons of
highway deicing salts each year in the northeast have
led to numerous problems of ground-water quality degra-
dation. Some domestic and public supply wells have
been abandoned, and records of water quality from many
others have shown a gradual but significant trend of
increasing concentrations of chloride, sodium, and
other ions.
8. The thousands of acres of landfills containing munici-
pal and industrial solid wastes are an almost universal
source of ground-water contamination in the region.
-------
9. Lagoons, pits, and basins, which are a common means for
treating, handling, and storing liquids and sludges,
are leaking many million gallons per year of potential-
ly hazardous substances to ground water.
10. Spills and uncontrolled surface discharges of pollut-
ants have resulted in some severe problems of ground-
water quality degradation. Various types of hydrocar-
bons and industrial process and waste liquids are the
principal pollutants.
11. The extent of ground-water contamination from mining
activities, principally involving coal in western Penn-
sylvania and Maryland, has not been well defined. How-
ever, available data indicate that mine drainage,
leachate from waste rockpiles, and leakage from tailing
ponds may be significant sources of ground-water con-
tamination in areas containing numerous abandoned and
active workings.
12. The high yield of salt water from tens of thousands of
marginally producing oil and gas wells in western Penn-
sylvania and western New York represents the principal
threat to fresh-water aquifers from petroleum explora-
tion and development. Little information has been col-
lected on the actual extent and character of ground-
water quality problems related to activities involved
in petroleum exploration and development.
13. Salt-water intrusion in coastal areas of the region was
widely recognized about forty years ago as a major
threat to fresh-water aquifers. Consequently, the
problem has been well-defined and adequately controlled.
14. The movement of natural saline waters into fresh-water
aquifers in the inland areas of the western portion of
the region, as influenced by pumping, has not been
studied in detail except in a few locations and repre-
sents a continuing problem.
15. In spite of the large number of municipal and indus-
trial high capacity wells that are pumping water infil-
trated from surface streams which are considered pol-
luted, few cases of severe ground-water contamination
have been recorded. The major problem commonly re-
ported is a build-up of iron and manganese concentra-
tions requiring ultimate treatment of the well water.
16. The practice of disposing of industrial and sewage
wastes through deep injection wells in saline-water
-------
aquifers is almost non-existent in the region and repre-
sents an unimportant source of ground-water contamina-
tion.
17. The disposal of storm waters and, in a few cases, indus-
trial and sewage wastes through recharge basins and
wells into fresh-water aquifers is common in some parts
of the region. Although few instances of ground-water
contamination have been reported, long-term effects on
ground-water quality have not been studied in enough de-
tail to determine the importance of this potential
source of contamination.
18. The spraying of liquid wastes onto land as a means of
disposal and treatment has been carried out on a limited
basis in each of the 11 states of the study region.
However, because of a general lack of monitoring and/or
inadequate evaluation of data collected from monitoring
wells, little is known at present with regard to the
feasibility of protecting ground-water quality when mu-
nicipal and various types of industrial wastes are ap-
plied to the land surface.
19. Abandoned and poorly constructed water wells can serve
as a means for transmission of pollutants from one aqui-
fer to another, or from land surface to an aquifer.
This problem is most severe in areas underlain by forma-
tions containing naturally occurring saline water, in
highly industrialized areas where spills and uncon-
trolled surface discharges of pollutants are common, and
in rural areas where there is a high incidence of shal-
low, dug wells.
20. A number of cases of ground-water contamination related
to agricultural activities have been reported in the re-
gion. The principal pollutants are nitrates from fer-
tilizers and animal wastes, and a variety of substances
from pesticides. The potential for ground-water contam-
ination in suburban areas, from the heavy use of fertil-
izers and pesticides by individual home owners, may be
considerably greater than in farmed areas.
21. Only a very small percentage of the instances of ground-
water contamination from all sources that probably exist
in the region has been discovered to date. Of the more
than one thousand cases inventoried in this investiga-
tion, almost all were reported only after a water-supply
well or spring had been noticeably affected or the pol-
lutant was being discharged to the surface.
-------
22. The problem of ground-water contamination has not been
corrected from either the standpoint of removing the
source of contamination or significantly improving the
quality of the affected ground-water supply in most of
the cases inventoried.
23. The principal reasons for the lack of success in deal-
ing with existing ground-water contamination problems
in the northeast are deficiencies in the technology
presently available to satisfy economic, social, and
political restraints; inadequate budgeting and staff-
ing together with the diverse interests of regulatory
agencies; and the general lack of understanding in the
region as to how the various activities of man can de-
grade ground-water quality.
-------
SECTION II
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. A basic need in the region is a reevaluation of priori-
ties governing present budgetary allocations to regula-
tory agencies, with a greater appreciation of the in-
creasingly important role that ground water plays in
meeting essential needs for high quality water.
2. Chemical analyses of ground-water quality must be ex-
panded to cover a wider variety of inorganic and or-
ganic compounds on a more routine basis.
3. More effective methods must be developed for conducting
inventories of potential sources of ground-water con-
tamination on a regional basis.
4. The monitoring of suspected sources of ground-water con-
tamination must be expanded, especially those that might
be introducing pollutants into the ground that could be
harmful to health, and those that are situated in areas
where existing wells may be threatened.
5. Additional research is needed on the development and ap-
plication of more scientific and dependable ways to de-
lineate the areal extent and characteristics of pollut-
ants contained in aquifers and their fate over the long
term.
6. Basic research is needed on how to economically remove
or control the movement of various types of pollutants
affecting ground-water quality.
7. The various options presently available to regulatory
agencies for the future protection of ground-water
quality must be reevaluated. Alternatives should be
made available through research and analysis that are
suitable on the one hand to meet various geologic and
hydrologic conditions and on the other hand to overcome
economic, social, and political restraints.
8. Additional research is needed on how to reduce the sus-
ceptibility of aquifers to water-quality degradation
through the development and application of improved
methods for analyzing the many factors involved in the
siting, design, and operation of various activities
that could become sources of ground-water contamination.
-------
Increased regulation and control is needed to reduce,
as much as possible, new instances of ground-water con-
tamination. This includes calling for procedures to
contain toxic pollutants on the land surface, requiring
detailed information on which environmental decisions
can be based, and enforcing design and operational pro-
cedures that are productive.
-------
SECTION III
INTRODUCTION
Three basic factors determine the feasibility of developing
ground water in the northeastern United States: (1) availa-
bility, (2) water quality, and (3) economics. This report
discusses the role that water-quality problems play in lim-
iting ground-water use in the region. It is based on an in-
vestigation supported by the U. S. Environmental Protection
Agency and covers 11 states including Connecticut, Rhode Is-
land, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland.
Similar reports have been published for four southwestern
states and five south-central states. 1/2) An investigation
of ground-water contamination is underway in six northwest-
ern states. 3) The rest of the nation will be covered in
subsequent reports.
Natural ground-water quality together with the geologic set-
ting and occurrence of principal aquifers are described in
the next sections of this report on a state-by-state basis.
This is followed by a discussion of the principal sources of
ground-water contamination in the region. The final section
recommends research and other needs required to combat the
problems of ground-water pollution and contamination, based
on the findings of the investigation.
Information on natural water quality and aquifer systems was
obtained from a careful review of literature on the region.
Published data were also surveyed in an effort to obtain
data on specific cases of ground-water contamination and
many valuable references were used in the following discus-
sion. However, few of the known instances of contamination
have been reported in the literature. In order to gain a
true perspective on the status of ground-water contamination
it was necessary to contact, mostly by personal visit, sev-
eral hundred public officials, consultants, scientists, well
drilling contractors, representatives of industry, and
others involved in water supplies so that their files and
individual experience could be applied to the study.
Throughout the report, the terms "pollution" and "contamina-
tion" are synonymous and mean the degradation of natural wa-
ter quality, as a result of man's activities, to the extent
that its usefulness is impaired. There is no implication of
any specific limits (such as those in the U. S. Public
-------
Health Service drinking water standards), since the degree
of permissible pollution depends upon the intended end use,
or uses, of the water. Increases in concentration of one or
more constituents as the natural result of movement of
ground water through an aquifer are referred to as "mineral-
ization" .
It is recognized that these definitions are perhaps simplis-
tic, but at least they avoid the logical impasses to which
some other definitions lead. Also, they are readily under-
standable. "Pollution" has long implied the activity of man,
and hence the term "natural pollution" is confusing as well
as unnecessary. 4)
USE OF GROUND WATER
In 1970, the total fresh ground-water withdrawal in the na-
tion was 68 billion gallons per day or 21 percent of all
fresh water withdrawn. 5) For the project area, 18 percent
of total water used was from ground-water sources. Water
use in the 11 states of the region is shown on Table 1; wa-
ter for hydroelectric and thermoelectric power is excluded
in all computations. Surface and ground-water withdrawals
for public and rural supply, self-supplied industry, and ir-
rigation are given as of 1970. Ground water provided 20 per-
cent of public, 93 percent of rural, and 14 percent of indus-
trial supplies. Forty-seven percent of the water required
for irrigation was also ground water. States in which
ground water comprises approximately 25 percent or more of
the total water needs are Connecticut, Massachusetts, New
Jersey, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Ground water in these
states is used mostly for public supply or industry, which
is true for the region as a whole. Vermont is the exception
because of its largely rural population; in this case,
ground water is used mostly for on-site, domestic supply.
New Jersey has the largest total ground-water withdrawal
(1,027 mgd) even though it ranks third in population
(7,200,000). The state with the smallest amount of ground-
water diversion is Maine (35 mgd), even though it has the
seventh largest population (990,000).
FUTURE USE
Future need for water should increase considerably over ex-
isting requirements and consumptive uses. The U. S. Water
Resources Council in 1968 published a comprehensive report
on the nation's water resources. 6) A portion of the report
deals with water needs for the future on a regional basis.
Table 2 is a compilation of the data for the North Atlantic
8
-------
Table 1. ESTIMATED USE OF WATER IN THE NORTHEAST UNITED STATES
IN 1970.
(million gallons per day) '
Public Rural
Industrial b)
State
CONNECTICUT
Ground water
Surface water
Total:
Percent of total
that is ground water
DELAWARE
Ground water
Surface water
Total:
Percent of total
that is ground water
MAINE
Ground water
Surface water
Total:
supply
86
270
356
24
30
46
76
40
20
89
109
supply a'
40
1.2
41.2
97
13
0.1
13.1
99
12
2.8
14.8
Fresh
20
55
75
27
22
64
86
26
3
400
403
Saline
1
130
131
1
0
300
300
0
0
24
24
Irrigation
0.5
5.4
5.9
8
2.2
0.5
2.7
81
0.2
8.7
8.9
Total
147.5
461.6
609.1
24
67.2
410.6
477.8
14
35.2
524.5
559.7
Percent of total
that is ground water
18 81
a) Domestic and livestock supplies.
b) Water for hydroelectric and thermoelectric power excluded.
-------
Table 1 (continued). ESTIMATED USE OF WATER IN THE NORTHEAST UNITED
STATES IN 1970. 5
(million gallons per day) '
Public Rural Industrial15)
State
MARYLAND
Ground water
Surface water
Total:
Percent of total
that is ground water
MASSACHUSETTS
Ground water
Surface water
Total:
Percent of total
that is ground water
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Ground water
Surface water
Total:
supply
42
380
422
10
170
590
760
22
32
38
70
supply a'
57
0.5
57.5
99
30
0.8
30.8
97
12
1
13
Fresh
43
450
493
9
140
390
530
26
12
180
192
Saline
0
820
820
0
0
160
160
0
0
0
0
Irrigation
2.1
4.3
6.4
33
18
40
58
31
0
2.8
2.8
Total
144.1
1,654.8
1,798.9
8
358
1,180.8
1,538.8
23
56
221.8
277.8
Percent of total
that is ground water
46 92
0
0
20
10
-------
Table 1 (continued). ESTIMATED USE OF WATER IN THE NORTHEAST UNITED
STATES IN 1970.
(million gallons per day) '
Public Rural Industrial
State
NEW JERSEY
Ground water
Surface water
Total:
Percent of total
that is ground water
NEW YORK
Ground water
Surface water
Total:
Percent of total
that is ground water
PENNSYLVANIA
Ground water
Surface water
Total:
supply
340
560
900
38
460
2,200
2,660
17
250
1,500
1,750
supply a'
81
0.9
81.9
99
140
13
153
92
120
14
134
Fresh
550
450
1,000
55
140
1,300
1,440
10
400
5,000
5,400
Saline
0
0
0
0
1.7
64
65.7
3
0
50
50
Irrigation
56
20
76
74
14
13
27
52
0.8
9.4
10.2
Total
1,027
1,030.9
2,057.9
50
755.7
3,590
4,345.7
17
770.8
6,573.4
7,344.2
Percent of total
that is ground water 14 90 7 0 8 10
11
-------
Table 1 (continued). ESTIMATED USE OF WATER IN THE NORTHEAST UNITED
STATES IN 1970. 5
(million gallons per day) '
State
RHODE ISLAND
Ground water
Surface water
Total:
Percent of total
that is ground water
VERMONT
Ground water
Surface water
Total
Percent of total
that is ground water
GRAND TOTAL
Ground water
Surface water
Total:
Public
supply
18
85
103
18
14
29
43
33
1,462
5,787
7,249
Rural
supply a)
4.7
0.1
4.8
98
16
3.1
19.1
84
525.7
37.5
563.2
Industrial °'
Fresh
15
23
38
39
12
34
46
26
1,357
8,346
9,703
Saline
0.4
0
0.4
100
0
0
0
0
3.1
1,548
1,551.1
Irrigation
0.4
4.1
4.5
9
0
0.1
0.1
0
94.2
108.3
202.5
Total
38.5
112.2
150.7
26
42
66.2
108.2
39
3,442
15,826.8
19,268.8
Percent of total
that is ground water
20 93
14
0.002 47
18
12
-------
Table 2. ESTIMATED AND PROJECTED USE AND REQUIREMENTS OF WATER
FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC REGION, UNITED STATES.
(million gallons per day) °^
Total estimated water use
and projected requirements
Municipal water
requirements
Rural domestic water
requirements
Withdrawals
Use in Projected Requirements
1965 1980 2000 2020
37,467 54,920 113,860 236,290
5,446 7,100 10,000 14,200
390
400
400
400
Total estimated water use
and projected requirements
Municipal water
requirements
Rural domestic water
requirements
Consumptive Use
Use in Projected Requirements
1965 1980 2000 2020
2,023
905
186
2,870 4,960
1,210
200
200
8,490
1,750 2,550
200
13
-------
Region, which includes a major portion of the 11-state study
area. According to this projection, water requirements dur-
ing the period 1980 to 2020 will increase more than four-
fold. Self-supplied industrial water needs alone for the
year 2020 have been estimated at almost 35 billion gallons
per day in the North Atlantic Region. 7) The national aver-
age per-capita use also is anticipated to increase. Table 3
is projected per-capita use within the conterminous United
States.
With the increased competition for water supplies, several
interrelated factors become obvious. The demand for land
for housing has significantly reduced the already limited
sites suitable for surface-water impoundments. The present
high cost of land will continue to have a profound influence
on the present trend of municipalities and other large water
users to give increased consideration to the development of
supply wells, which take up comparatively little space,
rather than surface-water supplies. As urban and industrial
expansion takes place, there will be a greater need to trans-
port water from areas of surplus to areas experiencing short-
ages. The high cost involved in piping large quantities of
surface water should accelerate exploitation of local ground-
water supplies. Also, by the year 2020, it is estimated that
the population in the region will almost double to over 100
million. '' With the rise in population will come a rise in
water demand, satisfied to a significant degree by the devel-
opment of additional ground-water sources.
14
-------
Table 3. PROJECTED PER CAPITA WATER WITHDRAWALS FOR PUBLIC AND
INDIVIDUAL WATER-SUPPLY SYSTEMS.
(gallons per capita per day) '
Year Public water-supply systems Individual water-supply systems
1965 157 51
1980 163 58
2000 168 71
2020 170 83
15
-------
REFERENCES CITED
SECTION III
1. Fuhriman, D. K. and J. R. Barton, "Ground Water Pollu-
tion in Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah," Environ-
mental Protection Agency, Water Pollution Control Re-
search Series 16060ERU, December 1971.
2. Scalf, M. R., J. W. Keeley and C. J. LaFevers, "Ground
Water Pollution in the South Central States," Environ-
mental Protection Agency, Environmental Protection Tech-
nology Series EPA-R2-73-268, June 1973.
3. van der Leeden, Frits, L. A. Cerrillo, and D. W. Miller,
"Ground Water Contamination in the Northwest States,"
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and
Monitoring, Contract No. 68-03-0298, Report in Prepara-
tion.
4. Hem, J. D., "Study and Interpretation of the Chemical
Characteristics of Natural Water," U. S. Geological Sur-
vey Water-supply Paper 1473 (2d ed.), 1970.
5. Murray, C. R. and E. B. Reeves, "Estimated Use of Water
in the United States in 1970," U. S. Geological Survey
Circular 676, 1972.
6. U. S. Water Resources Council, "The Nation's Water Re-
sources," U. S. Government Printing Office, 1968.
7. North Atlantic Regional Water Resources Study Coordi-
nating Committee," North Atlantic Regional Water Re-
sources Study," U. S. Corps of Engineers, 1972.
16
-------
SECTION IV
DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT AREA
The project covers the 11 states of Connecticut, Delaware,
Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey,
New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont, an area
of over 180,000 square miles. Six percent of the total con-
terminous United States land surface is represented. Figure
1 shows the locations of the states in the study area. Typi-
cal of this region are hilly to mountainous areas, coastal
plains, and some marshy lowlands, with most of the land in
the first category. Altitude ranges from sea level along
the Atlantic Coast to nearly 6,300 feet in the White Moun-
tains of New Hampshire. Much of the region has been sub-
jected to urban development but large sections are still
rural with agricultural and forest lands.
PHYSIOGRAPHY
The project area exhibits a wide variety of physical fea-
tures. These different land forms have a profound effect as
to the use of the land, location of population centers, and
occurrence of natural resources. In the southeastern por-
tion, the land is characterized by broad areas of relatively
minor relief, while to the west and north the land rises to
hilly and rugged mountainous terrain.
The classification devised by Thomas divides the continental
United States into ten ground-water regions. •*•' Based on
this system, the study area includes portions of five of
these regions (Figure 2):
1. Coastal Plain
2. Unglaciated Appalachians
3. Glaciated Appalachians
4. Glaciated Central Region
5. Unglaciated Central Region
The Coastal Plain is characterized by seaward-dipping uncon-
solidated strata, consisting of clay, marl, silt, sand and
gravel, Cretaceous to Quaternary in age. The surface relief
is very moderate with topographic highs rarely exceeding a
few hundred feet above sea level. The sediments range in
thickness from a thin veneer along the Fall Line, which is
the western limit of this province, to as much as 10,000
feet along the eastern coast of Maryland.
The Coastal Plain contains prolific ground-water resources.
17
-------
NORTH
Figure 1. Locations of the states in the northeast study area
18
-------
NORTH
GLACIATED
CENTRAL REGION
UNGLACIATE
APPALACHIANS
Figure 2. Ground-water regions in the northeast United States
19
-------
Because of the presence of thick and permeable sand and
gravel zones and the great areal extent of individual aqui-
fers, high capacity wells and major ground-water supplies
have been developed throughout the province.
The Unglaciated Appalachians are characterized by folded
consolidated rock units forming a ridge and valley topogra-
phy. The upland relief is characteristically 1,000 to
3,000 feet above sea level. Aquifers include sand and
gravel beds in alluvium associated with perennial streams,
dense crystalline or sedimentary rocks, and some cavernous
limestones.
The alluvial deposits, although of limited areal extent, of-
fer the best potential for high-yielding wells, especially
where infiltration from surface streams can increase re-
charge. The limestones can be excellent aquifers where so-
lution cavities are encountered by a particular well. The
dense igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary formations are
the poorest aquifers in the province but are important be-
cause they are so extensive. Typical well yields from
these dense rocks range from only a few gpm (gallons per
minute) to as much as 200 gpm.
The Glaciated Appalachians are characterized by hilly or
mountainous terrain, with thin glacial drift on the uplands
and thick outwash and lacustrine deposits in the valleys.
Local relief can be between 1,000 and 3,000 feet, with sev-
eral mountain crests above 5,000 feet in elevation, the
highest being just under 6,300 feet. Bedrock is predomi-
nantly crystalline. However, two broad belts of Triassic
sandstone and shale are important aquifers. One underlies
a portion of northern New Jersey and the other occupies the
central lowlands of Connecticut and Massachusetts.
The glacial deposits are by far the most important aquifer
in the region. Although individual sand and gravel beds
are limited in areal extent, they are sometimes thick and
permeable enough to supply municipal or industrial water-
supply systems that pump millions of gallons per day. The
greatest ground-water potential occurs where recharge is
supplemented by river infiltration.
The crystalline rocks have been developed over the entire
region but have generally been used only for domestic or
small commercial water supplies because of the character-
istically low yields of individual wells. The Triassic
sandstone and shale, especially in New Jersey, is a princi-
pal source of ground water for municipal and industrial
purposes. Wells yielding from 100 to 500 gpm are common.
20
-------
The Glaciated Central Region is characterized by glacial
drift overlying crystalline and sedimentary rocks. The land
is one of gentle slopes and only moderate relief, character-
istically between 100 and 300 feet. The sedimentary forma-
tions are the most productive of the consolidated rocks.
For the most part, the glacial deposits are thin or of low
permeability and are primarily used for domestic supplies.
Exceptions to this are those areas where thick beds of sand
and gravel occur in existing stream courses or abandoned
pre-glacial bedrock valleys.
The Unglaciated Central Region is found only in western Penn-
sylvania within the study area and is characterized by nearly
horizontal sedimentary rocks of Mississippian, Pennsylvanian,
and Permian age. Local relief is on the order of 300 to 500
feet. The principal aquifers consist of alternating strata
of shale, siltstone, sandstone, and limestone. Well yields
average about 50 to 75 gpm.
POPULATION
As of the 1970 Census, 53.5 million or 26.3 percent of the
nation's 203.2 million people reside in the project area
(Table 4). The population is heavily concentrated in the
urban areas, particularly in the Boston to Washington, D. C.
megalopolis. Population for the entire region increased by
11 percent between 1960 and 1970.
CLIMATE
The overall climate of the 11-state region is humid and is
characterized by frequent weather changes. The dominant
characteristics of the climate are provided by masses of
cold, dry air from the northern interior of the continent
and by masses of warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico.
A secondary climatic influence is represented by masses of
cool, damp air from the North Atlantic Ocean.
The climate is moderated by the ocean along the coast and
the Great Lakes in the northwest. Interior land areas and
particularly the mountainous regions exhibit more marked ex-
tremes in temperature and precipitation. The average annual
temperature in the region varies from less than 38°F in
northern Maine to more than 58*F in southern Maryland. 3)
Precipitation is distributed fairly evenly throughout the
four seasons in most of the region. The average annual pre-
cipitation is shown on Figure 3. Annual snowfall averages
18 inches in Delaware to over 100 inches in parts of north-
ern New York and New England.
21
-------
Table 4. POPULATION OF ELEVEN NORTHEAST STATES.
2)
1970 Percent increase Population distribution
State Population 1960 to 1970 Percent urban Percent rural
Connecticut
Delaware
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
3,032,217
548, 104
993,663
3,922,399
5,689,170
737,681
7,168,164
18,241,266
11,793,909
949,723
444,732
19.6
22.8
2.5
26.5
10.5
21.5
18.2
8.7
4.2
10.5
14.1
77.3
72.2
50.7
76.6
84.6
56.4
88.9
85.5
71.5
86.9
32.1
22.7
27.8
49.3
23.4
15.4
43.6
11.1
14.5
28.5
13.1
67.9
Total: 53,521,028 11.0 81.5 18.5
22
-------
NORTH
40
LEGEND
PRECIPITATION IN INCHES
Figure 3. Precipitation map of the northeast United States
5)
O 'j
-------
The average annual evaporation from open water surfaces
varies from 20 to 38 inches (Figure 4), generally increasing
from north to south. Most of the evaporation occurs from
May to October.
GEOLOGY AND GROUND-WATER RESOURCES
Following is a discussion of the general geology in relation
to the ground-water resources on a state-by-state basis.
Where the water-bearing characteristics of the aquifers are
known, they are included to allow a more complete picture of
the system. Since it is beyond the scope of this study to
present a detailed breakdown of the geology and aquifer prop-
erties, the statements are couched in general terms. Specif-
ic references are given in the event that additional informa-
tion is desired.
Connecticut
The bedrock in Connecticut consists of three significant
rock groups: pre-Triassic crystalline rocks, Triassic sedi-
mentary rocks, and Paleozoic carbonate rocks. They can
yield water, in at least limited quantities, to individual
wells almost everywhere. Unconsolidated deposits, mainly of
glacial origin, can be found mantling the rock throughout
the state. However, these deposits of sand, gravel, silt,
and clay are only important from a water-supply point of
view where a sufficient thickness is encountered, usually in
the valleys of the principal drainage features and the
coastal lowlands. Figures 5 and 6 are generalized geologic
maps showing, respectively, the major bedrock units and the
locations of the major coarse-grained, water-laid deposits.
Crystalline Rocks -
Crystalline rocks are the most areally extensive type found
in the state. They are of pre-Triassic age and consist pri-
marily of granites, gneisses, and schists. These rocks are
the principal sources of well-water supplies in the upland
regions and are primarily tapped by domestic, light indus-
trial, and small public water-supply system wells.
In spite of their diverse origin and appearance, all of the
crystalline rocks of Connecticut have similar water-bearing
properties in that they generally have a limited capacity
to store and transmit water. However, they represent an im-
portant source of water supply. Approximately 15 percent of
the total population is dependent upon individual domestic
wells, the vast majority of which tap the crystalline-rock
aquifer. An analysis of records for more than 100 such
24
-------
MOUTH
LEGEND
AVERAGE ANNUAL EVAPORATION
IN INCHES
Figure 4. Average annual evaporation from open water surfaces
25
-------
MASS.
;.
CARBONATE ROCKS
TRIASSIC SANDSTONE AND SHALE
CRYSTALLINE ROCKS
10 miles
Figure 5. Generalized geologic map of Connecticut showing principal bedrock
aquifers in Connecticut
-------
MASS.
:
NORTH
SAND AND GRAVEL AQUIFERS
NOTEj DATA FOR NORTHWESTERN SECTION
NOT COMPLETE.
IO miles
Figure 6. Locations of principal sand and gravel aquifers in Connecticut
-------
wells reveals that the range in yield is from less than one
to more than 100 gpm, with an average of five gpm. ?)
Sedimentary Rocks -
The second most extensive rock unit in Connecticut consists
of siltstones, shales, and conglomerates of Triassic age,
with the infrequent occurrence of diabase intrusives. Ex-
cept for the intrusives, the rocks were deposited originally
as unconsolidated continental sediments, and consequently
the grain size varies greatly both horizontally and verti-
cally from bed to bed. This variation in rock type has an
effect on the availability of ground water in joints and
fractures, along bedding planes, and in intergranular pore
spaces. Beds of sandstone are generally more permeable than
beds of shale because some water in the former is contained
between individual sand grains where the cementing material
has been dissolved or was never formed. Water in the shale
is contained almost entirely in fractures, many of which are
along bedding planes.
There has also been some faulting of the sedimentary rocks.
In a few places, this has created large fractures which,
upon being penetrated by a well, will yield a considerable
quantity of water. Several wells drilled into sedimentary
rock penetrate interbedded basalt flows as much as 50 or
more feet thick. These basalts are poor aquifers, but deep-
ening of some of the wells into underlying sedimentary rocks
has improved yields substantially.
The water-bearing zones in the sedimentary rocks normally
extend to depths greater than several hundred feet, and
evidence obtained from the drilling of some wells shows a
definite increase in yield as the bore hole is deepened to
as much as 400 feet. An analysis of records of 688 wells
tapping sedimentary rocks shows a range in yield from about
one to as much as 600 gpm. 8) The average yield of the in-
ventoried wells is 54 gpm. However, it should be noted that
many of these wells are used only for domestic purposes, and
the reported yield may simply reflect the installed pump
capacity rather than the ability of the sedimentary rocks
to furnish water.
In summary, the sandstones and shales of Triassic age are a
more dependable source of water than the crystalline-rock
aquifers in Connecticut. In many places, the sedimentary
formations yield enough water to wells to satisfy small
municipal, commercial, and industrial demands.
28
-------
Carbonate Rocks -
Found only in the western portion of the state, the carbon-
ate rocks consist of limestones that have been metamorphosed
to marble. Generally, these are less resistant to weather-
ing and erosion than the adjacent crystalline rocks and thus
occupy the lowlands.
The carbonate rocks have virtually no primary porosity, and
the saturated zones contain water in fractures and, to a
lesser degree, in solution channels. A study of well yields
indicates that the carbonate rocks have a somewhat higher
yield than the crystalline rocks. The median yield of wells
in crystalline rocks in the western portion of the state is
about seven gpm. whereas the median in the carbonates is
about 12 gpm. 9'
Unconsolidated Deposits -
The most prolific aquifers in Connecticut, from the stand-
point of yields of individual wells and well fields, are the
localized beds of unconsolidated sand and gravel laid down
in bedrock valleys during the glacial epoch. In addition,
some layers of sand and gravel of relatively recent age have
been deposited by existing streams. Where beds of sand and
gravel are well-sorted and relatively free of fine silt and
clay, they tend to be very permeable.
Data on test borings and wells show that the thickness of
unconsolidated materials throughout the state varies from a
few feet to more than 200 feet in areas associated with many
of the major river valleys, such as the Connecticut, Quinni-
piac, Quinebaug, and Housatonic. Although some of the sand
and gravel beds are very limited in areal extent, others
cover as much as several square miles. Where thick perme-
able beds of sand and gravel are present below the water
table and are areally extensive, yields in excess of 100 gpm
can be developed from an individual well, and some wells can
produce many hundreds of gpm.
In the case where the sand and gravel beds are in direct hy-
draulic connection with a surface-water body, a well yield
is not limited by natural recharge from precipitation but is
dependent upon the ability of water to infiltrate from the
nearby stream or river. Individual wells finished in highly
permeable unconsolidated deposits adjacent to large rivers
in Connecticut are commonly capable of producing a sustained
yield of more than one mgd (million gallons per day), and a
number of well fields along the Housatonic, Connecticut,
Hammonassett, and Quinebaug Rivers have a rated capacity in
29
-------
excess of five mgd. 7 through 11)
The other type of unconsolidated aquifer, used primarily in
rural areas, is till. It consists of poorly sorted rock
material: silt, sand, boulders, and clay. Although till
deposits blanket most of the state, they are generally thin
and of low permeability. Development is usually by large-
diameter, shallow dug wells capable of producing a maximum
of a few gpm.
The potential for development of additional high-capacity
well fields in Connecticut is extremely good, especially in
sand and gravel beds associated with the major rivers. Re-
gional investigations carried out by the U. S. Geological
Survey indicate numerous areas where untapped reserves of
ground water exceed five to 10 mgd. For example, in the
Quinebaug River basin, covering an area of 425 square miles,
the estimate of ground water in sand and gravel aquifers
available for development is 315 mgd. ID In the Housatonic
River basin, covering an area of 678 square miles, the esti-
mate is about 660 mgd. 9)
Delaware
There are two basic rock types in Delaware; the crystalline
rocks found in the Piedmont Province, and the unconsolidated
sediments of the Coastal Plain. The crystallines in the
northern part of the state consist of gneiss, marble, gran-
odiorite, gabbro and serpentine, and comprise about six per-
cent of the total land area. The unconsolidated deposits of
the Coastal Plain consist of Cretaceous, Tertiary and Qua-
ternary age sediments, consisting largely of sand and clay
beds of marine and non-marine origin. They form a wedge-
shaped mass, dipping to the southeast where they attain a
thickness of over 8,000 feet. Figure 7 is a generalized
geologic map of Delaware.
Crystalline Rocks -
Gneiss and gabbro comprise the bulk of the crystalline rocks
found in the Piedmont of Delaware. Small patches of marble,
serpentine and granodiorite are present, and narrow pegma-
tite dikes can be found throughout much of the province.
The rocks are mantled by clays and sands which are a result
of in-situ weathering. Alluvial materials are present in
the lower sections of the river valleys.
Both the fresh rock and the weathered zone store consider-
able quantities of water. However, yields of individual
wells are generally low in sections of the gabbro, which is
30
-------
Pfc
NORTH
t
JLEGEND
CRYSTALLINE ROCKS
CARBONATE ROCKS
UNCONSOLIDATED SAND
AND GRAVEL DEPOSITS
FALL LINE
MD.
Figure 7. Generolized geologic mop of Delaware
Bowing principal aquifers 12, 13)
31
-------
extremely tight with few saturated fractures. The marble
generally provides higher yields than the other crystalline
rocks.
The weathered zone is extremely variable in thickness within
relatively short distances but is known to be greater than
85 feet thick in places. 12^ It is primarily tapped by dug
wells for domestic supplies. The material is clayey in na-
ture, although thin limited sand zones are occasionally
present. Reports indicate that the main water-contributing
zone occurs at the contact with the unweathered rock. Well
yields average a few gallons per minute.
Unconsolidated Deposits -
The unconsolidated deposits of the Coastal Plain cover a ma-
jor portion of the land area in the state. Table 5 lists
the stratigraphic units, their generalized lithologic char-
acter, and their estimated average withdrawals during 1970
in Delaware. The hydraulic characteristics vary among the
aquifers and from place to place within the same aquifer.
Quaternary age aquifers consist primarily of sandy material.
They are the most highly developed and areally extensive in
the state. Yields of individual wells have been reported to
be as high as 4,000 gpm. 14)
Several different aquifers of Tertiary age are recognized in
Delaware. Many contain residual salt water in their down-
dip portions. The sediments are of marine origin and vary
widely in composition, the basal and down-dip portions con-
taining increasingly finer material. Well yields of more
than 600 gpm have been reported. ^4'
Cretaceous age deposits overlie the basement crystalline
rocks and consist of a complex series of both non-marine and
marine sediments. The marine Cretaceous sediments are of
limited extent, thickness, and use in Delaware, containing
salt water in much of the down-dip portion. The non-marine
deposits, which attain a thickness of more than 6,000 feet,
constitute the bulk of the unconsolidated sediments. Yields
of wells tapping the Cretaceous deposits range from about
three to 300 gpm. 14>
Maine
Maine is located entirely within the Glaciated Appalachians
ground-water region. From a hydrogeologic standpoint, the
state has two types of aquifers, consolidated rock, and un-
consolidated glacial sand and gravel. The consolidated rock
32
-------
Table 5. COASTAL PLAIN STRATIGRAPHIC UNITS AND ESTJMATED AVERAGE
WITHDRAWALS DURING 1970 IN DELAWARE. 12'13/'4)
System
Series
Stratigraphic units
Generalized lithologic character
Estimated
average
withdrawals
during 1970
(mgd)
Quarternary
Holocene
Pleistocene
Columbia Group
undivided
Fluvial sand and gravel sand
Littoral and shallow marine
clay, silt and sand
33.32
Pliocene
Miocene
Chesapeake Group
undivided
Marine sediments; gray quartz
sand, gray silt and clay, shells
and fragments of shells and dia-
tomaceous material are common
Tertiary
Oligocene
SECTION NOT PRESENT
Eocene
Piney Point Formation
Nanjemoy Formation
Paleocene
Vincentown Formation
Hornerstown Sand
Marine sediments; dark gray
and greenish-gray clay, silt
and sand with glauconite
14.10
Mount Laurel Sand
Marine sediments; dark gray and
greenish-gray clay, silt and
sand with glauconite
Cretaceous
Upper
Cretaceous
* 9-
£ o
Marsha 11 town Formation
Englishtown Formation
Merchantville Formation
Transition zone
Lower
Cretaceous
Magothy Formation
Potomac Formation
Nonmarine sediments; gray and
white quartz sand interbedded
red, gray purple, brown yellow
silt and clay
14.34
33
-------
types range from igneous through high-rank to low-rank meta-
morphic. These include gneiss, schist, marble, slate, phyl-
lite and limestone. Figures 8 and 9 show the locations of
the bedrock formations and the principal deposits of glacial
outwash, respectively.
Consolidated Rocks -
On the Moosehead Plateau, comprising the northwestern 40
percent of the state, the intensity of metamorphism of the
rocks increases southeastward. Nearly unmetamorphosed lime-
stone, sandstone, and shale near the northwestern border
with Canada grade into slate, marble, and guartzite, with
occasional intrusive granite and diabase north of Moosehead
Lake.
South of Moosehead Lake, high-rank metamorphic and meta-
igneous rocks occur more frequently. Wells in bedrock on
the Moosehead Plateau generally yield reliable domestic sup-
plies. Where greatly fractured or only slightly metamor-
phosed, the consolidated rock aquifer may yield sufficient
water for small industries. Yields of as much as 300 gpm
have been reported for wells penetrating the low-degree
metamorphosed limestone. 4)
The Aroostook Valley area occupies the northeastern edge of
the state. The intensity of metamorphism as reflected in
the rocks is less systematic here, but generally metamor-
phism increases from north to south. Wells in the igneous
and metamorphic rock usually yield less than 10 gpm. In the
limestone and marble, well yields are relatively high when
solution channels are present. Of 317 bedrock wells in the
Lower Aroostook River basin, reported yields range from less
than one to 560 gpm. 16) in the Meduxnekeag River-Prestile
Stream basin, the range for 137 wells is from less than one
to 400 gpm. 17)
The Central Uplands region occurs as a broad band of rolling
and hilly terrain across the center of the state. Its geo-
logic sequence, in a line from east to west, is similar to
that of the north-south sequence in the Moosehead Plateau.
The bedrock well yields are usually sufficient for domestic
and small municipal and industrial supplies. Carbonate
rocks are not as extensive in this region as compared to the
Moosehead Plateau. Of 186 wells reported in the lower Ken-
nebec River basin, the yields range from less than one to 67
gpm and the median is seven gpm. 18)
In the Coastal Lowlands, where the population of Maine is
concentrated, igneous and metamorphic gneiss, schist, and
34
-------
NORTH
0 25 50 miles
LEGEND
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
CRYSTALLINE ROCKS
Figure 8. Generalized geologic map of Maine showing
principal bedrock aquifers
35
-------
NORTH
25 50 miles
LEGEND
SAND AND GRAVEL
DEPOSITS
Figure 9. LocaHon of principal sand and gravel deposits in Maine
36
-------
pegmatite are more abundant than slate and shale. In this
area, reported bedrock well yields range from less than one
to 150 gpm with a median of about five gpm. 19/20,21)
Unconsolidated Deposits -
Four large sand and gravel areas are found in Maine: in the
southwest and west central region southwest of Moosehead
Lake; in the east central area in southern Aroostook County
and eastern Penobscot County; in the St. John River valley
southeast of the Canadian border; and in the Aroostook
River valley. Only limited data are available on the yields
and depths of wells in sand and gravel. Individual wells
tapping these aquifers might be expected to yield from a few
to upwards of 1,000 gpm and depths would rarely exceed more
than 150 feet. 4,18,19,20,2lT *
Maryland
Based on Thomas's classification of ground-water regions,
Maryland includes portions of the Coastal Plain, Unglaciated
Appalachians and a small segment of the Unglaciated Central
Region, which is located in the northwest corner of the
state. Because this latter region contains a relatively mi-
nute land area, it is included in the general discussion of
the Unglaciated Appalachian Region. From a ground-water
standpoint, the basic difference between the two major re-
gions is that aquifers in the Coastal Plain are unconsoli-
dated, whereas those in the Unglaciated Appalachians are
consolidated. Figure 10 shows the locations of the two ma-
jor ground-water regions, separated by the Fall Line.
Consolidated Rocks -
The Unglaciated Appalachians contain rocks of Precambrian,
Paleozoic and Mesozoic (Triassic) age. The eastern portion
of the region contains crystalline igneous and metamorphic
rocks, including gneiss, slate, phyllite, schist, marble,
granite, and gabbro. These are weathered and decomposed to
depths greater than 100 feet in some locales; the average
depth of weathering is about 40 to 50 feet. 23) Well yields
in this region are usually around five to 10 gpm. 24) How-
ever, higher yields are obtained locally in fault zones, and
in the lowlands where the overburden and weathered rock
zones are thick.
To the west are found two distinct Paleozoic age sequences
of limestone, dolomite, and shale, separated by Precambrian
crystalline and Triassic sedimentary rocks. The crystalline
rocks include meta-basalt, meta-rhyolite, granodiorite, and
37
-------
NORTH
^
; C c
j "•~_ ,:>
^. / "V^
/~--. x1
^ ^ \W^
vfe
v^
-
-"•-r-.-r-Tji
1 i i j i J{^
1 ' JC^^v
i ' i^5^>o
oc
LEGEND
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS - SANDSTONE, SILTSTONE,
SHALE,THIN BEDS OF LIMESTONE AND COAL
CARBONATE ROCKS - LIMESTONE,DOLOMITE
AND SHALE
CRYSTALLINE ROCKS
TRIASSIC SANDSTONE AND SHALE
UNCONSOLIDATED SAND AND GRAVEL DEPOSITS
FALL LINE
0 10 20 30 40"»il«i
OO OQ O A\
Figure 10. -Generalized geologic map of Maryland showing principal aquifers ' '
-------
granite gneiss, which form the highlands. About 18 percent
of the wells in this area yield less than five gpm.
Triassic rocks overlie the limestone. The sequence varies
in width from less than a mile to as much as 15 miles, and
consists primarily of shale, siltstone, and sandstone. Well
yields are variable; the highest reported yield of 300 gpm
was obtained from a well penetrating a fractured sandstone
stratum. Nine wells in shale yielded an average of 1.5
gpm. 25)
In the lowlands bordering the crystalline rocks, the thick
sequence of carbonate rocks has been subjected to complex
folding and faulting. The carbonates are good aquifers,
with high-yielding wells found in fault areas, and at shal-
low depths where there has been development of solution
cavities. Wells generally range between 100 and 300 feet in
depth, and indications are that increases in yield are se-
verely limited with greater depths. Some limestone wells
yield as much as 400 gpm, and a limestone spring discharging
3,000 gpm has been reported. 4)
The western part of the state contains sedimentary rocks of
Ordovician to Pennsylvanian age: sandstone, siltstone, and
shale, with thin beds of limestone and coal. These rocks
were subjected to folding and faulting, particularly in the
central and eastern portion. They decrease in permeability
below depths of a few hundred feet. Well yields are gener-
ally less than 10 gpm, although higher yields are obtained
in the faulted areas. Water occurs mainly in fractures, but
some of the sandstone strata are porous, which adds signif-
icantly to the water availability and the yields of wells.
Unconsolidated Deposits -
The unconsolidated deposits of the Coastal Plain form a
wedge-shaped mass that starts at the Fall Line and thickens
to the southeast. These deposits overlie a crystalline rock
complex and consist of sand, gravel, silt, clay, marl, and
shell beds ranging in age from early Cretaceous to Holocene.
They attain a thickness of nearly 10,000 feet along a por-
tion of the Atlantic Coast. Various formations outcrop in a
sequence from the oldest to the youngest in a southeastward
direction. The succession of deposits is generally similar
to that found in Delaware.
Coastal Plain deposits are thin along the Fall Line, and
yields from wells are generally lower than those from wells
located further east. To the east, well yields range from
a few hundred gallons per minute to as much as 1,200 gpm on
39
-------
the western shore/ and as much as 1,700 gpm on the eastern
shore of Chesapeake Bay. Table 6 summarizes the geologic
units of the Coastal Plain and describes their water-bearing
properties.
Massachusetts
Massachusetts is located within the Glaciated Appalachians
region. Physiographically, the state consists of four prin-
cipal divisions, the mountainous, western Glaciated Appala-
chians (known locally as the Berkshires), a central upland
Piedmont, the Triassic Lowland, and the Coastal Plain of
Cape Cod and associated coastal areas.
Figure 11 is a generalized geologic map showing the six major
aquifers in Massachusetts. Four of these are composed of
consolidated rocks: crystalline rocks, Hoosic-Housatonic
Valley carbonate rocks, coastal basin sedimentary rocks, and
Connecticut Valley sedimentary rocks. Two unconsolidated
aquifers also occur: unstratified till, and sand and gravel.
Crystalline Rocks -
The most areally-extensive bedrock aquifer is the crystal-
line rock complex: a broad spectrum of igneous and metamor-
phic types ranging in age from Precambrian to Carbonifer-
ous (?). They are generally similar in water-bearing charac-
teristics , with well yields usually sufficient for domestic
supplies. Occasional yields of 30 to 40 gpm, adequate for
small-scale industrial and municipal use, and a few yields
of 100 to 200 gpm have been reported. However, the median
yield of wells in the crystalline aquifer is about 10 gpm.
Well depths range between 100 and 200 feet. 28 through 35)
Carbonate Rocks -
In western Massachusetts, the valley of the Hoosic and the
Housatonic Rivers is underlain principally by carbonate
rocks, which continue southward into Connecticut and possi-
bly northward into Vermont. Occurring between hills of pre-
dominantly gneiss and quartzite to the east and schist to
the west, these units of limestone and dolomite represent a
productive aquifer in this portion of the state. The yields
of wells are controlled to a great extent by the size and
number of solution channels encountered. In Berkshire
County, well yields ranged from less than one to 1,700 gpm
with a median of nine gpm. 29)
40
-------
Table 6. GEOLOGIC UNITS AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS IN THE MARYLAND COASTAL PLAIN PROVINCE. 23'24'26)
System
Series
Stratlgraphic unit's
Generalized lithologic character
Water-bearing properties
Quaternary
Tertiary
Holocene
Pleistocene
Pliocene
Miocene
Oligocene
Eocene
Paleocene
-
Columbia Group undivided
Brandywine Formation
Chesapeake Group
Yorktown Formation
St. Mary's Formation
Choptank Formation
Calvert Formation
Soil, sand, peat and silt
Sand, silt, gravel and clay
Clay, sand and gravel
Gray, fine to medium sand, gray
or blue clayey silt
Clay, silt, fine sand, shells
Gray and green silt and clay,
some shells and fine sand
Gray and blue silt and clay,
shells, some sand
/// SECTION NOT PRESENT /^/////,
Piney Point Formation
Nanjemoy Formation
Aquiq Formation
Brightseat Formation
Dark gray to green sand, silt
and clay
Black to green glauconitic sand,
silt and clay
Green gtauconitic sand, clay
and shells
Gray to green fine to coarse
sand and clay
Small yields to shallow wells
Important aquifer with localized high
permeability, well yields up to
1,500 gpm
Limited areal extent along the Fall line
Sand section yields fair amounts of wa-
ter, locally high in iron, functions as
a semiconfining layer
Functions chiefly as a confining layer
Low yield to wells, locally hard and
high in iron
Locally yields moderate quantities of
water, occasionally highly mineralized,
primarily a confining layer
////////////////,
Important artesian aquifer, well yields
up to 1 ,200 gpm, downdip section
probably saline
Confining layer, saline in southeast
Locally an important aquifer, moderate
well yields up to 250 gpm
Limited area! extent and thickness
-------
Table 6 (Continued). GEOLOGIC UNITS AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS IN THE MARYLAND COASTAL
PLAIN PROVINCE. 23,24,26)
System Series Stratigraphic units Generalized lithologic character Water-bearing properties
Cretaceous
Upper
Cretaceous
Lower
Cretaceous
Monmouth Formation
Matawan Formation
Magothy Formation
Raritan Formation
Q_
u
o
i_
O
0
o
I
£
Patapsco Formation
Arundel Formation
Patuxent Formation
Green glauconitic sand, gray clay,
shells
Black clay and brown sand
White, yellow and gray sand with
gray and brown clay
Gray fine grain sand, gray, brown
and red clay
Clay, shale, white, gray and
green sands
Dark gray and maroon clay
Fine to very coarse sand, gray,
brown and green shale
Confining layer, saline in downdip
section
Chiefly a confining layer, locally
used as an aquifer
Well yields of up to 600 gpm, saline
in downdip section
An aquifer with saline water in
downdip section
A limited aquifer in the sandy zones,
saline in downdip section
Limited in areal extent, chiefly a
confining layer
Not developed, limited information
available, saline water thought to be
present downdip
N)
-------
NORTH
50 miles
LEGEND
CRYSTALLINE ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
CARBONATE ROCKS
TRIASSIC SANDSTONE
AND SHALE
.*•:'*
UNCONSOLIDATED SAND
AND GRAVEL DEPOSITS
UNCONSOLIDATED
WATERCOURSE DEPOSITS
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
>VMI c.nv*wunoc. uc.rwoi i o o~7\
Figure 11. Generalized geologic map of Massachusetts showing principal aquifers
-------
Coastal Basin Sedimentary Rocks -
Within the crystalline terrain in southeast and northeast
Massachusetts, portions of the upper bedrock consist of sed-
imentary rock units. The dominant rocks, dated as Carbonif-
erous (?), are elastics, such as sandstone, shale, and con-
glomerate, metamorphosed to varying degrees. They were
originally deposited in sedimentary basins; the two largest
are the Narragansett and the Boston. Some minor outcrops of
similar age rocks occur throughout Rhode Island and eastern
Massachusetts.
Little data are available on yields from wells in these
rocks. For one area, yields reported for 92 wells range
from one to 170 gpm, with a median yield of eight gpm. 36)
Connecticut Valley Sedimentary Rocks -
In the central part of the state, Triassic age rocks occupy
a tectonic basin along the trend of the Connecticut River.
These rocks are primarily sedimentary: sandstone, shale,
and conglomerate, with minor limestone and intruded diabase.
The rock types and structures are similar to those found in
Triassic basins in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
and Maryland.
Little specific ground-water data are available on the Tri-
assic age rocks of Massachusetts. For 63 wells believed to
be finished in Triassic rocks, the yields ranged from less
than one to 760 gpm, with an average of 41 gpm, and a me-
dian of 12 gpm. 37)
Till and Fine-Grained Stratified Deposits -
Extensive deposits of unstratified glacial drift, called
till, cover the bedrock over most of the state. Till gener-
ally has a low permeability and for that reason is normally
a poor aquifer. During prolonged periods of drought, wells
in till frequently go dry. However, it is still a useful
aquifer in many areas because of its accessibility. Well
yields are typically about one to two gpm.
Where stratified deposits of fine-grained material are found,
the water-yielding characteristics may be similar to those
of till. Eolian, marine-swamp, and lacustrine deposits are
typical fine-grained stratified units.
44
-------
Sand and Gravel Deposits -
The most prolific aquifers in Massachusetts are the uncon-
solidated stratified deposits, predominantly sand and gravel.
There are three major types of sand and gravel deposits, all
composed of water-borne material. They were deposited in
contact with glacial ice during the Pleistocene Period,
as outwash in drainage areas of the melting glaciers, or as
alluvial materials associated with streams not related to
glaciation.
Sand and gravel deposits are common in many areas of the
state, particularly in the southeastern portion and on Cape
Cod. Slightly different water-yielding characteristics for
ice-contact and outwash deposits are observed, even where
all wells are in the same drainage basin (Table 7). Yields
of wells in ice-contact deposits are generally higher than
those in outwash deposits in the same area. However, yields
of wells from outwash relative to yields of wells from ice-
contact deposits do seem to improve toward the east and
south. Outwash is thicker and more extensive in the north-
east and southeast portions of the state.
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is located within the Glaciated Appalachians
region. Figure 12 is a generalized geologic map of the
state showing the principal aquifers.
Consolidated Rocks -
Within New Hampshire, the upper bedrock is composed of a
full suite of rock types. Approximately two-thirds of the
state is underlain by sedimentary and volcanic rocks of
middle-Paleozoic age which have been metamorphosed to vary-
ing extents; the remaining one-third is underlain princi-
§ally by middle and late Paleozoic intrusives. 4) For hy-
rogeologic purposes, all of these rock types may be consid-
ered as one unit. At present, sufficient ground-water
studies have not been completed to distinguish between the
water-yielding properties of various rock types.
Wells were inventoried in 228 towns in New Hampshire by G. W.
Stewart; approximately 80 percent of the wells penetrated
bedrock. 39) In the southeastern area, drilled wells pene-
trating bedrock yield small to moderate quantities of water
suitable for domestic and small industrial use. 40)in the
lower Merrimack River valley, yields are similar to those in
the southeast. 41) In one report, it was noted that of
1,482 wells for which a yield-was reported, the median was
45
-------
Table 7. YIELDS AND DEPTHS OF SELECTED WELLS IN SAND AND GRAVEL DEPOSITS
IN MASSACHUSETTS. 30,32,33,35,36,38)
Drainage basin
Housatonic River
Millers River
Assabet River
Ipswich River
Parker River and
Rowley River
Type of deposit
Outwash
Ice -con tact
Outwash
Ice -contact
Outwash
Ice -con tact
Outwash
Ice -contact
Outwash
Ice -contact
Reported
number
of wells
N
N
13
43
6
56
28
128
3
18
Range in
yield
(gpm)
900
273
720
70
300
690
718
76
500
Median
yield
(gpm)
N
N
22
31
11
40
34
40
14
17
Reported
number
of wells
N
N
N
N
40
178
217
363
23
55
Range in
depths
(feet)
3
2
5
8
5
7
N
N
N
N
- 112
- 115
- 90
- 80
- 51
- 115
Median
depth
(feet)
N
N
N
N
40
25
16
21
21
39
Taunton River
All types of sand
and/or gravel
373
2 - 900
40
408
7- 173
45
N - Not reported
-------
NORTH
!,:
-.••'.ill
MASS.
15 30miles
LEGEND
CRYSTALLINE ROCKS
] SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
UNCONSOLIDATED
WATERCOURSE
DEPOSITS
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
Figure 12. Generalized geologic map of New Hampshire
showing principal aquifers
47
-------
6.5 gpm; most of these wells penetrated bedrock. '
Unconsolidated Deposits -
Sand and gravel comprise the major water-yielding unit, oc-
curring mainly as outwash deposited by melt waters from
Pleistocene glaciation, and as outwash and alluvium deposit-
ed in narrow stream valleys during late Pleistocene glacial,
post-glacial, and recent times. Minor sand and gravel de-
posits occur as kames, eskers, and lenses of sorted material
within till.
Long-term yields are limited by the thickness and extent of
the deposits. The best yields usually occur in wells adja-
cent to perennial streams, where pumping may induce surface
water into the aquifer. Available information suggests that
yields of a few hundred gpm are common. 40,41) The deposits
are reported to be as much as 200 feet thick. 40)
New Jersey
Segments of three ground-water regions are found in New Jer-
sey: the Unglaciated Appalachians, the Glaciated Appala-
chians, and the Coastal Plain. 1) The rock types and water-
bearing characteristics are different among the regions, and
from location to location within the same region. The major
aquifers northwest of the Fall Line are mostly consolidated
rocks, while those to the southeast are unconsolidated de-
posits. Figure 13 is a generalized geologic map of the
state, showing the principal water-bearing rocks.
Consolidated Rocks -
The northwestern portion of the state is characterized by
broad valleys and ridges containing rocks composed of lime-
stone, shale, sandstone, and quartzite of Early Paleozoic
age. Glacial deposits cover most of these rocks and, in
some areas in the major stream valleys, are thick and perme-
able enough to be important aquifers. The sandstone and
quartzite strata are poor aquifers, partially because of
their irregular and variable thickness but primarily due to
the lack of major fracturing. Where these rocks are found,
the average thickness is 50 to 100 feet. However, in many
areas, they are completely absent. 44) Wells penetrating
these rocks usually obtain water at the contacts with over-
lying or underlying formations.
The major aquifer is the Kittatinny Limestone. It is com-
posed primarily of dolomite, but the distinction between
limestone and dolomite is of no importance with regard to
48
-------
FALL LINE
LEGEND
CARBONATE ROCK
AND SHALE
CRYSTALLINE ROCKS
TRIASSIC SANDSTONE
AND SHALE
UNCONSOLIDATED SAND
AND GRAVEL DEPOSITS
UNCONSOLIDATED
WATERCOURSE DEPOSITS
NORTH
Figure 13. Generalized geologic map of New Jersey
showing principal aquifers
49
-------
hydrologic characteristics. Some large solution cavities
are present, in addition to vugs and fractures. Well yields
are highly variable from one location to another, with many
in excess of 100 gpm.
In the northwest, the most extensive formation areally is
the Martinsburg, which consists of a thick sequence of
shales, slates, and sandstone. Generally, these rocks are
poor aquifers, with well yields averaging a few gpm. How-
ever, wells penetrating fault systems can yield several hun-
dred gpm.
To the east, the belt of Precambrian rocks consists prima-
rily of gneiss, schist, and granite. Typical well yields
are in the range of five to 10 gpm, with only those wells
located near major fracture systems having substantially
higher yields. 4)
Further east, Triassic age sandstone, shale, argillite, trap-
rock, and local occurrences of conglomerate are found. The
Stockton sandstone is a good aquifer with some primary po-
rosity, especially in the poorly cemented sections. However,
the lower section is typically well cemented with only minor
fractures.
The Brunswick shale constitutes the bulk of the rock of Tri-
assic age. It has a low porosity, but locally well-devel-
oped fractures are known to occur and may extend to a few
hundred feet in depth. Well yields are generally greater
than 100 gpm. The Lockatong argillite is an accumulation of
fine-grained lake deposits. It is dense, very hard, and
forms the crests of ridges because of its resistance to ero-
sion. The formation is a poor aquifer with very low poros-
ity and few joints. Wells tapping this formation have low
yields.
Basalt and diabase rocks, known as traprock, are also found
in the Triassic section. The basa.lt was formed by a series
of lava flows, and the diabase intruded as a sill, a por-
tion of which makes up the Palisades bordering the Hudson
River. The sill is extremely tight with only minor joints.
Well yields from these units are generally only a few gpm.
Unconsolidated Deposits -
Unconsolidated deposits of Pleistocene age cover a major
portion of the Triassic rock area, with the southernmost
terminal morraine dividing it almost in half. The northeast
portion contains mostly fine-grained lake deposits and till,
with some scattered deposits of glacial outwash. In the
50
-------
southwest, glacial outwash is found in the southwest-trend-
ing valleys. Wells tapping thick and permeable outwash de-
posits frequently have yields in excess of one mgd.
The Coastal Plain region south and east of the Fall Line in-
corporates about three-fifths of the state. The unconsoli-
dated deposits consist of sand, gravel, clay, silt and marl,
forming a wedge-shaped mass which thickens to the southeast.
They attain a thickness of over 6,000 feet, with an average
dip of about 100 feet per mile. 45) The sequence of deposi-
tion is similar to that of Delaware and Maryland.
Of the total thickness of the Coastal Plain deposits, ap-
proximately half is made up of non-marine sediments of Cre-
taceous age forming the basal part of the section. Overly-
ing these sediments are marine deposits of late Cretaceous
to early Tertiary age, which attain a thickness of over
1,000 feet. These in turn are overlain by a sequence of
marine and non-marine deposits of late Tertiary age, which
attain a thickness of about 1,000 feet. Quaternary age
sediments blanket the older deposits and, in some buried
channels, are 200 or more feet thick. 45)
The most productive and developed aquifers are the Raritan
and Magothy formations of Cretaceous age, with well yields
of 500 gpm or more. Several other important Cretaceous
aquifers are the Englishtown, Wenonah, Mount Laurel, and Red
Bank Sand formations. Well yields in these aquifers are
commonly 100 gpm or more, with some yields up to 500 gpm. 4)
The Tertiary sequence contain some formations that are im-
portant aquifers, including the Vincentown, Kirkwood, and
Cohansey formations. Moderately-high well yields are common.
The Quaternary deposits are important aquifers locally, par-
ticularly along the coast and the Delaware River.
New York
The geology of New York is as varied as that of any state in
the study area. Basically, however, the rock types of New
York may be classified into six hydrogeologic units based on
similar water-bearing characteristics (Figure 14). These
units include crystallines; shales; sandstones; and car-
bonate rocks; as well as glacial and pre-Pleistocene
Coastal Plain deposits.
Crystalline Rocks -
The crystalline rocks in New York are the most complex and
variable of all the rock groups in the state. The component
51
-------
CANADA
•
50
NORTH
VERMONT
^
-' MASS.
CONN.
LEGEND
SANDSTONE
SHALE
|j UNCONSOLIDATED SAND
AND GRAVEL DEPOSITS
11.*.*-'" *| UNCONSOLIDATED
CRYSTALLINE ROCKS WATERCOURSE DEPOSITS
CARBONATE ROCKS
Figure 14. Generalized geologic map of New York showing principal aquifer
-------
rocks are primarily metamorphosed sedimentary and igneous
units and are the oldest in New York. Most have been sub-
ject to many periods of deformation and recrystallization.
Crystalline rocks outcrop almost exlusively in two areas of
the state. The largest portion is found in the northeast,
where a blocky mass of granite, gneiss, and schist forms the
Adirondack Mountains. The other major outcrop area occurs
in the southeast, where crystalline rocks underlie most of
New York City and its northern suburbs.
Despite the complex geology and structure of the crystalline
rocks, they exhibit very similar water-bearing characteris-
tics, and can be lumped into one hydrogeologic unit. The
crystalline rock aquifer is acknowledged to be the least
productive bedrock unit in the state. 46) Yields of from
one to 10 gpm are common.
Shales -
The areas designated as shale in Figure 14 actually include
shale, slate and a low-rank, metamorphosed rock usually de-
scribed as schist. Shale is the predominant unit in the
areas so mapped, but interbeds of sandstones, limestones,
and evaporites commonly occur. Except in the easternmost
part of the state, the shale is only moderately folded and
faulted.
Typically, well yields are sufficient only for domestic and
small industrial supplies (a few to several tens of gpm).
Exceptions may occur where a well drilled into shale has a
source of adequate recharge, such as an adjacent surface-
water body or thick overlying unconsolidated deposits.
Large yields (up to 3,000 gpm) reported for wells pene-
trating the Salina Group in the Buffalo area are probably
due to induced recharge from major streams in the area. ^)
Sandstones -
Sandstone constitutes the upper bedrock surface over two
broad areas: in the northeastern region flanking the north-
ern limit of the Adirondacks, and in the central region
forming an upland area skirting the southeast shore of Lake
Ontario. Isolated sandstone units occur in the extreme
east-central region of the state in the Taconic Mountains
east of Albany, and in the southeastern region in Rockland
County.
The sandstone aquifer, though fairly productive, is not used
extensively because of a number of factors. First, this
53
-------
resistant rock forms uplands which are not conducive to res-
idential and commercial development. Also, surface-water
sources and better aquifers are often available in the same
area. As with the crystalline and shale aquifers, the fre-
quency of fractures, faults, and bedding planes, along with
a good source of recharge, primarily determine yield of
wells of sandstone aquifers. Where the material cementing
sand grains is calcitic, solution channels often increase
permeability.
Yields of wells tapping sandstone are typically 10 to 15 gpm.
However, in Rockland County (southeastern region), 265 wells
penetrating the Newark Group of Triassic rocks (in which
sandstone is the predominant water-bearing unit) range in
yield from three to 1,515 gpm; the average yield is 80 gpm
and the median 30 gpm. 48) Selected public-supply wells
tapping these rocks have an average yield of 300 gpm for 25
wells. 48)
Carbonates -
The carbonate rocks as a whole are the most productive bed-
rock aquifers in New York. There are three types of carbon-
ate rocks: limestone, dolomite, and marble, all of which
have similar water-bearing properties.
Three major carbonate rock areas in New York are considered.
The first area outcrops on the flanks of the Adirondacks in
the northeast. Usually outcropping in valleys eroded by
streams flowing off the Adirondack highlands, the carbonate
aquifer in this section is rarely used for more than domes-
tic supply because of the availability of good quality sur-
face-water sources. Individual well yields, depending upon
the carbonate unit tapped, average from nine to 35 gpm. 49,
50,51)
A second important carbonate-rock area occurs as two bands
10 to 20 miles apart across the western and central portions
of the state. The southernmost band can be traced eastward
to the Hudson River valley, where it flanks the northeastern
Catski11s and trends southwest toward the juncture of New
York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Along most of its
length, this band is a very important aquifer because it
often is the best-producing aquifer in an area of question-
able surface-water quality.
The strips of carbonate rock outcropping east to west across
the central and western region consist of a northerly band
of predominantly dolomite (Lockport formation) and a south-
erly band of predominantly limestone (Hamilton-Onondaga
54
-------
group). Table 8 illustrates the characteristic yields of
wells in these units. Most of the wells in the Buffalo area
which exhibit unusually high yields appear to derive much of
their water by infiltration from the Niagara River and Tona-
wanda Creek Basins.
A third area of the state, in which carbonate rock is the
principal bedrock aquifer, is in the southeast sector. Here,
the carbonates associated with the Appalachian mountain-
building have been metamorphosed to varying degrees. Aver-
age yields reported for selected wells in Dutchess, Putnam
and Westchester Counties are 22, 10 and 40 gpm, respectively.
52,53,54)
Unconsolidated Deposits -
Two types of unconsolidated glacial deposits are present,
the most extensive being till. The till deposits vary from
a few to several hundred feet thick. Till is not considered
to be a productive aquifer other than for domestic supplies.
Sorted deposits, although more limited in areal extent than
unsorted deposits, are usually the most productive water-
bearing units in the state. However, isolated areas exist
in which dune deposits or lacustrine deposits are found.
These are generally too thin and/or too fine grained to
yield significant quantities of water. They have the gener-
al water-bearing characteristics of till deposits.
The most significant water-lain, unconsolidated sediments
consist chiefly of sand and gravel which have been deposited
under one of the following conditions: a) pre-Pleistocene
(pre-glacial) period of erosion of the bedrock uplands; b)
during the Pleistocene period when the glacial front was
melting and the meltwater was transporting large quantities
of sediment, or; c) by large post-Pleistocene streams car-
rying significant quantities of sediment.
Several areas are found in the state in which productive
sand and gravel aquifers afford large-scale diversions. In
the Lake Champlain-Upper Hudson River Basin, along the lower
Hudson River Valley (a band along the eastern border 30
miles wide), and throughout the central and western portions
of the state, sand and gravel are found in the major drain-
age systems, especially those trending north-south. Table 9
provides data on wells tapping non-Coastal Plain sand and
gravel deposits.
Individual sand and gravel aquifers in central and western
New York have been reported to have available yields as
55
-------
Table 8. RANGE IN AND MEDIAN YIELDS OF SELECTED WELLS IN
CARBONATE ROCKS IN THE CENTRAL REGION. 41,55,56,57)
Area
Syracuse vicinity
Rochester vicinity
Buffalo vicinity
Rock Unit
Dolomite
Limestone
Dolomite
Limestone
Dolomite
Limestone a'
Number
of wells
reported
13
19
21
81
16
60
1
3
5
0.
5
5
Range
(gpm)
30
- 700
- 500
5 - 300
- 2,300
- 3,000
Median
(gpm)
4
25
180
22 b)
200
323 b)
a) Combined data from yields of wells finished in two formations.
b) Average
56
-------
Table 9. RANGE IN AND AVERAGE YIELDS OF SELECTED WELLS
AND GRAVEL AQUIFERS. 47,48,49,52,53,55,58
Region
Northeast
Southeast
West-Central
Central
Area
Lake Champlain-Upper Hudson
Columbia
Dutchess
Putnam
Rock land
Rochester area
Buffalo-Niagara
Sullivan
I^SAND
Number Range
of we Ms (gpm)
- °) o -
51 0-
37 3 -
55 1 -
-a) 8 -
23 10 -
20 30 -
40 2 -
400
350
625
450
1,700
1,016
800
700
Average
(gpm)
28
27
25
33
183
287
209
175
-38
b)
b)
b)
a) Information not provided
b) Median
57
-------
great as 31 mgd in the Jamestown area and 12 to 20 mgd in
the Syracuse area. 60,56) Kantrowitz estimated that all of
the sand and gravel aquifers in the central New York area
centered about Syracuse had an available yield of 240 mgd
although the estimated 1970 withdrawal from all ground-water
sources in the area was only 27 mgd. 56)
The area of the most extensive sand and gravel deposits is
the Coastal Plain of Long Island and lower Staten Island.
Here the bedrock is overlain by deposits of Cretaceous age,
which in turn are capped by Pleistocene sediments.
The aquifer system of the Coastal Plain in New York is com-
prised of four major water-bearing zones more or less sepa-
rated by confining beds. Yields of from several hundred to
a thousand gpm can be developed from individual wells. Well
depths are most commonly 300 to 1,000 feet. The available
ground water in storage in Long Island's sand and gravel
aquifers is estimated at 5 to 10 trillion (million-million)
gallons. 61)
Pennsylvania
In Pennsylvania, six basic hydrogeologic units exist (see
Figure 15). Each of these is represented by a predominant
or characteristic rock type. The units are Precambrian and
early Paleozoic crystalline rocks, Cambro-Ordovician car-
bonate rocks, middle Paleozoic clastic rocks, late Paleo-
zoic sedimentary rocks with coals, Triassic sedimentary
rocks, and unconsolidated sand and gravel deposits.
Crystalline Rocks -
The crystalline rocks are the oldest rocks in Pennsylvania.
Although extremely variable geologically, they have been
grouped into a single hydrogeologic unit based on similar
water-bearing characteristics. Found exclusively in the
southeastern portion of the state, the crystalline rocks
encompass a full suite of igneous and metamorphic rock types,
including gneiss, greenstone, serpentine, anorthosite,
schist and quartzite. The crystalline rocks have been ex-
tensively deformed by tectonic activities associated with
formation of the present Appalachian Mountains. The yield
of a particular local rock unit is directly related to the
degree of deformation.
Ground water in the crystalline rocks is found within frac-
tures and weathered zones under water-table and semi-
artesian conditions. 63' Lohman reported that of selected
wells in crystalline rock in southeastern Pennsylvania, 50
58
-------
NORTH
Ul
£
TRIASSIC SANDSTONE AND SHALE
MIDDLE PALEOZOIC SANDSTONE,
SHALE AND LIMESTONE
LATE PALEOZOIC SANDSTONE,
SHALE,LIMESTONE AND COAL
CAMBRIAN-ORDOVICIAN CARBONATE
ROCKS
PRECAMBRIAN-EARLY PALEOZOIC
CRYSTALLINE ROCKS
UNCONSOLIDATED SAND AND
GRAVEL DEPOSITS
UNCONSOLIDATED
WATERCOURSE DEPOSITS
Figure 15. Generalized geologic map of Pennsylvania showing principal aquifers
62)
-------
percent yield from five to 20 gpm, and 25 percent yield from
20 to 100 gpm. 64>
Carbonate Rocks -
The rocks mapped in this hydrogeologic unit are not all car-
bonates but include some shales and sandstones. The carbon-
ates are the principal water-yielding units, and occur as
both limestone and dolomite which have been deformed to vary-
ing degrees. They appear as the upper bedrock unit primarily
in three northeast-southwest trending bands, two in the
southeastern region enclosing a wedge of Triassic rocks and
one in the central region surrounded by Silurian elastics.
Wells tapping the southeasternmost carbonate band in the
Chester Valley have variable yields, often as high as 2,000
gpm where solution channels are tapped. 65) The Schuylkill
River Basin is traversed by both the Great Valley and Chester
Valley. The valleys mark the outcrop of the two southeastern
carbonate bands; median yields of wells tapping various car-
bonate units in the Schuylkill River Basin range from nine to
220 gpm. 66) Farther west in the Great Valley near Harris-
burg, it is reported that 1,000 gpm wells have been devel-
oped in the carbonate rocks. 67)
Middle Paleozoic Clastic Rocks -
In the central and northeastern sections of Pennsylvania,
the upper bedrock surface is composed of shales, sandstones,
and limestones deformed during the mountain-building period
which produced the Appalachians. In some areas, these rocks
are flat lying to gently dipping, but elsewhere they are ex-
tremely deformed. The sandstones are usually ridge forming,
while the shales and limestones underlie valley floors.
Most of the rocks were deposited during Silurian and Devon-
ian time except for some elastics which had been deposited
during later Ordovician time.
Yields of wells finished in the clastic rocks are generally
moderate, but yields locally depend on geology and structure.
The higher yields from wells in elastics as compared to
crystalline rocks may be attributable to intergranular po-
rosity of the sandstones and a tendency for fractures to
continue to greater depths. Median yields from wells fin-
ished in various clastic units in the upper Schuylkill River
Basin are reported to range from 54 to 175 gpm. 66)
60
-------
Late Paleozoic Sedimentary Rocks and Coal -
Occurring in the western part of Pennsylvania, flat lying to
gently dipping beds of sandstone, shale, limestone, and coal
form a broad plateau with incised stream valleys. Sandstone
is the best water-yielding formation; the limestone is com-
monly very thin.
Well yields of up to 300 gpm have been reported in certain
sandstone formations. 68) Many wens have reported yields
of greater than 50 gpm and a mean yield of 50 to 75 gpm is
indicated. 64,4) Little information is available on depths
of wells in the western area. Generally, wells are shallow
because highly mineralized ground water occurs at depth.
Triassic Sedimentary Rocks -
Separating the two areas of crystalline and carbonate rocks
in the southeastern region is a strip of rocks, mainly sand-
stones and shales with minor conglomerate, limestone, coal
and intrusive diabase, varying from five to 25 miles in
width. Of Triassic age, these rocks trend northeast to
southwest and beyond the borders of Pennsylvania into Mary-
land and New Jersey. Physiographically, this section is the
Triassic Lowland. The three major Triassic rock units are
Stockton sandstone, Lockatong argillite and Brunswick shale.
Range of yields for wells finished in the Stockton sandstone
has been reported to be from 100 to 300 gpm in Chester
County, although the upper one-third of the unit is not
particularly productive. 65) in the Landsdale area, 120
wells in the Brunswick shale have a reported range in yield
of from 10 to 350 gpm, with a median yield of 70 gpm. °9)
Except in fault zones as in Chester County north of Phila-
delphia, yields of wells finished in the Lockatong average
10 gpm. Where faults are penetrated, yields of 100 gpm may
be attained. 65)
Unconsolidated Deposits -
The two most prolific aquifers in Pennsylvania are the un-
consolidated watercourse and Coastal Plain deposits. Water-
course deposits are commonly found in all the major stream
valleys. They may consist of sand and gravel eroded by
streams flowing off the uplands. Where a major stream had
its headwaters in the glaciated region (most of the north-
eastern and northwestern areas of Pennsylvania as seen in
Figure 2, glacial drift and meltwater-borne sediment pro-
vided additional material. Some watercourse deposits which
formed before Pleistocene glaciation were buried by glacial
61
-------
drift; others which formed during the glacial period were
buried by finer sediments (silt and clay) during the late
glacial and post-glacial periods when streams could not com-
petently carry a coarse sediment load. These buried valley
deposits are often as valuable as aquifers as are sand and
gravel still in contact with a stream.
In the southwestern region, selected wells are reported to
yield 200 to 600 gpm. 08) in Clinton County (south-central
region) several wells yield about 150 gpm. /O) in the north-
west, the maximum reported yield from a sand and gravel well
was 183 gpm. 71)
Watercourse deposits have been most extensively developed in
the southwestern region in Allegheny and Beaver Counties.
Of 147 wells in the Pittsburgh area, 101 wells have reported
yields of greater than 100 gpm, with 17 greater than 500
gpm. 72) Forty-six selected wells in the Ohio River Valley
in Beaver County have a mean yield of 544 gpm and a mean
specific capacity of 48.3 gpm/foot of drawdown.
The Coastal Plain deposits are found in only a small area in
southeasternmost Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. These de-
posits consist of gently southeast dipping non-marine Creta-
ceous units overlain by Pleistocene marine terrace deposits.
The two deepest sand and gravel units are the Farrington and
Sayreville sand members of the Raritan formation which are
artesian aquifers. The shallowest (Old Bridge sand) member
of the Raritan formation and the Pleistocene terrace de-
posits are water-table aquifers. 73)
In Philadelphia, the Farrington sand is the principal aqui-
fer, and well yields commonly are 700 to 1,100 gpm; north-
east of Philadelphia in southeastern Bucks County, the Say-
reville sand is the most prolific aquifer in the area al-
though it is not often used (yields commonly 300 to 700 gpm).
Water-table wells in southeastern Bucks County in sand and
gravel commonly yield about 400 gpm. '•*' A summary of se-
lected wells in southeastern Bucks County indicates that 41
wells had an average yield of 320 gpm and a maximum of
1,050 gpm. 74)
Rhode Island
Except for Block Island, which lies to the south and is in
the Coastal Plain, all of Rhode Island lies within the Gla-
ciated Appalachians region. Crystalline rocks are promi-
nent in the eastern and western parts of the state, sepa-
rated by a sequence of sedimentary rocks trending north to
south. Mantling these consolidated rocks nearly completely
62
-------
are unconsolidated deposits, primarily unstratified, unsort-
ed glacial till but with important areas of sorted sand and
gravel. Figure 16 is a generalized geologic map showing
locations of the principal aquifers.
Crystalline Rocks -
The crystalline rocks of Rhode Island are found in the west-
ern half and in the southeast corner of the state. The
rocks are quite variable in type and age. Metamorphic rocks
include schist, gneiss, quartzite, marble, and greenstone,
and igneous rocks include granite, diorite, gabbro and vol-
canics. 75) The ages of these rocks vary from Precambrian(?)
to post-Pennsylvanian. From a water-yielding standpoint,
little distinction has been made between crystalline types.
Crystalline rocks are generally tapped for domestic supplies,
and yields are usually small. For 369 wells reported, the
range in yield is from less than one to 96 gpm with an aver-
age of 12 gpm. Sixty percent of these wells yielded less
than 11 gpm. 76)
Sedimentary Rocks -
The upper bedrock in about one-third of Rhode Island is com-
posed of sedimentary rocks of Pennsylvanian(?) age. These
rocks occur in three structural basins, the Narragansett,
the North Scituate, and the Woonsocket. The rocks are pre-
dominantly non-marine elastics, ranging in composition from
conglomerate to shale. Coal beds occasionally occur in the
sequence. These rocks have been slightly to extensively de-
formed and metamorphosed.
The sedimentary rocks have a higher water-yielding capabil-
ity than the crystallines. Reported yields for 418 wells
range from less than one to 500 gpm with an average of 31
gpm. Fifty-two percent of the wells yield less than 11
gpm. 76)
Till -
Till mantles the bedrock nearly completely in all areas not
covered by sand and gravel. In the upland areas, till is
the exclusive bedrock cover. Wells finished in till gener-
ally yield less than two gpm. 76)
Sand and Gravel -
The aquifer in Rhode Island which can produce the highest
yields to individual wells is composed of sand and gravel.
63
-------
MASS
NORTH
8 miles
LEGEND
] CRYSTALLINE ROCKS
(j&ffffi SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
UNCONSOLIDATED SAND
AND GRAVEL DEPOSITS
Figure 16. Generalized geologic map of Rhode Island
showing principal aquifers '
64
-------
These deposits are sorted and stratified, primarily composed
of outwash but with associated alluvium and ice-contact
units. They lie along nearly all the major streams, and
especially in the central and southwestern portions, also
occur in some interstream areas. 4)
Properly constructed and developed sand and gravel wells may
be capable of high yields. For wells ending in outwash, one
report noted a range in yield from three to 2,700 gpm. 76)
For 21 public and industrial supply wells in outwash in the
Providence area where the aquifer is extensive, a range of
from 75 to 1,600 gpm is reported with a median yield of 425
gpm. 77)
On Block Island, yields of 11 wells believed to penetrate
the Upper Cretaceous sediments range from five to 15 gpm,
with a median of 12 gpm; yields from wells penetrating gla-
cial deposits range from four to 65 gpm, with a median of
10 gpm. 78)
Vermont
In Vermont, three major consolidated rock aquifers are found;
the Cambro-Ordovician carbonates of the Vermont Lowland;
the Precambrian and early Paleozoic sedimentary elastics and
metasediments of the Green and Taconic Mountains; and the
Paleozoic crystalline rocks of the Vermont Piedmont. Uncon-
solidated aquifers consisting of sand and gravel are found
in major stream valleys. Figure 17 is a generalized geo-
logic map showing the principal aquifers.
Consolidated Rocks -
The Vermont Lowland located in the western portion of the
state is a sequence of carbonates, quartzites, shales and
slates in which carbonates dominate. 80) The carbonates are
generally the principal water producer. Data on the yields
and depths of wells are scanty. Reported yields of ten
wells range from one to 100 gpm. 81,82,83)
Lying east of the Vermont Lowland is a highland area com-
posed of a sequence of deformed clastic rocks metamorphosed
to varying degrees. The highlands are called the Green
Mountains, consisting of Precambrian and early Paleozoic
argillaceous slate, schist, gneiss, phyllite, quartzite, and
marble. In the southwest part of the state, a mass of simi-
lar rocks lie distinct from the Green Mountains, separated
from them by the Vermont Valley. This mass forms the Ta-
conic Mountains.
65
-------
NORTH
IS
30 miles
LEGEND
CARBONATE ROCKS
V////A SEDIMENTARY CLASTIC AND
*ff''fA META SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
I IGNEOUS AND
METAMORPHIC ROCKS
UNCONSOLIDATED
WATERCOURSE
DEPOSITS
Figure 17. Generalized geologic map of Vermont
27 79^
showing principal aquifers '
66
-------
Data on wells penetrating the Green and Taconic Mountain se-
quences are limited. In the Hoosic and Walloomsac River Ba-
sins of extreme southwest Vermont, four wells had a range of
from four to 25 gpm with a median of seven gpm. In the West-
Deerfield River Basin due east of the Hoosic River Basin,
five wells penetrating bedrock range in yield from four to
100 gpm, but the median is only four gpm. 84)
The rocks of the Piedmont of eastern Vermont are similar to
those of the Green Mountains with two notable exceptions —
the Piedmont has prominent carbonates and acidic intrusives.
Physiographically, the Piedmont has a gently rolling, dis-
sected surface and is separated from the Green Mountains by
a series of north-south trending valleys. Because of great-
er frequency of occurrences of carbonates in the Vermont
Piedmont as compared to the Green Mountains, yields tend to
be higher. Yields of 30 bedrock wells in five eastern Ver-
mont river basins range from one to 100 gpm with median
yields of from three to 16 gpm. 84 through 88)
Unconsolidated Deposits -
The sand and gravel aquifer in Vermont occurs in major
stream valleys. Variations in yields of wells very often
depend upon the quantity of water desired. Data from se-
lected wells in 11 major river basins were compiled by A. L.
Hodges and D. Butterfield and are presented in Table 10.
67
-------
Table 10. RANGE IN AND MEDIAN YIELDS OF SELECTED WELLS IN SAND AND
GRAVEL AQUIFERS IN VERMONT. 81 "trough 91)
River basin
Batten Kill, Waloomsac and Hoosic
Otter Creek
Winooski
LaMoille
Missisquoi
West Deerfield
Ottanquechee-Saxton
White
Wei Is-Ompomanoosuc
Nulhegan-Passumpsic
Lake Memphremagog
Number
of wells
8
18
13
6
5
12
25
18
10
4
3
Range
(gpm)
12-
6-
5 -
20 -
20 -
6 -
7 -
5 -
3-
60-
50 -
250
450
600
560
600
465
1,140
250
1,100
800
550
Median
(gpm)
175
95
100
155
60
35
40
43
68
350
350
68
-------
REFERENCES CITED
SECTION IV
1. Thomas, H. E., "Ground Water Regions of the United
States - Their Storage Facilities/" U. S. 83rd Congress,
House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, The Phys-
ical and Economic Foundation of Natural Resources,
Vol. 3, 1952.
2. Bureau of the Census, "General Population Characteris-
tics, United States Summary," U. S. Department of Com-
merce, January 1972.
3. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "Cli-
mates of the States," Port Washington, New York, Water
Information Center, Inc., Vol. 1 - Eastern States, 1974.
4. McGuinness, C. L., "The Role of Ground Water in the
National Water Situation," U. S. Geological Survey Wa-
ter-supply Paper 1800, 1963.
5. Geraghty, J. J., et al, "Water Atlas of the United
States," Port Washington, New York, Water Information
Center, Inc., 1973.
6. Connecticut Interagency Water Resources Planning Board,
"Statewide Long-Range Plan for the Management of the
Water Resources of Connecticut," Office of State Plan-
ning, Connecticut Department of Finances and Control,
1971.
7. Geraghty & Miller, Inc., "Availability of Water Re-
sources in the Midstate Region of Connecticut," 1965.
8. Cushman, R. V., "Ground-Water Resources of North Cen-
tral Connecticut," U. S. Geological Survey Water-Supply
Paper 1752, 1964.
9. Cervione, M. A., D. L. Mazzaferro, and R. L. Melvin,
"Water Resources Inventory of Connecticut, Part 6, Up-
per Housatonic River Basin," Connecticut Department of
Environmental Protection, Water Resources Bulletin No.
21, 1972.
10. U. S. Geological Survey, North Atlantic Regional Water
Resources Study, "Appendix D: Geology and Ground Wa-
ter," North Atlantic Regional Water Resources Study
Coordinating Committee, 1972.
69
-------
11. Randall, A. D., et al, "Water Resources Inventory of
Connecticut, Part 1, Quinebaug River Basin," Connecti-
cut Water Resources Commission, Water Resources Bulle-
tin No. 8, 1966.
12. Marine, I. W., and W. C. Rasmussen, "Preliminary Report
on the Geology and Ground-Water Resources of Delaware,"
Delaware Geological Survey Bulletin No. 4, 1955.
13. Kraft, J. C., and M. D. Maisano, "A Geologic Cross Sec-
tion of Delaware," University of Delaware Water Re-
sources Center, 1968.
14. Gushing, E. M., I. H. Kantrowitz, and K. R. Taylor,
"Water Resources of the Delmarva Peninsula," U. S. Geo-
logical Survey Professional Paper 822, 1973.
15. Prescott, G. C., Jr., "Reconnaissance of Ground-Water
Conditions in Maine," U. S. Geological Survey Water-
Supply Paper 1669-T, 1963.
16. Prescott, G. C., Jr., "Lower Aroostook River Basin Area,"
Maine Public Utilities Commission Basic-Data Report No.
5, Ground-Water Series, 1970.
17. Prescott, G. C., Jr., "Meduxnekeag River-Prestile
Stream Basins Area," Maine Public Utilities Commission
Basic-Data Report No. 7, Ground-Water Series, 1971.
18. Prescott, G. C., Jr., "Lower Kennebec River Basin Area,"
Maine Public Utilities Commission Basic-Data Report No.
4, Ground-Water Series, 1968.
19. Prescott, G. C., Jr., "Lower Penobscot Basin Area,"
Maine Public Utilities Commission Basic-Data Report No.
2, Ground-Water Series, 1964.
20. Prescott, G. C., Jr., "Lower Androscoggin River Basin
Area," Maine Public Utilities Commission Basic-Data Re-
port No. 3, Ground-Water Series, 1967.
21. Prescott, G. C., Jr., and J. A. Drake, "Southwestern
Area," Maine Public Utilities Commission Basic-Data Re-
port No. 1, Ground-Water Series, 1962.
22.- Cleaves, E. T., Jonathan Edwards, Jr., and J. D. Glaser,
"Geologic Map of Maryland," Maryland Geological Survey,
1968.
70
-------
23. Cleaves, E. T., "Piedmont and Coastal Plain Geology
Along the Susquehanna Aqueduct, Baltimore to Aberdeen,
Maryland," Maryland Geological Survey, Report of In-
vestigation 8, 1968.
24. Otton, E. G., "Geologic and Hydrologic Factors Bearing
on Subsurface Storage of Liquid Wastes in Maryland,"
Maryland Geological Survey, Report of Investigation 14,
1970.
25. Myer, Gerald, "The Water Resources of Carroll and Fred-
erick Counties, Maryland," Maryland Department of Geol-
ogy, Mines and Water Resources, Bulletin 22, 1958.
26. Glaser, J. D., "Coastal Plain Geology of Southern Mary-
land," Maryland Geological Survey, Guidebook No. 1,
1968.
27. U. S. Geological Survey, "The National Atlas of the
United States of America," U. S. Department of the In-
terior, 1970.
28. Petersen, R. G., "Ground Water Favorability Map of the
Westfield River Basin, Massachusetts," Massachusetts
Water Resources Commission, 1964.
29. Massachusetts Water Resources Commission, "Special Re-
port of the Water Resources Commission Relative to the
Water Supply of Berkshire County," Legislative Report
House No. 5170, January 1967.
30. Pollock, S. J., D. F. Farrell, and W. W. Caswell, "Wa-
ter Resources of the Assabet River Basin, Central
Massachusetts," U. S. Geological Survey Hydrologic In-
vestigations Atlas HA-312, 1969.
31. Baker, J. A., and R. G. Petersen, "Lowell Area," Massa-
chusetts Department of Public Works Basic-Data Report
No. 3, Ground-Water Series, 1962.
32. Sammel, E. A., J. A. Baker, and R. A. Brackley, "Water
Resources of the Ipswich River Basin, Massachusetts,"
U. S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 1826, 1966.
33. Wiesnet, D. R., and W. B. Fleck, "Millers River Basin,"
Massachusetts Metropolitan District Commission Basic-
Data Report No. 11, Ground-Water Series, 1967.
71
-------
34. Petersen, R. G., "Generalized Surficial Geology Ground
Water Favorability Map of the Ware-Quaboag-Quinebaug-
French River Basins, Massachusetts," Massachusetts Water
Resources Commission, Hydrologic Investigations Chart
HI-2, 1962.
35. Sammel, E. A., "Water Resources of the Parker and Rowley
River Basins, Massachusetts," U. S. Geological Survey
Hydrologic Investigations Atlas HA-247, 1967.
36. Williams, J. R. , and R. E. Willey, "Taunton River Ba-
sin," Massachusetts Water Resources Commission Basic-
Data Report No. 12, Ground-Water Series, 1970.
37. Kammerer, J. C., and H. L. Baldwin, "Water Problems in
the Springfield-Holyoke Area, Massachusetts," U. S. Geo-
logical Survey Water-Supply Paper 1670, 1962.
38. Norvitch, R. F., and M. E. S. Lamb, "Housatonic River
Basin," Massachusetts Water Resources Commission Basic-
Data Report No. 9, Ground-Water Series, 1966.
39. Stewart, G. W., and Carole Ouelette, "Progress Report:
Rock Well Survey in New Hampshire," New Hampshire De-
partment of Resources and Economic Development, Divi-
sion of Economic Development, 1964.
40. Bradley, Edward, and R. G. Petersen, "Southeastern Area,"
New Hampshire Water Resources Board Basic-Data Report
No. 1, Ground-Water Series, 1962.
41. Weigle, J. M., and Richard Kranes, "Lower Merrimack
River Valley," New Hampshire Water Resources Board
Basic-Data Report No. 2, Ground-Water Series, 1966.
42. Goldthwait, J. W., Lawrence Goldthwait, and R. P. Gold-
thwait, "The Geology of New Hampshire, Part 1 - Surfi-
cial Geology," New Hampshire State Planning and Devel-
opment Commission, 1951.
43. Lewis, J. V., and H. B. Kummel, "Geologic Map of New
Jersey," New Jersey Department of Conservation and
Economic Development, Atlas Sheet No. 40, 1950.
44. Banino, G. M., F. J. Markewicz, and J. W. Miller, Jr., .
"Geologic, Hydrologic, and Well Drilling Characteris-
tics of the Rocks of Northern and Central New Jersey,"
New Jersey Bureau of Geology and Topography, 1970.
72
-------
45. Richards, H. G., F. H. Olmstead, and J. L. Ruhle, "Gen-
eralized Structure Contour Maps of the New Jersey
Coastal Plain," New Jersey Geological Survey, Geologic
Report Series No. 4, 1966.
46. Heath, R. C., "Ground Water in New York," State of New
York Conservation Department, Water Resources Commis-
sion Bulletin GW-51, 1964.
47. Reck, C. W., and E. T. Simmons, "Water Resources of the
Buffalo-Niagara Falls Region," U. S. Geological Survey
Circular 173, 1952.
48. Perlmutter, N. M., "Geology and Ground-Water Resources
of Rockland County, New York," State of New York Depart-
ment of Conservation, Water Power and Control Commis-
sion Bulletin GW-42, 1959.
49. Giese, G. L., and W. A. Hobba, Jr., "Water Resources of
the Champlain-Upper Hudson Basins in New York State,"
New York State Office of Planning Coordination, 1970.
50. Arnow, Theodore, "The Ground-Water Resources of Fulton
County, New York," State of New York Department of Con-
servation, Water Power and Control Commission Bulletin
GW-24, 1951.
51. Heath, R. C., F. K. Mack, and J. A. Tannenbaum, "Ground
Water Studies in Saratoga County, New York," State of
New York Department of Conservation, Water Resources
Commission Bulletin GW-49, 1963.
52. Simmons, E. T., I. G. Grossman, and R. C. Heath,
"Ground-Water Resources ofJ utchess County, New York,"
State of New York Department of Conservation, Water
Resources Commission Bulletin GW-43, 1961.
53. Grossman, I. G., "Ground-Water Resources of Putnam
County, New York," State of New York Department of Con-
servation, Water Power and Control Commission Bulletin
GW-37, 1957.
54. Carman, S. P., "Preliminary Report: Water Supply Prob-
lems, Westchester County," Westchester County Water
Agency, 1955.
55. Grossman, I. G., and L. B. Yarger, "Water Resources of
the Rochester Area, New York," U. S. Geological Survey
Circular 246, 1953.
73
-------
56. Kantrowitz, I. H., "Ground-Water Resources in the East-
ern Oswego River Basin, New York," State of New York
Conservation Department, Water Resources Commission Ba-
sin Planning Report ORB-2, 1970.
57. Mack, F. K., and R. E. Digman, "The Ground-Water Re-
sources of Ontario County, New York," State of New York
Department of Conservation, Water Resources Commission
Bulletin GW-48, 1962.
58. Arnow, Theodore, "The Ground-Water Resources of Colum-
bia County, New York," State of New York Department of
Conservation, Water Power and Control Commission Bulle-
tin GW-25, 1951.
59. Soren, Julian, "The Ground-Water Resources of Sullivan
County, New York," State of New York Department of Con-
servation, Water Resources Commission Bulletin GW-46,
1961.
60. Grain, L. J., "Ground-Water Resources of the Jamestown
Area, New York," State of New York Department of Con-
servation, Water Resources Commission Bulletin 58, 1966.
61. Cohen, Philip, 0. L. Franke, and B. L. Foxworthy, "At-
las of Long Island's Water Resources," State of New
York Water Resources Commission Bulletin 62, 1968.
62. Willard, Bradford, "Pennsylvania Geology Summarized,"
Pennsylvania Topographic and Geologic Survey Educa-
tional Series No. 4, 1970.
63. Emrich, G. H., "Ground-Water Geology," Pennsylvania De-
partment of Health, Division of Sanitary Engineering,
Publication No. 11, 1966.
64. Lohman, S. W., "Ground-Water Resources of Pennsylvania,"
Pennsylvania Topographic and Geologic Survey Bulletin
W-7, 1941.
65. Chester County Planning Commission, "Chester County
Natural Environment and Planning: Landforms, Geology,
Soils, Woodlands, and Climate," Chester County Planning
Commission, 1963.
66. Briesecker, J. E., J. B. Lescinsky, and C. R. Wood,
"Water Resources of the Schuylkill River Basin," Penn-
sylvania Department of Forests and Waters, Water Re-
sources Bulletin No. 3, 1968.
74
-------
67. Parizek, R. R., W. F. White, Jr., and Donald Langmuir,
"Hydrogeology and Geochemistry of Folded and Faulted
Rocks of the Central Appalachian Type and Related Land
Use Problems," Pennsylvania State University Earth and
Mineral Sciences Experiment Station Circular 82, 1971.
68. Piper, A. M., "Ground Water in Southwestern Pennsyl-
vania," Pennsylvania Department of Internal Affairs,
Topographic and Geologic Survey Bulletin W-l, 1933.
69. Rima, D. R., "Ground-Water Resources of the Lansdale
Area, Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Department of Inter-
nal Affairs, Topographic and Geologic Survey Progress
Report 146, 1955.
70. Lohman, S. W., "Ground Water in South-Central Pennsyl-
vania," Pennsylvania Department of Internal Affairs,
Topographic and Geologic Survey Bulletin W-5, 1938.
71. Mangan, J. W., D. W. Van Tuyl, and W. F. White, Jr.,
"Water Resources of the Lake Erie Shore Region in Penn-
sylvania," U. S. Geological Survey Circular 174, 1952.
72. Adamson, J. H., J. B. Graham, and N. H. Klein, "Ground-
Water Resources of the Valley Fill Deposits of Alle-
gheny County, Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania Department of
Internal Affairs, Topographic and Geologic Survey
Bulletin W-8, 1949.
73. Greenman, D. W., et al, "Ground-Water Resources of the
Coastal Plain Area of Southeastern Pennsylvania,"
Pennsylvania Department of Internal Affairs, Topographic
and Geologic Survey Bulletin W-13, 1961.
74. Graham, J. B., J. W. Mangan, and W. F. White, Jr., "Wa-
ter Resources of Southeastern Bucks County, Pennsyl-
vania," U. S. Geological Survey Circular 104, 1951.
75. Quinn, A. W., "Bedrock Geology of Rhode Island," U. S.
Geological Survey Bulletin 1295, 1971.
76. Allen, W. B., "The Ground-Water Resources of Rhode Is-
land, A Reconnaissance," Rhode Island Development
Council, Geological Bulletin No. 6, 1953.
77. Bierschenk, W. A., "Ground-Water Resources of the Prov-
idence Quadrangle, Rhode Island," Rhode Island Water
Resources Coordinating Board, Geological Bulletin No.
10, 1959.
75
-------
78. Hansen, A. J., and G. R. Schiner, "Ground-Water Re-
sources of Block Island, Rhode Island," Rhode Island
Water Resources Coordinating Board, Geological Bulle-
tin No. 14, 1964.
79. Jacobs, E. C., "The Physical Features of Vermont,"
Vermont State Development Commission, 1950.
80. Stewart, D. P., "Geology for Environmental Planning in
the Rutland-Brandon Region, Vermont," Vermont Water Re-
sources Department, Environmental Geology No. 2, 1972.
81. Hodges, A. L., Jr., and David Butterfield, "Ground-Wa-
ter Favorability Map of the Lamoille River Basin, Ver-
mont," Vermont Department of Water Resources, 1967.
82. Hodges, A. L., Jr., and David Butterfield, "Ground-Wa-
ter Favorability Map of the Missisquoi River Basin,
Vermont Department of Water Resources, 1967.
83. Hodges, A. L., Jr., "Ground-Water Favorability Map of
the Otter Creek Basin, Vermont," Vermont Department of
Water Resources, 1967.
84. Hodges, A. L., Jr., and David Butterfield, "Ground-Wa-
ter Favorability Map of the West-Deerfield River Basin,
Vermont," Vermont Department of Water Resources, 1968.
85. Hodges, A. L., Jr., and David Butterfield, "Ground-Wa-
ter Favorability Map of the Ottauquechee-Saxtons River
Basin, Vermont," Vermont Department of Water Resources,
1968.
86. Hodges, A. L., Jr., and David Butterfield, "Ground-Wa-
ter Favorability Map of the White River Basin, Vermont,"
Vermont Department of Water Resources, 1968.
87. Hodges, A. L., Jr., and David Butterfield, "Ground-Wa-
ter Favorability Map of the Wells-Ompompanoosuc River
Basin, Vermont," Vermont Department of Water Resources,
1968.
88. Hodges, A. L., Jr., and David Butterfield, "Ground-Wa-
ter Favorability Map of the Nulhegan-Passumpsic River
Basin, Vermont," Vermont Department of Water Resources
1967.
89. Hodges, A. L., Jr., and David Butterfield, "Ground-Wa-
ter Favorability Map of the Winooski River Basin, Ver-
mont," Vermont Department of Water Resources, 1967.
76
-------
90. Hodges, A. L., Jr., and David Butterfield, "Ground-Wa-
ter Favorability Map of the Lake Memphremagog Basin,
Vermont," Vermont Department of Water Resources, 1967.
91. Hodges, A. L., Jr., "Ground-Water Favorability Map of
the Batten Kill, Walloomsac River and Hoosic River Ba-
sins," Vermont Department of Water Resources, 1966.
77
-------
SECTION V
NATURAL GROUND-WATER QUALITY
INTRODUCTION
The natural quality of ground water is not considered by
users in the region to be a problem unless the recommended
limits for chemical concentrations of selected constituents
as set by the states for potable public water supplies are
exceeded. For the most part, the allowable chemical limits
for the 11 northeast states are similar to those of the U.S.
Public Health Service. D Ground water which contains con-
stituents exceeding state health department or U. S. Public
Health Service recommended limits of chemical concentrations
occur to some extent throughout the study area. Although it
is recognized that certain industrial processes require ex-
tremely polished water, these are the exceptions, and ground
water found in the northeast is suitable in quality for most
purposes with little or no treatment.
Other than the natural occurrence of saline waters in aqui-
fers and pollutants resulting from man's activities, the
chemicals found in ground water result from the interaction
of water with rock materials. Natural ground-water quality
is intimately related to the solubility of the minerals in
the rocks through which the water moves. The chemical char-
acter of ground water can be associated with a particular
rock type. Where the rocks are similar in mineralogy over
broad areas, the chemical character of the water is gener-
ally consistent. Where localized occurrences of soluble,
atypical mineral suites are present, the chemical quality of
local ground water reflects these minerals.
Since ground water is not static, but constantly in motion,
there often is a change in quality as water moves within the
aquifer, and from one rock type to another. The capability
of an aquifer to circulate water has a distinct influence on
the mineral content. In the highly permeable but areally-
limited glacial aquifers, circulation is rapid and water
quality is generally good. In some Coastal Plain deposits,
water can migrate many miles from the intake area to the dis-
charge area, and generally increases in mineral content due
to the very long travel time associated with such a migra-
tion. Changes in relative composition may also occur, such
as the softening that takes place during movement through
greensands.
Consolidated rock aquifers are extremely variable in their
78
-------
circulation capability. Generally, these aquifers have only
limited circulation below depths of 500 feet. Below this
depth/ water can be highly mineralized, with high chloride
and total dissolved solids the primary objectionable constit-
uents. Figure 18 is a map of the 11-state study area show-
ing the depth to mineralized ground water in the major aqui-
fers. Fortunately, saline-water aquifers are normally over-
lain by fresh-water aquifers. Although the remaining por-
tion of the region is shown to be less than 1,000 mg/1,
(milligrams per litre), there may be some localized areas
where mineralized water occurs at depth. However, because
there is no need to drill deep wells for fresh-water sup-
plies at these locations, little or no information is avail-
able on the quality of water below the fresh-water zones.
By far the most widespread problem in the northeast region
is the naturally high iron content of ground water (often
associated with a high concentration of manganese), low pH,
and sometimes high hardness. This problem is not confined
to any region or aquifer type, but occurs in the three major
water-yielding units: the unconsolidated deposits of the
Coastal Plain, the unconsolidated glacial deposits, and the
consolidated rocks.
Individual domestic wells, even when they yield water high
in iron content, rarely are equipped with treatment facili-
ties. However, many municipal and industrial supplies must
be treated for iron and manganese, or the pH must be ad-
justed and the hardness reduced. Some supplies must be
treated for more than one of the above parameters.
Following is a state-by-state discussion of natural water
quality. Tables have been prepared for each state, and they
present information on natural water quality in the prin-
cipal aquifers. In some cases it was not possible from the
reported data to determine whether the occurrence of high
concentrations of certain mineral constituents in specific
wells is actually natural or has been caused by man's activ-
ities. Therefore, median values have been computed and are
probably the most representative of natural water quality
conditions.
CONNECTICUT
The natural quality of the ground water in Connecticut is ex-
tremely variable among aquifers and within relatively short
distances in the same aquifer. The concentrations of many
constituents have wide ranges which may impose some con-
straints on the industrial utilization of water, especially
where extremely high-quality process water is required.
79
-------
NORTH
DEPTH BELOW LAND SURFACE TO SHALLOWEST
ZONE OF GROUND WATER CONTAINING MORE THAN
1,000 MG/LOF DISSOLVED SOLIDS.
| I LESS THAN 500 FEET
500- 1,000 FEET
GREATER THAN 1,000 FEET
LESS THAN 1,000 MG/L (NO WELLS
KNOWN TO PRODUCE MINERALIZED
WATER IN QUANTITIES GREATER THAN
0.01 MOD)
Figure 18. Depth to mineralized ground water in major aquifers in the northeast
United States 2)
80
-------
Table 11 is the compilation of chemical analyses from the
various aquifers, taken from several published sources in-
cluding regional and river basin reports. A wide range of
concentrations exists throughout the regions of the state
for almost all of the constituents. Many of the upper val-
ues far exceed recommended limits of drinking water stand-
ards. However, where more than three analyses are tabulated,
only rarely does the median value exceed these limits. The
median manganese value of six analyses in the south-central
sand and gravel deposits is above the recommended limit.
Based on analyses of 96 water samples from wells tapping the
crystalline rocks in the southeastern coastal region of Con-
necticut, 27 percent contained iron concentrations equal to
or exceeding the State Health Department limits. Of 89 well
samples, 31 percent contained objectionable manganese con-
centrations. Approximately 50 to 75 percent of the wells
tapping the bedrock (schist) in eastern Connecticut yield
water that would require treatment for iron and manganese. 4)
Naturally-occurring salt water in aquifers along the coast
and estuaries has not been studied in great detail. However,
it is known to be present in some areas of the coastal re-
gion and also in areas several miles inland along estuaries,
particularly in less permeable unconsolidated deposits where
flushing by fresh water has been incomplete.
The occurrence of high concentrations of sulfate has been
noted in some ground-water supplies, generally limited to
the sedimentary rocks of the central portion of the state.
However, only two public-supply systems using ground water
have average concentrations exceeding the state standard.
The average concentrations of chemical constituents over a
five year period (1966 through 1970) from all the individual
sources for public supply indicate that the water is of good
quality. Table 12 lists the maximum concentrations of se-
lected constituents for drinking water allowed by the state
and the number of public supply wells and springs where the
average concentration over a five-year period was equal to
or exceeded the limits. As can be seen, the major natural
water-quality problem is iron concentration. It should be
noted that many of the excessive concentrations, particularly
iron, manganese, color, and turbidity, were found in the
same water sources. The natural chloride content found in
water throughout the state is low, rarely exceeding 20 mg/1,
except in some locales along coastal areas and estuaries.
DELAWARE
The natural ground water of Delaware is generally of suitable
81
-------
Table 11. CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN CONNECTICUT. (Concentrations in milligrams per liter.
3 through 13)
CD
to
Location
Northeast
Southeast
North Central
South Central
Northwest
Southwest
Rock
Type
X
S/G
T
X
S/G
T
X
Tr
S/G
T
X
Tr
S/G
T
X
C
S/G
X
S/G
T
N
104
34
14
98
51
7
20
35
79
2
3
5
6
2
76
27
29
58
18
3
Iron (Fe)
Range
0.00 -4.8
0.00 -2.8
0.00-0.49
0.00-8.2
0.01 -2.3
0.02 -8.1
0.02 -3.6
0.00 - 1.5
0.01 -0.32
0.84 -2.0
0.02 -0.20
0.01 -0.19
0.02 -0.16
0.03-0.19
0.00- 1.0
0.00 -3.4
0.00-2.1
0.01 -8.6
0.01 -0.84
0.04-0.48
M
0.07
0.06
0.09
0.10
0.10
0.14
0.28
0.15
0.10
-
_
0.10
0.06
-
0.09
0.06
0.06
0.14
0.06
-
N
105
33
12
91
49
7
19
15
68
2
3
5
6
2
76
27
29
58
18
3
Manganese (Mn)
Range
0.00-0.94
0.00-5.7
0.00-0.10
0.00 - 0.94
0.00-0.78
0.00-0.27
0.00 - 0.25
0.00-0.12
0.00 -9.9
0.02 - 0.08
0.03-0.20
0.02-0.18
0.02-0.29
0.07-0.22
0.00 - 0.65
0.00-0.23
0.00-0.59
0.00 - 0.66
0.00 - 0.24
0.01 -0.17
M
0.00
0.01
0.00
0.02
0.02
0.01
0.03
0.01
0.03
—
-
0.04
0.11
-
0.02
0.01
0.04
0.03
0.03
-
N
68
34
12
44
38
2
20
28
64
2
4
5
9
3
76
27
29
58
18
3
SulFate
(S04)
Range
2.4
0.2
6.9
1.6
1.2
30
6.4
3
2.3
7.2
7.1
9.1
15
12
3.2
8
7.2
8.9
12
52
39
- 37
26
- 1,040
- 109
41
- 39
- 1,500
- 292
21
22
35
- 83
16
- 178
74
- 178
72
39
- 274
M
13
12
13
17
17
-
14
27
26
-
_
29
27
-
19
23
23
20
19
-
X - Crystalline rocks
T - Till
S/G - Sand and gravel
Tr — Sedimentary rocks
C - Carbonate rocks
N - Number of samples
M - Median
-------
Table 11 (continued). CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN CONNECTICUT.
(Concentrations in milligrams per liter.) 3 ^rou9h 13)
Chloride (CI)
Nitrate
CO
co
Location
Northeast
Southeast
North Central
South Central
Northwest
Southwest
Rock
Type
X
S/G
T
X
S/G
T
X
Tr
S/G
T
X
Tr
S/G
T
X
c
S/G
X
S/G
T
N
27
15
2
51
58
5
22
54
82
2
4
5
9
3
76
27
29
58
18
3
Range
2.0 -
2.8-
3.2-
0 -
4.0-
5.3 -
0.4-
0.6- 1,
0 -
1.5-
1.5 -
3.0-
3.2-
1.5-
0.8-
0.9-
0.3 -
2.6-
2.0-
350 - 1,
70
84
14
362
607
16
10
029
48
3.5
3.0
22
70
3.6
78
72
92
140
37
700
M
6.5
7.1
-
13
17
9.0
2.7
5.3
4.6
-
_
9.0
9.5
—
5.4
8.0
8.0
9.6
12
~
N
100
30
12
22
18
4
22
45
79
2
_
-
1
-
76
27
29
58
21
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
60
0
0
0
0
0
0
Range
-60
-44
.3 -26
.1-32
.3-43
-52
-24
-20
-86
.5
_
-
-
- 39
- 16
-25
-40
-34
- 1.4
M
0.9
2.9
8.3
3.7
3.2
-
0 .45
0.71
5.7
-
-
-
-
—
0.6
4.6
1.0
0.3
2.2
"•
-------
Table 11 (continued). CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN CONNECTICUT. (Concentrations in milligrams per liter.)
3 through 13)
00
Location
Northeast
Southeast
North Central
South Central
Northwest
Southwest
Total
Rock
Type
X
S/G
T
X
S/G
T
X
Tr
S/G
T
X
Tr
S/G
T
X
C
S/G
X
S/G
T
N
97
34
13
97
51
8
21
42
73
2
3
5
6
2
76
27
29
58
18
3
Dissolved Solids
Range
24 - 409
31 - 330
79 - 434
24- 1,830
36 - 1,270
40 - 678
42 - 184
43 -2,510
30 - 821
44 - 58
39 - 145
89 - 212
86 - 233
56 - 67
34 - 404
84 - 496
60 - 513
52 - 354
71 - 225
718 -3,300
Total
M
100
80
108
118
96
82
111
161
132
-
_
157
131
-
136
275
237
124
112
—
N
100
35
12
97
51
8
22
52
78
2
4
5
9
3
76
27
29
58
18
3
Hardness (as CaCO^)
7
9
38
3
2
22
21
14
6
22
20
28
40
30
15
76
36
30
21
99
Range
- 279
- 108
- 211
- 1,120
- 296
- 100
- 132
-2,500
- 486
- 26
- Ill
- 143
- 266
40
- 264
- 378
- 365
- 266
- 188
- 777
M
54
37
50
57
42
36
61
110
64
-
_
83
103
-
85
230
190
73
53
-
N
104
35
14
97
51
8
22
42
80
2
4
5
8
3
76
27
29
58
18
3
PH
Range
5.1 -8.6
4.8 -9.3
5.8 -7.7
4.4 -8.1
5.8 -7.7
5.0 -7.3
6.3 -8.2
5.7-8.9
5.0 -8.3
6.1 -6.5
6.3 -7.4
6.5 -8.7
6.4 -7.8
6.4 -6.9
6.4 -7.9
7.1 -8.1
6.7-8,1
5.7-8.2
6.4 -7.7
6.9 -7.1
M
7.0
6.5
6.6
7.2
6.9
7.0
7.1
7.4
6.8
-
_
7.7
6.8
-
7.4
7.7
7.7
7.5
6.9
—
-------
Table 12. NUMBER OF GROUND-WATER SOURCES USED FOR PUBLIC SUPPLY
EQUAL TO OR EXCEEDING STATE OF CONNECTICUT DRINKING
WATER STANDARDS FOR SELECTED CONSTITUENTS.
Maximum
concentrations
Number of public wafer-
supply sources yielding
ground water equal to or
Constituent
Chloride (Cl)
Total Hardness (as CaCO3)
Iron (Fe)
Manganese (Mn)
Sodium (Na)
Sulfate (SO4)
Fluoride (F)
Turbidity
Color (true)
allowed
250 a)
150 a)
0.3 a>
0.05 a)
20 a)
250 a)
1.2
5 units
15 units
exceeding standard
3
86
115
85
71
2
6
43
10
a) These limits should not be exceeded if better quality water can be made
available.
85
-------
quality for most purposes, with only minor treatment re-
quired in isolated instances. Table 13 is a compilation of
chemical analyses of selected constituents in natural ground
waters. Usually the water from the shallow zones is of bet-
ter quality than that obtained from the deep zones. Little
is known about the quality of water at depths of 1,000 feet
or greater, but it is inferred that these waters would be
high in dissolved solids.
There is little information available on the water quality
in the Unglaciated Appalachians. Waters from the carbonate
rocks have a higher hardness than from the other crystalline
rock types. Normally, the calcium and magnesium content is
higher in water from the basic crystalline rocks, such as
gabbro, than from the acidic rocks. Occasionally, high iron
content is encountered locally in concentrations that may
require treatment.
The natural water quality of the Coastal Plain deposits is
good and, with the exception of spotty high iron content,
little or no treatment is required for most purposes. Brack-
ish or salty water can be found in portions of nearly all of
the aquifers. The locations of the salt-water interface
have been fairly well documented and mapped.
The ground water from Quaternary age aquifers is character-
istically slightly acidic, with a pH of around 6. The iron
content is often troublesome, requiring some form of treat-
ment. The water is usually soft, and contains low concentra-
tions of total dissolved solids. 15)
The Tertiary sediments of Miocene age yield water with a pH
above 7 and low dissolved iron content. The bicarbonate and
silicate concentrations are higher than other aquifers in
the region. The underlying deposits of Eocene and Paleocene
age have water with a wide range of pH values, and occasion-
ally high iron content. Moderately high dissolved solids
and hardness are found.
The Upper Cretaceous marine sediments are not extensively
tapped in the state. Pew chemical analyses of the water are
available, but indications are that the quality is very good.
Chemical analyses of water from the Magothy formation show
both basic and acidic pH values. The basic waters are typi-
cally found at depth and downdip. Total iron and sulfate
concentrations are relatively high. Water from the Lower
Cretaceous basal unit is similar to the Magothy formation.
86
-------
Table 13. CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN DELAWARE. (Concentrations in milligrams per liter.) 15 trough 23)
CO
-o
Locotion - Age
Piedmont Province
Precambrian
Coastal Plain
Cretaceous
Tertiary
Quaternary
Rock
Type
X
Nm
Mt
Ma
Pe
Mio
PI
N
9
68
4
9
2
16
117
Iron
-------
00
CO
Table 13 (continued). CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN DELAWARE. (Concentrations in milligrams per liter.)
Total Dissolved Solids Total Hardness (as CaCC^) pH
15 through 23)
Location - Age
Piedmont Province
Precambrian
Coastal Plain
Cretaceous
Tertiary
Quaternary
Rock
Type
X
Nm
Mt
Ma
Pe
Mio
PI
N
3
23
4
1
10
20
Range
35 -
33-
50-
152
100 - 1,
177 -
34-1,
M
353
350 86
64
000
248 208
280 84
N
11
75
8
9
31
149
32
5
18
6
15
6.
1.
Range
- 158
- 245
- 44
- 162
- 200
6 -1,500
7-2,320
M
60
34
23
87
101
32
N
17
87
8
9
30
107
Range
5.0 -7.4
5.4-7.6
5.9 - 7.2
5.5-7.9
5.6 -8.6
4.9-8.3
3.4 -7.5
M
6.3
6.6
6.7
6.2
6.6
6.2
Chloride (Cl)
Nitrate (NO3)
Location - Age
Piedmont Province
Precambrian
Coastal Plain
Cretaceous
Tertiary
Quaternary
Rock
Type
X
Nm
Mt
Ma
Pe
Mio
PI
N
14
83
9
9
31
100
Range
5.5-
1.5-
1.5-
3.5-
1 -
1.5-4,
4 -6,
550
218
16
82
200
000
300
M
9.3
6.5
3.0
28
11
13
N
4
33
6
8
20
96
7
0
0
0
0
0
0
Range
.6 - 20
- 24
.6
.2 - 68
.1-30
- 29
- 120
M
_
0.6
0.3
37
0.1
9,25
-------
MAINE
Except for the common problems caused by high iron and man-
ganese, and high hardness of water from carbonate rocks,
Maine has natural ground water of excellent quality. How-
ever, it does have local water-quality problems that are un-
usual. Table 14 is a compilation of chemical analyses of
selected constituents in natural ground waters.
In two areas of the state, one in the Central Uplands and
one in the Coastal Lowlands, the ground water shows levels
of radioactivity considerably higher than usual. The source
of this activity is believed to be radioactive minerals
present in the pegmatites found in these areas.
In the Coastal Lowlands, it is not uncommon for a well to
produce water with high total dissolved solids and chloride
concentrations. Sea water entered aquifers in the coastal
area when they were submerged between periods of Pleistocene
glaciation. Many of these aquifers have not been completely
flushed by circulating fresh ground water since that time.
MARYLAND
Natural ground water in Maryland is generally of good qual-
ity, with exceptions in localized areas. Table 15 is a com-
pilation of chemical analyses of selected constituents in
natural ground waters.
Although saline waters can be found in the deeper Coastal
Plain formations, the overlying aquifers contain an abun-
dance of fresh water which is available for development for
most purposes with little or no treatment required. Gener-
ally, mineralized water can be found below depths of 500
feet in the consolidated rock aquifers.
In the consolidated rock aquifers west of the Fall Line, the
water quality is greatly dependent on the chemical nature of
the aquifer material. For example, the water from the crys-
talline rocks is usually softer and has a lower pH than wa-
ter obtained from the carbonate rocks. Although a wide
range of dissolved solids is found in water from wells tap-
ping the crystallines, the highest concentrations are in
waters from the carbonates. High iron concentrations of wa-
ter from both types of rocks are fairly localized problems.
Not much data are available on the natural water quality of
the aquifers in the sedimentary rocks in the western portion
of the state. In many places saline water can be found be-
low a depth of 500 feet, although some deeper wells report-
edly yield potable water supplies.
89
-------
Table 14. CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN MAINE. (Concentrations
in milligrams per liter.) 24 trough 30)
Total Hardness
Rock
Type
C
U
N
19
17
Iron (Fe)
Range
0 -1.3
0 - 1.5
M
0.02
0.05
N
19
26
Chloride (Cl)
Range
2.2 -36
0.2 -22
M
11
6.1
N
16
13
(as CaCOs
Range
20 - 281
5-225
)
M
197
61
Total Dissolved Solids
Rock
Type
C
U
N Range M
14 41 -355 153
20 2 - 230 58
N
17
19
PH
Range
6.6 -8.1
5.7-8.4
M
7.3
6.9
C - Consolidated rock
U - Unconsolidated deposits
N - Number of samples
M - Median
90
-------
Table 15. CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN MARYLAND. (Concentrations in milligrams per liter.)
31 through 36)
vo
Rock
Location Type N
Central Maryland X 53
Central Maryland C$ 7
Coastal Plain U 105
Iron (Fe)
Range
0 - 4.6
0 - 1.2
0 - 15
Chloride (Cl)
M N Range M
0.16 52 0.1 - 26 4.8
0.09 7 2.1 - 64 5.8
0.20 123 0.2-1,830 7.1
Total Hardness (as CaCO3)
N Range M
54 7-246 40
7 93 - 198 130
110 2.0-615 60
Total Dissolved Solids pH
Rock
Location TyP® N
Central Maryland X 46
Central Maryland Cs 7
Coastal Plain U 113
X - Precambrian crystalline rocks
Cs - Carbonate rocks and shale
U - Unconsolidated deposits
N - Number of samples
M - Median
Range
13-321
128 -274
12 -698
M N Range M
73 54 5.4-8.3 6.7
182 7 6 -8.1 7.7
84 207 3.8-8.7 6.5
-------
It is difficult to generalize on the water quality of the
extensive Coastal Plain aquifers. Water quality is known to
change as ground water migrates from the recharge to the
discharge areas, and inter-aquifer transfers of water may
have a considerable effect on concentrations of chemical
constituents. The occurrence of saline water is generally
at shallower depth in an easterly direction. Although some
local conditions modify the situation, the inland third of
this province contains the deepest fresh-water aquifers,
possibly to depths of 2,000 feet. The central section con-
tains fresh water to depths of about 1,500 feet, and the
eastern area aquifers are probably saline below depths of
500 feet.
The Quaternary age aquifers, because of relatively rapid
ground-water circulation, contain water which is low in dis-
solved mineral constituents. Those areas containing cal-
careous shell material yield hard water. High iron content
is commonly a troublesome factor.
Of the Tertiary age aquifers, water derived from the Miocene
units is high in total dissolved solids and has a pH of 7 or
above. The hardness is high, especially in water from for-
mations containing a large amount of shell material. The
Eocene and Paleocene aquifers yield water with a wide range
of pH values. High iron concentrations are often associated
with glauconitic material in these aquifers.
The Cretaceous aquifers yield water having a relatively high
iron content and a wide range of pH values. The sulfate
content is often high, and is thought to be derived from
sulfide minerals.
MASSACHUSETTS
The quality of natural ground water in Massachusetts is gen-
erally good. However, mineralization problems do occur,
frequently associated with a particular rock type. Table 16
is a compilation of chemical analyses of selected constitu-
ents in natural ground waters.
Ground water is generally soft. However, in the carbonate
belt in western Massachusetts, a large percentage of wells
in all of the aquifers yield water with at least moderate
hardness. For 43 wells in all aquifers in the Housatonic
River Basin, all but four produced at least moderately hard
water. 37)
Wells in the Triassic sedimentary rocks of the Connecticut
River Valley yield water high in total dissolved solids.
92
-------
Table 16. CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN MASSACHUSETTS. (Concentrations in milligrams per liter.) 37 through 50)
Iron (Fe)
Chloride (Cl)
Sulfate ($04)
Location
Northeast
Southeast
West
Rock
Type
X
S/G
T
X
. S/G
T
X
Tr
C
S/G
T
N
20
88
9
8
19
4
34
3
17
102
8
Range
0.05 - 4.4
0 - 2.4
0.03- 1.4
0 - 2.0
0 - 0.69
0.03- 1.1
0 - 6.0
0.12- 1.0
0 - 0.27
0 - 10.0
0.01 - 0.20
M
0.24
0.08
0.14
0.10
0.10
-
0.06
-
0.04
0.10
0.05
N
19
91
9
8
19
4
37
3
17
97
9
1.6
2.0
0.3
4.0
5.0
5.9
1.0
4.6
0.8
1.0
0.5
Range
54
-2,400
56
16
36
13
37
25
- 138
- 325
28
M
5.3
10
6.0
10
10
-
6.0
-
6.0
4.4
4.8
N
17
47
7
8
19
4
15
3
17
31
6
Range
0.4 - 51
0.2 - 89
4.2 - 47
1.2-40
5.6 - 60
14 - 18
0-48
24 - 208
3.8 - 28
3.4 - 29
8.8 - 27
M
16
19
12
13
8.2
-
16
-
19
12
14
X - Crystalline rocks
Tr - Triassic sedimentary rocks
C - Carbonate rocks
S/G - Sand and gravel
T -Till
N - Number of samples
M - Median
-------
Table 16 (continued). CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN MASSACHUSETTS. (Concentrations in milligrams per liter.)
37 through 50)
Location
Northeast
Southeast
West
Total
Rock
Type
X
S/G
T
X
S/G
T
X
Tr
C
S/G
T
N
18
87
7
8
18
4
30
3
17
83
8
Hardness {as
Range
17- 150
8-424
15- 140
13- 130
9-70
18- 33
14-213
18 - 109
1 -356
10 - 259
30 - 204
CaCOs)
M
55
38
43
38
15
-
88
-
215
56
77
N
17
54
9
8
19
4
24
3
17
28
6
Total Dissolved Solids
13
32
25
0.
33
68
40
90
120
48
48
Range
- 267
-4,510
- 444
16 - 197
- 268
- 89
- 263
- 468
- 509
- 278
- 245
M
99
180
94
92
62
—
127
-
236
144
120
N
19
90
9
8
19
4
38
3
17
120
9
ftL
Range
6.5 -8.1
5.3 -8.1
5.7-7.8
5.9 -7.9
5.3 -6.8
6.0 -6.6
6.2 -9.0
6.3 -7.8
7.1 -8.2
5.6 -8.2
6.1 -8.4
M
7.3
6.5
6.4
6.8
6.0
-
7.5
-
7.7
6.5
7.1
-------
Like ground water in the carbonate belt of western Massachu-
setts, the ground water in this area is alkaline. High pH
is usually equated with high hardness and alkalinity, but
this is not the case in the Connecticut River Valley. What
does occur is dissolution of sulfide and sulfate minerals in
the Triassic rocks, producing ground water high in sulfates
and total dissolved solids. 38,51)
In the northeastern portion of the state, where crystalline
rocks form the bedrock, calcic minerals raise the pH and
hardness. Of 18 wells in the lower Ipswich River Basin,
nine produced water which could be classified as at least
moderately hard. The wells with water of highest hardness
were those in bedrock.
The most prevalent natural ground-water problem in Massa-
chusetts is excessive concentrations of iron and manganese
in ground water. This is especially common where the ground
water has an acidic pH, which includes most areas of the
state. 38) in the Housatonic River Basin, where the ground
water is commonly alkaline, 11 wells out of 43 reportedly
produced water with a pH less than 7, and four out of 43 ex-
ceeded the U. S. Public Health Service recommended limits
for iron or manganese. 37) in the Deerfield River Basin,
northeast of the Housatonic River Basin, in 33 analyses of
the 90 for which pH was reported, the pH was less than 7;
out of analyses for 87 wells for which iron or manganese^
concentrations were reported, 34 exceeded the U. S. Public
Health Service limits. 40)
NEW HAMPSHIRE
The quality of natural ground water in New Hampshire is ex-
cellent. Table 17 is a compilation of chemical analyses of
selected constituents in natural ground waters. Hardness is
generally less than 60 mg/1. A hardness level of 100 mg/1
is rarely exceeded. 51)
High concentrations of iron and manganese can be troublesome,
particularly in sand and gravel wells, as in most of the
northeast states. From the scanty data available, high iron
and manganese concentrations appear to be a spotty problem,
but concentrations rarely exceed 1.0 mg/1 and 0.20 mg/1, re-
spectively.
An unusual natural water-quality problem in New Hampshire is
the occurrence of high fluorides, especially in wells in the
Ossipee Mountains north of Lake Winnipesaukee and in the La-
conia area south of the lake. At Conway, well waters are re-
ported to commonly contain 2.5 mg/1 of fluoride. In Lincoln
95
-------
Table 17. CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN SOUTHEASTERN NEW
HAMPSHIRE. (Concentrations in milligrams per liter.) 52,53)
Iron (Fe)
Chloride (Cl)
Sulfate (SO4)
Rock
Type
X
S/G
T
N
7
30
6
Total
Rock
Type
X
S/G
T
N
6
35
3
Range
0.01 -
0
0
Hardness
0.66
0.80
0.07
(as Ca
Range
32-
9- 1
7-
95
39
64
M
0.12
0.035
0.005
N
7
52
7
COs) Total
M
46
43
-
N
6
24
2
Range
0.8 - 240
0.1 - 133
5.9- 28
Dissolved
Range
72 - 525
36 - 191
33 - 134
M
4.1
9.5
14
N
6
24
2
Solids
M
93.5
78.5
-
N
7
52
4
Range
2.6 - 24
1 .4 - 54
4 -15
PH
Range
5.9 -8.2
5.7-8.3
6.4-7.6
M
— •— —
9.3
12.5
M
— ~— — —
7.9
6.8
_
X - Crystalline rock
S/G - Sand and gravel
T - Till
N - Number of samples
M - Median
96
-------
and Waterville Valley, some wells 200 to 300 feet deep have
similarly high values. East of Concord, near Bow, a large
number of wells have been sampled, and there is an obvious
fluoride problem. Near Wolfboro, at the southeastern end of
Lake Winnipesaukee, a well serving a restaurant was reported
to have a fluoride content over 10 mg/1. 54)
NEW JERSEY
In general, the quality of natural ground water in the vari-
ous regions of New Jersey is good. Table 18 is a compila-
tion of chemical analyses of selected constituents in nat-
ural ground waters.
The major aquifer in the westernmost part of the state is
the Kittatinny limestone. Water from this formation is hard,
in excess of 150 mg/1 and up to 500 mg/1, with a pH of over 7.
The younger Richenback and Epler formations locally have a
moderate to high hydrogen sulfide content. The Martinsburg
formation produces water with a low pH, in the range of 5 to
6. The hardness, although highly variable, is moderate —
usually less than 100 mg/1. However, in some locales hard-
ness concentrations can be very high, with levels up to 500
mg/1. Another problem associated with water from this unit
is the high hydrogen sulfide content.
The Precambrian crystalline rocks to the east contain ground
water with a wide range of iron concentrations, dependent on
the mineral content of the rock. Usually the pH of the wa-
ter is low with only minor concentrations of hardness. High
iron content is associated with water from the darker colored
rocks and can be as much as 12 mg/1.
The Triassic rock aquifers are widely utilized by municipal
and industrial supply wells. Water from the Stockton forma-
tion has a pH from 6 to 7, with a hardness between 100 and
200 mg/1. The iron and sulfate contents are variable, with
high concentrations found in the deeper sections. Wells
penetrating the Lockatong and Brunswick formations yield wa-
ter with a pH greater than 7 and locally high sulfate con-
centrations. Hardness is highly variable, with many wells
yielding water that exceeds the state drinking water recom-
mended limits.
Ground water from the Pleistocene deposits is highly vari-
able, particularly with regard to concentrations of iron.
Most waters can be expected to have values of less than one
mg/1 of iron. The hardness is low to moderate with a
slightly acid pH.
97
-------
Table 18. CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN NEW JERSEY. (Concentrations in milligrams per liter.) 55 thro(J9h 72)
CO
Location
Precambrian region
Carbonate region
Triassic region
Coastal Plain
Rock
Type
X
C
Tr
Qt
K
T
Qc
N
7
3
31
13
118
141
28
Iron (Fe)
Range
0.02 - 12
0.10- 0.40
0 - 3.6
0.03 - 3.0
0 - 114
0 - 25
0.01 - 22
M
0.10
-
0.13
0.07
2.5
0.55
0.25
N
18
2
35
25
122
170
34
Total Dissolved Solids
Location
Precambrian region
Carbonate region
Triassic region
Coastal Plain
Rock
Type
X
C
Tr
Qt
K
T
Qc
N
18
-
26
7
92
114
18
Range
51 - 246
-
45-4,780
134- 230
27- 543
15-3,030
14- 482
M
118
-
448
156
123
103
51
N
18
3
35
25
102
174
30
Chloride (Cl)
Range
1 - 40
6 - 8
1 -1,900
2.1 - 27
1.1 -2,057
1.9-1,510
3.1 - 160
£H_
Range
5.2 -8.1
6.9 -8.2
6.0-8.9
6.1 -8.2
3.9 -8.9
4.0-9.2
4.4-8.1
Total
M
6
-
11
7.5
12.5
9.1
9.7
N
18
3
33
25
63
161
27
M
6.8
-
7.4
7.6
6.9
7.1
5.8
Hardness (as CaCO3)
Range
13 - 157
52 - 176
18 - 2,870
32 - 375
4- 580
0- 492
4- 182
M
61
-
187
116
76
34
31
X - Precambrian crystalline rocks
C - Paleozoic carbonate rocks
Tr - Triassic sedimentary rocks
Qt - Quaternary deposits over Triassic rocks
K - Cretaceous unconsolidafed rocks
T - Tertiary unconsol! dated rocks
Qc - Quaternary unconsolidated rocks
N - Number of samples
M - Median
-------
The natural ground-water quality in the Coastal Plain is
generally very good. However, not all the deep aquifers can
be used for potable water supplies. Some formations contain
saline water below a depth of 1,000 feet in the downdip sec-
tions.
Water from the Cretaceous age Raritan and Magothy formations
occasionally has a high iron content. Dissolved solids are
low and appear to increase downdip. The pH is only slightly
acid. The other important aquifers of Cretaceous age, in-
cluding the Englishtown, Wenonah, and Mount Laurel, contain
water with low dissolved solids. Spotty occurrences of high
iron content are found, particularly within the Englishtown
formation.
The Tertiary age aquifers vary in water quality among the
different formations and also within the same formation.
The Vincentown is characterized by water which is moderately
hard to hard, and the dissolved solids and iron content are
occasionally very high. The Kirkwood yields soft water,
with relatively minor problems associated with excessive
iron concentrations. The Cohansey contains very soft water
with localized high iron concentrations.
Thick Quaternary deposits of sand and gravel yield good
quality water, although some supplies require treatment for
iron.
NEW YORK
Natural ground water in both the consolidated and unconsoli-
dated rock aquifers of New York is generally of excellent
quality, but hard. Specific problems do occur, however,
which are usually related to the presence of some distinct
geologic rock units and are most apparent in the shale and
limestone aquifers. Table 19 is a compilation of chemical
analyses of selected constituents in natural ground waters.
The principal natural problem is the occurrence of high iron
and manganese concentrations in water from the major aqui-
fers. The presence of excessive iron and manganese results
from the leaching of these ions from rocks and sediments by
acidic circulating ground water. Certain consolidated rocks
are commonly high in iron sulfide minerals and trapped hy-
drogen sulfide gas. When dissolved in water, the sulfides
produce an acidic solution. The presence of sulfide miner-
als is common in carbonate rocks of western New York and
shales across the state; therefore iron and manganese prob-
lems are also common in these aquifers.
99
-------
Table 19. CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN NEW YORK. (Concentrations in milligrams per liter.) 73 thr°u9h 87)
o
o
Location
West
Buffalo-Niagara Region
Oswego River Basin
N - Number of samples
M - Median
a) - Queenston shale and
b) - Albion Group
Rock
Type
Lh°)
Lc
Mh
Uc
Uh
Sb>
T
S
Lh
Lc
Mh
Uc
S/G
T
Uh
N
1
24
1
2
4
-
3
4
2
3
10
6
47
4
8
Clinton Group
Iron (Fe)
Range
1.0
0.05 -8.4
0.07
0.08 -5.6
0.10 -0.53
-
0.03 - 0.98
0.10 -0.78
0.03 -0.43
0.19 - 1.3
0 -3.5
0.02 -0.90
0 -2.4
0.03 - 1.2
0.06 - 0.58
shale
Chloride (Cl)
M
_
0.71
-
-
-
-
"
-
-
_
0.43
0.04
0.22
_
0.12
N
14
67
21
13
85
2
8
4
2
3
14
6
50
4
8
X - Crystalline
Sh - Shale
S - Sandstone
T - Till
Range
54
2.2
4.5
0.1
1
820
1.5
9.8
18
2.2
3.6
3
0.2
1.9
2.1
rocks
- 6,300
- 1,530
- 2,520
860
- 1,000
- 4,450
461
269
- 10,000
59
-21,200
15
-42,500
4.4
- 6,690
C - Carbonate rocks
M
900
49
34
38
28
-
68
_
_
_
64
7
18
_
9.3
Sulfare
(S04)
N Range
14 18 -
64 62 -
21 134 -
13 16 -
85 0 -
2 344 -
8 17 -
3 9.1 -
2 0.2-
3 24 -
11 439 -
2 45 -
17 0.7-
2 24 -
6 3 -
Lh - Lower shale
Lc - Lower carbonate
Mh - Middle shale
Uc - Upper carbonate
Uh - Upper shale
3,620
1,600
1,950
560
789
794
644
46
0.9
72
3,510
182
3,360
69
1,310
M
547
209
1,120
69
21
55
^
_
_
1,320
_
129
8.4
S/G - Sand and gravel
-------
Table 19 (continued). CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN NEW YORK. (Concentrations in milligrams per liter.) 73 throu9h 87)
Location
Northeast
St. Lawrence County
Lake Champlain -
Upper Hudson Region
Southeast
Albany Region
Lower Hudson Region
Long Island
Total
Rock
Type
S
C
T
S/G
X
Sh
S
T
S/G
C
X
Sh
S
T
S/G
C
X
Sh
S
T
S/G
C
S/G
N
5
42
4
4
_
2
21
-
-'
14
4
51
5
9
58
10
11
6
22
18
47
30
84
Hardness (as
Ranae
221 - 345
41 - 9,420
308 - 467
52 - 405
89 - 134
220 - 283
48- 342
32 - 129
39 - 526
84- 318
50 - 200
1 -5,340
30- 280
30 - 508
32 - 390
42- 360
15 - 173
36 - 291
24 - 210
18 - 269
22- 480
106 - 590
2 - 381
CaCOa)
M
278
283
-
-
_
-
242
-
-
175
_
100
108
172
159
240
104
115
97
38
95
185
21
N
5
36
7
3
_
2
21
-
-
13
4
35
5
4
31
10
10
6
11
9
14
15
89
Total
277
240
288
295
89
268
81
60
66
113
60
105
39
95
29
84
60
192
48
36
115
178
16
Dissolved
Range
- 458
-20,900
558
- 432
- 200
355
550
134
625
378
- 261
-21,700
282
359
505
534
- 276
- 425
296
419
600
513
763
Solids
M
345
692
348
—
•
-
286
-
-
226
_
313
148
-
222
315
183
225
168
55
181
287
76
N
5
35
4
4
-
2
21
-
-
15
4
51
5
7
54
10
11
6
20
17
41
31
91
pH_
Range
7.2-8.3
6.8 -8.3
7.1 -7.8
6.7-7.5
6.8 -8.0
7.2 -7.9
6.3 -8.2
7.5 -8.1
6.7-8.4
7.2 -8.1
6.5 -7.5
6.0 -9.3
6.8 -7.8
6.3 -8.1
6.3 -8.4
6.4-7.5
6.1 -9.6
6.6-8.3
5.8 -8.4
6.0-8.3
6.1 -8.4
7.0 -8.1
4.5-7.7
M
7.6
7.5
-
—
-
-
7.6
-
-
8.0
_
7.5
7.6
7.0
7.6
7.4
7.4
7.8
7.6
6.8
7.2
7.4
6.3
-------
Table 19 (continued). CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN NEW YORK. (Concentrations in milligrams per liter.) 73 through 87)
Iron (Fe)
Chloride (Cl)
Sulfate ($04)
Location
Northeast
St. Lawrence County
Lake Champlain -
Upper Hudson Region
Southeast
Albany Region
Lower Hudson Region
-
Long Island
Rock
Type
S
C
T
S/G
X
Sh
S
T
S/G
C
X
Sh
S
T
S/G
C
X
Sh
S
T
S/G
C
S/G
N
5
18
2
2
-
2
21
-
-
12
4
48
5
6
60
10
11
6
19
16
42
27
89
Range
0.09 - 0.90
0 -15
0 - 0.08
0.14- 0.16
0.01 - 2.0
0.25- 0.29
0 - 9.1
0.09 - 0.26
0.01 - 2.6
0.02 - 10
0.03 - 0.38
0 .03 - 43
0.1 - 0.25
0.03- 0.5
0 - 2.5
0.03- 1.3
0.1 - 2.4
0.03- 0.97
0 - 0.74
0.03- 3.0
0 - 4.6
0.03- 1.0
0 -17
M
0.39
0.20
-
-
-
-
0.58
-
-
0.15
_
0.2
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.16
0.19
0.39
0.2
0.1
0.10
0.11
0.13
N
5
55
10
5
-
2
21
-
-
15
4
66
5
29
85
10
10
6
22
18
46
33
83
6
1
1.2
0.8
1.8
2.6
1
0
0.1
1
0.8
0.4
0.2
0.4
0.2
0.2
0.6
2.4
1.1
1
1.6
0.7
2.5
Range
38
- 12,800
49
32
29
16
115
2
104
9
2.2
- 10,800
15
198
76
31
18
26
35
55
480
60
235
M
14
46
16
15
-
—
10
-
-
2.4
_
15
3.0
15
8.2
7.1
8.4
5.8
6.4
2.1
4.6
4.0
7.6
N
5
41
4
2
-
2
21
-
-
14
4
36
5
4
36
10
10
6
13
14
33
22
91
Range
45 -
0 -2,
48 -
36 -
0.2-
18 -
10 -
1.8-
0.4-
3.8-
2.6-
0 -
9.4-
6.8-
1 -
17 -
9.3-
10 -
3 -
6 -
6.6-
4 -
0.2 -
M
79 70
020 92
156
64
22
48
101 38
10
227
61 18
32
302 30
20 14
46
109 26
55 30
62 24
87 45
64 24
56 12
190 22
182 29
160 11
o
NJ
-------
Table 19 (continued). CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN NEW YORK. (Concentrations in milligrams per liter.) 73 throu9h
o
U)
Location
West
Buffalo-Niagara Region
Oswego River Basin
Rock
Type
Lh°)
Lc
Mh
Uc
Uh
Sb>
T
S
Lh
Lc
Mh
Uc
Uh
S/G
T
Total
N
14
63
21
13
85
2 1,
8
4
2
3
14
6
6
51
4
Hardness (as
Range
219-4,840
120 -2,660
319-2,780
200- 1,040
52 - 1,180
260 -2,790
137 - 1,310
66 - 185
96-2,710
118- 300
490 -5,050
319 - 680
10- 1,280
52 - 4,420
136 - 600
CaCOs)
M
1,154
482
1,570
338
232
_
367
_
_
_
1,400
425
137
320
™
Total Dissolved Solids
N
8
58
1
2
4
1
3
3
2
1
4
2
6
10
1
533
299
1,500
1,720
193
2,790
154
141
219
344
1,560
372
80
100
199
Range
-11,200 2
- 5,000
- 2,000
841
878
- 642
- 16,200
- 4,320
531
- 13,200
- 2,100
M
,820
689
-
-
-
-
-
_
_
-
_
_
193
372
™
N
14
64
21
13
85
2
8
4
2
3
13
6
8
48
4
PH
Range
5.7-7.8
6.6-8.1
7.0 - 8.0
6.3-7.7
6.8-8.3
6.5-7.1
6.1 -8.5
7.2-7.9
7.3-7.6
7.6-7.8
7.0-7.6
7.3-7.9
6.5-7.9
6.8-8.4
7.5-7.9
M
7.2
7.2
7.4
7.3
7.4
7.7
-
_
-
7.4
7.5
7.0
7.5
"
-------
Two problems which occur regionally are high total dissolved
solids and hardness. Total dissolved solids are generally
higher in the shale aquifer across the state than in any
other consolidated rock aquifer. It also follows that total
dissolved solids values for water from unconsolidated de-
posits overlying shale are generally higher than unconsoli-
dated deposits overlying other rocks. Hardness is higher in
wells in carbonate rocks, and in unconsolidated deposits
overlying carbonate rocks.
In the eastern half of New York, high concentrations of iron
and manganese are the major problems associated with water
from the shale, limestone, and unconsolidated rock aquifers.
However, other natural problems occur in specific areas. At
the extreme northern border in the St. Lawrence River Basin,
a large percentage of wells in two areas yield water with
high concentrations of total dissolved solids. In the ex-
treme northeast corner of the state, some wells penetrating
the carbonate and the sandstone aquifers have reported total
dissolved solids concentrations of greater than 500 mg/1. 86)
One hundred miles west of this area, limestone is penetrated
by many wells which produce highly mineralized ground water.
Of 39 samples analyzed, 17 contained more than 500 mg/1 of
total dissolved solids, and two analyses were reported with
nearly 20,000 mg/1. Chloride and sodium are the predominant
ions; three wells were reported to have greater than 10,000
mg/1 of chloride, and two of these were reported to have a
sodium content over 3,500 mg/1. 87)
The inland occurrence of mineralized and saline water is not
unusual in the northeast. Periodic flooding by the sea has
occurred throughout geologic time in the Paleozoic Era and
most recently during the Pleistocene Period. Where the Pa-
leozoic rocks were not flushed with fresh water before their
burial, salt water may have been entrapped. Similarly, sea
water that may have percolated into an aquifer during Pleis-
tocene flooding may not yet be flushed out.
In Saratoga and Washington Counties, southeast of the Adiron-
dack crystalline area, highly mineralized water is brought
to the surface in wells and springs. This water is used at
the famous Saratoga Spa and other spas in the region. 88,89)
The aquifers of the western portion of New York exhibit the
typical iron/manganese and hardness problems associated with
their rock types. In addition, some unusual geologic condi-
tions have caused other ground-water problems. Generally,
the three oldest rock units have severe water-quality prob-
lems. The lower shale and middle shale aquifers are typi-
104
-------
cally salty at depth and may receive sulfate-charged circu-
lating water from the adjacent Lockport dolomite. In the
west-central area (Wayne County) near Rochester, reported
analyses of the water from wells in the lower shale aquifer
show concentrations that approached 9,000 mg/1 of total dis-
solved solids and 3,500 mg/1 of chloride; reported analyses
for wells in the middle shale aquifer show concentrations
near 5,500 mg/1 in total dissolved solids, and a water sam-
ple from one well (for which total dissolved solids analysis
was not run) shows a concentration of 21,000 mg/1 of chlo-
ride. The middle shale aquifer is known to contain some
evaporite beds. Sulfate concentrations of water from wells
in the middle shale aquifer were reported to be near 2,500
mg/1. 90) In the next most southerly county (Ontario) the
quality of the middle shale aquifer does not seem to be as
poor. The maximum total dissolved solids concentration re-
ported is 2,360 mg/1 and the maximum reported sulfate con-
centration is 1,490 mg/1; unconsolidated aquifers above the
middle shale yield water with a maximum total dissolved
solids of 2,500 mg/1. 91)
At the western edge of the carbonate bands in New York (near
Niagara Falls), analyses of water from all five of the prin-
cipal aquifers indicate relatively poor quality. Figure 19
shows how ground-water quality could become affected by nat-
ural inter-aquifer movement of mineralized water. Total dis-
solved solids content here is commonly greater than 800 mg/1,
and in the upper part of the middle shale aquifer, the range
is reported as 800 to 5,000 mg/1. 92) The lower shale aqui-
fer in this area discharges connate water averaging 2,600
mg/1 of total dissolved solids and 646 mg/1 of chloride. 93)
Farther south, in the area of the upper-shale aquifer, water
quality is generally adequate in wells in both the upper
shale and overlying sand and gravel aquifers. However, a
few wells in shale yield highly mineralized water with total
dissolved solids greater than 1,000 mg/1 and chlorides
greater than 500 mg/1. 94) it was originally believed that
the only source of the minerals in this water was natural
and caused by the presence of evaporite deposits below the
lower shale aquifer. However, it is now becoming apparent
that improperly constructed or improperly plugged abandoned
oil and gas wells are acting as conduits to bring saline wa-
ter from depth into the surface aquifers. The volume of con-
taminated water in the shallow aquifers is unknown compared
to the total volume of mineralized ground water. However,
the rising chlorides observed in water from the sand and
gravel aquifer provide a clue that the volume may be signif-
icant.
105
-------
Discharge area of secondary
flow system. Shallow ground
water with chloride concen-
t trot Ions of 100—SOOppm.
CATTAKAUGUS
CREEK
Discharge area of primary
flow system. Shallow ground
water with chloride coneen-
trotlens of 800-2(50Oppm ,
TONAWANDA
Figure 19. Inferred regional circulation of ground water to explain variations in
chemical constituents in ground water at shallow depth in
western New York
-------
Unconsolidated deposits of glacial origin and unconsolidated
deposits associated with the Coastal Plain area of Long Is-
land yield water which is generally of good quality. Iso-
lated problems that occur are normally related to high con-
centrations of iron and manganese and low pH.
PENNSYLVANIA
Natural ground-water quality is variable in the major aqui-
fers of Pennsylvania, and a high degree of mineralization
has been encountered in some areas. Selected analyses of
water from wells in various aquifers around the state are
tabulated in Table 20.
A water-quality problem in Pennsylvania, as in nearly all of
the states in the study area, is the occurrence of high iron
and manganese concentrations in water from wells in uncon-
solidated deposits. Although Table 20 does not record chem-
ical analyses for manganese, it can be seen that median
values of iron concentrations is high in wells in the uncon-
solidated material of the Coastal Plain (southeast) and Un-
glaciated Appalachians (south central). Not so obvious, but
still significant, are the high range values for water from
wells in the northwest, north central, and southwest areas.
The high iron and manganese concentrations in ground water
in these deposits appear to result from leaching of sedi-
ments by natural acidic percolating water.
It can also be seen that iron concentration is rather high
in ground water in late Paleozoic sedimentary rocks. To
some extent, this phenomenon is related to processes of min-
eralization, where seasonal fluctuations of the water table
expose to oxidation the iron-bearing minerals that commonly
occur in these rocks. This problem is aggravated where
coal mining has caused an artificial but temporary lowering
of the water table.
Median and range values for calcium, magnesium and bicarbon-
ate are often high in the aquifers of Pennsylvania. Two
reasons for their prominence in consolidated rock aquifers
are the frequency of interbedded limestones in the Paleozoic
clastic sequences and, in the north, the volume of carbonate
rock debris in the glacial overburden from which recharge is
derived.
A major problem associated with the western region of Penn-
sylvania is the general occurrence of highly-mineralized
ground water in the shallow subsurface (less than 500 feet
deep). 2) in the Pittsburgh area especially, it has been
stated that the ground water in bedrock more than 100 feet
107
-------
Table 20. CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN PENNSYLVANIA. (Concentrations in milligrams per liter.) 95 tnrou9h 104>
Iron (Fe)
Sulfate (SO4)
Total Dissolved Solids
O
00
Location
Northeast
Southeast
North Central
South Central
Northwest
Southwest
Rock
Type
SD
PD
U
X
C
Tr
U
SD
PD
U
C
SD
PD
U
SD
PD
U
PD
U
N
22
6
7
87
52
-
70
15
12
12
5
15
11
2
5
72
42
80
9
Range
0.01 - 6.6
0.04 - 3.4
0.01 - 0.12
0.02 - 25
0 - 1.1
-
0.02 -429
0.1 - 0.5
0.1 - 22
0.01 - 14
0.01 - 0.03
0.01 - 16
0.11 - 28
0.31 - 5.8
0.02 - 0.84
0 - 42
0 - 4.03
0.05 - 51
0.07 - 108
M
0.07
0.09
0.02
5.2
0.07
0.14
1.75
0.2
1.5
0.10
0.02
0.18
0.4
-
0.39
1.2
0.14
0.52
0.16
N
61
11
25
38
52
-
86
16
13
12
9
44
32
2
7
50
41
80
9
1
1
1
15
14
1.
2
3
2
3
2
2
14
2
1.
5.
2.
5
Range
- 1,266
66
97
- 412
72
-
1 - 1,340
- 470
- 345
60
27
- 1,764
- 630
40
48
5- 227
1 - 331
3 - 1,618
- 120
M
10
6
9.4
138
43
38
21
10
6
10
10
20
16
-
13
18
31
23
77
N
65
14
27
39
52
-
78
16
13
12
9
43
30
2
7
77
53
78
8
Range
10 -2,102
11 - 393
10- 134
58-1,810
218 - 805
-
124 -4,270
18 -3,155
21 - 584
53 - 972
59 - 312
14 -2,565
19 - 1,042
113- 227
136- 1,488
23 - 3,826
119- 881
62 -8,595
83 - 485
M
124
56
50
357
343
302
239
254
54
137
206
218
163
-
177
311
230
321
316
X - Crystalline rocks
C - Cambrian and Ordovician carbonates
SD - Silurian and Devonian sedimentary rocks
PD - Post Devonian sedimentary rocks
Tr - Triassic sedimentary rocks
U - Unconsolidated deposits
N - Number of samples
M - Median
-------
Table 20 (continued). CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN PENNSYLVANIA.
(Concentrations in milligrams per liter.) 95 ^rough 104)
Total Hardness (as
Chloride (Cl)
o
vo
Location
Northeast
Southeast
North Central
South Central
Northwest
Southwest
Rock
Type
SD
PD
U
X
C
Tr
U
SD
PD
U
C
SD
PD
U
SD
PD
U
PD
U
N
62
14
23
42
52
-
69
16
13
12
9
44
32
2
7
77
54
78
9
6
4
3
52
185
40
15
10
29
51
10
14
74
34
1
43
13
29
Range
- 1,447
- 148
- 198
- 780
- 564
-
- 945
- 544
- 388
- 347
- 273
- 1,994
- 852
- 137
- 622
- 582
- 1,843
- 350
M
94
32
28
232
288
218
120
98
52
104
192
172
101
-
99
110
148
160
136
N
64
12
27
62
52
-
106
16
13
12
9
44
31
2
7
77
54
80
9
1
1
1
13
3
11
1
0
1.
0.
0.
1
24
2.
1
1.
0.
4
Range
- 254
- 168
68
- 400
8 - 82
-
- 302
- 1,820
- 142
6- 465
6- 28
2 - 1,250
70
72
4- 716
- 1,868
2 - 190
5 -60,000
- 145
M
3
2
2
62
8.7
9.7
28
27
4
11
2.0
6
3
-
10
34
14
14
18
-------
below the valley bottoms is usually too highly mineralized
for most uses. 103) The problem is indicated by the high
median values of total dissolved solids in the northwest and
southwest areas. Additionally, saline water is reported
locally across the northern and western parts of the state,
as indicated in Table 20 by the high range values for chlo-
ride concentrations. The high values may be primarily asso-
ciated with natural oil seeps which bring saline water to
the surface, in addition to improperly plugged or abandoned
oil and gas wells. 104)
RHODE ISLAND
The natural chemical quality of ground water in Rhode Island
is generally excellent. Table 21 is a compilation of chem-
ical analyses of selected constituents in natural ground wa-
ters. Total dissolved solids concentration rarely exceeds
recommended u. S. Public Health Service limits. For 85 sam-
ples of ground water from various aquifers, no analysis ex-
ceeded 500 mg/1 in total dissolved solids. 51) Water is
generally soft to moderately hard, few analyses exceeding
120 mg/1 of hardness.
As in most of New England, the prevailing natural problem
appears to be the occurrence of excessive concentrations of
iron and manganese. In the Providence area, waters from
most of the wells in the sedimentary rock aquifer contain
objectionable amounts of iron, as do about one-half of the
wells in outwash. 106) in the Woonsocket basin, many wells
in the Greenville area have iron concentrations of 6 to 7
mg/1; some wells in overlying unconsolidated deposits also
produce water with high iron. 107) On Block Island, iron
concentrations as high as 22 mg/1 have been reported for
ground-water samples from the unconsolidated deposits. 108)
One natural water-quality problem in Rhode Island is related
to its long coastline. In the southern part of the state
and on Block Island, salt spray and relatively high quanti-
ties of dissolved salt in precipitation cause high concen-
trations of chloride and sodium in water from the various
aquifers. However, these levels rarely approach the upper
limit of 250 mg/1 for chloride recommended by the U. S. Pub-
lic Health Service. On Block Island, for example, chloride
concentrations in perched water bodies range from 14 to 248
mg/1, with a median of 34 mg/1. 108)
VERMONT
Very little published data are available on natural ground-
water quality in Vermont. According to one report, both
110
-------
Table 21. CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF GROUND WATER IN RHODE ISLAND. (Concentrations in milligrams per liter.) ]05 through 109)
Location
Providence Co.
Kent Co. and Washing-
ton Co. and Block Island
Newport Co. and Bris-
ton Co.
Location
Providence Co.
Kent Co. and Washing-
ton Co. and Block Island
Newport Co. and Bris-
ton Co.
Rock
Type
X
S
S/G
X
S/G
X
S/G
Rock
Type
X
S
S/G
X
S/G
X
S/G
N
19
14
35
7
19
4
9
Iron (Fe)
Rang'e
0 - 0.
0 - 24
0 - 5.
0.03 - 25
0 - 0.
0 - 5
0.03 - 0.
Total Dissolvec
N
19
11
20
3
18
1
7
Range
22 - 299
53 -319
20 - 168
91 - 227
33 - 147
161
61 - 164
M
4 0.05
0.34
2 0.05
0.5
71 0.03
5 0.08
N
18
13
22
6
18
2
7
Sulfate (SO4)
Range
4.3 - 92
5.1 - 66
5.4 - 109
9.7 - 65
4-32
7.4 - 19
13 - 34
Solids Total Hardness (as
M
117
157
70
52
99
N
18
12
21
4
18
2
7
Range
8 - 182
22 - 228
17 - 179
34 - 198
11-82
89 - 1 10
21 - 62
M
20
29
22
27
8.1
21
CaC03)
M
58
103
53
27
32
N
17
17
36
8
19
4
9
N
17
8
25
4
14
1
3
Chloride (Cl)
Range
1.9 - 17
5 -37
3 -61
0.5 -35
3.8 -38
12 -55
9 -55
PH
Range
6.1 -8.5
6.3 -7.8
5.6 -8.6
6.3 -7.3
5.9-7.4
7.4
6.5 -7.1
M
9
15
14
15
8
17
M
7.2
7.2
6.5
6.7
-
X - Crystalline rocks
S - Sedimentary rocks
S/G - Sand and gravel
N - Number of samples
M - Median
-------
ground-water and surface-water quality in Vermont are gener-
ally good. Of 10 cities using ground and/or surface water,
only two supplies exceeded 100 mg/1 of either dissolved
solids or hardness.
However, the state does have areas with specific problems.
In northwestern Vermont, especially from Middlebury to Col-
chester in the Champlain Lowland, it has been noted that
many wells yield water high in sulfides and hydrogen sul-
fide. HO) South of Lake Dunmore in the Vermont Lowland,
local rock-well drillers report a problem with "okra",
limonite-pellet concretions which move through and clog
fractures. HI) There are also frequent reports of high
concentrations of iron and manganese in water from indi-
vidual wells throughout the state.
112
-------
REFERENCES CITED
SECTION V
1. U. S. Public Health Service, "Drinking Water Standards,"
U. S. Public Health Service Publication 956, 1962.
2. Feth, J. H., et al, "Preliminary Map of the Conterminous
United States Showing Depth to and Quality of Shallowest
Ground Water Containing More Than 1,000 Parts Per Mil-
lion Dissolved Solids," U. S. Geological Survey Hydro-
logic Investigations Atlas HA-199, 1965.
3. Connecticut Water Resources Commission, Report to the
General Assembly, 1957.
4. Thomas, C. E., Jr., M. A. Cervione, Jr., and I. G. Gross-
man, "Water Resources Inventory of Connecticut, Part 3,
Lower Thames and Southeastern Coastal River Basins,"
Connecticut Water Resources Bulletin No. 15, 1968.
5. Thomas, C. E., Jr., A. D. Randall, and M. P. Thomas, "Hy-
drogeologic Data in the Quinebaug River Basin, Connecti-
cut," Connecticut Water Resources Bulletin No. 9, 1966.
6. Cervione, M. A., Jr., I. G. Grossman, and C. E. Thomas,
Jr., "Hydrogeologic Data for the Lower Thames and South-
eastern Coastal River Basins, Connecticut," Connecticut
Water Resources Bulletin No. 16, 1968.
7. Cushman, R. V., J. A. Baker, and R. L. Meikle, "Records
and Logs of Selected Wells and Test Borings and Chemical
Analyses of Water in North-Central Connecticut," Connec-
ticut Water Resources Bulletin No. 4, 1964.
8. Ryder, R. B., and L. A. Weiss, "Hydrogeologic Data for
the Upper Connecticut River Basin, Connecticut," Con-
necticut Water Resources Bulletin No. 25, 1971.
9. Randall, A. D., "Records of Logs and Selected Wells and
Test Borings, Records of Springs, and Chemical Analyses
of Water in the Farmington-Granby Area, Connecticut,"
Connecticut Water Resources Bulletin No. 3, 1964.
10. Panozeck, F. H., "Chemical and Physical Quality of Water
Resources in Connecticut, 1955-1958," Connecticut Water
Resources Bulletin No. 1, 1961.
113
-------
11. LaSala, A. M., Jr., "Ground-Water Resources of the Ham-
den-Wallingford Area, Connecticut," Connecticut Water
Resources Bulletin No. 14, 1968.
12. Cervione, M. A., Jr., D. L. Mazzaferro, and R. L. Mel-
vin, "Water Resources Inventory of Connecticut, Part 6,
Upper Housatonic River Basin," Connecticut Water Re-
sources Bulletin No. 21, 1972.
13. Ryder, R. B., et al, "Water Resources Inventory of Con-
necticut, Part 4, Southwestern Coastal River Basins,"
Connecticut Water Resources Bulletin No. 17, 1970.
14. Connecticut State Department of Health, "Analyses of
Connecticut Public Water Supplies, Five Year Averages
1966-1970," Seventh Edition, 1971.
15. Woodruff, K. D., "General Ground-Water Quality in Fresh
Water Aquifers of Delaware," Delaware Geological Survey
Report of Investigation No. 15, 1970.
16. Rasmussen, W. C., et al, "The Water Resources of North-
ern Delaware," Delaware Geological Survey Bulletin No.
6, Vol. 1, 1957.
17. Groot, J. J., and W. C. Rasmussen, "Geology and Ground-
Water Resources of the Newark Area, Delaware," Delaware
Geological Survey Bulletin No. 2, 1954.
18. Woodruff, K. D., et al, "Geology and Ground Water, Uni-
versity of Delaware, Newark, Delaware," Delaware Geo-
logical Survey Report of Investigation No. 18, 1972.
19. Marine, I. W., and W. C. Rasmussen, "Preliminary Report
on the Geology and Ground-Water Resources of Delaware,"
Delaware Geological Survey Bulletin No. 4, 1955.
20. Rasmussen, W. C., J. J. Groot, and N. H. Beamer, "Wells
for the Observation of Chloride and Water Levels in
Aquifers that Cross the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal,"
Delaware Geological Survey Report of Investigation No.
3, 1958.
21. Gushing, D. R., I. H. Kantrowitz, and K. R. Taylor,
"Water Resources of the Delmarva Peninsula," U. S. Geo-
logical Survey Professional Paper 822, 1973.
22. Rima, D. R., 0. J. Coskery, and P. W. Anderson, "Ground-
Water Resources of Southern New Castle County, Delaware,"
Delaware Geological Survey Bulletin No. 11, 1964.
114
-------
23. Rasmussen, W. C., et al, "Water Resources of Sussex
County, Delaware/1 Delaware Geological Survey Bulletin
No. 8, 1960.
24. Prescott, G. C., Jr., "Lower Kennebec River Basin Area,"
Maine Public Utilities Commission Basic-Data Report
No. 4, Ground-Water Series, 1968.
25. Prescott, G. C., Jr., and J. A. Drake, "Southwestern
Area," Maine Public Utilities Commission Basic-Data Re-
port No. 1, Ground-Water Series, 1962.
26. Prescott, G. C., Jr., "Lower Penobscot River Basin Area,"
Maine Public Utilities Commission Basic-Data Report No.
2, Ground-Water Series, 1964.
27. Prescott, G. C., Jr., "Lower Androscoggin River Basin
Area," Maine Public Utilities Commission Basic-Data Re-
port No. 3, Ground-Water Series, 1967.
28. Prescott, G. C., Jr., "Lower Aroostook River Basin Area,"
Maine Public Utilities Commission Basic-Data Report No.
5, Ground-Water Series, 1970.
29. Prescott, G. C., Jr., "Lower St. John River Valley Area,"
Maine Public Utilities Commission Basic-Data Report No.
6, Ground-Water Series, 1971.
30. Prescott, G. C., Jr., "Meduxnekeag River-Prestile Stream
Basins Area," Maine Public Utilties Commission Basic-
Data Report No. 7, Ground-Water Series, 1971.
31 Rasmussen, W. C., et al, "The Water Resources of Caro-
line, Dorchester and Talbot Counties," Maryland Board
of Natural Resources, Department of Geology, Mines and
Water Resources Bulletin 18, 1957.
32. Rasmussen, W. C., et al, "The Water Resources of Somer-
set, Wicomico and Worcester Counties," Maryland Board of
Natural Resources, Department of Geology, Mines and
Water Resources Bulletin 16, 1955.
33. Rasmussen, W. C., and G. E. Andreasen, "A Hydrologic
Budget of the Beaverdam Creek Basin, Maryland," U. S.
Geological Survey Open-file Report, 1957.
34. Overbeck, R. M., T. H. Slaughter, and A. E. Hulme, "The
Water Resources of Cecil, Kent and Queen Annes Counties,"
Maryland Board of Natural Resources, Department of Geol-
ogy, Mines and Water Resources Bulletin 21, 1958.
115
-------
35. Otton, E. G., "Ground-Water Resources of the Southern
Maryland Coastal Plain," Maryland Board of Natural Re-
sources, Department of Geology, Mines and Water Re-
sources Bulletin 15, 1955.
36. Dingman, R. J., H. F. Ferguson, and R. 0. Martin, "The
Water Resources of Baltimore and Harford Counties,"
Maryland Board of Natural Resources, Department of Geol-
ogy, Mines and Water Resources Bulletin 17, 1956.
37. Norvitch, R. F., and M. E. S. Lamb, "Housatonic River
Basin," Massachusetts Water Resources Commission Basic-
Data Report No. 9, Ground-Water Series, 1966.
38. Motts, W. S., and Marvin Saines, "The Occurrence and
Characteristics of Ground-Water Contamination in Massa-
chusetts," Water Resources Research Center Publication
No. 7, 1969.
39. Sammel, E. A., and J. A. Baker, "Lower Ipswich River
Drainage Basin," Massachusetts Department of Public
Works Basic-Data Report No. 2, Ground-Water Series, 1962
40. Hansen, B. P., F. B. Gay, and L. G. Toler, "Hydrologic
Data of the Deefield River Basin, Massachusetts,"
Massachusetts Water Resources Commission Hydrologic
Data Report No. 13, 1973.
41. Wiesnet, D. R., and W. B. Fleck, "Millers River Basin,"
Massachusetts Metropolitan District Commission Basic-
•Data Report No. 11, Ground-Water Series, 1967.
42. Petersen, R. G., and Anthony Maevsky, "Western Massa-
chusetts Area," Massachusetts Department of Public
Works Basic-Data Report No. 6, Ground-Water Series, 1962
43. Sterling, C. I., Jr., "Special Report on Ground-Water
Resources in the Mattapoisett River Valley," Massa-
chusetts Water Resources Commission Bulletin No. W.R. l
1960.
44. Perlmutter, N. M., "Ground-Water Geology and Hydrology
of the Maynard Area, Massachusetts," U. S. Geological
Survey Water-Supply Paper 1539-E, 1962.
45. Brackley, R. A., W. B. Fleck, and R. E. Willey, "Hydro-
logic Data of the Neponset and Weymouth River Basins,
Massachusetts," Massachusetts Water Resources Commis-
sion Hydrologic-Data Report No. 14, 1973.
116
-------
46. Baker, J. A., and R. G. Petersen, "Lowell Area," Massa-
chusetts Department of Public Works Basic-Data Report
No. 3, Ground-Water Series, 1962.
47. Pollock, S. J., and W. B. Fleck, "Assabet River Basin,"
Massachusetts Water Resources Commission Basic-Data Re-
port No. 8, Ground-Water Series, 1964.
48. Baker, J. A., and E. A. Sammel, "Wilmington-Reading
Area," Massachusetts Department of Public Works Basic-
Data Report No. 1, Ground-Water Series, 1961.
49. Maevsky, Anthony, and J. A. Drake, "Southeastern Massa-
chusetts," Massachusetts Water Resources Commission
Basic-Data Report No. 7, Ground-Water Series, 1963.
50. Petersen, R. G., "Brockton-Pembroke Area," Massachusetts
Water Resources Commission Basic-Data Report No. 5,
Ground-Water Series, 1962.
51. McGuinness, C. L., "The Role of Ground Water in the Na-
tional Situation," U. S. Geological Survey Water-Supply
Paper 1800, 1963.
52. Bradley, Edward, and R. G. Petersen, "Southeastern Area,"
New Hampshire Water Resources Board Basic-Data Report
No. 1, Ground-Water Series, 1962.
53. Weigle, J. M., and Richard Kranes, "Lower Merrimack
River Valley," New Hampshire Water Resources Board
Basic-Data Report No. 2, Ground-Water Series, 1966.
54. Dragon, A., Personal Communication, New Hampshire State
Health Department, 1973.
55. Rosenau, J. C., et al, "Geology and Ground-Water Re-
sources of Salem County, New Jersey," New Jersey Depart-
ment of Conservation and Economic Development Special
Report No. 33, 1969.
56. Anderson, H. R., and C. A. Appel, "Geology and Ground-
Water Resources of Ocean County, New Jersey," New Jer-
sey Department of Conservation and Economic Development
Special Report 29, 1969.
57. Vecchioli, John, and M. M. Palmer, "Ground-Water Re-
sources of Mercer County, New Jersey," New Jersey De-
partment of Conservation and Economic Development
Special Report 19, 1962.
117
-------
58. Hardt, W. F., and G. S. Hilton, "Water Resources and
Geology of Gloucester County, New Jersey," New Jersey
Department of Conservation and Economic Development
Special Report 30, 1969.
59. Gill, H. E., "Ground-Water Resources of Cape May County,
New Jersey, Salt Water Invasion of Principal Aquifers,"
New Jersey Department of Conservation and Economic De-
velopment Special Report 18, 1962.
60. Rush, F. E., "Records of Wells and Ground-Water Quality
in Burlington County, New Jersey," New Jersey Depart-
ment of Conservation and Economic Development, Water
Resources Circular No. 7, 1962.
61. Clark, G. A., et al, "Summary of Ground-Water Resources
of Atlantic County, New Jersey," New Jersey Department
of Conservation and Economic Development, Water Re-
sources Circular No. 18, 1968.
62. Hardt, W. F., "Public Water Supplies in Gloucester
County, New Jersey," New Jersey Department of Conserva-
tion and Economic Development, Water Resources Circular
No. 9, 1963.
63. Herpers, Henry, and H. C. Barksdale, "Preliminary Re-
port on the Geology and Ground-Water Supply of the New-
ark, New Jersey Area," New Jersey Department of Conser-
vation and Economic Development Special Report 10, 1951.
64. Gill, H. E., and John Vecchioli, "Availability of
Ground Water in Morris County, New Jersey," New Jersey
Department of Conservation and Economic Development
Special Report 25, 1965.
65. Kasabach, H. F., "Geology and Ground-Water Resources of
Hunterdon County, New Jersey," New Jersey Department of
Conservation and Economic Development Special Report
No. 24, 1966.
66. Gill, H. E., et al, "Evaluation of Geologic and Hydro-
logic Data from the Test-Drilling Program at Island
Beach State Park, New Jersey," New Jersey Department of
Conservation and Economic Development, Water Resources
Circular No. 12, 1963.
67. Jablonsky, L. A., "Records of Wells and Ground-Water
Quality in Monmouth County, New Jersey," New Jersey De-
partment of Conservation and Economic Development,
Water Resources Circular 2, 1959.
118
-------
68. Donsky, Ellis, "Records of Wells and Ground-Water Qual-
ity in Camden County, New Jersey," New Jersey Depart-
ment of Conservation and Economic Development, Water
Resources Circular No. 10, 1963.
69. Barksdale, H. C., et al, "The Ground-Water Supplies of
Middlesex County, New Jersey," New Jersey State Water
Policy Commission Special Report 8, 1943.
70. Langmuir, Donald, "Iron in Ground Waters of the Magothy
and Raritan Formations in Camden and Burlington Coun-
ties, New Jersey," New Jersey Department of Conserva-
tion and Economic Development, Water Resources Circular
No. 19, 1969.
71. Anderson, H. R., "Geology and Ground-Water Resources of
the Rahway Area, New Jersey," New Jersey Department of
Conservation and Economic Development Special Report
No. 27, 1968.
72. Barksdale, H. C., R. W. Sundstrom, and M. S. Brunstein,
"Supplementary Report on the Ground-Water Supplies of
the Atlantic City Region," New Jersey State Water Pol-
icy Commission Special Report 6, 1936.
73. U. S. Geological Survey, "Water Resources Data for New
York: Part 2. Water Quality Records 1966," U. S. De-
partment of the Interior, 1966.
74. Kantrowitz, I. H., "Ground-Water Resources in the East-
ern Oswego River Basin, New York," New York State Con-
servation Department, Water Resources Commission Basin
Planning Report ORB-2, 1970.
75. LaSala, A. M., Jr., "Ground-Water Resources of the Erie-
Niagara Basin, New York," New York State Conservation
Department, Water Resources Commission Basin Planning
Report ENB-3, 1968.
76. Johnston, R. H., "Ground Water in the Niagara Falls
Area, New York," New York State Conservation Department,
Water Resources Commission Bulletin GW-53, 1964.
77. Mattingly, A. L., "Chemical and Physical Quality of Wa-
ter Resources in the St. Lawrence River Basin, New York
State," New York State Department of Commerce, Bulletin
No. 4, 1961.
119
-------
78. Arnow, Theodore, "The Ground-Water Resources of Albany
County, New York," New York State Department of Con-
servation, Water Power and Control Commission Bulletin
GW-20, 1949.
79. Cushman, R. V., "The Ground-Water Resources of Rensse-
laer County, New York," New York State Department of
Conservation, Water Power and Control Commission Bulle-
tin GW-21, 1950.
80. Winslow, J. D., et al, "Ground-Water Resources of East-
ern Schenectady County, New York," New York State Con-
servation Department, Water Resources Commission
Bulletin 57, 1965.
81. Perlmutter, N. M., "Sources of Ground Water in South-
eastern New York," U. S. Geological Survey Circular
417, 1960.
82. Simmons, E. T., I. G. Grossman, and R. C. Heath,
"Ground-Water Resources of Dutchess County, New York,"
New York State Department of Conservation, Water Re-
sources Commission Bulletin GW-43, 1961.
83. Perlmutter, N. M. , "Geology and Ground-Water Resources
of Rockland County, New York," New York State Depart-
ment of Conservation, Water Power and Control Commis-
sion Bulletin GW-42, 1959.
84. Frimpter, M. H., "Ground-Water Basic Data, Orange and
Ulster Counties, New York," New York State Conserva-
tion Department, Water Resources Commission Bulletin
GW-65, 1970.
85. Grossman, I. G., "The Ground-Water Resources of Putnam
County, New York," New York State Department of Con-
servation, Water Power and Control Commission Bulletin
GW-37, 1957.
86. Giese, G. L., and W. A. Hobba, Jr., "Water Resources of
the Champlain-Upper Hudson Basins in New York State,"
New York State Office of Planning Coordination, 1970.
87. Trainer, F. W., and E. H. Salvas, "Ground-Water Re-
sources of the Massena-Waddington Area, St. Lawrence
County, New York, with Emphasis on the Effect of Lake
St. Lawrence on Ground Water," State of New York De-
partment of Conservation, Water Resources Commission
Bulletin GW-47, 1962.
120
-------
88. Cushman, R. V., "Ground-Water Resources of Washington
County, New York," State of New York Department of Con-
servation, Water Power and Control Commission Bulletin
GW-33, 1953.
89. Heath, R. C., F. K. Mack, and J. A. Tannenbaum, "Ground-
Water Studies in Saratoga County, New York," State of
New York Department of Conservation, Water Resources
Commission Bulletin GW-49, 1963.
90. Griswold, R. E., "The Ground-Water Resources of Wayne
County, New York," State of New York Department of Con-
servation, Water Power and Control Commission Bulletin
GW-29, 1951.
91. Mack, F. K., and R. E. Digman, "The Ground-Water Re-
sources of Ontario County, New York," State of New York
Department of Conservation, Water Resources Commission
Bulletin GW-48, 1962.
92. LaSala, A. M., Jr., "Ground-Water Resources of the
Erie-Niagara Basin, New York," State of New York Con-
servation Department, Water Resources Commission, Basin
Planning Report ENB-3, 1968.
93. Johnston, R. H., "Ground-Water in the Niagara Falls
Area, New York," State of New York Conservation Depart-
ment, Water Resources Commission Bulletin GW-53, 1964.
94. Grain, L. J., "Ground-Water Resources of the Jamestown
Area, New York, with Emphasis on the Hydrology of the
Major Streams," State of New York Conservation Depart-
ment, Water Resources Commission Bulletin 58, 1966.
95. Biesecker, J. E., J. B. Lescinsky, and C. R. Wood,
"Water Resources of the Schuylkill River Basin," Penn-
sylvania Department of Forests and Waters Bulletin
No. 3, 1968.
96. Meisler, Harold, "Hydrogeology of the Carbonate Rocks
of the Lebanon Valley, Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania
Geological Survey Bulletin W18, 1963.
97. Greenman, D. W., et al, "Ground-Water Resources of the
Coastal Plain Area of Southeastern Pennsylvania," Penn-
sylvania Geological Survey Bulletin W13, 1961.
98. Lohman, S. W., "Ground Water in South-Central Pennsyl-
vania," Pennsylvania Geological Survey Bulletin W5,
1938.
121
-------
99. Piper, A. M., "Ground Water in Southwestern Pennsyl-
vania," Pennsylvania Geological Survey Bulletin Wl,
1933.
100. Lohman, S. W., "Ground Water in Northeastern Pennsyl-
vania," Pennsylvania Geological Survey Bulletin W4,
1937.
101. Lohman, S. W., "Ground Water in North-Central Pennsyl-
vania," Pennsylvania Geological Survey Bulletin W6,
1939.
102. Leggette, R. M., "Ground Water in Northwestern Penn-
sylvania," Pennsylvania Geological Survey Bulletin W3,
1936.
103. Adamson, J. H., J. B. Graham, and N. H. Klein, "Ground-
Water Resources of the Valley Fill Deposits of Alle-
gheny County, Pennsylvania," Commonwealth of Pennsyl-
vania Department of Internal Affairs, Topographic and
Geologic Survey Bulletin W8, 1949.
104. Mangan, J. W., D. W. Van Tuyl, and W. F. White, Jr.,
"Water Resources of the Lake Erie Shore Region in
Pennsylvania," U. S. Geological Survey Circular 174,
1952.
105. Bierschenk, W. H., "The Ground-Water Resources of the
Kingston Quadrangle, Rhode Island," Rhode Island De-
velopment Council Geological Bulletin No. 9, 1956.
106. Bierschenk, W. H., "Ground-Water Resources of the
Providence Quadrangle, Rhode Island," Rhode Island
Water Resources Coordinating Board, Geological Bulle-
tin No. 10, 1959.
107. Allen, W. B., "The Ground-Water Resources of Rhode Is-
land," Rhode Island Development Council, Geological
Bulletin No. 6, 1953.
108. Hansen, A. J., and G. R. Schiver, "Ground-Water Re-
sources of Block Island, Rhode Island," Rhode Island
Water Resources Coordinating Board, Geological Bulle-
tin No. 14, 1964.
109. Allen/ W. B., and J. A. Blackhall, "The Ground-Water
Resources of Bristol, Warren and Barrington, Bristol
County, Rhode Island," Rhode Island Port and Indus-
trial Development Commission, Scientific Contribution
No. 3, 1950.
122
-------
110. Doll, C. G., Personal Communication, Vermont State
Geologist, 1973.
111. Hodges, A. L., Personal Communication, U. S. Geolog-
ical Survey, 1973.
123
-------
SECTION VI
SOURCES OF GROUND-WATER CONTAMINATION
DEFINITION OF THE PROBLEM
As discussed in the previous section, natural ground-water
quality in the region is associated with geologic and hydro-
logic processes. Although problems of natural poor-quality
water are unavoidable and can limit the development of
ground water in specific areas, only an extremely small num-
ber of these instances of mineralization present a potential
health hazard. Furthermore, overall ground-water quality in
the northeast can be described as good to excellent. Rela-
tively few public-supply systems find it necessary to treat
well water to correct biological and chemical problems re-
lated to natural conditions.
On the other hand, contamination or degradation of water
quality due to man's actions can be avoided. Problems of
this type often represent severe hazards, both to the ground-
water resource itself and to public health. This section
describes the principal sources of contamination in the
northeast and discusses their importance in the region. How-
ever, before dealing with such specific details as case his-
tories, frequency of occurrence, and regional trends, it is
important to define the problem of ground-water contamina-
tion and to point out the cause for concern.
For many years, public agencies on all levels of government
have been concerned about the contamination of surface wa-
ters. The loss of rivers and lakes as sources of water sup-
ply and recreation can have a tremendous impact on a par-
ticular region, leading to construction of a long pipeline
to import acceptable water, for example, or the closing of a
popular swimming area to local residents. Degradation of
the quality of water in a stream or lake can be rather ob-
vious with discoloration, odor, and floating debris.
Problems of ground-water contamination, on the other hand,
have never received much attention because they are usually
local in nature, and the effects are hidden from view. Only
when a regional water source is threatened, due to such
problems as salt-water encroachment and widespread pollution
from septic tanks, are broad controls recommended and imple-
mented. However, protection of ground-water resources from
all types of pollutants is an essential part of any program
involving the solution of environmental problems. In many
ways, the correction of ground-water quality degradation is
124
-------
considerably more complex than in the case of surface waters.
A discussion of the impact of ground-water contamination in
the northeast takes on many aspects including:
1. The important role of ground water as a water-supply
source.
2. The hidden and often misunderstood nature of ground-
water pollution and the resulting health and other
hazards.
3. The dependence of surface-water quality on ground-water
quality.
4. The problems involved in monitoring ground-water quality.
5. The technical difficulties and high costs associated
with the investigation, control, and correction of
ground-water pollution.
Importance of the Resource
In the 11 northeastern states covered in this report, ground
water plays a major role in meeting the water-supply require-
ments of communities, individual homes and commercial estab-
lishments, self-supplied industrial facilities, and irri-
gated farm lands. Total ground-water use in the region in
1970 has been estimated at more than 3.4 billion gallons per
day, which is 18 percent of all the water diverted for all
purposes exclusive of that used for generation of thermo-
electric and hydroelectric power. D
Twenty percent of the water served by community systems is
derived from wells. Of even greater significance is the
fact that the vast majority of individual utilities is de-
pendent upon ground water because this source of supply is
generally less costly to develop and treat than surface wa-
ter. Thus, the smaller water purveyors use wells and
springs, where feasible, rather than surface reservoirs,
lakes, and rivers. For example, two thirds of the 378 pub-
lic water-supply systems in New Jersey use ground water to
meet at least a portion of the demands of the residents they
serve. 2) it should be noted also that some of the larger
municipalities in that state, such as Atlantic City and
Camden, are included in the two-thirds. A similar statistic
holds true for Maryland, where 43 out of the 65 community
water systems serving a population of 1,000 or more are com-
pletely dependent upon ground-water sources. 3) in jjew York,
at least two and one-half million urban residents are drink-
125
-------
ing well water supplied by 650 municipal utilities. 4) Con-
necticut estimates 600,000 persons are served by public wa-
ter supplies using ground water. 5)
Ground water plays an even more significant role with regard
to rural population or those not served by community systems,
The rapid growth of suburbs after the Second World War in
areas around major cities in the region has outpaced the
ability of local utilities to build the necessary facilities
to serve these outlying developments. Consequently, more
and more homes and small commercial establishments have con-
structed their own on-site water supplies. Invariably, they
depend on a drilled well. The widespread use of ground wa-
ter is possible because rock formations normally are capable
of yielding at least the few gallons per minute required to
supply a single home or store.
There are probably several million domestic wells presently
in use within the 11 states. Table 22 shows the estimated
number of wells by state constructed in 1964 in the region.
The 78,312 total for that one year represents mostly domes-
tic wells.
Statistics on self-supplied industries in the study area are
scanty, but the 1970 U. S. Geological Survey compilation
(see Table 1) shows a total ground-water use of 1.4 billion
gallons per day. D Many large manufacturing plants are
either located beyond the service areas of public utilities
or require such large quantities of high-quality water that
economics and the need for reliability dictate develop-
ment of an independent ground-water source. In many cases,
ground water is the only readily available supply of water.
For example, in the highly industrialized area along the
lower Delaware River, a large number of factories both in
New Jersey and Pennsylvania have tapped the prolific aqui-
fers in the region in order to meet their water-supply needs
and have used the river and its tributaries only for dis-
posal of their treated wastes.
The potential for additional development of ground-water re-
sources for all purposes in the region is quite large. For
example, the ultimate daily yield of New Jersey's aquifers
has been estimated at five billion gallons. 7) jn New York
State, glacial outwash deposits along the Mohawk River
should be capable of yielding approximately 200 mgd; the
potential of Long Island's aquifers has been placed at 1,200
mgd; and ground-water resources within the Susquehanna
River Basin have been estimated at several hundred mgd. 8)
Ground water is available for development by wells every-
126
-------
Table 22. NUMBER OF WELLS DRILLED IN THE NORTHEAST IN 1964.
State Estimated number of wells drilled
Connecticut 6,500
Delaware 3,400
Maine 17700
Maryland 6,902
Massachusetts 9,000
New Hampshire 4,400
New Jersey 3,440
New York 25,000
Pennsylvania 16,220
Rhode Island 250
Vermont 1,460
Total: 78,312
127
-------
where within the region, and individual wells are presently
pumped at rates ranging up to many thousands of gallons per
minute. Reliance on ground water will increase in the re-
gion in the future, not only because of its widespread avail-
ability and the growing need for water but because surface
waters are becoming increasingly more difficult and expen-
sive to develop. Some principal causes for this include the
rising costs of treating surface waters and the stricter
regulations being imposed by public health agencies for
their treatment. Another involves the problems inherent to
obtaining large tracts of land for surface reservoirs. In
addition, there is the competition for surface-water rights
and the more active environmental concern over the effects
of surface-water diversions. Finally, the extreme drought
conditions experienced in the region in the early 1900's re-
vealed to many water managers the vulnerability of surface
water during adverse climatic conditions. On the other hand,
ground water was shown to be a more reliable water source.
Because of this, a large number of high-capacity wells have
been installed as a back-up system for municipal and indus-
trial surface-water supplies.
In summary, the importance of ground water in the northeast
is obvious. The availability of this high-quality water
source is essential to the physical and economic well-being
of the region, and the loss of aquifers or even individual
wells due to contamination, which can be avoided by proper
controls, is unacceptable.
Health and Other Hazards
In order to fully understand health and other hazards asso-
ciated with ground-water contamination, it is necessary to
review the principles governing the movement within the
ground-water system of a water body containing pollutants.
Most problems of contamination begin when an objectionable
fluid arrives at the water table. The fluid may have leaked
out of an unlined industrial-waste lagoon, for example, or
could have been spilled on the land surface from a ruptured
oil storage tank. Another source of contamination is the
leaching by precipitation of salt in stockpiles, solid waste
in landfills, and fertilizers and pesticides spread on the
land surface. In other words, the rain water is contam-
inated by contact with the soluble solid material either
stored or spread on the land surface, and then slowly seeps
downward into the underlying aquifer under the influence of
gravity. Finally, the pollutant may have been discharged
directly into the subsurface from septic tanks, leaky buried
pipes or recharge wells.
128
-------
Once the fluid containing the pollutant reaches the water
table, it becomes responsive to the local pattern of ground-
water movement, and from that time on, its velocity and
direction of travel will be governed primarily by the laws
of fluid movement in saturated materials. Ground water is
almost always in motion through geologic formations, follow-
ing paths from areas of intake to areas of discharge. The
rate at which a liquid travels depends on the permeability
of the deposits and on the hydraulic gradient in the ground-
water system. In unconsolidated fine-grained sands, ground-
water movement can be very slow, normally less than one foot
per day. On the other hand, the rate of travel can be con-
siderably greater if the contaminated fluid is moving
through fracture zones or solution cavities of rock forma-
tions. Where pumping from wells has affected water levels
in the aquifer in the area containing poor-quality ground
water, the rate and direction of travel are also affected,
and the pollutant will move more quickly, and toward the
center of pumpage.
Other factors important to the occurrence and movement of
contaminated ground water are the various processes that can
affect the concentration of the pollutant, such as adsorp-
tion by the materials through which it passes, its density
with respect to that of natural ground water, and the manner
in which it spreads out or disperses as it travels. Adsorp-
tion or physiochemical forces can remove pollutants from
solution and concentrate them on soil, clay, or fine-grained
sand materials. Ion exchange and precipitation can also
alter the character of the contaminant. Differences in den-
sity may cause a contaminant to travel in a direction some-
what different from that of the natural ground water. For
example, gasoline will tend to float on the water table,
even where there is a strong downward component of flow in
the aquifer system. Dense brines introduced into a fresh-
water aquifer may tend to sink under the influence of grav-
ity, even though the natural direction of ground-water flow
may be horizontal.
Of great importance is the fact that a pollutant contained
in and moving through an aquifer tends to form an enclave or
plume of contaminated water, extending along its flow path
from the source where it was introduced to the point where
it is either attenuated within the aquifer or is discharged
to a well or a surface-water body such as a river, a lake,
or the sea. Although dispersal in the direction of flow
tends to reduce the concentration of a pollutant, the fluid
normally does not fan out, and dispersal across the direc-
tion of flow is considerably less than the distance traveled.
Figures 20 and 21 illustrate this effect in an unconsoli-
129
-------
-
SALTWATER RECHARGE
^T." AQUICLUDE ^ZT
Figure 20. Flow pattern showing downward leaching of pollutants from a salt stock-
pile and movement toward a pumped well "'
-------
LEAKY BASINS
DIRECTION OF GROUND-WATER FLOW
•
CONTAMINATED
GROUND-WATER
LEAKY
LAGOONS
Figure 21. Plan view of plume of contaminated ground water caused by leakage from
lagoons and basins into a water-table aquifer discharging into a river
-------
dated sand and gravel aquifer. Movement of a contaminated
fluid in the fractured zone of a rock aquifer is shown in
Figures 22 and 23. In this latter case, dispersion is very
slight and the fracture pattern controls the shape and areal
extent of the plume. Finally, Figure 24 illustrates the
phenomena associated with a light-density fluid such as gas-
oline and the associated plume.
Thus, one of the principal factors involved in ground-water
contamination is the character of the environment in which
it occurs. Although movement underground is normally slow,
the pollutant is hidden from view, and given enough time it
can travel undetected thousands of feet and even miles be-
fore reaching a well or a stream which is used, perhaps, as
a source of drinking water. Two cases of contamination on
Long Island, New York, illustrate these points. In one in-
stance, industrial waste water containing high concentra-
tions of chromium and cadmium has percolated to the water
table principally through recharge basins into which the
pollutant had been discharged. 11) During a period of about
25 years, starting in the early 1940'sf this seepage had
formed a plume of contaminated ground water approximately
4,200 feet long, 1,000 feet wide, and as much as 70 feet
thick. Presence of contamination went undetected for many
years even though water from some private wells in the area
used for drinking purposes had been affected. The maximum
observed concentration of hexavalent chromium in the ground
water was 40 mg/1 and of cadmium was 10 mg/1. In contrast,
the mandatory limits of concentrations in mg/1 as set by the
U. S. Public Health Service drinking water standards are no
greater than 0.05 for hexavalent chromium and no greater
than 0.01 for cadmium. In the second case, leachate from a
municipal refuse dump has penetrated as much as 80 feet into
the underlying sand and gravel aquifer, and the plume of
contaminated ground water has extended, unobserved until re-
cently, a distance of almost two miles. 12) in another case,
in Warren County, New Jersey, silver chloride from a photo-
processing laboratory traveled over a mile from a seepage
pit to domestic wells tapping a limestone aquifer. 13)
Contaminated ground-water bodies containing concentrations
of highly toxic materials are not uncommon throughout the
northeast. One case in Pennsylvania is noteworthy where
ground-water pollution, to the extent of 10,000 mg/1 of
arsenic, was discovered when an industrial site was sold,
and a routine inspection by the new owner uncovered the fact
that chemical wastes containing arsenical compounds previ-
ously discharged on the property had seeped down into the
underlying aquifer. 14) All in all, literally hundreds of
cases of contamination of ground water by chemical constitu-
132
-------
LAND SURFACE
1*1
: LEAKY SEWER PIPE
CONTAMINATED WATER
Figure 22. Downward movement of contaminated water from a leaky sewer into the
bedding planes and fractures of a rock aquifer "v
-------
DIRECTION OF
GROUND-WATER FLOW
EXPLANATION
I . j Contaminated groundwater
^ ^**~
Figure 23. Plan view of contaminated ground water in bedding planes and fractures
in a rock aquifer, caused by leachate from a landfill
-------
,LAND SURFACE
UJ
U
WATER TABLE
OIL IN PHASE FORM (BODY OF OIL)
DIRECTION OF
GROUND-WATER FLOW
OIL IN DISSOLVED FORM
Hgure 24. Movement of light-density fluid in the ground-water system. Contamina-
tion caused by a spill of hydrocarbons ^
-------
ents at levels greater than those set by drinking-water
standards were uncovered in the northeast investigation.
Undoubtedly, these known cases are only a very small per-
centage of those that have actually occurred in the area and
remain undetected.
Another broad example of the hazards of ground-water contam-
ination is the large number of instances in the northeast of
the presence of hydrocarbons in the subsurface environment.
Many of these cases involve the loss of private wells and
public water-supply sources. In others, petroleum products
have migrated into basements or underground conduits causing
explosions and fires, or asphixiating people working in tun-
nels and sewers.
In upstate New York, two workers were killed recently when
they were asphixiated while excavating a tunnel for a sewer
line at an industrial plant. 15) The cause of the accident
was traced to an unreported leak of toluene from a ruptured
buried pipeline at the site. The hydrocarbon had remained
floating on the water table in the vicinity of the leak. In
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, leakage of gasoline into a lime-
stone aquifer resulted in the formation of an underground
pool about one-third square mile in area. 16) Fumes from
this pool seeped into basements of homes and resulted in
several explosions.
Although the role that ground-water contamination plays in
waterborne-disease outbreaks in this particular region is
obscure, national surveys have shown that pollution of this
source of water supply is an important factor. One major
problem is that almost all privately supplied homes, most
small community systems, and even some larger public utili-
ties are supplied with untreated ground water. Therefore,
the user is susceptible to bacteria and virus which have en-
tered the well supply because of poor well construction,
improper location with respect to septic tanks, or flooding
of the land surface with polluted surface water such as
sewage overflow.
Tables 23 and 24 show the results of an inventory of water-
borne disease outbreaks in the United States related to
ground-water sources for the period 1946-70. The more than
47,000 cases are significant, especially in view of the fact
that most cases of illness related to contaminated ground
water are probably not reported because they are either iso-
lated cases, or no death has occurred, or the source of the
disease was not suspected or investigated. For example,
studies have revealed that only 35 to 50 percent of the out-
breaks of disease in New York State had been reported to the
136
-------
Table 23. INCIDENCE OF WATERBORNE DISEASE IN THE UNITED STATES, 1946-70, DUE TO SOURCE CON-
TAMINATION: GROUND WATER (UNTREATED) 17)
Private
Public
All Systems
CO
Cause
Improper construction or location of
well or spring
Surface contamination nearby
Overflow or seepage of sewage
Seepage from abandoned well
Source of contamination not
determined
Flooding
Contamination through creviced
limestone or fissured rock
Chemical or pesticide contamination
Data insufficient to classify
Outbreaks
21
49
1
8
4
10
4
46
Cases
640
2,779
50
235
66
555
17
2,001
Outbreaks
1
4
-
1
3
1
-
3
Cases
2,500
531
-
400
4,400
70
-
16,350
Outbreaks
22
53
1
9
7
11
4
49
Cases
3,140
3,310
50
635
4,466
625
17
18,351
Total:
143
6,343
13
24,251
156 30,594
-------
Table 24. INCIDENCE OF WATERBORNE DISEASE IN THE UNITED STATES, 1946-70, GROUND WATER
(CHLORINATED ONLY): TREATMENT OVERWHELMED DUE TO SOURCE CONTAMINATION. }7>
Private Public
Cause
Overflow or seepage of sewage
Flooding
Outbreaks Cases Outbreaks
3
1
Cases
16,273
600
All Systems
Outbreaks
3
1
Cases
16,273
600
Contamination of raw-water trans-
mission line or suction pipe
31
31
u>
00
Total:
31
16,873
16,904
-------
National Office of Vital Statistics during the period of
1938-60. 18)
The Relationship of Ground Water to Surface Water
One particular aspect of ground-water contamination often
overlooked is the close relationship between ground-water
and surface-water quality in the humid east. Most programs
directed toward clean streams neglect to take into account
the fact that ground-water discharge represents a major por-
tion of flow in rivers in the northeast, and that during
dry times of the year stream flow is often 100 percent
ground-water discharge. Since the base flow (low flow) of
most streams is ground water, and stream quality criteria is
based on low flow quantities and quality, it is essential to
maintain the quality of ground water to protect surface
water.
Great effort is being directed toward improving the quality
of surface water by seeking out sources of pollution dis-
charging directly into streams and by requiring treatment or
some other means for upgrading waste-water quality. Few in-
vestigations include an evaluation of the quality of ground
water entering a particular stream, or an inventory of poten-
tial sources of ground-water contamination that are already
or might ultimately discharge into a surface-water body.
To illustrate the relationship between surface water and
ground water, it is helpful to review two detailed water-
budget investigations that have been carried out in the re-
gion. The first, undertaken by W. C. Rasmussen and G. E.
Andreasen of the U. S. Geological Survey, involved the 19.5
square-mile drainage basin of Beaverdam Creek, Maryland. 19)
The chief purpose of the study was to measure and examine
the various factors of the water cycle in a small, homogen-
eous drainage basin in an area of humid climate. Over a
two-year period, it was found that ground-water drainage was
almost 26 percent of the total precipitation and 72 percent
of the total runoff carried by Beaverdam Creek. In a simi-
lar study, in the 287 square-mile Brandywine Creek Basin of
Pennsylvania, F. H. Olmsted and A. G. Hely concluded that
as an average for periods of several years, about two-thirds
of the total runoff was base flow (chiefly ground-water dis-
charge to the streams). 20)
A consequence of this close relationship has been recently
investigated in the Ipswich and Shawsheen River Basins in
Massachusetts. 21) Many housing developments in the metro-
politan area of Boston are beyond the reach of municipal
139
-------
sewer systems and waste water, disposed of through septic
tanks and cesspool systems, percolates to ground-water res-
ervoirs and eventually reaches the streams. The investiga-
tors were able to use residual conductivity data from vari-
ous sites within the two basins and develop a relationship
between housing density per square mile and concentration of
dissolved solids in base flow of streams. They concluded
that in the range of housing densities observed (0 to 900
per square miles), dissolved solids in stream base flow can
be expected to increase 10 to 15 mg/1 per 100 houses per
square mile. Also, the data indicated that most dissolved
solids from septic tank systems reach the streams.
Numerous case histories have been uncovered in this investi-
gation where contamination of ground water from a point
source has significantly affected surface-water quality, at
least in the general vicinity of the area into which the
plume of contaminated ground water is discharging. These
include problems related to leakage from lagoons, pits and
basins receiving industrial wastes, mine drainage, spills,
and percolation from landfills.
The Problem of Monitoring
Another major cause for concern with ground-water contamina-
tion is the problem of monitoring chemical and biological
quality. The principal factors involved in the difficulty
of monitoring this resource, and of providing a means for
adequate warning against use of waters that may be harmful
include the following:
1. The complex nature of aquifer systems and movement of
ground water.
2. The large number of individual wells and springs present-
ly being used.
3. The great variety of potential sources of contamination
such as septic tanks, landfills, waste lagoons, etc.,
and their relative abundance in the northeast.
4. The lack of information on the quantity and type of chem-
ical compounds being discharged to the air, soil, and
water each day.
The movement of contaminants through aquifer systems, as de-
scribed earlier, is dependent upon local and regional ground-
water flow patterns, which, unlike surface streams, are not
discernible with a visual or casual inspection. If a load
of chemical waste is dumped into the Susquehanna River, for
140
-------
example, it is expected to move downstream, and it is not
very difficult to determine in which direction the river is
flowing. Furthermore, if the river is polluted with high
counts of coliform bacteria, a sample dipped from almost any
portion of the stream will give some indication of pollution.
Not so with ground water: it is under laminar flow condi-
tions and "downstream" may be in any direction, not neces-
sarily related to surface topography at any particular loca-
tion. Also, fluids of different densities and bacteria do
not always move with the main body of ground water. They
can float on the water table or sink toward the bottom of
the aquifer.
Thus, determination of the direction of flow and areal ex-
tent of a contaminated ground-water body can be complex, and
often can only be determined by a rather detailed and costly
program of test drilling, and water-level and water-quality
analyses. Even determining the shape of the water table may
not be adequate for defining the problem, because this only
indicates the horizontal direction of flow and gives no in-
dication of how deeply a drop of contaminated fluid may de-
scend along its path to a point of discharge.
For example, under some conditions, a drop of water may
travel at fairly shallow depths from the place where it
reaches the water table to the place where it leaves the
ground-water system. Elsewhere, it may descend rather
steeply to invade aquifers many hundreds of feet below the
water table, and may move through those aquifers in a direc-
tion quite different from that followed by water in the
shallow beds. Therefore, a proper evaluation of ground-
water flow involves a knowledge of what is taking place in
the vertical dimension as well as in the horizontal.
Figures 25 and 26 illustrate this principle. Both diagrams
are hypothetical but are based on detailed studies of the
hydrology of several solid waste landfills in the northeast.
Figure 25 is a water-table map revealing that the highest
point of the water table underlies the landfill area. Ac-
cording to one basic law of ground-water flow, the direction
of movement of any drop of ground water in an unconfined
aquifer is at right angles to the water-table contours.
Thus, a drop starting at point "A", for example, will ulti-
mately discharge into the adjoining marsh. Figure 26, which
is a cross section through the hypothetical landfill along
line X-X1, shows, by means of arrows, the vertical pattern
of flow. A drop of contaminated fluid reaching the water
table at "B" would penetrate quite deeply into the under-
lying sediments before being discharged into the river.
Actually, in the northeast region, abnormally high levels of
141
-------
NJ
MARSH
EXPLANATION
I Height of water table in feet
above river level
-^—X Line of section in Figure
Path of a drop of water starting
at point "A"
Figure 25. Plan view of water table contours associated with a landfill
-------
•
*-DISCHARGE AREA—»
DISCHARGE AREA
RIVER
\
EXPLANATION
:- i Contaminated ground water
-5- Trace of equipotential surface
on plane of section
* Path of a drop of water starting
at point "B"
Figure 26. Generalized hydraulic profile beneath a landfill
-------
iron, chloride, and hardness have been found in observation
wells screened more than 100 feet below the water table be-
neath a landfill, indicating penetration to this depth of
ground water that had become contaminated by contact with
the refuse.
Stratification of sediments, such as a clay lens contained
within a sand and gravel aquifer, can locally modify the
movement of ground water and distort the overall pattern of
flow. This is illustrated by a situation in southern New
Jersey involving contamination of ground water from leaky
waste lagoons, pits, and basins containing industrial wastes.
As a protective device, the owner of the industrial site had
drilled several monitoring wells but had not realized that
they were all screened below a clay zone which was prevent-
ing the contaminant from penetrating deeply into the aquifer.
For several years, water from the monitoring wells was peri-
odically analyzed but showed no change compared to base line
conditions. Thus, it was concluded that the lagoons were
not leaking and ground-water contamination was not taking
place. It was only after new monitoring wells were designed
and installed under state guidance that the problem was dis-
covered. Further detailed study revealed that about 200
million gallons of contaminated ground water, with zinc and
chromium concentrations of up to 50 and 150 mg/1 respective-
ly, underlie the immediate area of the property. 22)
The situation is illustrated in Figure 27. Wells A and B
represent the early monitoring wells that were improperly
screened below the sand and clay zone. Well C represents
the wells drilled under state guidance, which indicated
there was a problem, and Wells D-l, D-2, and D-3 represent
wells drilled during the detailed investigation which helped
define the areal extent of the contaminated ground-water body.
Thus, locating pollutants in the ground-water system is a
complicated matter. Even after contamination is indicated,
defining the problem calls for use of all the various tech-
niques available to the investigator.
The second problem with regard to monitoring is the diffi-
culty in keeping track of quality of water from the large
number of public supply, industrial, and domestic wells in
the region. The widespread use of ground water was discus-
sed in an earlier section. However, it is interesting to
note some of the results of personal interviews with repre-
sentatives from the various state agencies charged with
health and water pollution matters.
In none of the 11 states of the project area are accurate
144
-------
EXPLANATION
A-Location of monitoring well
I Well screen
•
PRECIPITATION
LEAKY BASIN ' D'2
DIRECTION OF \ \ \ '. I \ \ \ \ '. :V I
GROUND-WATER FLOW
CONTAMINATED
:6ROU*D- WATER
Figure 27. Movemenl1 of contaminated ground water beneath leaky lagoons and basins
-------
figures available on the number of wells drilled each year,
how many are in use, or what proportion are abandoned. Even
in those states where permits are required for new well con-
struction, such as New Jersey and Maryland, the estimate is
that applications for permits are received for only about
half of the wells drilled. New Jersey presently has about
100,000 well permits on file and, for the period July 1969
to July 1973, Maryland issued permits for more than 31,351
wells. During this four-year period, the number of applica-
tions per year almost doubled in Maryland. In addition to
the tremendous number of individual ground-water sources,
only for a relatively small percentage of new wells is the
water analyzed. Exceptions to this, of course, are public
water-supply wells which invariably must be approved by some
type of health authority before they are put into service.
However, domestic wells and those used by industry for drink-
ing-water purposes do not normally fall within the authority
of public health agencies.
Many state and local agencies offer the free service of run-
ning analyses for selected chemical constituents and bac-
teria in water from private sources when the sample is
brought in on a voluntary basis. In fact, many of the state
laboratories report that their personnel and facilities are
sorely taxed trying to keep up with this activity. Never-
theless, again only a relatively small percentage of the
wells drilled are sampled initially, and, just as critical,
even fewer are sampled on a periodic basis. In a detailed
investigation of the quality of water from domestic wells in
York County, Maine, it was found that 461 of the 511 sup-
plies sampled (90 percent) had never been inspected by a
health agency. 23)
In some states and local areas, there has been a growing
trend toward requiring analysis of new private well-water
supplies and certification by a health agency before the
well can be put into service in the home or factory. This
trend undoubtedly will continue but there still will be a
need to sample wells that have been in service for many
years, to conduct periodic analyses of water from new wells,
and to locate the large number of unreported wells installed
each year in the region.
Even the present effort given to public water-supply wells
may not be enough to guard against the threat of possible
use of contaminated water. Again, the number of individual
sources is startling. For example, the Connecticut Health
Department must inspect and monitor 639 wells and springs
used for public-supply purposes. 24)
146
-------
The need for continuously monitoring such supplies on a peri-
odic basis also relates to the manner in which a contaminant
can migrate through the ground-water system. As explained
earlier, a body of highly contaminated fluid can move as a
distinct plume and can advance as a front through a particu-
lar aquifer. Thus, water from a pumping well can be of safe
quality for many years and then become adversely affected
over a relatively short period of time when an advancing
front of poor-quality water reaches the well. The advancing
front characteristic of salt-water encroachment in heavily
pumped coastal areas has been well documented, and the dras-
tic change in water quality that can occur by movement of
such a front into a well field is illustrated in Figure 28.
In this case, periodic chloride analyses of water from a
well being used in the Cape May City area of New Jersey
showed very little change from late 1945 to late 1950. Then
within a matter of weeks, after lateral encroachment of a
salt-water front reached the well, chloride concentration
began to rise significantly and continued on an upward trend
for the duration of the record shown. Horizontal movement
of such fronts in coastal plain aquifers has been measured
at rates of a few feet to more than 100 feet per year.
In Endicott, New York, high counts of coliform bacteria sud-
denly showed up in a million-gallon-per-day municipal well
after 19 years of trouble-free operation. ^6) Excavation of
the bed of the Susquehanna River, which was locally contam-
inated by sewage, appears to be responsible for the problem.
Higher infiltration rates caused by the excavation allowed
bacteria to enter the sand and gravel aquifer tapped by the
well, and the bacteria traveled 180 feet to contaminate
this ground-water source. Routine weekly water samples re-
vealed the problem, and the well was immediately taken out
of service.
Unfortunately, such frequent sampling of public water sup-
plies is not universal. A recent survey by the Comptroller
General of the United States of federal and state programs
needed to insure purity of drinking water included three of
the states in the northeast study region: Maryland, Massa-
chusetts, and Vermont. 27) A review of the most recent
chemical analyses on file for two of these states revealed
that for Maryland, 27 percent and for Vermont, 49 percent
were more than one year old. In addition, only in Maryland
were public health officials satisfied that the frequency of
surveys of water supplies is adequate enough to detect po-
tential sanitary problems.
Some idea of the wide variety of potential sources of ground-
water pollution can be gained from the compilation given in
147
-------
240
Figure 28. Long-term chloride fluctuation in a well tapping the Cohansey Sand in
the Cape May City area, New Jersey
148
-------
Table 25, which is based on an analysis of actual reported
cases of ground-water contamination inventoried during the
northeast investigation. Representative examples of the
various categories listed were obtained from public agencies
involved in health and environmental matters, from well-
drilling contractors, from private organizations such as con-
sulting firms and business associations, and from literature
sources. It can be seen that many activities of man can
lead to degradation of ground-water quality. Monitoring of
the potential source, either by means of accurate measure-
ment of losses of fluid and soluble material to the ground-
water system or through the installation of enough wells for
periodic water-quality sampling, is an almost insurmountable
task. Even inventorying the location of potential sources
of contamination is a major problem for regulatory agencies.
Although no list could contain all causes of subsurface pol-
lution, Table 25 does include the key sources, and an at-
tempt has been made to rank them according to their impor-
tance and to assess the degree of environmental hazard. It
is interesting to note that some items listed, such as
septic tanks and cesspools, are a major problem throughout
the entire region whereas others vary in importance from
area to area. For example, many public officials in the
northern and central New England States feel that salts from
highway deicing are the most significant factor in ground-
water quality degradation. In New York and Connecticut, the
major factor tends to be high densities of septic tanks in
new housing developments. Landfills and industrial-waste la-
goons, pits and basins appear to be receiving the most at-
tention in New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware. Finally, in
Pennsylvania, major emphasis is being placed on permitting
programs for solid waste, coal refuse disposal, surface im-
poundments, and spray irrigation.
The third column in Table 25 is an estimate for the region
as a whole of the rate of new occurrences for each of the
sources listed. Each estimate is based on an evaluation of
such factors as awareness of the particular type of problem;
the predicted degree of activity creating incidences of
contamination; anticipated staffing of federal, state and
local environmental programs; laws, rules, and regulations
in effect or proposed; and the level of technology avail-
able to prevent future problems.
The abundance of septic tanks and cesspools is a good illus-
tration of the difficulty in monitoring the source. Table
26 lists the populations not served by central sewer systems
on a state-by-state basis. These statistics would indicate
that there are millions of individual septic tanks and cess-
149
-------
Table 25. PRINCIPAL SOURCES OF GROUND-WATER CONTAMINATION AND THEIR
RELATIVE IMPACT IN THE NORTHEAST
Sources
Relative
importance
to region q'
Typical size
of a rea
affected °>
Estimated future
trend in rate of
new occurrences
c)
Septic tanks and cesspools
Buried pipelines and storage tanks
Application and storage of highway
deicing salts
Landfills
Surface impoundments
Spills and surface discharge
Mining activity
Petroleum exploration and develop-
ment
Salt-water intrusion
River infiltration
Underground storage and artificial
recharge of waste water
Water wells
Agricultural activities
I
III
III
III
II
IV
IV
III
II
a) I - High
II - Moderate
III - Low
I - Regional
II - Point source but can be regional
in nature due to high density of
individual occurrences
III - Can affect adjacent properties
IV - Effects usually contained within
the boundaries of one property
c) I - Increase
II - No significant
change
III - Decrease
150
-------
Table 26. ESTIMATED POPULATION SERVED BY SEPTIC TANKS IN 1968, BY STATE.
State Estimated population served Percent of total population
Connecticut 1,344,845 46
Delaware 131,390 26
Maine 413,885 43
Maryland 2,049,395 57
Massachusetts 1,661,990 31
New Jersey 1,131,290 17
New Hampshire 392,200 57
New York 2,918,640 17
Pennsylvania 1,435,929 13
Rhode Island 331,975 38
Vermont 211,700 51
Total: 12,023,239 22.5
151
-------
pools, each discharging domestic wastes into the subsurface
environment. In addition, there are hundreds of areas where
their density is great enough to have caused significant
rises in nitrate concentration in ground water, created prob-
lems of detergent in well supplies, or threatened health due
to migration of bacteria and viruses into poorly constructed
and improperly located wells. Also, migration of nitrate
from aquifers into surface water is most important because
nitrogen constraints for many streams are more severe than
drinking water standards.
Examples that are typical of unsanitary conditions experi-
enced by many domestic well owners, mostly in the rural por-
tions of the region, are as follows:
*In a six-year survey (1955-1960), personnel of the
Rensselaer County, New York, Health Department carried out
sanitary surveys of 2,100 private dwellings served by on-
site water-well supplies. 29) On the average, 38 percent of
the water samples collected showed the presence of contam-
ination, and 42 percent of the wells were ruled improperly
constructed, protected, or located. At least 25 percent of
the home owners that were informed of an unsanitary condi-
tion in their water-supply system made corrections based on
the Health Department recommendations. In 1970, County per-
sonnel surveyed 94 wells in one semi-rural area and found
that 49 percent were producing water of unsanitary quality
and 30 percent more of questionable quality. 30)
*The Connecticut State Department of Health surveyed
individual wells in one rural town which has neither a pub-
lic water supply nor a central sewer system. Based prim-
arily on coliform count and supported by data on concentra-
tions of nitrogen compounds, it was concluded that 30 per-
cent of the 50 wells sampled were producing water that was
probably unsafe for drinking. 31)
*In the York County, Maine, investigation mentioned
previously, 17 percent of the 462 water wells sampled were
considered by the investigators to be contaminated. Well
construction appeared to be the key factor because water
from 30 percent of the dug wells was found to be contami-
nated as compared to four percent for driven and seven per-
cent for drilled wells. 23)
*More than half of 40 wells sampled in a rural area of
Pennsylvania underlain by carbonate rock were found to yield
water containing "excessive bacteria". 16)
Community landfills and open dumps are also more numerous in
152
-------
the northeast than generally realized. Literally thousands
of sites exist where domestic refuse, industrial solid and
liquid waste, and septic tank cleanings have been deposited
for many years. Investigations have shown that landfills
are an almost universal source of ground-water contamination,
yet less than one percent are monitored by periodic sampling
of wells specifically drilled to watch over possible changes
in ground-water quality. This is true even though surveys
indicate that 15 to more than 20 percent of the operators of
community landfills have reported surface drainage and
leaching problems, and that the lowest part of the fill is
in the water table, an excellent indication that subsurface
contamination is occurring. 32) Effects on ground-water
quality include increased concentrations of such constitu-
ents as chloride, iron, manganese, hardness, and total dis-
solved solids. Where solid-waste sites have also received
industrial liquids and sludges, the presence of heavy metals
in the leachate has been observed. Connecticut estimates
that in 1972, 33 million gallons of industrial liquid and
sludge wastes were probably deposited in municipal landfills
in that state, of which 7.5 million gallons were oils and
hydrocarbons and more than 3.5 million were solvents. 33)
Until recently, only in Pennsylvania was the installation of
monitoring wells mandatory at landfills. 34) Now, however,
most of the other states in the region are beginning to call
for monitoring at new and old landfills, especially those
suspected of causing ground-water contamination.
Two other important examples of sources from Table 25 that
are most difficult to monitor are salts from highway deicing
and leaks from buried pipes and storage tanks. During the
winter season of 1966-67, almost two million tons of sodium
chloride and 70,000 tons of calcium chloride were spread on
highways in the 11 northeast states. 35) Monitoring the
thousands of miles of roadways to locate areas where melt
water has carried these highly soluble substances to the wa-
ter table and has significantly affected ground-water qual-
ity is physically and economically impossible. A similar
situation exists with regard to the length and number of
buried pipelines and storage tanks that may be leaking toxic
or hazardous liquids into the ground. There are no strict
regulations governing the monitoring of storage tanks as to
maintenance or replacement. Pennsylvania alone estimates
that 2,600 new or replacement subsurface storage tanks are
buried in the ground each year. 36) Most are probably used
until they fail, which means the liquid they contained was
lost to the subsurface.
Another problem in monitoring is the great variety of inor-
ganic metals, salts, acids or bases, synthetic organics,
153
-------
flammables and other compounds produced each year in the
northeast. Much of this material is toxic and finds its way
into industrial waste streams. It has been pointed out that
of 496 organic chemicals considered likely to be found in
water, only 66 have been positively identified. 37) Hazard-
ous substances such as arsenic, cadmium, chromium, chlorin-
ated hydrocarbons, cyanides, lead, mercury, copper, and zinc
are widely used in many industrial activities including
metallurgy; paint, rubber, and paper manufacturing; and
the production of batteries, Pharmaceuticals, and textiles.
Unfortunately, many toxic substances are not included in
normal analyses conducted on water-supply sources. In fact,
in the 11 northeast states, analyses for some of the hazard-
ous elements such as barium, selenium, and silver, included
in the U. S. Public Health Service Drinking Water Standards,
1962, are not usually required for a ground-water source to
be approved, nor are they often included in routine analyses
unless contamination is suspected. 38) in the Comptroller
General survey mentioned previously, Massachusetts did not
make analyses of water from public supplies for any of the
nine chemicals included in the Public Health Service manda-
tory standards, except for those supplies serving interstate
carriers. 2?) Vermont did not run analyses for 7 of the 20
chemicals included in the mandatory and recommended stand-
ards. Interviews with public health personnel in the region
did indicate that more effort is being made to determine the
possible presence of toxic substances, and that there is an
overall trend toward more complete analyses of drinking wa-
ter. However, again this is difficult to accomplish due to
limitations of budget, staff, and laboratory facilities.
It is interesting to note that the vast majority of the
hundreds of ground-water contamination case histories inven-
toried in this investigation came to the attention of
authorities because of complaints of taste or odor, notice-
able effects on surface waters or vegetation, or through the
investigation of an accident such as a ruptured storage tank
or a spill of hazardous material. Few were uncovered in the
course of routine analysis of the water itself. Where
hazardous substances were involved, for example, in those
cases involving high concentrations of arsenic, hexavalent
chromium, cyanide, or lead, it was a change in the non-toxic
constituents which are normally determined, such as iron,
chloride, and hardness, that led to more complete analysis
of the water from the affected source. Only after the more
detailed testing was the presence of the toxic substance de-
termined.
Several case histories in Connecticut illustrate these
154
-------
points. A family supplied by a domestic well suffered mys-
terious loss of hair. 31) Analysis of routine constituents
in the well water revealed no indicator that could be traced
as a cause of the phenomenon. It was only after a test for
thallium, rarely included in water analyses, was conducted
that the source of the problem was determined. Heavy use of
thallium-bearing agricultural sprays in the area had con-
taminated the aquifer tapped by the domestic well.
In another case, presence of a chlorinated hydrocarbon was
only detected in a high school well because of the foul
taste and odor associated with this substance. 31) rphe
source was the dumping of waste solvents on a neighboring
industrial property. Finally, during a routine pumping test
to determine the yield of an industrial well that had been
in service for a number of years, it was noticed that the
water being pumped to waste during the test had a distinct
yellow color. 39) This had not been observed before because
chemical analyses of ground water had not been run for many
years and the water from this well was mixed with water from
other sources in the industrial plant. Analysis showed that
the color was caused by the presence of chromates in concen-
trations of as much as 26 mg/1. The source of the contami-
nated water was leakage out of the bed of a lagoon, about
1,000 feet away, receiving wastes from a metal-plating com-
pany .
Technical and Economic Difficulties
One particular aspect of ground-water contamination that
makes it quite different from river pollution, and in many
ways a more difficult problem to solve, is the long time
factor required for decay, adsorption, or dispersion of the
contaminant in the ground-water system even if the source of
contamination is removed. Correcting a situation causing
ground-water contamination, such as lining a leaky basin in-
to which a liquid industrial waste has been discharged, will
prevent an increase in the volume of the highly mineralized
fluid arriving at the water table but will not result in an
end to the problem itself. Because the polluted ground-
water body normally moves and disperses slowly, and is
little affected by dilution from the recharge of or mixing
with unaffected water, contaminants in ground water tend to
be reduced in concentration over a period usually measured
in years and even decades. In fact, long after a source of
pollution has been removed, the contaminated ground-water
body actually can expand in areal extent and can travel sig-
nificant distances before it disperses.
155
-------
Few studies have been carried out that would define in de-
tail the degree to which contaminants will become attenu-
ated with time and distance traveled after the source of
pollution has been removed. One recent investigation by
George F. Finder of Princeton University applies a mathe-
matical model capable of predicting the transient behavior
of a plume of contaminated ground water over a wide range of
field conditions. 4°) Use was made of the chromium contam-
ination case on Long Island referred to in a previous sec-
tion. 11) in this situation, the point of discharge for the
4,300 foot long plume of contaminated ground water is a
creek, which drains the water-table aquifer in the area.
Pinder has computed that ground-water contamination of the
creek would continue for seven years after disposal of the
pollutant to the land surface is ended. Ground-water veloc-
ity was computed to average 1.4 ft/day.
Within the northeast region, there are several widely used
methods for combating contamination of ground water after it
occurs. The first step, once the problem has been discover-
ed, is an attempt to prevent the activity from continuing to
degrade water quality, in other words, eliminating the
source as quickly as possible. For example, a specific
activity such as the discharge of industrial wastes into a
limestone sinkhole can be ended immediately if action is
brought to bear by a public agency equipped with evidence
that a well supply has been rendered unfit or is threatened
because of the industry's disposal method. A storage tank
can be pumped dry and taken out of service if it is traced
as the source of a gasoline leak that has affected ground-
water quality in the area.
However, it is not always possible to immediately end some
types of activities that contribute to ground-water contam-
ination . For example, because no adequate substitute has
been found for highway deicing salts, the process is con-
tinued even in areas where wells have been shown to be ad-
versely affected. In some communities, the quantity of
salts normally used has been reduced, but this is not an
ultimate solution to the problem. In the case of municipal
landfills, it is a difficult and time consuming project to
find a substitute site for the dumping of refuse even though
an existing site is found to be a source of ground-water
contamination. Additional water-quality degradation of an
aquifer from septic tank wastes can be halted by the in-
stallation of collecting sewers, but again planning and im-
plementation of such a system can be slowed drastically by
economic and political considerations.
Of course, if a well supply has been affected by a pollutant,
156
-------
especially if the substance is toxic, the other initial step
taken in combating the problem is the abandonment of the
well or wells and replacement with a new source, if avail-
able. In fact, based on the inventory of case histories in
the region, the abatement procedure often ends with the aban-
donment of the water-supply source or the physical treatment
of the water pumped in order to reduce the concentration of
the pollutant to an acceptable level. This course of action
is more or less typical due to the technical difficulties
inherent in correcting the souurce of some types of ground-
water contamination and the physical and economic problems
involved in controlling or removing the pollutant.
Nevertheless, there are two basic approaches that have been
used in the region to control the spread of or to clean up
contaminated ground water. The first is containment and the
second is actual removal of the pollutant.
Containment involves the use of methods to protect against
the spread of degradation of water quality within the aqui-
fer already affected, to other aquifers that might be af-
fected, or to surface water bodies into which the contami-
nated ground water might discharge. It is an approach often
used to protect existing ground-water and surface-water
users but does not help well owners whose supplies are al-
ready damaged, nor does it fully restore water quality in
the aquifer to its natural state within what might be con-
sidered a reasonable length of time.
An excellent example of containment is the widespread effort
being given to salt-water encroachment problems in the re-
gion. This form of ground-water contamination was one of
the earliest recognized in the northeast, and such states as
New York and New Jersey began to control, many years ago,
diversion of ground water in critical areas in order to im-
pede the movement of saline water inland in heavily pumped
aquifers. The strict control of pumping patterns through
the enforcement of state permit systems for use of ground-
water has been very successful in slowing down and, in most
cases, ending the threat of additional well supplies being
lost because of salt-water encroachment. However, areas al-
ready affected before such controls were initiated have not
fully recovered because of the slow movement of the salt-
water front.
This slow rate of recovery is illustrated by the salt-water
encroachment problem experienced in Kings County, New York,
during the period 1903 to 1947. 41) Salt water from estu-
aries and embayments bordering the County had moved several
miles inland and had contaminated numerous public supply and
157
-------
industrial wells. The problem had been created by a severe
decline in ground-water levels caused by excessive pumping
from both the water-table and deeper confined aquifers, the
wasting to sewers of all water from public supply and many
industrial wells/ and a substantial decrease in natural re-
charge from precipitation owing to extensive paving of aqui-
fer intake areas with streets and buildings. A severe cut
back in ground-water pumpage took place in 1947 because of
condemnation of a private water company, which had supplied
as much as 27 million gallons per day of ground water to
residents in central Kings County. This factor combined
with such conservation measures as the passage of legisla-
tion that required the artificial recharge of water used for
air-conditioning and cooling, eventually reversed hydraulic
gradients in most of the County. Further encroachment has
been halted, but it is estimated that 30 to 40 years may be
required to flush out the remaining salt water that intruded
the aquifers.
Containment of leakage from industrial waste lagoons, pits,
and basins at a site in New Jersey is an example of a case
in which it was found that removal of the pollutants from
the aquifer would not be feasible because of the slow move-
ment of ground water in the affected aquifer, even under
pumping conditions. 42) in this situation, ground water con-
taining extremely high concentrations of heavy metals, in-
cluding chromium, zinc, and copper, is confined to a 30-foot
thick zone in the water-table aquifer. The estimated sev-
eral hundred million gallons of contaminated fluid was
threatening to leak into deeper heavily pumped aquifers in
the area and also was slowly moving toward a tributary to
the Delaware River. Discharge of the pollutants into the
surface stream would have had an adverse effect on its water
quality. A series of shallow wells pumping at a rate great-
er than natural recharge to, and discharge from, the water-
table aquifer were installed between the source of contami-
nation and the stream to prevent the pollutants from reach-
ing the surface-water body. Also, pumping the wells has
lowered the water level in the shallow deposits so that down-
ward movement of ground water to deeper aquifers is impeded.
Some of the contaminated water is being removed and is being
treated before discharge to waste, but the well system is
primarily acting as a containment system. The aquifer will
remain contaminated in the vicinity of the industrial site
for many years, even though the lagoons, pits, and basins
that were the original source of the problem have been lined
with concrete and no longer leak.
Another form of containment and its associated problems is
demonstrated by the case of a landfill pollution problem in
158
-------
southern Connecticut located adjacent to Long Island
Sound. 43) Highly mineralized ground water formed by the
leaching of soluble substances from municipal and industrial
refuse contained in the landfill is moving toward and dis-
charging into the Sound in the vicinity of a beach heavily
used for swimming. The flow of subsurface water is being
influenced by an abnormally high water table that has been
formed within the landfill.
In order to prevent deterioration of Long Island Sound water,
further discharge of the contaminated ground water should be
prevented. Installing a system of pumping wells to remove
the leachate or to intercept it before it reaches the Sound
is not feasible because of the fine-grained nature of the
sediments underlying the site. The only reasonable approach
to the solution of the problem appears to be sealing off the
surface of the landfill to prevent further infiltration of
rain water. In this way, the production of new leachate
would be reduced; the abnormally high water table would
drop; and the rate of discharge of contaminated ground wa-
ter to the Sound would become insignificant. However, the
body of water already contaminated and contained within the
aquifer will remain beneath the site for many decades with
such constituents as iron and manganese considerably above
the concentrations recommended for potable waters. Computa-
tions based on detailed drilling and water-level data show
ground water to be moving at a maximum rate of only 0.25
foot per day, and that contaminated water underlies an area
in excess of 75 acres. Of course, sealing the surface of
the landfill will require gas venting. Also, periodic main-
tenance of the seal itself will be needed to prevent deteri-
oration and to counteract subsidence and erosion.
Actual removal of the pollutants from the ground-water res-
ervoir has been attempted at a number of locations in the
northeast but is not practiced on a broad scale again be-
cause of technical and economic considerations. Use of
wells drilled specifically for the purpose of pumping out
the contaminated fluid is the most common approach to re-
moval. The water is then subjected to treatment on-site,
discharged to a sewer or nearby surface-water body, or col-
lected for reprocessing and reuse. Existing supply wells,
to which the polluted water has migrated, have also been
pumped in an attempt to reduce the volume or concentration
of the pollutant. A third approach has been the construc-
tion of surface drains and ditches in order to skim the pol-
lutant off the water table.
Generally, removal has been applied only in those cases
where ground-water contamination represents a severe health
159
-------
or economic hazard. The presence of hydrocarbons in the
ground-water system is an example of a severe hazard espe-
cially in urbanized or industrialized areas where there is a
good potential for loss of life and damage to property un-
less as much as possible of the oil or gasoline is removed.
Another example is the discovery of a highly toxic substance
in ground water, such as arsenic or mercury, which is an ob-
vious hazard to health if the contaminated fluid were to be
left in the ground to perhaps migrate to a supply well or
surface stream. Attempts also have been made to remove con-
taminated ground water if there is a distinct economic ad-
vantage, such as recovery of an affected community or indus-
trial well that is vital to the water-supply system or pro-
tection of an important aquifer.
One of the most difficult types of removal operation is that
dealing with hydrocarbons. Here, the problem involves a two
fluid system due to the light density and low solubility of
the hydrocarbon. The pollutant floats and migrates on top
of the water table. Drawing down water levels and inducing
the fluid to migrate toward a pumping well will trap only a
portion of the hydrocarbon. Ultimately, as the lens thins,
less and less of the substance is removed. Thus, in addi-
tion to pumping wells, use has been made of ditches and
trenches to skim oil off the water table, biological proc-
esses to break down gasoline in the ground, and water-flood-
ing techniques to drive solvents and other hydrocarbons to
central collection points, all with limited success. In
fact, when raw gasoline was detected in shallow deposits be-
neath a business section in Queens County, New York, and al-
ternative methods of removal had failed, an entire city
block was excavated from curb to curb in order to physically
expose the contaminated sand beds so that the gasoline could
be removed. 44) Special non-ferrous tools were employed in
the digging to eliminate the danger of sparks.
Even when a pollutant can be successfully removed from an
aquifer, the time period involved and the quantity of water
pumped is usually considerable. For example, two public
supply wells about 100 feet deep tapping a limestone aquifer
in southeastern Pennsylvania were contaminated by wastes
from a tool-plating factory, that had been discharging into
a sinkhole three-quarters of a mile away. 45) Concentra-
tions of hexavalent chromium in the water from the wells was
0.35 mg/1 when the problem was discovered. It took a period
of 2-1/2 years, pumping at a rate of more than one-half mil-
lion gallons per day, to reduce the concentration of the
contaminant to a level of 0.02 mg/1. Use of the sinkhole by
the factory had been halted immediately. The water pumped
from the wells during the removal operation is treated be-
160
-------
fore being discharged to a stream.
In another case/ along the Delaware River in New Jersey, an
industry is pumping at an average rate of 4,025 gallons per
minute in an attempt to remove from a shallow aquifer, pollu-
tants that were moving toward existing wells. 14) The with-
drawn contaminated water is used for process and cooling be-
fore being treated and discharged to the Delaware River. A
detailed monitoring system is being employed to determine
how successfully the system is working and the degree to
which the pumped water will require treatment.
Any discussion of the problems associated with the control
and correction of existing ground-water contamination prob-
lems would not be complete without consideration of the high
costs involved. The best method to illustrate the important
impact of this factor is to explore a number of case his-
tories that have come to light during the northeast investi-
gation.
As indicated in Table 25, landfills of municipal and indus-
trial wastes rank high in the number of significant occur-
rences of ground-water contamination in the region. In one
case in southeastern New York State, litigation was brought
against a county by the U. S. Attorney because the operation
of a regional solid waste landfill did not meet the require-
ments of the 1899 Refuse Act, which prohibits discharge of
wastes without a permit into navigable interstate streams. 46)
In a court action, the County was directed to define the ex-
tent of ground-water contamination problems associated with
the landfill and to determine the environmental impact on
the river and wetlands bordering on the landfill. The hy-
drologic, geologic, and biologic studies extended over a
period of two years. Legal fees plus the scientific inves-
tigations amounted to more than $250,000. This figure does
not include engineering design and other costs involved in
completing the landfill to the satisfaction of the court or
in finding, purchasing, and designing a new site for refuse
disposal.
In another landfill case, in Delaware, solution of a ground-
water contamination problem may cost upward of $2,000,000.
Leachate generated by the landfill is moving through the af-
fected aquifer toward two large well fields, one owned by a
chemical company and the other by a private water company,
which has already reduced its pumpage significantly in order
to slow down the movement of the contaminant. A line of
high capacity wells is being installed for the capture of
the leachate, which will require treatment after removal
from the ground. The surface of the landfill may be re-
161
-------
graded in an attempt to prevent infiltration of rainwater
into the refuse. The mass of solid waste measures 1.0 mile
by 0.1 mile by 30 feet thick. The site had been abandoned
for four years before contamination was detected in a pri-
vate well 650 feet from the landfill. 48)
In a third case, located in western Connecticut, a landfill
had been operated by a town for many years in what was con-
sidered a remote area. As population increased in this
suburb, new housing developments encroached on the landfill
site. The town has no central water-supply system, and
homes are supplied by domestic wells. Ultimately, about 50
such wells for a new housing development were drilled adja-
cent to the landfill into an existing zone of contaminated
ground water contained in the crystalline bedrock aquifer on
which te landfill is situated. The aquifer had been contam-
inated over the years by leachate moving through the refuse
and into the water-bearing bedrock fractures tapped by the
new wells.
Immediate containment or removal of the pollutants so that
the home owners can continue using their wells does not ap-
pear to be technically feasible. Instead, the town must de-
velop a community supply off-site and pipe potable water to
the affected homes. The capital cost alone for this utility
is estimated to be about $500,000 with an annual carrying
cost of $55,000. 49)
Highway deicing salts are another widespread source of con-
tamination in the northeast and the yearly rate of increase
in the number of well supplies affected is rising. In
several New England States, the problem has become routine
enough to actually budget each year an amount of money to be
spent in replacing wells adversely affected by highway salts.
For example, New Hampshire allotted $100,000 in 1973 to the
Department of Public Works and Highways to provide relief to
land owners who had their water supplies damaged by state
operations of all types. Most of this money has been used
to drill replacement wells for road-salt damaged water sup-
plies. The 1974 budget is estimated at $200,000. 50) Maine
has a system similar to New Hampshire's and spent more than
$46,000 during the fiscal year July 1, 1971 to June 30, 1972
settling claims almost exclusively arising out of wells that
had been contaminated by highway salts. 51)
Finally, some costs involved in solving ground-water contam-
ination problems are related to treating the affected water
in order to reduce the concentration of the substance to ac-
ceptable levels. Water supplies in some portions of Nassau
County, New York, exceed the U. S. Public Health limit for
162
-------
nitrate content (as N) of 10 mg/1. This regional ground-
water contamination problem has been related primarily to
septic tank and cesspool effluent, fertilizers, and animal
wastes. In one situation, the Garden City Park Water Dis-
trict was required to reduce its water-supply capacity by 60
percent because of the forced shutdown of nitrate contami-
nated wells. Blending of water from different wells and ex-
tending existing wells into deeper aquifers were ruled out
as possible solutions to the problem, and the District was
forced to explore the possibility of treatment.
After considerable experimentation and research, an ion-
exchange process, originally developed to demineralize in-
dustrial process water, was recommended. A treatment system
was devised and the plant constructed at a total cost of
about $400,000. An average of 1,200 gallons per minute of
water containing more than 20 mg/1 nitrate (as N) is handled
in the treatment system. 52)
Summary
The various factors discussed above should indicate the
cause for concern regarding ground-water contamination and
the need for more research, control, and education to help
prevent new occurrences and to aid in correcting existing
problems. This investigation revealed the fortunate cir-
cumstance that there are a few dedicated technicians on dif-
ferent levels of government in each of the states working
toward educating the public on the importance of protecting
ground-water quality, in addition to developing guidelines
and manuals to prevent practices that might adversely affect
this underground water source. However, activities involved
in the protection and monitoring of ground-water quality,
with a few notable exceptions that will be discussed later
in this report, are too splintered among various agencies to
be effective. In addition, the agencies are hindered by
lack of sufficient budget to staff properly and to carry out
the functions necessary for ground-water management programs
to be successful.
In the following portions of this section, key sources of
contamination will be explored in greater detail. By this
means, it is hoped that the principal problem areas, which
require the greatest effort, can be illustrated. A review
of case histories on ground-water quality degradation pro-
vides the best means for understanding the nature of the
problem in the northeast. In this regard, selected instances
of contamination are tabulated. Where possible, locations
and references are provided for each of the cases included.
However, where future litigation may be involved, for exam-
163
-------
pie, and the data shown does not appear in the literature,
the location and reference may not be listed in order to
respect the confidential nature of the information.
SEPTIC TANKS AND CESSPOOLS
Certainly one of the most significant sources of ground-
water contamination in the northeast is discharge from
septic tanks. A large number of cesspools are still in use,
and privies or direct discharges to surface waters can still
be found in some rural areas. However, the septic-tank,
tile-field system has been almost universally adopted
throughout the region to provide a means for disposing of
wastes from homes, stores, laundries, small office buildings,
hospitals, and industries in areas where community sewer
systems are not available. The major growth in septic-tank
use has taken place since the second World War due to the
explosive development of suburban areas on the fringes of
the major cities.
In the 11 states of the study region, approximately 12 mil-
lion people or 23 percent of the total population is served
by individual home waste water treatment systems. 28) As-
suming an average domestic water-use of 40 to 80 gallons per
day per capita, as much as one-half to one billion gallons
of raw sewage is discharged from residences directly into
the subsurface each day in the study region. To this figure
must be added the millions of gallons per day discharged to
the ground from commercial and industrial septic tanks.
The complete septic-tank and tile-field system consists of
three basic components. The first is the septic tank itself,
which is a water tight, non-corrosive, and covered recepta-
cle designed to remove solids by settlement and to trap and
store scum and sludge. The second is the distribution box,
which is needed to insure equal distribution of effluent to
the several lateral lines of the tile field. The third com-
ponent is the soil absorption system or tile-field. This
consists of a series of pipes, usually made of perforated
orangeburg fiber or plastic material, the purpose of which
is to distribute as evenly as possible the sewage effluent
over an area of soil large enough to absorb it. The distri-
bution lines are normally.laid in trenches, backfilled with
filter material consisting of washed gravel, crushed stone,
or slag. Figure 29 shows the layout of a typical septic-
tank, soil-absorption system.
Another device commonly used in conjunction with or instead
of the septic tank system for discharging effluent into the
soil is the cesspool. It is a large buried chamber, which
164
-------
PRODUCTION
DISPOSAL
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
Figure 29. Disposal of household wastes through a conventional septic tank-soil
absorption system
165
-------
is walled up with a porous material such as precast perfo-
rated concrete rings or concrete blocks. The size of the
chamber varies according to hydraulic loading and other de-
sign considerations.
It is a generally accepted fact that as much as 300 mg/1 of
total dissolved solids are added to water by domestic use,
and, thus, the effluent from septic tanks can increase the
concentration of minerals in ground water. Table 27 shows
the range of mineral pickup in domestic sewage. Under nor-
mal conditions of soil pH, efficient removal of phosphates
can take place, but chlorides, nitrates, sulfates, and bi-
carbonates can enter and move freely within a ground-water
body. Bacteria and viruses are normally removed by the soil
system, but, under conditions favorable for their survival,
can reach the water table and can travel significant dis-
tances through an aquifer. Some other pollutants that have
been found associated with septic tanks include synthetic
detergents, excessive chlorides from water softener regen-
eration, and a number of toxic and non-toxic constituents in
special cases where industrial wastes have been discharged
to a septic tank.
The percolation test is used as the principal deciding fac-
tor on whether or not septic tanks would be acceptable for
particular sites. This test measures the rate of decline of
the level of clear water in a series of wetted holes. The
faster the water dissapates in the hole, the greater the as-
sumed performance of the proposed septic system. However,
there are a number of limitations on this method. Clear wa-
ter and sewage effluent can react quite differently in soil.
More important to ground-water contamination, coarse-grained
deposits that will perform the best in percolation tests can
be the least effective in removing bacteria and nutrients.
Finally, reliance on percolation tests will not indicate
long-term effects on ground-water quality from various den-
sities of septic tank installations.
Case Histories
Inadequate experience and lack of sound scientific planning
on the use of septic tank disposal systems have led to a
number of regional ground-water quality problems in the
northeast. In addition to regional problems, there are in-
dividual cases of water from domestic wells being contami-
nated by on-site waste disposal systems. This latter number
probably ranks in the thousands. Discussions on ground-
water contamination held during this investigation with
county and municipal health authorities throughout the re-
gion invariably included a number of references to private
166
-------
Table 27. NORMAL RANGE OF MINERAL PICKUP IN DOMESTIC SEWAGE. 54)
Mineral Mineral range (mg/l)
Dissolved solids 100 - 300
Boron (B) 0.1 - 0.4
Sodium (Na) 40-70
Potassium (K) 7-15
Magnesium (Mg) 3-6
Calcium (Ca) 6-16
Total Nitrogen (NOg) 20-40
1C
Phosphate (PO4) 20 - 40
Sulfate (SO4) 15 - 30
Chloride (Cl) 20 - 50
Alkalinity (as CaCO%) 100 - 150
167
-------
wells condemned because of pollutants from septic-tank ef-
fluent or because of the failure of septic-tank systems.
A few of the numerous studies carried out in the region have
been selected for discussion below. They have been chosen
on the basis that they might be indicative of the varied
conditions under which ground-water contamination from this
source can take place and that they would be most illustra-
tive of the effects of septic tanks on ground-water quality.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to prepare a table based on
the results of these investigations because the methodolo-
gies used and parameters measured differ so greatly.
Eastern and Western Connecticut -
A number of studies carried out in the region point up the
need for a broad technical approach for determining the
feasibility of using on-site disposal systems rather than
relying on an engineering analysis of whether or not the
soil underlying a particular piece of property will absorb
septic tank effluent at an acceptable rate. For example,
Dr. Thomas L. Holzer of the University of Connecticut points
out that the relatively small amount of natural ground-water
recharge available in much of the crystalline rock regions
of eastern and western Connecticut is the most important
limiting factor to septic-tank use. 55) in nonurban por-
tions of these areas, on-site disposal systems and individ-
ual domestic wells are located on the same lot. Only seven
inches or less of the average annual precipitation of 45
inches infiltrates into the ground where crystalline rock is
overlain by relatively thin glacial till. In one year, a
home may easily use and discharge to the septic tank the
equivalent of 3.5 inches of water spread over an acre. "As
development in the nonurban areas increases, recycling of
liquid waste will become an inevitable fact of life". In
other words, unless low density zoning is enforced, there
simply may not be enough natural recharge to counteract the
build-up of nutrients in the aquifers tapped by domestic
water wells.
Holzer stresses that the small capability of fractured crys-
talline bedrock to renovate waste water and the thinness of
the overlying soil zone indicate the precariousness of de-
velopment in nonurban areas unless the hydrogeology of the
aquifer systems is clearly understood.
Boston Suburban Area, Massachusetts -
Another study in the Glaciated Appalachian Region of partic-
168
-------
lar interest and mentioned previously was carried out by the
U. S. Geological Survey in the Ipswich and Shawsheen River
Basins of Massachusetts, north of Boston. 21) The investiga-
tors concluded that "development of housing beyond the reach
of the municipal sewer systems of metropolitan areas has
lowered the quality of the environment in many of the (hous-
ing) developments and has created health hazards in others".
Using chloride and specific conductance as tracers and cor-
recting for highway deicing salts which are the only mate-
rials other than septic tank discharge contributing signifi-
cantly to water-quality degradation, the investigators were
able to develop a correlation between the relationship of
housing density to residual conductance and accretion of dis-
solved solids in the baseflow of streams (see Figure 30).
Seventeen small drainage basins, all but one less than one
square mile in area, were selected for study. All basins
are served by public water supplies, but none have municipal
sewer systems, and individual houses are served by on-site
disposal systems. Housing density ranges from zero to 900
units per square mile. The concentration of chloride is
about 50 mg/1 higher in the septic tank effluent than in the
tap water entering the home. Septic tank flow per house is
estimated to be 200 gallons per day. The results of the in-
vestigation indicated that the reduction of mineral concen-
trations during travel of the septic tank effluent through
the soil and bedrock aquifer is slight, and most dissolved
solids from septic tank systems reach the streams.
Long Island, New York -
A comprehensive study involving intensive field research of
the effects on ground-water quality of synthetic detergents
and other constituents in effluent discharged by typical in-
dividual sewage disposal systems has been carried out in
Long Island, New York, located in the Coastal Plain Region
of the study area. 56) six home sites were selected for ob-
servation in Nassau and Suffolk Counties, monitoring wells
were installed, and the home owners agreed to fully partici-
pate in the project and cooperate in the use of several
types of detergents. Based on the results of the project,
which was carried out over a period of about five years, the
investigators concluded that individual subsurface disposal
systems provide insufficient treatment of wastes. This con-
dition allows objectionable concentrations of biological and
chemical sewage constituents to reach the water table. Sep-
tic tanks in combination with leaching dry wells and septic
tanks in combination with leaching tile-fields, do not pro-
vide significant improvement in the effluent quality com-
pared to single cesspools. The investigators also found
169
-------
-; 140
12345678
HOUSING DENSITY, IN HUNDREDS OF HOUSES
PER SQUARE MILE
10
Figure 30. Relationship of housing density to residual conductance and
accretion of dissolved solids in base flow of streams,
Ipswich and Shawsheen river basins, Massachusetts '
170
-------
that viable bacteria can pass through the unsaturated soils,
can reach the water table, and can travel downgradient as
part of the waste stream in the aquifer.
In an investigation of nitrate in ground water and streams
in southern Nassau County, the U. S. Geological Survey con-
cluded that the two chief sources of nitrate contamination
of major aquifers in a 180-square mile area were infiltrated
sewage (mostly from several hundred thousand active or aban-
doned cesspools and septic tanks) and leachate from chemical
fertilizers. 5?) Nitrate content of water in the shallow
glacial aquifer, expressed as nitrate ion, averaged 30 mg/1
and in seven places equaled or exceeded 100 mg/1. Nitrate
enriched water has also penetrated hundreds of feet into the
underlying artesian unconsolidated aquifer. The nitrate
content of water from 16 public supply wells screened in
this deeper aquifer zone ranged from 45 to 94 mg/1.
Part of the Nassau County study area was sewered between
1952 and 1964. Nitrate content of ground-water fed streams
averaged 11 and 25 mg/1 in the sewered and unsewered areas
respectively in 1970. The investigators concluded that im-
provement in the quality of chemically deteriorated ground
water after construction of sanitary sewers is a slow proc-
ess that may require several decades for effective natural
dilution and discharge of most of the residual nitrate in
the ground water. Also, a nitrate front in the deeper arte-
sian aquifer, defined as the zone of contact between nitrate-
enriched water and natural water, is moving vertically into
unaffected portions of the aquifer at a rate of 5 to 25 feet
per year, and horizontally at a rate of 130 feet per year.
Tongues of nitrate-enriched ground water may be moving
faster than the average estimated rate in local areas due to
heavy pumping from wells.
Another investigation carried out in the same area of Nassau
County during the period 1966 to 1970 by the U. S. Geologi-
cal Survey involved a determination of the distribution of
MBAS (methylene blue active substances - a detergent con-
stituent) in ground water. 5^) MBAS was found to be widely
distributed in water from the shallow glacial aquifer, but
relatively few analyses of well water showed concentrations
greater than the U. S. Public Health recommended limit of
0.5 mg/1. Presence of MBAS in the deeper artesian aquifer
is not a significant problem. Also, a slight downward trend
in MBAS content during the five-year study period was indi-
cated and may be due to natural dilution after a regional
drought of the early 1960's and the introduction of a more
biodegradable detergent in 1966. In the sewered area, the
presence of residual MBAS in the glacial aquifer, after 10
171
-------
to 20 years of public sewer operation, may be related to a
combination of factors including continued infiltration of
effluent from residual active or abandoned cesspools and
septic tanks, leakage from sanitary sewers, and the slow
rate of recovery in the quality of chemically deteriorated
ground water after sewering.
State of Delaware -
In a 1972 report, John C. Miller of the Delaware Geological
Survey states, "inspection of water analyses on file at the
Delaware Geological Survey revealed that 25 percent of the
shallow (less than 50 feet deep) wells in the state yield
water with nitrate levels above 20 mg/1". 59) This indica-
tion of the potential for widespread ground-water contami-
nation has led to an evaluation of some of the principal
sources of nitrate enrichment of ground water in the state,
including septic tank discharges.
Two suburbanized areas in the coastal plain were chosen for
analysis of potential problems of ground-water quality deg-
radation due to septic tanks. 60) The first area was se-
lected on the basis that it is characterized by an extremely
high water table and poorly-drained soils. In addition,
there had been numerous reports of overflowing septic-tank
systems during rainy periods. For comparison purposes, the
second area selected is underlain by deep, well-drained
soils on uplands. In both areas, homes are situated on one-
quarter to one-half acre lots, each of which has its own
septic tank and shallow well-water system.
The results of the study showed that in the first area of
poorly drained soils, nitrate (as N03) levels averaged 6.9
to 11 mg/1 during the period of sampling. A number of wells
were contaminated by coliform bacteria. In the second area
of well drained soils, nitrate content ranged from 22 to
136 mg/1, and concentrations in water from many wells was
above the recommended U. S. Public Health limit of 45 mg/1.
No wells were found to be contaminated with coliform bac-
teria.
The State investigators concluded that "the standard percola-
tion test is not a suitable means for determination of the
acceptability of a site for septic-tank effluent". Percola-
tion tests in the first area were conducted during dry peri-
ods, and the favorable results led to installation of septic
tanks. After installation, the systems overflowed during
wet periods, and bacteriological contamination of domestic
wells took place because of the introduction of sewage ef-
fluent from the land surface around well casings. On the
172
-------
other hand,_ the ^ movement of the effluent through the fine
soils has minimized the build-up of nitrate concentrations
in the ground water. In the second area, the physical opera-
tion of the septic tanks has been successful because of the
permeable soil sediments, which also apparently filtered out
pathogenic organisms. However, nitrate contamination of
ground water in the area is severe because of the favorable
environment for oxidation of nitrogen compounds and rapid
movement of septic tank and tile-field effluent to the water
table.
Montgomery County, Maryland -
The Montgomery County Health Department has been issuing
permits for septic tanks since 1945 and for wells since 1960.
By 1968, this mostly suburban area had an estimated 15,000
to 16,000 wells and 16,500 to 17,500 septic systems. In or-
der to determine the status of the safety of these systems,
the Health Department conducted a number of housing surveys
in selected portions of the county. Some of the results are
of interest. 61)
Based on these studies, it was estimated that more than
1,000 of the approximately 17,000 septic tanks were malfunc-
tioning or had failed. About 800 wells, more than five per-
cent of the total for the county, were rated as totally un-
fit for drinking water because they are yielding ground
water contaminated from sewage effluent. In 1964, the
county had passed an ordinance requiring grouting all new or
reconstructed wells in order to seal the annular space be-
tween the outer well casing and soil. Basically, the code
called for casing and grouting the wells to a depth of 40
feet or into solid rock. It was concluded that this measure
had not been effective in protecting the safety of well sup-
plies. Contamination of the aquifer from septic tank ef-
fluent eventually led to contamination of the water yielded
from a well tapping the aquifer, whether or not the well was
grouted. The study revealed that the most probable cause of
contaminated well supplies was extensive use of underground
disposal systems in areas underlain by fractured porous
rocks that allowed free passage of sewage effluent to con-
siderable depths in the aquifer. Also, the information ob-
tained indicated that the average life of a septic system
using current design standards may be as short as eight to
ten years.
Northern New England Recreational Areas -
The development of recreational areas in the mountainous re-
173
-------
gions of the northern tier of New England States, namely
Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, has been of concern to
health authorities because of the unsuitability of some of
these areas for installation of either high-capacity single
septic tank systems serving central facilities such as mo-
tels, lodges, and condominiums or the proliferation of indi-
vidual systems serving a growing number of vacation homes.
Topography is rugged, soils are thin, and the bedrock aqui-
fer is highly susceptible to the intrusion and transmission
of pollutants.
These conditions are prevalent at one ski area, where
studies were conducted on the effect of large quantities of
sewage effluent being discharged to a septic tank and leach-
ing field in shallow fill deposits overlying crystalline
bedrock. 62) Laboratory tests were conducted on water sam-
ples taken from test pits and streams draining the area in
which the leaching field was located. They indicated that
certain constituents considered to have an adverse effect on
public health were not being reduced to safe levels within
distances up to 275 feet away. Phosphate and COD values up
to 90 feet away were not appreciably different from those
near the field. It appeared that the sewage effluent was
moving laterally through the soil and was entering surface
streams and perhaps fractures in the bedrock. In order to
alleviate the problem, pretreatment was subsequently pro-
vided for the sewage effluent before discharge to the septic
tank system.
Miscellaneous Effects of Septic Tank Discharges -
As mentioned previously, discharge into septic tanks of
toxic chemicals or salts used for regenerating water soften-
ers can lead to specialized problems of ground-water contam-
ination other than those associated with typical household
wastes. The use of water softeners in Connecticut, for ex-
ample, and the discharge of salts used for regeneration of
home units has been linked to high chloride concentrations
in North Stamford, although it was concluded that the appli-
cation of deicing salts on roadways was the most significant
problem. 63) it was estimated that, based on regeneration
practice in the area, as much as 2,000 pounds of salt are
discharged to a septic tank each year from a home with a
water softener.
Two noteworthy cases of ground-water contamination in Rhode
Island may be indicative of specialized problems in the re-
gion related to septic tanks and cesspools. 64) The first
involved contamination of domestic well water with metal
174
-------
plating wastes, which were being discharged to a septic sys-
tem from a private residence. The owner had been running
the plating operation in his home, and by the time the con-
tamination problem was discovered, the concentration of
nickel in the well water was 11.8 mg/1 and copper 2.28 mg/1.
In the second case, acid, commonly used by cesspool and sep-
tic tank owners to improve the operation of the system, mi-
grated to the domestic well on the same property and notice-
ably affected the taste of the well water.
Future Trends
In spite of their potential for ground-water contamination,
millions of septic tanks will continue to be used in the re-
gion, and their overall numbers may increase over at least
the next decade. The reasons for this situation include:
1. The lack of other acceptable alternatives for domestic
waste disposal in unsewered areas where septic tanks are
correctly installed and adequately maintained and where
geologic and hydrologic conditions are favorable.
2. Existing limitations on local, state, and federal bud-
gets which prevent installation of public sewers to meet
waste disposal needs of expanding suburban communities.
3. New environmental criteria calling for the upgrading of
community sewage treatment plants. This slows down the
expansion of these central systems into unsewered areas.
4. The continued resistence by residents in many parts of
the study region to approve the large expenditures neces-
sary for conversion from complete dependence upon on-
site disposal systems to sewered communities.
5. The long time period required for a public system to be-
come fully operational, even in areas where the density
of housing and problems of ground-water contamination
have justified to all concerned the need for conversion
to collecting sewers and treatment plants.
Therefore, the need for improved methods of design and con-
trol of septic tank installations is obvious. A number of
variations of traditional on-site disposal systems have been
proposed or are being used in various parts of the United
States. One example is the aerobic tank in which air is in-
troduced and bubbled through the sewage to maintain aerobic
rather than septic conditions for more efficient treatment
of the waste. Some of these units also have mechanical fil-
ters. Another approach is the use of incinerator toilets or
175
-------
privies that have been proposed for areas particularly sen-
sitive to contamination from septic tanks, such as lakefront
lots. The principal drawback to these systems for single
homes is the need for periodic mechanical maintenance and
the comparatively high initial cost. Artificial mounds of
soil or sand and gravel have been employed in areas where
natural conditions are not suitable for an underground sep-
tic tank and tile field. However, the entire system, in-
cluding the mound itself and leaching field, must be design-
ed very carefully.
Probably the best approach to limiting future problems is
better governmental control and planning. Zoning and land-
use planning in areas where septic tanks will be required
should be based on a thorough understanding of regional
variations in topography, soils, aquifer characteristics,
and recharge and discharge relationships involving ground
water and surface water. An initial study in a particular
region leading to recommendations on planning procedures
and guidelines for on-site waste disposal facilities will be
expensive and create political controversey but would be the
most environmentally sound approach and could prevent errors
that might be even more costly and controversial over the
long term. Research is needed to develop the tools that can
be used for decision making related to septic-tank feasi-
bility and density. In this way, ground-water quality can
be better protected.
Some methods have been developed and applied to septic-tank
usage that illustrate the type of approach recommended above.
The Water Resources Center of the University of Delaware,
supported by funds from the U. S. Department of Interior,
Office of Water Resources Research, has used a computerized
technique to categorize land areas in the Christina River
Basin into site classes on the basis of a common relation-
ship to the water regimen. 65) A site's vulnerability to
development is indicated by the cost of the measures neces-
sary to protect water resources while still permitting de-
velopment. One of the parameters used in the study was con-
trol of pollution from septic tanks. Sites were classified,
for example, according to those areas where septic tanks
should be banned on less than one acre, where septic tanks
would be allowed only if public water supply was available,
and where only single home aerobic sewage-treatment systems
would be permitted.
Another approach employed in Connecticut by a Geology-Soil
Task Force, consisting of representatives from state and
federal agencies, involves a master-mapping technique in
which as much natural resource information as possible is
176
-------
applied to a land-use problem, such as where to allow a par-
ticular density of septic tanks. 66) Soil characteristics,
water-table elevations, rock types, slopes, etc., are mapped
separately for the particular region in question. Guide-
lines, such as required depth to the water table, are formu-
lated. These determine whether a particular piece of prop-
erty or group of properties would be acceptable for the pro-
posed density of septic tanks. The resource data for the
region is collated on a single map, and those areas that
meet all of the parameters set by the management guidelines
can then be considered for additional on-site investigation.
Of course, codes, regulations and permit requirements are
already in force in much of the region on a state and local
basis. Strengthening the enforcement of proper sanitation
practices undoubtedly would help to reduce the number of
ground-water contamination problems. The need for this type
of action plus educational programs for installers, devel-
opers, public officials, and planners was pointed out in a
survey of septic-tank system installation practices in Con-
necticut. 67) This study by the Agricultural Engineering
Department at the University of Connecticut showed that a
wide variety of specifications were being followed by in-
stallers in the same general area including publications
from the Federal Housing Administration, State Health Depart-
ment, and U. S. Public Health Service; recommendations by
local health officers; and instructions from consulting en-
gineers.
The ban of certain types of pollutants that are discharged
into septic tanks has also been tried in the region as a
means for ground-water quality protection. The prime exam-
ple is the Suffolk County, New York, ordinance passed in
November of 1970 which prohibits the sale (but not the use)
of laundry and manual dishwashing detergents containing
alkyl benzine sulfonate (ABS), linear alkylate sulfonate
(LAS), alcohol sulfate, and any other surface active agent
which can be detected by the methylene blue (MBAS) test pro-
cedure. In effect, the ban removed virtually every brand-
name detergent, all of them biodegradable, from stores in
the County. Justification for the ban was linked directly
to the need to protect the quality of ground water from fur-
ther degradation by septic-tank effluent. This action came
about only a few years after the detergent industry had
spent in excess of $150 million to make its products bio-
degradable. 68)
Controversy over septic tanks, and their effects on ground-
water quality will continue in the region for the foresee-
able future. Hopefully, out of this controversy will come a
177
-------
more scientific and technical approach to the design and use
of on-site waste disposal systems resulting in less of an
impact of septic systems on ground-water quality.
BURIED PIPELINES AND STORAGE TANKS
Pollutants from leaky and ruptured buried pipes, sewer lines,
and storage tanks can directly enter and contaminate aqui-
fers. Within the study region, the principal pollutants
from these sources are sewage, storm water, and petroleum
products. Chemicals used in industrial processes have also
been reported in a number of ground-water contamination'
cases.
Exfiltration and infiltration occurring in sanitary and
storm sewers is a recognized engineering phenomenon. Where
the system originally was poorly designed and improperly in-
stalled or where the pipelines are old and in disrepair,
leakage of substantial quantities of poor-quality water into
the soil system can take place, eventually leading to con-
tamination of an aquifer. Storm sewers are especially sub-
ject to exfiltration because joints are normally not com-
pletely sealed against leakage. A comparison of the levels
of selected constituents in street runoff and raw sanitary
sewage is given in Table 28. As indicated by the table, the
pollutional loads from both sources can be substantial.
Thousands of miles of sanitary and storm sewers exist in the
study region.
Petroleum and petroleum products are contained in hundreds
of miles of transmission pipelines throughout the region and
in thousands of home fuel and gasoline station tanks. In-
terstate and some intrastate transportation pipelines are
regulated, but they are still subject to accidental rupture
and external corrosion.
Details on the number of cases of ground-water contamination
due to leakage from buried tanks and pipes that occur in the
region each year are not available. However, Maryland alone
had over 60 cases recorded by county health departments and
the Maryland Department of Water Resources in 1969-1970. 70)
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources esti-
mates that 2,600 new or replacement subsurface storage tanks
are buried in the ground in that state each year. 71) if
those replaced have failed, then the product originally con-
tained had been lost to the ground.
If a leak of gasoline, oil, or a chemical fluid occurs in
the soil zone above the water table, the liquid pollutant
will either remain in the vicinity of the leak, move within
178
-------
Table 28. COMPARISON OF POLLUTIONAL LOADS FROM HYPOTHETICAL
CITY-STREET RUNOFF VERSUS RAW SANITARY SEWAGE. 69)
Settable +
Suspended Solids "'
BODb)
CODb)
Total Col i form
Contaminant
loads in sur-
face runoff
from streets
(Ib/hr) a)
560,000
5,600
13,000
40 x 1012
Raw sanitary
(mg/l)
300
250
270
250 x 106
sewage
(Ib/hr) c)
1,300
1,100
1,200
4.6 x 1014
Bacteria
Organisms/hour Organisms/liter Organisms/hour
Kjeldahl Nitrogen b)
Phosphates
Zinc
Copper
Lead
Nickel
Mercury
Chromium
880
440
260
80
230
20
29
44
50
12
0.20
0.04
0.03
0.01
0.07
0.04
210
50
0.84
0.17
0.13
0.042
0.27
0.17
a) During first hour of a storm.
b) Weighted averages by land use, all others from numerical mean.
c) Loading discharged to receiving waters (average hourly rate).
179
-------
the backfill in the trench or excavation, or migrate down-
ward through the natural soil under the influence of gravity.
The actual route and rate of travel taken by the pollutant
depends on several factors including the volume of fluid re-
leased, the comparative permeabilities of the soil materials
in the vicinity of the excavation, and the density, viscos-
ity, and miscibility of the liquid. If enough of the fluid
enters the soil system so that it is not completely exhaust-
ed by adsorption on soil particles, the pollutant eventually
may reach the water table and if miscible with water, extend
into the saturated zone. Subsequent rainfall can drive the
pollutants that are coating the soil particles down to the
saturated zone and add to the contamination of the water-
table aquifer.
The above is a very simplified description of the mechanisms
involved in contamination from buried tanks and pipelines.
Considerable technical literature has been written on the
most common type of pollutant, petroleum products. Espe-
cially valuable for general reference are those that de-
scribe research carried out in Europe. 10* 72 through 75)
Case Histories
So few case histories involving leakage of contaminants from
buried tanks and pipelines have appeared in United States
literature that it is worthwhile to describe in some detail
selected occurrences that have been recorded in the north-
east. These are outlined below.
Kings County, New York -
Leakage from sewers may be a principal source of the nitrate
and total nitrogen in the ground water of Kings County, Long
Island, New York, according to a recent study by the U. S.
Geological Survey. 76) At the present time, the County is
served by a dense network of sanitary and storm sewers;
about 1,700 miles of common sewer lines as of 1962. The
area is highly urbanized, and other potential sources of
nitrate contamination such as agricultural activities and
domestic water-disposal systems are lacking. Sewerage began
in the northwestern part of the County in about 1850, and
1,300 miles of the sewer lines are more than 40 years old.
Total leakage is estimated to be very high and actually may
represent a significant source of artificial recharge to the
ground-water system in the county. Total nitrogen content
in water from key monitoring wells in the unconsolidated
water-table aquifer ranges from about five mg/1 to 30 mg/1.
180
-------
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania -
The Ground-Water Section, Division of Water Quality, of the
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources has con-
ducted two interesting investigations of pipeline leaks in
the Mechanicsburg area of Hampden Township, Cumberland
County. The first involves a sewage-line break and the
second, leakage of gasoline from petroleum transmission
pipelines. The area is located in a gently rolling lime-
stone valley with approximately 10 feet of relief. The wa-
ter table is very near the land surface and is extremely re-
sponsive to rainfall conditions. Ground water is contained
in joints, fractures, and solution cavities of the limestone
aquifer.
Sewer line break - 77)
In September 1968, the operator of a sewage treatment plant
in the area noted a drop in the normal flow entering the
facility. Investigation revealed that about 350,000 gallons
of raw sewage had apparently been lost to the limestone
aquifer through a rupture in a 15-inch diameter trunk line.
The break in the sewer was attributed to an abnormally high
rainfall, which had led to an increase in hydraulic pressure
on the line.
Water samples were collected from private and commerical
wells in the area and four pounds of Fluorescein dye was in-
jected into the ground at the location of the break to serve
as a tracer. Two days after the dye was injected, it was
detected in a well three-quarters of a mile northwest of the
break. Three to five days after the break had occurred, dye
was detected in an additional 12 wells approximately one and
one-half miles northwest. In many of the wells in which dye
was detected, coliform bacteria counts were high on the
first day of sampling but decreased with time, indicating
that the main body of the raw sewage had passed through the
area. In the portion of the aquifer affected by the pollu-
tant, individual wells yielded water containing coliform
organisms with a median value as high as 163 per 100 ml.
Repairs to the sewer line were carried out and about 50
pounds of chlorine were flushed into the break site.
Gasoline pipeline break - 16,78)
In February 1969, a local businessman drilling an illegal
drainage well for a parking lot discovered gasoline in the
ground water underlying his property. The site is located
near three petroleum product storage tank farms and two
product transmission lines. After being informed of the
181
-------
condition, one of the pipeline companies pumped 55,000 gal-
lons of gasoline out of the well in about one month.
In June 1969, the State Highway Department encountered gaso-
line in borings for bridge foundations. Further investiga-
tion, including the drilling of observation and gasoline re-
moval wells and the use of a truck-mounted gas chromatograph
which analyzed soil vapor samples taken from the upper two
feet of the soil mantle, revealed that a layer of gasoline
was floating on the water table in an area of about one-
third square mile. The thickness of the gasoline layer was
found to be as much as seven feet. Initial removal rate of
gasoline was as high as 1,800 gallons per day from a single
well. Between February 1969 and July 1971, 216,000 gallons
of gasoline were pumped from about 40 wells in the area, in
the two and one-half year period, the maximum measurable
thickness of gasoline in wells shrank to less than one foot
and the maximum rate of removal from any single well declin-
ed to 100 gallons per day.
One of the major problems encountered in the clean-up opera-
tion has been the fluctuation in the level of the water
table. High water-table conditions caused by heavy rainfall
periods have forced gasoline and gasoline vapors into base-
ments of buildings. Also, abnormal rises in the water table
can temporarily float the gasoline above the intakes of re-
moval wells.
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania - 42)
In this case, a transmission pipeline leak caused an esti-
mated 80,000 gallons of gasoline to enter the ground water
and contaminate wells in the area. In July 1971, gasoline
was observed in a 60-foot deep well and in August of the
same year in a 247-foot well, both tapping a limestone aqui-
fer. Pumping the affected wells to waste over a period of
one year proved to be no longer useful in removing the gaso-
line after approximately 45,000 gallons had been recovered.
The pipeline company then proposed use of natural biological
agents to break down the remaining 35,000 gallons of gaso-
line, and this experiment has been approved by the regula-
tory agency involved.
The system consists of 24 wells into which 10 tons of nitro-
gen and 10 tons of phosphate will be injected as nutrients
over a period of five months. Air will also be injected in-
to the wells at a rate of 2.5 to 3.5 cubic feet per minute,
in order to maintain aerobic conditions in the aquifer.
The project will be carefully monitored to determine the
182
-------
success of this method for removing fractions of hydrocar-
bons that cannot be recovered through the use of wells,
trenches, and other skimming procedures. The project is un-
derway, but results are not yet available.
Tabulation of Case Histories -
Cases of ground-water contamination from leaky and ruptured
buried pipelines and tanks were found in all of the 11
states included in this investigation. Unfortunately, very
few have been studied in detail but a review of about 50 of
the better documented cases reveals again that petroleum and
petroleum products are the most common complaint. Sources
of petroleum contamination from buried tanks included gaso-
line stations, commercial facilities and homes heated with
fuel oil, fuel storage areas, and industrial plants. Most
of the problems recorded were local in nature, for example,
affecting five or six domestic wells in the vicinity of a
gasoline station. However, others were more regional in na-
ture, as in an area of Connecticut where the shallow aquifer
along a five-mile stretch of a tributary to the Housatonic
River reportedly is contaminated with hydrocarbons and chem-
icals, presumably from leaky gasoline station, home fuel oil,
and industrial tanks. 79)
The effect on ground-water supplies caused by a leak from a
home heating oil tank is illustrated by a case in New York
State. The pollutant penetrated 20 feet of overburden and
moved 700 feet through a dolomite aquifer, contaminating wa-
ter from a 100-foot deep domestic well. A new well was
drilled 150 feet away from the affected well, and within one
month after start of pumping, the second well was abandoned
because of oil in the water. It took three years for the
body of oil to dissipate enough so that the second well
could be used for domestic supply. 30)
A number of cases have been reported where wells have been
affected by leaky sewers and industrial pipeline systems
transporting chemical fluids. In Camden, New Jersey, at
least one public-supply well, yielding a million gallons per
day and tapping shallow coastal plain deposits, has been
shut down because of high levels of chromium in the water. 80)
The source of the problem is apparently due to leakage from
municipal sewers in the general area that carry a heavy load
of industrial wastes. In upstate New York, a pipeline carry-
ing natural brine from the source to the location of the in-
dustrial plant where it is used for processing leaked peri-
odically for many years. 81) The industry has had to re-
place many dug wells along the pipeline route with deeper
wells.
183
-------
Methods used for the control and solution of problems caused
by leakage from tanks and pipelines have been only partially
successful, especially with regard to hydrocarbons. Repairs
to the source of contamination, of course, are immediately
undertaken, but in a number of cases, it was not possible to
detect the source. Flushing the area with water has been
reported as a method for attempting to dilute the pollutant
in the shallow aquifer zone; ruptured tanks have been dug
out, and to prevent future problems, clay barriers have been
installed in the excavation before a replacement tank was
buried; and trenches and wells for skimming have been dug
to remove hydrocarbons from the water table. Nevertheless,
well owners in some areas of the region report that taste
and odor problems from petroleum contamination of aquifers
have existed for 20 to 25 years, in spite of all abatement
efforts.
Future Trends
As in the case of spills, a certain proportion of ruptures,
breaks, and leaks in buried tanks and pipelines is unavoid-
able, and contamination of ground waters near such facili-
ties will be a continuing problem. Leakage from sanitary
and storm sewers will continue because so many of these
systems are old. It is doubtful that a major portion of the
old leaky sewers will be replaced in the foreseeable future.
Thus, even though the materials used and today's design and
installation practices for new sewers have improved greatly,
this source of ground-water contamination will remain an im-
portant factor to be considered in decisions regarding the
siting and construction of water wells.
Much more promising from the standpoint of ground-water pro-
tection is the greater scrutiny by public agencies of major
petroleum pipeline projects because of new environmental
laws. Before the pipeline is constructed, codes and regula-
tions call for consideration of factors involving design and
management of the system related to possible effects of
leaks on the underlying aquifers. For example, an oil pipe-
line recently authorized in .Long Island, New York, that
crosses important aquifers in the region, was equipped with
special valving and all connections were carefully inspected
when installed in order to minimize leakage from breaks or
failures that might occur. Public-supply and domestic wells
were mapped along the route to determine the sensitivity of
water supplies to possible contamination. The flow of fuel
oil through the line is carefully monitored so that losses
in product can be quickly discovered, and an emergency pro-
gram has been developed for containment and clean-up in the
event of a leak. 82)
184
-------
Concern for the environment undoubtedly will lead to better
protection of pipelines and tanks from corrosion, and the
use of materials such as clay and tar to line excavations
for tanks and even pipelines where leakage might affect
nearby water wells. Most of these efforts are presently di-
rected toward minimizing the possibility of fire or explo-
sion or the escape of toxic substances. However, the need
for protecting ground-water resources is becoming better
recognized in the region because of the growing number of
cases of contamination of water wells from hydrocarbons re-
ported to state agencies each year.
Research is most needed in developing new methods for remov-
ing hydrocarbons from the ground-water reservoir. Abatement
by pumping or ditching is widely used and only partially ef-
fective. However, other means for cleaning up petroleum
contaminated soils and aquifers have been suggested that
should be further investigated. They include water-flooding
techniques to better control and collect the body of fluid
for more efficient removal; biodegradation of hydrocarbons
by aerobic and/or anaerobic bacteria; and the use of chem-
icals to precipitate or immobilize the pollutant.
APPLICATION AND STORAGE OF HIGHWAY DEICING SALTS
In those states that have colder climates and lie within the
snow belt of the northeast region, road maintenance during
the winter months is a major problem, especially in the
densely populated, industrial-urban areas. The need for un-
impeded vehicular travel on highways has led to increased
use of sodium and calcium chloride by state and local agen-
cies in coping with winter storms. Salt has become popular
as a means of snow and ice removal because of its ease of
handling as compared to such abrasives as sand and cinders,
its efficiency in providing a "bare" pavement, and its rela-
tively low cost. In fact, sodium chloride, or rock salt, is
the least expensive of all deicing chemicals (costing about
one-third as much as calcium chloride) and, therefore, is
purchased in the greatest volume by state, county, and mu-
nicipal agencies in the region. 83)
Table 29 gives the estimated quantities of sodium chloride
and calcium chloride used by state highway departments and
the application rate for eight of the 11 states in region
for the winter season of 1965-66. Total use of deicing
salts in all eleven states for the winter period of 1966-67
is estimated at close to two million tons. 35)
The large amount of salt used and the quantities of these
soluble inorganic compounds applied per lane mile year after
185
-------
Table 29. QUANTITIES OF SODIUM AND CALCIUM CHLORIDE USE AND THE
APPLICATION RATE PER SINGLE-LANE MILE FOR THE WINTER SEA-
SON OF 1965-66. 84)
State
Connecticut
Delaware
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Vermont
Calcium
Chloride
(tons)
8,000
820
465
5,855
540
3,195
3,900
500
Sodium
Chloride
(tons)
74,600
2,770
44,893
120,304
82, 737
17,495
245,300
83,122
Quantity Applied
(tons/single-lane mile)
8.98
4.48
6.82
20.70
11.95
3.33
7.50
18.22
Note; All figures represent use by State Highway Departments only.
186
-------
year (more than 20 tons per lane mile per year for Massa-
chusetts, for example, with an eight-fold increase in total
salt applied between 1954 and 1971) should have an impact on
both surface-water and ground-water quality. 85) Runoff
from road surfaces eventually finds its way into streams and
rivers within the drainage basin occupied by the highway or
percolates into the soils adjacent to the highway. The so-
dium, calcium, and chloride ions in the soil can be carried
down to the water table by the runoff water itself or during
periods of recharge from rainfall. Contaminated water can
then move through the saturated zone until it is discharged
into a surface water body, has leaked into an adjacent aqui-
fer, or is pumped from a well. Although sodium and chloride
ions can both move through the unsaturated and saturated
zones, the former is more attracted chemically to various
types of soils. This characteristic accounts for the rela-
tively higher ratio of chloride to sodium encountered in
contaminated ground water than normally found in surface
water receiving direct runoff of salt-laden waters.
Another source of ground-water contamination related to
salts used for highway deicing is storage of this material
in piles at central distribution points. There are well
over a thousand such storage sites throughout the study re-
gion, based on conversations with highway officials, and in
the fall, each holds from several hundred to several thou-
sand tons of salt. The low solubility of rock salt permits
outside storage over relatively long periods of time without
hard caking or noticeable loss in volume. Thus, many such
salt piles are left uncovered on open land. This condition
is especially common where the salt has been mixed with sand,
resulting in a large volume of stored material that would
require an expensive structure if the pile were to be
sheltered.
Rain falling on the stockpile dissolves a portion of the
salts and can carry them into the ground-water system. Typ-
ically, salt-spreading trucks are washed at such storage
areas, and infiltration into the ground of the resulting
brine solution can aggravate the contamination problem. In
some cases, drainage from salt piles and wash areas is col-
lected and fed into dry wells. Thus, the pollutant is in-
troduced directly into the geologic formation underlying the
site.
The principal hazard of road salts contaminating water sup-
plies is the potential for exceeding established public
health standards for chloride concentrations. The U. S.
Public Health Service Drinking Water Standards of 1962 sets
a maximum limit of 250 mg/1 for chloride, where more suit-
187
-------
able supplies are or can be made available. This stand-
ard also is adherred to by the various state health agencies
in the region. If other water sources are not available,
concentrations' of up to 500 mg/1 are generally tolerated.
In addition, medical authorities have recommended against
the use of waters containing more than 20 mg/1 of sodium for
patients with heart disease, hypertension, renal disease,
and cirrhosis, as well as for many pregnant women. 86)
These potential health problems have led at least two states
in the region, Connecticut and New Jersey, to adopt a limit
for sodium of 20 and 50 mg/1 respectively, as a standard not
to be exceeded if better quality water is available. 87,88)
Other hazards include the possible corrosion of well casings,
screens, and pumps. Also, substances have been added to de-
icing salts to prevent caking and to inhibit corrosion. For
example, sodium ferrocyanide has been added to deicing salts
to prevent caking. 84) Not enough is known about the solu-
bility or toxicity of the additives nor their fate in the
soil and ground-water system to comment further. Detailed
chemical analyses to determine whether such additives are
present in ground water contaminated by deicing salts should
be incorporated into future research studies.
Some controversy has existed over the importance of highway
deicing salts as a cause of increasing chlorides in ground
waters of the northeast states. The controversy exists be-
cause there are many other sources that can contribute to
rising levels of concentration of this ion in the subsurface
environment. These other sources include septic tanks and
cesspools, water softener regeneration, leaky sanitary sew-
ers, landfills, air pollution, and ocean spray. Even
drought conditions can lead to temporary increases in min-
eralization of ground water because of the reduced amount of
fresh-water recharge during such periods. The pollutant can
be concentrated in the soil zone during an extended dry
period and then later carried to the water table in high
concentrations during the initial periods of normal or above
normal rainfall.
However, enough research has been conducted on this problem
to at least establish a relationship between highway deicing
salt and ground-water contamination. For example, F. E.
Hutchinson of the University of Maine has studied environ-
mental effects caused by an average annual application rate
of 25 tons of sodium chloride to each mile of paved highway
in Maine. 89) During the period 1967-69, water from approx-
imately 100 wells was sampled at random locations along ma-
jor highways. Although natural chloride concentrations from
188
-------
the various aquifers in Maine are normally less than 20 mg/1
(see Table 14), the three-year average April chloride con-
tent of water from the sampled wells was 171 mg/1. About
one-fifth of the wells yielded water exceeding the 250 mg/1
chloride standard. Average distance from the roadway for
all wells was 40 feet, with an average of 24 feet for those
wells containing water with concentrations of chloride in
excess of 250 mg/1 average. The highest concentration of
sodium encountered was 846 mg/1 and for chloride was 3,150
mg/1. The level of contamination for almost all wells each
year was less in August than in April, which is the month of
greatest snow melt and runoff from the roadways.
Hutchinson also participated in research on sodium and chlo-
ride ion levels in the soils bordering major highways. 90'
The findings of this investigation at 27 sites revealed that
levels of these ions were greatest both nearest to the road-
ways and where salting had been practiced for the longest
period of time. At one site, along the edge of a road em-
bankment, sodium sampled before the highway was opened in-
creased nearly five fold to 235 mg/1 after only one season
of salting.
Considerable research has been carried out and is still un-
derway in Massachusetts regarding the environmental effects
of road salt application and storage. In one recent study
by Arthur D. Little, Inc., for that State's legislature, a
correlation has been noted between the upward trend in use
of road salts and the rising chloride levels in ground-water
supplies during the same period. 86) Figure 31 shows this
correlation.
Of course, increased activity involving other potential
sources of contamination is probably contributing to rising
levels of chloride concentrations, but the report concludes
that deicing salts are the major cause. This theory is sup-
ported by a case of ground-water contamination in Burling-
ton, Massachusetts, where the U. S. Geological Survey
studied the potential causes of a problem of rising chloride
levels in that Town's well supply. 91) jn 1949, a suction-
well system of 70 shallow wells tapping glacial sands and
gravels was installed about 3,500 feet from a major highway,
which was opened the same year. In 1961, when the Burling-
ton Town Highway Department began storing salt, uncovered
and approximately 400 feet from the well field, the chloride
content of water from the wells averaged about 15 mg/1. AS
noted on Figure 32, the chloride concentration began to rise
at a relatively rapid rate by 1963. In spite of such reme-
dial measures as sheltering the salt pile from rain water in
1968 and banning the use of deicing chemicals on Town
189
-------
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
INDEX: 1955 = 100
— TOTAL CHLORIDES APPLIED TO HIGHWAYS BY MASS. DEPT. OF PUBLIC WORKS
.— AVERAGE CHLORIDES IN GROUND-WATER 5-20 MILES FROM COAST
AVERAGE CHLORIDES IN GROUND-WATER 20-36 MILES FROM COAST
AVERAGE CHLORIDES IN GROUND-WATER 57-IOO MILES FROM COAST
I I
I I I I I I
1955
I960
1965
1970
Figure 31. Index of increases in salt applied to Massachusetts state highways and
chloride levels in ground-water sources, 1955-1971 °°)
190
-------
400
LJ
S 300
K
S2 200
J '00
g
a
a
5 o
Q O
-I a:
u
ZOOO
1955
I960
1965
1970
Figure 32. Chloride concentration in samples from main pumping station in
Burlington, Massachusetts °°>
-------
streets in 1970, the concentration of chloride reached a
peak level of 283 mg/1 in 1970 and was still at a level of
over 100 mg/1 in late 1971.
The U. S. Geological Survey developed a "salt-budget" for
the Burlington well field area and, taking into account such
factors as time of travel of contaminated ground water, rain-
fall effects, and the various activities in the river basin,
tabulated the estimated importance of the various sources of
contamination. Table 30 shows that, according to the esti-
mate, 85 percent of the contamination, as of 1971, was re-
lated to highway salts and only 15 percent to other sources.
Case Histories
Additional supporting evidence of the relationship between
highway deicing salts and ground-water contamination has
been developed in this investigation based on data from the
files of public health agencies and other environmental or-
ganizations working in the region. Information from select-
ed case histories of those inventoried is given below.
As mentioned previously, a number of areas in the northeast
have experienced a rise in chloride concentrations in water
from municipal, industrial, and domestic wells. In some, as
in Massachusetts discussed above, enough regional analysis
has been made to indicate that the problem is related prin-
cipally to highway deicing salts. In others, this source is
suspected, but not enough data has been collected to pin-
point specific salt storage areas or road salting practices
as the prime reason for ground-water contamination. For ex-
ample, in many of the glacial sand and gravel aquifers of
northern New Jersey, long-term records of the quality of
water from a number of municipal wells have shown a gradual
but significant trend of increasing chloride concentra-
tions. 92,93) Some of these systems operated for decades
with no indication of contamination but, starting in the
early 1960's, chlorides began to rise in the well waters,
and if the present rate of increase continues for another
decade, many wells will be yielding water that exceeds 250
mg/1 of chloride and that also contains high levels of so-
dium. Similar conditions were frequently cited within the
course of this investigation by community sanitarians,
county and state health authorities, and well drilling con-
tractors, throughout the northern tier of states.
In addition, data on a number of specific and documented
cases of ground-water contamination caused by storage or ap-
plication of deicing salts were obtained and information on
34 of these is tabulated in Table 31. Those shown were
192
-------
Table 30. SOURCES OF SALT CONTAMINATION OF THE BURLINGTON,
MASSACHUSETTS WELL FIELD, 1971. 86)
1. Highway Salt:
(a) Used by the Town of Burlington (including storage
and application to roads)
(b) Applied by Massachusetts Department of Public
Works
(c) Applied by Town of Lexington (42 percent of
which lies in same drainage basin as the well
field)
40 percent
30 percent
15 percent
Sub Total: 85 percent
2. Septic Tanks and Industrial Contamination:
percent
Total:
100 percent
193
-------
Table 31. SUMMARY OF DATA ON 34 SELECTED CONTAMINATION CASES
RELATED TO DEICING SALTS.
Type of problem
Maximum observed chloride concentration
100 to 250 mg/l
250 to 500 mg/l
More than 500 mg/l
Principal aquifer affected
Unconsolidated deposits
Sedimentary rocks
Crystalline rock
Observed distance traveled by pollutant
Less than 100 feet
100 to 1,000 feet
More than 1,000 feet
Unknown or not reported
Maximum observed depth penetrated by pollutant
Less than 30 feet
30 to 100 feet
More than 100 feet
Unknown or not reported
Action taken regarding source of contamination
Road salting banned or modified
Drainage modified
Salt storage pile removed
Salt storage pile enclosed
No known action
Action taken regarding ground-water resource
Water supply well(s) abandoned
No known action
Road
salting
3
5
3
6
0
5
4
3
1
3
3
3
3
2
2
2
Salt storage
piles
4
7
12
11
4
8
3
9
6
5
2
10
7
4
6
5
2
10
5
6
10
13
194
-------
selected on the basis of the reliability and the amount of
the data provided.
As indicated by the table, in a large percentage of the
cases that actually came to the attention of regulatory
agencies and, thus, are recorded, chloride concentrations
are greater than 500 mg/1. For some of those cases listed,
especially where salt storage piles were involved, chlorides
exceeded 2,000 mg/1 and sodium exceeded 100 mg/1.
Of interest is the fact that in most instances for which
long-term records are available, chloride concentrations in
the water from affected wells show seasonal fluctuations
with the highest levels in early spring and the lowest
levels in late fall. Bodies of contaminated water, which
may have been introduced into the ground the same year or
many years before, arrive at a pumping well as separate salt-
water fronts. This condition temporarily raises the chlo-
ride concentration, which then declines somewhat until a new
front arrives about a year later. This surging phenomenon
in chloride content relates to the periods of maximum and
minimum runoff and infiltration of salt-laden waters. Fig-
ure 32 illustrates the typical peak and trough character re-
ferred to and also the normal, overall rising trend in chlo-
ride concentration from year to year.
Studies by the U. S. Geological Survey at one Massachusetts
site have indicated that salt water has moved through uncon-
solidated glacial deposits at a rate of about 200 feet per
year from a salt storage pile to a municipal well 1,000 feet
away. 9D Therefore, it takes more than five years for con-
taminated water infiltrated into the ground at the source to
reach the well. At another site, it is estimated that the
minimum period is six to twelve months, from the time of ap-
plication of deicing chemicals to the highway to the appear-
ance of contaminated water in the affected well. It should
be noted that considerably more time is required than often
appreciated for ground-water quality damaged by salt water
to be restored to an acceptable condition after a remedial
action, such as removal of a salt storage pile, has been
taken. Pumping to waste, in order to reduce the volume of
contaminated water in the aquifer, is a frequently used
method for recovering use of a production well. However,
the operator is rarely equipped with enough hydrologic in-
formation to be able to estimate how long and at what rate
the well must be pumped before chloride concentrations will
show a. significant decline.
Another problem that becomes obvious in the review of case
histories is the difficulty in replacing wells abandoned be-
.195
-------
cause of extreme contamination. After the pollutant has ar-
rived at a domestic supply well or has moved into a munici-
pal well field, an attempt generally is made to drill the
existing wells deeper, especially when the aquifer consists
of crystalline or sedimentary rocks. Another procedure is
to move farther away from the suspected source of contami-
nation and construct new wells on the same property. Be-
cause chlorides are not considered toxic, casing off the af-
fected aquifer zone or moving away from the source but tap-
ping the same formation are accepted as reasonable risks.
However, even though initial chloride concentrations at
greater depths or at new locations are low, the salty ground-
water body is still present and may be within the influence
of pumping of new wells. Ultimately, they too may have to
be abandoned.
This situation is illustrated by a case in Freeport, Maine,
where a 185-foot deep domestic well was contaminated by de-
icing salts from an uncovered storage pile and, to some de-
gree, by salt applied to an interstate highway adjacent to
the storage area. 94) when this well, which was 700 feet
from the salt pile, was abandoned because chloride content
reached 600 mg/1, a second well was drilled into the crystal-
line rock aquifer, 300 feet farther from both the salt pile
and the highway. Initial chloride concentration of water
from the new well was 50 mg/1, but within four months, it
had risen to 2,000 mg/1. The limited size of the property
available (which is a typical problem in finding new well
locations in such situations) prevented moving the new well
any more than the 300 feet.
In another situation in southeast Connecticut, a site was
chosen, based on an extensive test-drilling program, for de-
velopment of a future municipal well field. 31) During the
initial testing in 1968, chlorides in water from test-pro-
duction wells installed on the property ranged from 12 to 36
mg/1. Two years later, a gasoline leak from an underground
storage tank in a nearby automobile service station was re-
ported, and as a matter of routine, the city resampled the
test-production wells, which were screened in glacial sand
and gravel deposits. No hydrocarbons were found but chlo-
rides had risen to almost 400 mg/1.
Investigation into the problem revealed that a salt storage
area was located about 1,000 feet from the wells. All run-
off from a salt pile and from truck washing operations had
been drained into a series of dry wells over a 10-year peri-
od from 1955, when the facility was constructed, until 1965
when the salt pile was covered and the drainage system was
converted to a concrete pipeline carrying the waste water
196
-------
away from the property. A water sample taken from a rock
well used at the storage area also showed contamination,
with a chloride content of 1,100 mg/1. Additional testing
and pumping at the proposed well field indicated that almost
the entire property was underlain by salty ground water.
Not enough area was available to find new sites on the same
piece of property or on adjacent properties to move far
enough away from the existing problem. The proposed well
field, capable of producing several million gallons of water
per day, was abandoned.
In all of the cases used in the preparation of Table 31, wa-
ter supply-wells had been affected. It should be noted that
in many of these instances, the pollutant had traveled
several thousand feet from the source to the affected well
and had penetrated to depths of more than 100 feet, actually
to almost 400 feet in a few wells. Most of the deeper wells
tap crystalline rocks, which are particularly susceptible to
relatively rapid movement of the pollutant through fracture
zones and bedding planes with little chance for dispersion
and dilution.
With regard to the action taken once the problem is discov-
ered, little can be done if one or two domestic wells have
been affected adjacent to a major highway because of the ap-
plication of deicing salts to the roadway. However, if a
problem of regional magnitude has come to the attention of
authorities, a reduction in the amount of salt applied has
been implemented and actual bans on deicing salts on a city-
wide basis have been put into effect, at least temporarily,
for a number of municipalities in the northeast.
Very often, if road salting or salt storage areas are pin-
pointed as a source of contamination, drainage in the area
is modified as a partial solution to the problem. This pro-
cedure normally takes the form of collecting and piping the
salty water away from the suspected ground-water intake
area, often directly into a nearby surface-water body. In
many cases, where contamination from a salt pile has af-
fected a school well or municipal water supply, the stored
salt is removed because it is much simpler and less costly
than abandoning the well system. If this action occurs be-
fore gross contamination of a large portion of the aquifer
has taken place, the wells may slowly recover. Salt storage
piles also have been enclosed by a shed and the area paved
to prevent infiltration of the salt-contaminated water. Al-
though many of the states and municipalities in the region
have begun a program to shelter salt storage piles, this
process will take a long time to effectively accomplish be-
cause of the high cost and the large number of existing sites,
197
-------
Treatment of the affected water is not practiced in the re-
gion because of the extreme expense in desalting water sup-
plies. Some municipalities are mixing contaminated water
with water from unaffected wells in order to dilute the sa-
linity. Many domestic well owners report continuing the use
of their affected supply. Because of the difficulty in
drilling a replacement well on a relatively small piece of
property, they "carry their drinking water."
Future Trends
A review of the literature reveals no adequate substitute
for highway deicing salts. Therefore, it is reasonable to
assume that their use will continue but probably not at the
accelerated rate experienced in the past. In fact, some
states, especially those in New England, have already begun
programs for reducing the amount of salt applied each year
to roadways. In Maine, equipment modification and driver
education has reportedly reduced the amount of salt used by
20 percent without decreasing the effectiveness of deicing
efforts. 95) New Hampshire has embarked on a similar pro-
gram and hopes to lower its current use of salt on state
highways from an average of 150,000 tons per year to 100,000
tons. 50) This action has been prompted, to a great degree,
by the 250 complaints of road salt contamination of wells
received each year. However, the few hundred thousand dol-
lars that New Hampshire projects spending on the replacement
of affected wells each year still does not make it econom-
ically feasible to consider changing over from salting to
the very expensive alternative of increased snow-plowing.
The growing awareness that salt spreading could have an ad-
verse effect on ground-water quality has led to efforts by
agencies on various levels to modify drainage plans for pro-
posed highways in an attempt to protect the resource. As
previously mentioned, storage areas are also being cleaned
up and more attention is being paid to covering exposed
piles and keeping salty water out of the ground.
In early 1974, Massachusetts enacted a very strong law de-
signed to curb oversalting of roads and resultant water pol-
lution. 96) n- requires users of more than one ton per year
of sodium chloride, calcium chloride or other road deicing
chemicals to report how much they use and store. The state
will compile data on amounts of salt used and, where surface
waters or ground waters are threatened, can ban or restrict
the use of salts. The passage of the law was prompted by
information from the state's health authorities that the wa-
ter supplies in 88 communities exceed 20 mg/1 sodium.
198
-------
Although other states will probably consider similar legis-
lation, not enough is known regarding the overall trend in
rising chloride and sodium being experienced in many parts
of the region. Because road salting will continue, more re-
search is needed regarding the role that deicing salts play
in comparison with other potential forms of ground-water
contamination. In addition, based on more knowledge of the
environmental effects of highway salts, guidelines are need-
ed for the siting, construction, and protection of wells on
properties located near highways, the design of drainage
systems where highways cross aquifer intake areas, and
methods for studying, monitoring, and eliminating contamina-
tion problems when they occur. Finally, research is needed
to determine the fate of deicing salt additives after they
have entered the hydrologic cycle. For example, are these
substances stable, do they react with soils, or do they re-
main permanently in solution in ground water and surface
water?
LANDFILLS
The principal method currently used in the northeast for
disposal of solid wastes generated by communities and indus-
tries is open dumping in landfills. Sites receiving refuse
are operated by private profit-making organizations, which
have contracted to communities and industries for the pur-
pose of disposing of their solid wastes, or by public agen-
cies such as municipal or county governments. In addition,
numerous landfills serve one particular industrial site.
Still others are used as uncontrolled community dumps by
local residents.
No comprehensive inventory exists regarding the number and
size of landfills in the states making up the study area,
but an idea of the potential for ground-water contamination
can be gained by a review of the data that are available.
The information contained below was derived from a number of
sources including published reports, files of public agen-
cies, and interviews with personnel in private and govern-
mental organizations. One regional analysis that should be
noted and is most important with regard to municipal land-
fills is the 1968 national survey of community solid-waste
practices. 32)
Until recently, an evaluation of geologic and hydrologic
conditions was rarely included among the various considera-
tions that determined site selection for landfills in the
northeast. Thus, one environmental hazard created by past
refuse disposal practices is the possible effect on ground-
water quality. Existing landfills or dumps invariably were
199
-------
placed on land that had little or no value for other uses.
The site chosen was located, for example, in a marshland, an
abandoned sand and gravel pit, an old strip mine, or a lime-
stone sinkhole, each of which is a favorable environment for
the development of ground-water contamination problems. The
above statement holds true for the manufacturer who has a
20-acre plant site where refuse is being dumped in a low-
lying wet area in a remote corner of the property, just as
it does for the large regional municipal landfill that may
be occupying a particular location only because it was the
least objectionable site from a political and economic stand-
point.
The situation in the City of New York is a prime example of
the large amount of property required for refuse disposal
and the type of land used for this purpose. At present, it
has approximately 3,500 acres of landfills receiving refuse
at a rate of 26,000 tons per day. 97) Almost all of these
properties are filled marshlands, with the base of the ref-
use at or below the water table. In New Jersey, 331 land-
fills owned by municipalities, county agencies, or private
contractors are consuming land at a rate of about 750 acres
per year. 98) Some 10,600 acres not yet used for landfill
operations are committed to such use in the future, but it
is estimated that all of this land will be exhausted by
early 1982. One hundred and eighteen New Jersey municipali-
ties haul 36,000 tons of solid waste per week to landfills
in the Hackensack Meadowlands, located within the northeast-
ern metropolitan area of the state. Connecticut estimates
that 200 acres per year are being consumed for landfills. 33)
Of the 144 municipal sites surveyed recently in Connecticut,
only 13 were satisfactorily meeting all requirements of the
State's Department of Environmental Protection from the
standpoint of ground-water protection. 99)
The State of Pennsylvania has developed some interesting
statistics that bear on the number of sites that may be con-
tributing to ground-water contamination. 100) It ^s esti-
mated that within that state there are 2,617 "promiscuous"
dumps existing along roadsides, and in open fields and lots.
Of 648 major landfill sites investigated in a 1966-68 inven-
tory, 258 were contributing to water pollution. The latter
figure includes 30 located in strip mines. It should be
noted that most of these sites were in existence long before
Pennsylvania had a Solid Waste Management Act.
Landfills in the region are receiving a wide variety of mate-
rials including paper products, food wastes, septic-tank
sludge, demolition debris, tires, automobiles, leaves, plas-
tics, textiles, glass, aluminum cans, liquid chemicals, oils
200
-------
and hydrocarbons, street sweepings, dead animals, and water
and waste-water treatment sludge. In municipal refuse,
paper and paper products make up the major category by
weight. Table 32 indicates the physical characteristics of
typical municipal refuse.
An average of about 5.3 pounds of solid wastes per day per
capita is collected in the United States. A more realistic
figure on waste generation should be based on collected plus
uncollected refuse. The total would then approach eight to
ten pounds per day per capita, but still would not include
some solid wastes from industry and agriculture that are
disposed of on-site. 102) if the eight pound-estimate is
used, then at least 214,000 tons of solid waste is generated
in the 11-state region each day.
The processes that can lead to contamination of ground water
from the disposal of wastes in landfills are relatively sim-
ple. The various organic compounds in refuse (with the ex-
ception of most plastics) are decomposed or stabilized by
aerobic and anaerobic organisms to simple substances that
will decompose no further. These products of decomposition
include gases and soluble organic and inorganic compounds.
If sufficient water is available from precipitation, or from
surface drainage in contact with the refuse, these compounds
can be dissolved and carried with the water that infiltrates
the landfill and ultimately recharges the ground-water res-
ervoir or discharges into adjacent surface-water bodies.
Solid inorganic refuse, such as tin cans and metal pipes,
can also be slowly dissolved by percolating waters, result-
ing in a solution with an increased concentration of metal-
lic ions. Finally, disposal of liquid industrial wastes,
septic-tank pumpings, and waste-water treatment sludges can
contribute to an overall increase in dissolved solids con-
centration of water passing through the landfill. The term
"leachate" has been applied to highly contaminated water
contained in or directly associated with a refuse disposal
site.
Not so simple is the composition of leachate and the changes
in concentration that can occur as the various pollutants
move through the subsurface environment. Significant indi-
cators of pollution in leachate from landfills containing
municipal refuse include BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand), COD
(Chemical Oxygen Demand), iron, chloride, and nitrate. The
interaction of C02 (Carbon Dioxide) with soil and rock mate-
rials as it travels through permeable soils may contribute
to the hardness of ground water in the area and result in
the release of iron and manganese held on soil particles.
201
-------
Table 32. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MUNICIPAL REFUSE: TYPICAL 100-lb
SAMPLE, MUNICIPAL REFUSE. 101)
Item
Paper
Garbage
Leaves and grass
Wood
Synthetics
Cloth
Glass
Metals
Ashes, stone, dust, etc.
Wet Weight (Ib)
48.0
16.0
9.0
2.0
2.0
1.0
6.0
8.0
8.0
Dry Weight (Ib)
35.0
8.0
5.0
1.5
2.0
0.5
6.0
8.0
6.0
202
-------
In addition, biological pollution can be associated with wa-
ters discharging from a municipal landfill. Heavy metals
and other toxic compounds can be found in ground water con-
taining leachates from municipal landfills where toxic
wastes have been accepted, and from private landfills serv-
ing particular industries where special types of wastes are
dumped.
The concentration of chemical and biological pollutants
travelling through soil decreases with distance from the
landfill. The effectiveness, however, of such processes as
adsorption, ion exchange, dispersion, or dilution varies
considerably with the type of pollutant involved, the char-
acteristics of the soil underlying the landfill, and geo-
logic and hydrologic conditions at the site. Thus, no broad
generalizations can be made.
The volume of leachate developed by any particular landfill
is a function of its absorptive capacity and areal extent,
and the amount of recharge water available for infiltration.
Most landfills assume a relatively flat surface with no veg-
etation, which is more conducive to infiltration than to
runoff and evapotranspiration. They are normally covered
with a relatively coarse-grained material, again increasing
infiltration efficiency. Therefore, it is reasonable to as-
sume that at least one-half of the annual precipitation can
become recharge to the ground-water reservoir, after it has
come in contact with the solid waste contained in the land-
fill. Average annual rainfall in the northeast region is 42
inches per year. Thus, a 100-acre site would be capable of
producing 57 million gallons of leachate per year after
field capacity of the refuse has been reached. The more
than 10,000 acres set aside in New Jersey for landfilling,
mentioned above, theoretically would be capable of producing
5.7 billion gallons of leachate in one year.
Research on the question of how long after abandonment a
landfill can be expected to generate leachate has been min-
imal. However, one investigation under a grant from the
U. S. Public Health Service to the Pennsylvania Department
of Health sheds some light on this question. A study was
made of a landfill in southeastern Pennsylvania, part of
which had been closed in 1950 but was still producing leach-
ate. This was sampled along with leachate from a new sec-
tion of the same landfill site still in operation in 1970.
The comparison of the chemical characteristics of the two
leachate samples is shown in Table 33. It should be noted
that there is a difference of a hundred-fold or more in BOD
and COD between the leachate from the old abandoned section
and the new section of the landfill. Differences in specific
203
-------
Table 33. COMPARISON OF THE CHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF LEACHATE
FROM AN OPERATING SECTION AND A TWENTY-YEAR OLD ABAN-
DONED SECTION OF A LANDFILL IN SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYL-
VANIA. ^3) (All constituents in mg/l, where applicable.)
Operating Abandoned
landfill landfill
Specific Conductance (y mhos) 3,000 2,500
BOD 1,800 18
COD 3,850 246
Ammonia (NH3 as N) 160 100
Hardness (as CaCO^) 900 290
Iron (Total Fe) 40.4 2.2
Sulfate (SO4) 225 100
Note: Samples collected in 1970
204
-------
conductance, ammonia nitrogen, and sulfate are not as sig-
nificant. Although concentrations of iron and hardness are
considerably lower in the leachate from the older portion of
the landfill, this site must still be considered a source of
contamination, even 20 years after being abandoned.
Case Histories
The results of research on two landfills are described below
in some detail. The first case is a continuing investiga-
tion of a regional municipal landfill at State College,
Pennsylvania, by the Pennsylvania State University. It was
chosen because it is a study of the character and movement
of landfill leachate through unsaturated soil. 104,105) The
second case history involves a municipal landfill in south-
ern Connecticut. It is included because of its typical wet-
land location in an area where the water table is actually
in contact with the refuse. 43,106) Finally, significant
data from other selected case histories are tabulated, based
on a survey of available information in the 11-state study
area.
Case History Number One -
The State College, Pennsylvania, landfill occupies a gently
sloping dolomite valley with the water table more than 200
feet below land surface. The approximately 100 tons of
municipal refuse brought to the 108-acre site each day is
placed, unprocessed, in trenches excavated into sandy clay
to sandy-loam soils and then covered. In some portions of
the landfill, the buried refuse lies directly on bedrock of
Cambrian Age consisting of an interbedded series of dolo-
mites, sandy dolomites, and quartzites. In other portions,
the refuse is underlain by layers of residual soils which
can be as much as 70 feet thick.
Suction lysimeters were placed beneath two cells (trenches
containing refuse), one filled with waste material in 1962
and the other in 1967. During July, 1970 and at other peri-
ods, soil moisture and water samples were extracted at dif-
ferent depths from beneath the two refuse cells and analyzed
for various physical and chemical characteristics.
The data collected indicate that the leachate front result-
ing from water percolating through the 1962 refuse cell, and
to some degree through other cells nearby, had moved down-
ward about 50 feet in eight years or at an average rate of
six feet per year. Beneath the 1967 installation, the leach-
ate front had moved at an average rate of 11 feet per year
and had penetrated to a depth 30 feet below the bottom of
205
-------
the cell after only two years and nine months.
It has been concluded that leachate beneath the two cells
has been reduced in mineral concentrations during its down-
ward movement through the subsoil. The mechanisms observed,
together with supporting evidence, include the following: 104)
1. Dilution and dispersion (decrease in chloride with depth)
2. Oxidation (Eh and pH measurements - decrease in BOD and
iron with depth)
3. Chemical precipitation (decrease in soil extractable
phosphate after leachate percolation)
4. Cation exchange (increase in percent base saturation of
clays affected by leachate, and depletion of ammonia un-
der reducing conditions - bacterial growth may also re-
tard or remove ammonia)
5. Anion exchange (decrease in sulfate with depth)
However, even though renovation does occur, it is not suffi-
cient to prevent highly contaminated water from moving to
significant depths beneath the cells. For example, Table 34
shows the analysis of water collected in July 1970, from
soil 36 feet below the 1962 cell.
In addition, water from a well drilled into the bedrock at
the landfill site showed an indication of contamination from
leachate entering fractures and sinkholes, or infiltrating
through the soils along the valley bottom. Chloride concen-
tration in water from this well, for example, was 50 mg/1
during 1970-71 as compared to a normal for unaffected ground
water in the area of about two mg/1. Alkalinity as HC03 was
as much as 520 mg/1 during the same period as compared to a
normal of about 130 mg/1.
This research is especially significant when related to cur-
rent regulations regarding design of new landfills in the
study region. Many states call for a separation of three to
five feet between the base of the refuse and the top of the
water table as one of the protective measures against poten-
tial contamination of ground water. As indicated above, at
least under some conditions, pollutants can move through un-
saturated soils to depths greater than called for by exist-
ing and proposed codes. Consequently, Pennsylvania has been
requiring the lining of new landfills with materials of low
permeability in combination with leachate collection systems.
Delaware has proposed the lining of new landfills constructed
206
-------
Table 34. ANALYSIS OF LEACHATE FROM SOIL 36 FEET BELOW 1962 REFUSE
CELL, STATE COLLEGE PENNSYLVANIA REGIONAL LANDFILL. 104)
(All constituents in mg/l, where applicable.)
Specific Conductance (pmhos) 6,600
Chloride (Cl) 600
BOD 9,000
Ammonia (NH3 as N) 40
Iron (Total Fe) 100
Note; Sample collected in July 1970.
207
-------
in its Coastal Plain region. Also, instances exist in other
states, such as New Jersey and New York, in which new munic-
ipal solid-waste sites are being lined with clay, bentonite,
or plastic membranes in order to prevent the migration of
leachate into the subsurface. Treatment of leachate col-
lected from such sites is planned, but little experience
exists with regard to the various methods that might be suc-
cessful in the handling of this complex fluid.
Case History Number Two -
The results of the 1973 investigation described below were
obtained from a detailed study of a 90-acre landfill site in
southern Connecticut. The refuse, consisting of municipal
solid wastes plus a small percentage of solid and liquid
wastes from local industries, has been deposited in a wet-
land for more than 30 years. Portions of the refuse had
reached a thickness of 30 feet above the original marsh
level.
The purpose of the investigation was to determine whether
the presence of the landfill had degraded natural conditions
at the site to the point where it no longer was suitable for
consideration as a future recreational area. To accomplish
this task, a detailed program of test drilling, and chemical
and physical sampling of surface water and ground water was
carried out. Geophysical methods were employed along with
other survey techniques to establish geologic and hydrologic
conditions. Finally, multispectral imagery was used to help
define areas where remaining vegetative communities had been
affected by the presence of the landfill.
The site is adjacent to Long Island Sound, a salt-water body
separating the Connecticut coast from Long Island, New York.
The area occupied by the landfill is directly underlain by
40 to 60 feet of generally unsorted glacial sands and silts
which, in turn, rest on crystalline bedrock. The landfill
itself has a relatively flat surface and is covered with
relatively coarse-grained fill or partially shredded garbage
from a recently constructed volume-reduction plant. A sepa-
rate portion of the site contains fly ash, landfilled by a
nearby power plant.
The results of the investigation of conditions at the site
revealed the following:
1. The water table has been raised more than eight feet into
the refuse due to infiltration of precipitation falling
on the landfill.
208
-------
2. The abnormally high water table has adversely affected
the remaining vegetation around the landfill and has
created standing surface water bodies of leachate, where
the water table intersects the land surface.
3. An average of approximately 80,000 gallons per day of
new leachate is being formed and is moving through the
unconsolidated sediments beneath the landfill at a rate
of approximately 0.25-foot per day. This water is con-
tinuously discharging to Long Island Sound, standing
surface water bodies, and streams draining the area.
4. The total volume, at any given moment, of ground water
in storage that has been contaminated because of dis-
posal of solid waste at the site is about several hun-
dred million gallons. This body of contaminated ground
water underlies an area approximately 3,500 feet long
and 3,000 feet wide. It has been found in test holes to
a depth of 60 feet below the base of the landfill.
5. High counts of coliform bacteria have been determined in
the standing surface-water bodies affected by leachate
and also in seeps and springs issuing from the landfill.
6. Very high concentrations of such constituents as alka-
linity, total hardness, specific conductance, COD, am-
monia, chloride, iron and manganese were found in water
directly beneath the landfill itself. However, some
renovation of contaminated ground water is taking place
as it moves through the subsoils. Test wells drilled
200 feet or more from the landfill yield water signifi-
cantly less contaminated than that found directly be-
neath the refuse.
Table 35 shows chemical analyses of selected constituents of
water from wells drilled into the water-table aquifer under-
lying that portion of the landfill containing refuse and
that portion containing fly ash. These analyses are com-
pared with those of water from a well drilled 200 feet from
the toe of the landfill and an off-site well, where the
glacial aquifer is essentially unaffected by leachate from
the landfill.
The table shows the typical contamination of ground water
that has been affected by refuse, as indicated by the high
concentrations of each of the constituents in water from the
refuse-area well. In addition, the pH is on the acid side.
When these concentrations are compared to those in water
from the well 200 feet from the landfill, a marked differ-
ence is apparent, but ground water is still contaminated,
209
-------
Table 35. PARTIAL CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF WATER FROM WELLS LOCATED
IN AND NEARBY A LANDFILL SITE IN SOUTHEASTERN CONNEC-
TICUT. ^' (All constituents in mg/l, where applicable.)
Well location
Date sampled
PH
Alkalinity (CaCOs)
Total Hardness
(CaC03)
Calcium Hardness
(CaC03)
Specific Conductance
(y mhos/cm)
Chemical Oxygen
Demand (COD)
Ammonia (N)
Chloride (CI)
Iron (Fe)
Manganese (Mn)
Off-site
5-10-73
5.9
8.0
64
28
142
34
0.018
7.0
0.25
0.08
200 feet
from toe
of landfill
7-12-73
8.9
540
300
40
1,840
NA
NA
280
2.4
0.14
Refuse
area
7-6-73
5.8
1,700
2,240
1,300
5,990
12,400
103
650
63
12
Fly-ash
area
5-10-73
3.8
3,885 a)
540
80
4,610
227
6.0
40
252
6.25
NA - Not analyzed
a) Total acidity
210
-------
with levels of such constituents as iron, manganese, and
chloride above limits recommended for drinking waters. The
quality of ground water beneath the fly ash is most interest-
ing. The highly acid leachate created by infiltration of
rain water through the fly ash apparently has dissolved pre-
cipitated iron, which occurs naturally in the underlying
glacial sediments.
It has been recommended that the existing landfill be aban-
doned because of the inadequacy of the site for solid-waste
disposal. An attempt will be made to contour the final
shape of the landfill and cover it with a material of low
permeability in order to increase runoff and decrease infil-
tration of precipitation into the refuse. If successful,
this procedure would cause the abnormally high water table
to decline, reducing the generation of additional leachate.
The landfill also generates considerable gas, including
methane and carbon dioxide, which will require venting as
part of the final design.
The case history discussed above is typical of the situation
at numerous landfills throughout the northeast. Large land-
fills placed in unsuitable sites can generate considerable
quantities of leachate that enter the ground-water system.
Also, if placed directly above the water table, a portion of
the refuse can become permanently saturated and create prob-
lems of an esthetic nature in addition to those associated
with contamination of ground-water resources. Finally,
leachate flowing directly out of such landfills, and the dis-
charge of contaminated ground water, can degrade the chemi-
cal and biological quality of nearby surface waters.
Although determination of whether toxic substances in ground
waters associated with the sites discussed above was not a
part of the studies, analyses of water from wells near some
other landfills in the region have shown the presence of
such pollutants. Information on this problem is included in
the tabulated case histories given below.
Tabulation of Case Histories -
This inventory of ground-water contamination problems in the
northeast uncovered about 100 cases in which landfills were
pinpointed as the source. Table 36 summarizes the key data
developed from 60 of these cases, selected on the basis of a
high level of reliability of the information available. In
addition to those obtained from interviews and public agency
files, a number were taken from published sources and unpub-
lished reports. 107,108,109)
211
-------
Table 36. SUMMARY OF DATA ON 42 MUNICIPAL AND 18 INDUSTRIAL LANDFILL
CONTAMINATION CASES.
Type of Landfill
Municipal Industrial
Assessment of principal damage
Contamination of aquifer only 9 8
Water supply well(s) affected 16 9
Contamination of surface water 17 1
Principal aquifer affected
Unconsolidated deposits 33 11
Sedimentary rocks 7 3
Crystalline rocks 2 4
Type of pollutant observed
General contamination 37 4
Toxic substances 5 14
Observed distance traveled by pollutant
Less than 100 feet 6 0
100 to 1,000 feet 8 4
More than 1,000 feet 11 2
Unknown or unreported 17 12
Maximum observed depth penetrated by pollutant
Less than 30 feet 11 3
30 to 100 feet 11 3
More than 100 feet 5 2
Unknown or unreported 15 10
Action taken regarding source of contamination
Landfill abandoned 5 6
Landfill removed 1 2
Containment or treatment of leachate 10 2
No known action 26 8
Action taken regarding ground-water resource
Water supply well(s) abandoned 4 5
Ground-water monitoring program established 12 2
No known action 26 11
Litigation
Litigation involved 8 5
No known action taken 34 13
212
-------
The landfills have been separated according to type. The 42
municipal landfills are operated primarily as sites to re-
ceive domestic garbage and other wastes generated in a com-
munity, such as leaves, road sweepings, construction debris,
and commercial rubbish. Many of these also accept septic-
tank pumpings, sewage-plant sludges, and some industrial
sludges and liquids. The 18 industrial landfills listed are
privately owned and accept primarily industrial solid wastes
from manufacturing processes and some sludges and liquids
from water and waste-water treatment systems. The vast ma-
jority of these serve one industrial site and are located on
the plant property. A few are operated by contractors who
accept waste from several industries in a particular area.
Although more municipal than industrial landfills are repre-
sented in the table, the latter are much more abundant in
the northeast. However, the location and even the existence
of industrial landfills rarely are recorded with any public
agency. Thus, they are not inspected on a routine basis,
and problems do not become evident unless ground-water con-
tamination is obviously taking place. In the case of the
municipal landfills, although their locations are generally
known to regulatory agencies, few are monitored and, again,
contamination of ground water normally takes place unob-
served .
The most important aspect of Table 36 is that there are
thousands of other landfills in the northeast located in the
same types of geologic environments and designed in the same
manner as those appearing on the table. There is no tech-
nical or scientific reason why the vast majority of these
are not additional sources of ground-water contamination.
The lack of ground-water monitoring is indicated by the high
number of cases in Table 36 where contamination of surface
water is reported as the principal damage. Many problems
are first observed when the discharge of contaminated ground
water affects nearby surface waters, which are more often
subjected to periodic measurement of water quality than are
ground waters. The cause of pollution in a stream or lake
near a landfill can be traced with little difficulty. In
addition, it is considerably less costly, if contamination
is suspected, to sample ground-water discharge from the land-
fill in the form of seeps and springs than it is to drill
and test water from observation wells. Thus, because the
damage done to the aquifer is not known, the problem is re-
ported initially as one of surface-water pollution.
As indicated, there are a number of instances in which water-
supply wells have been affected by municipal and industrial
213
-------
landfills. In some cases, the wells must be abandoned,
especially where public supplies are involved and chemical
concentrations exceed recommended health limits, or a toxic
substance is present in the water. An example of this is
the loss of 10 percent of the well-supply capacity of the
City of Newark, Delaware, because of contamination from a
community landfill. 110)
A number of examples exists where only the aquifer has been
affected so far, but the plume of contaminated ground water
is moving toward and threatening a well supply. Such a
case was recently discovered in southern New Jersey where
leachate, containing up to 18 mg/1 of lead, has traveled at
least 500 feet through coastal plain deposits toward city
supply wells located 4,000 to 6,000 feet away from an indus-
trial landfill. A ground-water monitoring program has been
established and the landfill has been closed down.
In some cases, wells have been affected by a contaminant but
their use is continued because either the various constitu-
ents have not reached critical levels or a treatment system
has been installed. For example, several domestic wells in
Ledyard, Connecticut, tapping a crystalline rock aquifer,
were contaminated by styrene, an aromatic hydrocarbon. The
maximum lateral observed distance of travel through joints
and fractures was 110 feet, to a well 180 feet deep. Acti-
vated-charcoal filters were installed for treatment on some
of the affected wells. The source of the contaminant, par-
tially-filled drums of styrene that had been buried at
various locations in the area, was removed by excavation of
both the drums and the affected soil. After removal of the
source, it took about two years before styrene was no longer
detected in the water from any of the wells. HI)
Table 36 also shows that in most of the cases recorded, the
principal aquifer affected consists of unconsolidated e-
posits. Because the wastes are disposed of at land surface,
it is these shallow deposits, which mantle the bedrock
throughout the region, that are affected first. Furthermore,
many landfill sites are chosen where there are relatively
thick beds of sand available, which can be used on-site for
cover material or can be trenched easily for burial of the
refuse.
In a few instances, such as that described above in Connec-
ticut, the contaminant infiltrates through the overburden
into the bedrock before discharge to a surface-water body.
In others, the solid waste is deposited in direct contact
with a bedrock aquifer, for example, at such sites as strip
mines, sinkholes, and abandoned deep mines. Garbage dumped
214
-------
over a period of many years into a deep abandoned and flood-
ed mine in northern New Jersey has contaminated at least two
wells in the area. 112) The methane content in water from
both wells, one of which is 250 feet away from the mine
shaft, has been rising over the years, as have chloride and
iron concentrations, which have reached levels of 160 mg/1
and 16 mg/1, respectively.
Toxic substances were reported associated with contamination
from industrial landfills in almost all cases, because mate-
rials containing heavy metals and synthetic organics, for
example, are a part of so many manufacturing processes. Al-
so, hazardous industrial wastes are kept on-site at many
plants because they are unacceptable at municipal landfills.
Toxic substances would probably be observed at more munici-
pal landfills if more detailed analyses were made of the
leachate. Typically, the lack of staff and budget prevents
a public agency from conducting complete analyses on enough
samples to definitely establish toxicity. In contrast, the
type of product disposed of in the industrial landfill is an
excellent indication of the nature of the pollutant, and an
analysis of selected constituents can be run initially if
contamination is suspected.
Determination of distance and depth penetrated by a pollu-
tant requires a rather elaborate test-drilling program, and
therefore this information is not available for many of the
landfills included in the table. The data shown were based
on those cases where water-supply wells had been affected,
and distances and construction details for the affected
wells had been reported by the investigating agency or or-
ganization. In a few instances, monitoring wells had been
installed or a detailed investigation, including test drill-
ing, had been carried out. One such case involves a large
regional landfill in southeastern New York State. 113) Here,
test wells drilled into a 60-foot thick municipal landfill
situated in a wetland have shown contaminated ground water
to a depth of 70 feet below the base of the landfill. The
aquifer underlying the site consists of lacustrine and
coarse-grained glacial sediments. The leachate bailed from
wells located in the landfill itself and drilled into the
water table, which had risen a maximum of 14 feet above the
old marsh level, contained high concentrations of such con-
stituents as chlorides, total dissolved solids, total hard-
ness (as CaCOs), and iron (2,900 mg/1; 9,416 mg/1; 480 mg/1;
and 48 mg/1, respectively). Natural ground water from the
same aquifer in this area is of high quality.
One interesting aspect of that investigation is the fact
that anomalous temperatures could be used to trace the plume
215
-------
of contaminated ground water as much as 700 feet from the
toe of the landfill. For example/ the termperature of
ground water at the top of the water table within the land-
fill itself was 120°F. Seven hundred feet away and 70 feet
below the landfill ground-water temperatures were still
three degrees above the normal 51°F for ground water in the
region.
The lack of any cases of industrial landfills where the max-
imum distance traveled by the pollutant is less than 100
feet may be related to the fact that most of the industrial
sites are located on private lands, and the contamination
does not become a matter of public concern until the pollu-
tant has moved beyond property limits. Also, only a small
percentage of industrial wells are sampled by regulatory
agencies, and if contamination is dicovered by the industry
in its own wells, there is an obvious reluctance in report-
ing the problem to local and state health authorities. To
date, little regulatory action has been concentrated in this
area.
Because of the large volumes of waste material involved, re-
moving the source of contamination when dealing with land-
fills is obviously almost impossible. Thus, most of the
cases included in Table 36 are listed under the category "no
action taken". In a few, involving small quantities of tox-
ic wastes, the material causing the problem was excavated.
In others, the landfill has been closed, but this alterna-
tive also is difficult to accomplish because a new landfill
site must be found and approved, or new facilities must be
designed and constructed for handling the waste in a manner
different from landfilling, such as recovery, treatment, or
incineration. Even in cases where well supplies have been
affected, abandonment of the wells is a last resort because
of the high costs involved in developing and piping a new
source of water supply.
Finally, a few landfill contamination cases are known to
have resulted in litigation. This procedure normally takes
the form of a local or regional regulatory agency using ex-
isting laws in order to force the polluter to take action in
cleaning up the problem. In one instance, the Federal
government has brought action against a county landfill and
based the suit on the 1899 Refuse Act.
Future Trends
Because water pollution associated with landfills is becom-
ing such an obvious problem, state and other regulatory agen-
cies in the region are in the process of preparing new
216
-------
regulations or modifying old ones to better control this
activity. To a large degree, these are directed toward the
design and siting of new municipal landfills. Industrial
landfills will continue to be difficult to control, if lo-
cated on a particular plant property, unless more successful
methods for inventorying solid-waste sites are developed,
perhaps using advanced aerial photographic techniques.
New regulations normally call for geologic and hydrologic in-
vestigations of proposed sites and require such information
as water-table elevation; direction of ground-water flow;
distances to existing well supplies in the area; depth,
thickness, and character of the overburden; and details of
the bedrock aquifer. Although there is much variation in
the details included in regulations and guidelines, a 60-
inch separation between the highest anticipated level of the
water table and the base of the landfill is a typical re-
quirement. A buffer zone of 50 to 100 feet between the ref-
use area and the property boundary is called for by most
agencies. Distances to the nearest operating wells normally
are not specified but are to be determined on a case by case
basis. Finally, the majority of new regulations call for
1) the sloping of the surface of the landfill to maximize
runoff and minimize infiltration, 2) prohibition or curtail-
ment of the dumping of hazardous or toxic solid and liquid
materials, and 3) installation of monitoring wells.
Undoubtedly, these new regulations and the greater interest
on the part of public agencies will help to reduce some
serious ground-water contamination problems that otherwise
would have occurred. However, the guidelines are based on
insufficient research into such factors as the true charac-
ter of leachate from various types of landfills, the ability
of different soils to reduce the concentrations of different
types of leachates, and the effects of landfill cover mate-
rial, slopes, and thickness on infiltration of precipitation,
Therefore, it is not known how effective the new codes will
be in actually preventing ground-water contamination. In
fact, some of the guidelines mentioned above may have little
effect, based on known cases of ground-water contamination
where pollutants have moved through unsaturated materials
and have traveled horizontally for thousands of feet.
Some new landfills in the region are being constructed with
clay or synthetic liners. These are used in combination
with a system of drains to collect leachate before it can
seep into an underlying aquifer. One of the first of this
type has been installed in Pennsylvania, in which an acid-
resistant bituminous mat was placed on the base of a 160-
foot deep, 10-acre limestone quarry. 114) others are being
217
-------
proposed or are under construction in sections of New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. The major problem
involved with this approach is the lack of experience and
difficulties involved in the collection and treatment of
leachate. Undoubtedly, the use of liners will be required
more and more in the study area, especially where critical
aquifers would otherwise be threatened or where nearby ex-
isting landfills have already been proven as sources of
ground-water contamination.
Another approach being considered toward diminishing the
many types of problems involved in landfilling is to reduce
the volume of solid waste to be handled. Alternatives al-
ready in practice or proposed include incineration, pyrol-
ysis, composting, or recycling. All of these either create
other environmental hazards, such as air pollution in the
case of incineration, or are not economically attractive
enough to have received the acceptance required to make a
significant impact. Thus, solid-waste generation will prob-
ably continue to increase at its present accelerating rate,
unless environmental restraints on siting, including re-
quirements for artificial liners, make the various alterna-
tives listed above economically more attractive. Finally,
concern over air pollution and surface-water quality may
actually lead to a greater use of the land for disposal of
wastes that formally were discharged into these other two
environments.
With the trend toward greater use of monitoring wells by
public agencies as a means to regulate ground-water quality,
it is reasonable to predict that there will be an accelera-
tion of new problems discovered at existing landfills. Un-
fortunately, adequate alternatives for eliminating the land-
fill as a continuing source of contamination have not been
developed, and, because of this, there do not appear to be
any clear-cut guidelines or policies that can be followed.
The same holds true for how to contain or remove the pollu-
tant after it has entered the ground.
Contouring or grading and then covering the landfill with a
relatively impermeable material on which soil can be placed
and vegetation established is being attempted at a number of
sites in the region as a means of limiting the formation of
new leachate. However, not enough history on this method
has been developed to comment on potential for success.
Pumping from properly spaced and constructed wells is another
alternative for containing or removing the pollutant, but
this has been proposed only as a last resort. Pumping is a
slow and costly process, which is not always successful and
can create other serious environmental problems. Research
218
-------
on these vital aspects of ground-water quality protection is
badly needed.
SURFACE IMPOUNDMENTS
Contamination of ground water caused by leakage of pollu-
tants from any type of surface impoundment, either natural
or man made, is dicussed in this section. Such an impound-
ment may be a rock quarry into which an industry is dumping
untreated waste that is unacceptable for treatment by the
local municipal sewage treatment plant. It can be a sink-
hole in a limestone area where liquid and sludge from the
cleaning of septic tanks are deposited by a local contractor,
or it can be a kettle hole in the glaciated region used as a
holding pond for metal plating wastes.
Some impoundments for wastes are constructed by diking off a
wetland, for example, or by excavating a lagoon or basin in
unconsolidated deposits. These sites are typically used for
storing industrial and sewage sludges in order to settle out
the solid material from the wastes or to allow evaporation
or oxidation to take place. They may temporarily hold
brines for later treatment and disposal or for concentration
and recovery of heavy metals. Some lagoons and basins are
lined with clay, concrete, asphalt, or plastic membranes.
Both lined and unlined pits are other widely used types of
surface impoundments constructed to hold storm-water runoff
from highways and from paved areas at industrial sites.
They are normally designed to deliberately discharge liquids
to the soil or to feed a buried sewer collection system.
Some pits are used as sumps to house pumping installations
for sewage, industrial wastes, or fluids from a particular
manufacturing process. Concrete and metal sheeting are the
most frequently used materials for lining.
The size of surface impoundments varies considerably. They
can be a series of cooling ponds receiving thousands of gal-
lons per minute of hot waste water and covering hundreds of
acres. On the other hand, a small unlined pit can be only
a few feet in diameter and used to dispose of highly toxic
wash water from a photographic laboratory. Most lagoons,
pits, and basins are relatively shallow, holding less than
10 feet in depth of material on the average at any given
moment. Exceptions are deep quarries or mine shafts re-
ceiving liquid wastes and sludges.
Statistics on the number and location of surface impound-
ments that may be a potential threat to ground-water quality
have never been compiled for the northeast. Pennsylvania
219
-------
has made the only known inventory on a regional basis. By
means of low-level aerial survey flights conducted over
selected portions of the state, it was estimated that more
than 1,500 industrial waste impoundments exist in the Com-
monwealth of Pennsylvania. 36) Because lagoons, pits and
basins are such a common means for treating, handling, and
storing liquids and sludges, it is conceivable that seven to
ten thousand of these impoundments are present in the study
region. Their potential for leaking many millions of gal-
lons per year of potentially hazardous materials into the
ground-water system is significant enough to be of consider-
able concern to water regulatory agencies.
This concern is justified on the basis of a number of fac-
tors inherent to the design and operation of surface im-
poundments. First, few were designed with any consideration
given to protecting ground-water quality, and many operate
on the principle that at least some fluid will be lost to
the ground. Typical is the so-called evaporation pond which
contains industrial waste and only operates successfully in
this humid region if enough leakage is taking place through
the bottom and sides of the impoundment to create additional
storage space for continued waste discharges. Many unlined
surface impoundments are located in geologic settings that
are highly susceptible for leakage to take place. Data on
case histories collected in this investigation have shown
that abandoned sand and gravel pits, sinkholes, swamps over-
lying permeable unconsolidated deposits, mine excavations in
highly fractured rock, and other areas where pollutants have
easy access to important aquifers are quite typical sites
for surface impoundments. No general guidelines have been
enforced until recently regarding siting or designing new
surface impoundments from the standpoint of ground-water pro-
tection. Consequently, lagoons, pits, and basins are lo-
cated and constructed to meet other criteria, such as con-
venience and lowest possible cost.
Even in the case of some lined impoundments, the potential
for leakage can be significant. Various types of clay are
probably the most universally employed lining materials.
However, they are not impermeable, and enough volume of a
highly concentrated pollutant can leak from a large lagoon
to damage ground-water supplies under certain conditions.
For example, a lagoon 20 acres in size and 10 feet deep,
lined with a two-foot thick clay blanket with a typical
permeability of 0.001 gallons per day per square foot can
leak about 1.5 million gallons of fluid per year into the
ground-water system. If the fluid is an industrial waste
and little change in water quality from contact with the
natural soil occurs before the pollutant arrives at the
220
-------
water table, then a potentially serious contamination prob-
lem can occur. If 1,000 feet is the distance from the la-
goon to the nearest well tapping the water-table aquifer,
and ground water is moving toward the well at a rate of 0.5
foot per day, it would take more than five years before the
plume of contaminated water would be detected. Meanwhile,
7.5 million gallons of the waste water would have leaked
into the aquifer.
It is quite probable that much leakage of fluids takes place
through the sides of excavated lagoons and basins rather
than the bottom which can become clogged with settled solids
and sludges. In some well documented cases of ground-water
contamination, it was the erosion of the natural soils or
the rupture of artificial linings on the sides of the im-
poundment that allowed leakage to occur at a rate great
enough to significantly degrade ground-water quality.
Another major concern is the general lack of metering of
waste discharges into holding ponds, lagoons, and basins.
If losses of fluids to the ground-water system are taking
place, this condition generally continues unobserved for ex-
tended periods. In addition, the use of monitoring wells to
determine whether leakage is occurring and is affecting
ground-water quality in the vicinity of existing surface im-
poundments is rare.
Also, a large variety of wastes is treated in lagoons and
oxidation and stabilization ponds. Most of the substances
are complex, and many of the constituents that could find
their way into ground waters are not normally included in
routine analysis of water supplies. E. B. Besselievre in
his book "The Treatment of Industrial Wastes" lists about 80
types of industrial, municipal, and agricultural activities
in which lagoons and ponds are used as part of the waste-
water treatment process. H5) where industrial and domestic
sludges have been placed in surface impoundments, the solu-
bility of heavy metals in rain water has not been researched
in detail, nor has the fate of potentially toxic substances
that might enter the soil system.
Case Histories
The results of the inventory of ground-water contamination
problems involving surface impoundments, carried out as part
of this 11-state investigation, emphasize the variety of the
pollutants and the diversity of the origins of waste water
that can be encountered. Table 37 is based on 57 cases of
contamination taken from the files of public agencies and
private organizations. Each involves a separate location
221
-------
Table 37. ORIGINS AND POLLUTANTS IN 57 CASES OF GROUND-WATER
CONTAMINATION IN THE NORTHEAST CAUSED BY LEAKAGE OF
WASTE WATER FROM SURFACE IMPOUNDMENTS.
Type of industry or activity
Chemical
Number
of__cqs_es_
13
Metal processing and plating
Electronics
Laboratories (manufacturing and processing)
Paper
Plastics
3
3
Principal pollu-
tant(s) reported
Ammonia
Barium
Chloride
Chromium
Iron
Manganese
Mercury
Organic chemicals
Phenol
Solvents
Sulfate
Zinc
Cadmium
Chromium
Copper
Fluoride
Nitrate
Phenol
Aluminum
Chloride
Fluoride
Iron
Solvent
Arsenic
Phenols
Radioactive
materials
Sulfate
Sulfate
Ammonia
Detergent
Fluoride
222
-------
Table 37 (continued). ORIGINS AND POLLUTANTS IN 57 CASES OF GROUND-
WATER CONTAMINATION IN THE NORTHEAST CAUSED
BY LEAKAGE OF WASTE WATER FROM SURFACE IM-
POUNDMENTS.
Type of industry or activity
Sewage treatment
Aircraft manufacturing
Food processing
Mining sand and gravel
Oil well drilling
Oil refining
Battery and cable
Electrical utility
Highway construction
Mineral processing
Paint
Recycling
Steel
Textiles
Number
of cases
2
2
2
1
Principal pollu-
tant(s) reported
Detergents
Nitrate
Chromium
Sulfate
Chloride
Nitrate
Chloride
Chloride
Oil
Oil
Acid
Lead
Iron
Manganese
Turbidity
Lithium
Chromium
Copper
Acid
Ammonia
Chloride
223
-------
where leakage of pollutants out of some form of surface im-
poundment has entered the ground-water reservoir. In most
cases, water-supply wells have been affected, and this is
the only reason that the specific incident has been reported
or investigated. In a few, simply observing operation of
the lagoon or basin has led officials of an environmental or
health agency to investigate whether ground-water contamina-
tion has taken place. In others, the polluter has noted the
loss of a highly toxic substance to the ground and has
brought this to the attention of authorities. Wells em-
placed before contamination was suspected and drilled specif-
ically to monitor possible changes in ground-water quality
were not listed as the reason for discovery of any of the
cases.
The types of surface impoundments represented in the 57
cases vary considerably, but lagoons and basins are listed
most frequently. An interesting example other than a la-
goon or basin is a small limestone quarry located immedi-
ately behind a battery manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania.
The impoundment was spotted during an aerial survey by a
geologist of the State's Department of Environmental Re-
sources. It was noted that the quarry contained water but
should have been dry under natural conditions based on the
geology and topography of the area. Further investigation
revealed that the quarry had been used for about six years
as a discharge area for plant effluent with a pH level of
2.9 and a lead content of 4.12 mg/1. The waste disposal
practices were altered, but the extent of the damage of the
aquifer remains unknown. 36)
Other examples include a case in Maryland where a three-foot
wide, 48-foot long, and 10-foot deep concrete canal, used
for storage of radioactive material at a private laboratory,
leaked an estimated 20,000 gallons of slightly radioactive
water into a thin soil layer overlying Triassic shale and
sandstone. The leak was reported to state authorities by
the company, and to date, six monitoring wells have been in-
stalled in and around the facility to determine where the
pollutant has traveled. A small amount of cobalt-60 activ-
ity has been picked up in some observation wells, and the
investigation is continuing. Meanwhile, use of the canal
has been curtailed. 116)
An abandoned sand and gravel pit was used by a paint manu-
facturer in Maryland to place liquid and sludge wastes re-
moved from a stream during a clean-up operation. Monitoring
wells installed later on the edges of the pit and driven to
a depth of 15 feet produced water with a chromium (hexa-
valent) content of as much as 7.2 mg/1. 117)
224
-------
Many of the pollutants reported in Table 37 are related to
hazardous wastes, as indicated by the large number of heavy
metals listed. The concentrations of these toxic substances
can be very high at sites where the untreated industrial ef-
fluent is leaking from a surface impoundment and reaching
the saturated zone almost unchanged in chemical composition.
Concentrations of some of the heavy metals in water from a
lagoon containing untreated industrial sludges and liquid
wastes were: copper 5,250 mg/1; chromium (trivalent) 1,380
mg/1; and lithium 280 mg/1. The site was investigated by a
public agency after a stream near an abandoned plant prop-
erty showed indications of contamination. The source of
pollution in the stream was traced to the lagoon which was
leaking the waste effluent to the ground-water system. The
contaminated ground water, in turn, was discharging into the
stream. The problem is presently in litgiation. 118)
The concentration of total chromium in water from a domestic
well, 700 feet away from leaky lagoons containing metal
plating waste, was measured at 150 mg/1 in a recent incident
discovered in New Jersey. 42) The most grossly contamin-
ated ground water encountered in this investigation is a
case in which the pollutant was 10,000 mg/1 arsenic. 14)
Liquids and sludges containing arsenate compounds had been
deposited by a chemical company in unlined surface impound-
ments for many years, and the plume of contaminated ground
water had reached a stream adjacent to the plant site where
arsenic concentrations as high as 40 mg/1 were observed.
The lagoons were abandoned after the problem was recognized
and the wastes stored in plastic-lined drums. Also, an at-
tempt has been made to pump out the contaminated ground wa-
ter. After 2-1/2 years of careful pumping and monitoring,
concentrations of arsenic in both ground water and surface
water have been greatly reduced, but the condition is still
dangerous.
Few of the 57 cases in Table 37 have been investigated in
great enough detail to develop statistics on size of area
contaminated and the nature of the pollutant in the ground.
There are reported instances of large plumes of contaminated
ground water extending for several miles from waste lagoons,
but the little information gathered has never been published
nor verified by detailed subsurface exploration and testing.
Even where some investigation has been carried out, a pri-
vate company is normally involved as the polluter, and the
information is not made readily available to the public,
especially if litigation is involved.
However, to provide some insight into typical ground-water
contamination cases, Table 38 has been prepared based on
225
-------
Table 38. THREE CASE HISTORIES OF GROUND-WATER CONTAMINATION FROM
LEAKAGE OUT OF SURFACE IMPOUNDMENTS.
Description of Surface
Impoundment
Type of Waste
Principal Pollutant(s)
Observed and Maximum
Concentrations Reported
in affected wells (mg/l)
Chromium (Hexavalent)
Cadtmum
Cyanide
Zinc
COD
Copper
Chromium (Total)
Nickel
Dimensions of Plume of Con-
taminated Ground Water
Maximum Length (feet)
Maximum Width (feet)
Maximum Depth (feet be-
low the water table)
Estimated Maximum Volume
of Contaminated Ground
Water in millions of gallons
and year
Two disposal basins,
65x65x15 feet and
one disposal basin,
130x54x15 feet
One storage lagoon
approximately
50x50x10 feet
Aircraft manufacturing Metal plating
40
10
2.3
0.4
1.4
4,300
1,000
70
1,000
200
60
Year Reported
Remedial Action(s) and
Status of Problem
200 (1962)
1949
Periodic research and
monitoring; affected
wells abandoned; some
treatment and reduction
of waste effluent; con-
centrations of chromium
and cadimum have de-
clined but problem still
present in 1974
50 (1969)
1969
Lagoon and affected
wells abandoned; no
further action; prob-
lem still present in
1974
Series of lagoons and
basins covering an
area of about 15 acres
and average about
six feet in depth
Chemical
50
5,000
135
150
10
2,200
1,200
30
20 (1972)
1971
Lagoons and basins
sealed with cement
and/or plastic liners;
continuing program of
monitoring; system of
pumping wells installed
to contain pollutants in
area of plant site and
in shallow aquifer zones;
problem still present in
1974
226
-------
three detailed studies in the region. The first is the well
documented and frequently published case of the dispersal of
plating wastes in ground water in southeastern Nassau County,
Long Island, New York. The most complete discussion of this
problem appears in U. S. Geological Survey Water Supply Pa-
per 1879-G. H9) The other two investigations were carried
out by Geraghty & Miller, Inc., one in southern New Jersey
and the other in central Connecticut. 22,39)
All three situations are related to industrial waste water
having leaked out of surface impoundments. This has result-
ed in a plume of contamined ground water migrating slowly
toward an area of discharge. In two of the cases, major dis-
charge is to streams draining the affected water-table aqui-
fer. In the third, the pattern of ground-water movement was
controlled by pumping from a series of water-supply wells,
which were abandoned after contamination was discovered.
What effect cessation of pumpage has had on the characteris-
tics of the body of contaminated ground water is unknown.
In two of the three cases, the plume of contaminated ground
water had moved beyond the property limits of the polluter
before the problem became known and was defined. In only
one of the cases is hydraulic control over the vertical and
horizontal movement of the contaminated water being attempt-
ed by means of special pumping wells.
Future Trends
The severe cases of ground-water contamination related to
surface impoundments, that have become known in the region,
have led a number of states and at least one interstate
agency to develop regulations and programs directed at con-
trolling this problem. Some of these controls are broadly
written to cover a wide variety of activities that might af-
fect ground-water quality but are particularly effective in
dealing with this source of contamination. For example, the
Delaware River Basin Commission includes in their ground-
water quality control resolution of December 12, 1972, all
activities involving "the processing, handling, transporta-
tion, disposal, storage, excavation or removal of any solid,
liquid, or gaseous material on or beneath the ground surface
of the Basin." In addition, the resolution states "no sub-
stance or properties which are harmful or toxic concentra-
tions or that produce color, taste, or odor of the water
shall be permitted or induced by the activities of man to
become ground water." 120)
Maryland has established its general control over leakage
from surface impoundments on the basis of a discharge permit
227
-------
requirement. That state's regulation of May 1, 1973, states
"Any discharge or disposal of waters or waste waters into
the ground waters of the state will require the approval of
the Water Resources Administration." 121)
Pennsylvania's regulations are more specific and refer di-
rectly to impoundments. 122) A 1971 Special Water Pollution
Regulation includes the following: "no person or municipal-
ity shall operate, maintain or use or permit the operation,
maintenance or use of an impoundment for the production,
processing, storage, treatment or disposal of polluting sub-
stances unless such impoundment is structurally sound, im-
permeable, protected from unauthorized acts of third parties
and is maintained so that a free board of at least two feet
remains at all times." The regulation goes further to de-
fine an impoundment as "any depression, excavation, or facil-
ity situated in or upon the ground, whether natural or arti-
ficial and whether lined or unlined."
Of particular importance is the term "impermeable" in the
Pennsylvania regulation which automatically calls for the
use of artificial liners in any surface impoundment contain-
ing anything but natural waters. Artificial liners are also
being required by the Delaware River Basin Commission, New
Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and in a few counties in New York
for new lagoons, pits or basins which will hold untreated
industrial wastes. Also, lining old impoundments that have
been found to have been leaking wastes to the underground is
a common practice throughout the region.
Because of the awareness of this source of contamination,
the rate of development of new problems should decline,
especially in the southern tier of states (Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland), where regulations are being
enforced. However, what is needed is a broader understand-
ing and acceptance by municipal and industrial waste treat-
ment facility operators that surface impoundments must be
sited, designed, and operated with greater attention paid to
hydrologic and geologic conditions.
The development of guidelines, an approach being used by
state agencies to protect ground water from contamination by
landfills, might be considered for surface impoundments.
However, before such guidelines could be established, addi-
tional research is required, as with landfills, on the char-
acteristics and effectiveness of the different materials
available for artificial lining. Acceptable methods for
metering loss of liquids from lagoons, pits and basins must
be developed and tested. More information must be made
available on what happens to different types of soil beneath
228
-------
and around impoundments containing various wastes with re-
spect to changes in permeability, adsorptive power, and po-
tential for ion exchange. Finally, more must be learned
about many of the wastes placed in surface impoundments,
especially the municipal and industrial waste sludges, which
if not already wet when impounded soon become wet from pre-
cipitation. What compounds can be leached from these
sludges must be determined along with the ultimate fate of
these compounds when they reach the saturated zone. In too
many cases, not even the chemical make-up of the original
material impounded is known in any detail.
What may be more important from an overall ground-water
quality standpoint than the control of new surface impound-
ments are the thousands of existing and already leaking
sites throughout the region. A major difficulty will be
locating those that may be damaging ground-water quality.
Many surface impoundments are on private lands and are
therefore difficult to inventory, except by air. Industries
and municipalities have not had to register the existence of
surface impoundments with regulatory agencies in the past,
and thus, no central statistical file exists in the various
states on where they are and how they are used. Also, ba-
sins with a very small area of say only 2,500 square feet
can be as potentially dangerous as extensive lagoon systems,
depending on such factors as the type of pollutant being
lost, the rate at which leakage is taking place, the sus-
ceptibility of the aquifer to extensive contamination, and
the proximity of wells supplying drinking water. These
small basins would be difficult to locate even from the air.
A second difficulty is how to contain the pollutant and
clean up the aquifer that has been contaminated. Regulatory
agencies hestiate to place heavy economic burdens on the
owner of the leaky surface impoundment. Because of the prob-
lems inherent with attempting to remove a pollutant from an
aquifer under the limitations of the present state of the
art, clean-up operations when large volumes of contaminated
ground water are involved are for the most part ineffective.
In the long run, most of the pollutant is left in the ground.
Cases of ground-water contamination first reported decades
ago which still exist today are not uncommon. In some in-
stances, ground-water contamination was dicovered after an
industry had gone out of business or abandoned the site.
Clean up in such cases can be difficult to enforce, and liti-
gation over this and other conditions of ownership and re-
sponsibility can be time consuming.
Most efforts toward containment or clean up are hindered by
what to do with the pollutant after it has been removed from
229
-------
the aquifer and brought to the surface. This is the situa-
tion in one of the cases shown in Table 38. The pollutant
is too toxic to discharge into a nearby stream. The volume
is too large to leave in the ground but too small to justify
the construction of a special treatment plant on the site.
If a nearby municipal or privately owned waste-treatment
plant could be found to accept the effluent removed from the
aquifer, then perhaps it could be taken away by tank truck
at a reasonable cost. However, in this particular instance,
the polluter no longer exists as a corporate entity, and it
is questionable as to who would pay for any corrective meas-
ures. Except for abandonment of the waste lagoon and af-
fected wells, the problem remains unsolved.
SPILLS AND SURFACE DISCHARGES
This section discusses ground-water contamination caused by
hazardous and non-hazardous liquids that are discharged onto
the land surface in an uncontrolled manner and then seep in-
to the underlying soils. If the volume of the fluid is
great enough, the pollutant can migrate down to the satu-
rated sediments in the vicinity of the discharge, and ground-
water quality will be degraded. Activities leading to
spills and surface discharges can be separated into three
main categories: poor housekeeping at large industrial com-
plexes and airports; intermittent disposal of wastes at
gasoline stations, in remote wooded areas, and at small com-
mercial establishments; and failures of above-ground tanks
and pipelines, or accidents involving railroad cars and tank
trucks.
Spills and surface discharges at industrial sites are widely
variable and differ in character from plant to plant. How-
ever, they are generally caused by boil-overs and blow-offs,
by overpumping during transfer of liquids to or from storage
and carriers, by leaks from faulty pipes and valves in pro-
duct distribution systems, and by poor control over waste
discharges and storm-water runoff. At airports, the washing
down of planes with solvents and small spills of fuel can
build up as an extensive body of hydrocarbons floating on
the water table.
Examples of degradation of ground-water quality over broad
areas due to poor housekeeping are well known in sections of
the study region where there is a considerable density of in-
dustrial plants. Oil has saturated the soils beneath sev-
eral refineries and petroleum storage areas in New Jersey. 112)
During periods of high water table, oil actually appears as
pools on the land surface. Furthermore, storm sewers in
these areas continuously discharge oil-laden ground water
230
-------
that has leaked into them. It is felt that even though
there may be some leakage from underground pipes contrib-
uting to the problem/ the principal cause has been a long-
term build-up of ground-water contamination from periodic
spills and from leakage of oil onto the ground from surface
tanks and pipes. In south Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, gross
contamination of the unconsolidated water-table aquifer has
been attributed principally to intermittent and long-term
accidental spillage of liquid chemicals and uncontrolled
runoff from chemical stockpiles in this highly industrial-
ized area. 123) The ground water contains some inorganic
constituents in greater concentration than is characteristic
of raw sewage.
Contamination of ground water has also occurred in the re-
gion from the intermittent dumping of pollutants on the land
surface, especially at gasoline stations and other types of
small commercial establishments. A recent study of the ul-
timate fate of automotive waste oil generated in Massa-
chusetts revealed that 650 thousand gallons of the oil is
dumped each year on the ground on or near service station
premises. 124) Another two million gallons is disposed of
in a similar manner by car dealers and garage owners, by
operators of equipment at construction sites, by fleet op-
erators on their premises, and by persons changing their own
oil. Although industry disposes of most of its uncollected
oil in town landfills, it is estimated that at least some
lubricating, hydraulic, and straight cutting oils are dumped
locally on the ground. Each year these hydrocarbons are
added to the shallow aquifers of Massachusetts with little
chance of biodegradation or any other process that would
naturally remove them from the ground-water system.
In a recent study of the disposal and management of waste
oil in 18 counties of the New York metropolitan region, it
was determined that eight million gallons per year of auto
lube and crankcase oil, which is apparently changed by indi-
viduals or others not working through filling stations, are
either given to the neighborhood garbage collector or are
simply dumped on the ground. Industry dumps another six to
21 million gallons per year in this same region. 125) sim-
ilar practices must be present throughout the region and
contribute to ground-water contamination.
Dumping of small quantities of liquid wastes in and around
other types of commercial facilities has been observed by
regulatory agency personnel interviewed in this investiga-
tion. Open discharge pipes draining sinks in commercial
laboratories are one example. Disposal on open or wooded
lands of small quantities of liquids, when it is not eco-
231
-------
nomic to store them in drums or to haul to municipal waste
treatment plants or landfills, is probably quite common at
commercial establishments that are not served by community
sewers. Although such facilities have cesspools or septic
tanks, the liquids may be judged too potent to be allowed to
enter and upset the septic system.
Accidents involving above-ground pipes and tanks, railroad
cars, and trucks can lead to the release of large quantities
of a pollutant at a particular site. For example, rupture
of a surface pipe at an Air Force test facility in New Hamp-
shire in 1957 spilled 30,000 gallons of jet fuel on the
ground. 50) The crystalline rock aquifer underlying the
site was contaminated so badly that in 1972, wells origin-
ally supplying the base with high quality water were still
unusable, 15 years after the spill took place.
Case Histories
Table 39, based on data selected from case histories inven-
toried in this investigation, lists the type of pollutant
documented as having affected ground-water quality. The
table is divided into cases involving accidental spills
where there was a one-time discharge of fluid onto the
ground and those where long-term poor housekeeping has been
traced as the source of contamination. In the former, the
volume of the spill is given where the information is avail-
able. As can be seen, the majority of cases involve hydro-
carbons of some form, and it is reasonable to believe that
these are the most common pollutant in the region related to
spills and surface discharges.
In every one of the 36 cases included in the table, oper-
ating wells or a surface-water body were noticeably affected.
For this reason, the cases were recorded in the health de-
partment or other environmental agency files that were re-
viewed to develop the information for this study. Undoubt-
edly, hundreds and perhaps thousands of other instances of
ground-water contamination of this type exist throughout the
study region but have not come to the attention of those
concerned with ground-water quality. It is important to
note that, in about one-half of the 35 cases, either munici-
pal public water-supply or high-capacity industrial wells
were affected and had to be abandoned. In those where do-
mestic wells were involved, usually more than one had to be
abandoned in each instance.
Several case histories from New York and New Jersey are typ-
ical of the damage that can occur and illustrate the problem
of contamination from spills and surface discharges. In the
232
-------
Table 39. POLLUTANT REPORTED IN 36 CASES OF GROUND-WATER CON-
TAMINATION CAUSED BY SPILLS AND SURFACE DISCHARGES.
Gasoline
Diesel fuel
Fuel oil
Caustic soda
Fuel oil and gasoline
Formaldehyde
Jet fuel
Ketone and alcohol
Trichloroethylene
Chlorinated phenols
Number of cases
4
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Volume of spill
(gallons)
up to 2,500
up to 4,000
up to 200
Unknown
6,000
4,000
30,000
300
50,000
Unknown
Surface discharges
Nitrates
Phenols
Crank case oil
Fuel oil
Heavy metals
Ammonia and mercury
Chlorinated benzine
Chloroform tetrachloroethane
Diesel fuel
Gasoline
Manganese
Chromium
Sulfate
Water softener effluent
Number of cases
3
3
2
2
2
1
233
-------
first New York instance, 50/000 gallons of trichloroethylene
were spilled on the ground in a railroad accident. 126) At
least seven private wells in the area were contaminated with
up to 40 mg/1 of the pollutant, which moved quite readily
through fractures and solution cavities of a limestone under-
lying the site. Flushing the area with fresh water was un-
dertaken in an effort to dilute the trichloroethylene, but
this appears to have aggravated the problem by spreading the
pollutant over a larger area.
In another case, several petroleum storage tanks were tilted
during the flood conditions that struck portions of upstate
New York in the spring of 1972. 127) Tne Spinage resulted
in an area of approximately one-half mile by one mile being
contaminated by hydrocarbons. No action has been taken yet
to remove the petroleum products from the ground, but some
remedial methods may be attempted under the federal disaster
relief program.
In a third case in New York, small quantities of liquid
wastes from a fertilizer production operation were dis-
charged onto the ground over a period of many years. 127)
Nitrates as high as 100 mg/1 have been found in water from
nearby private wells, and methemoglobinemia cases have been
reported. The manufacturer has begun to treat the wastes
and as domestic wells become contaminated, to replace them
with water from a central community system.
In New Jersey, well fields operated by a municipality in the
east-central part of the state are yielding water containing
high levels of iron, manganese, lead, zinc, and aluminum.
The problem was investigated by the Bureau of Water Pollu-
tion Control, and it was concluded that spillage and gen-
erally poor housekeeping at industrial sites upstream of the
well fields were two of the principal cause of the prob-
lem. 128) Pollutants seeped into the ground and were later
discharged to or allowed to enter directly the streams that
ultimately recharge the well fields. Other sources of con-
tamination included discharges of wastes to an unlined pit,
a ruptured or unconnected industrial sewer line, and accumu-
lations of sludges from water treatment lagoons.
Abandonment of the affected water source is the most common
means for coping with problems arising from this type of
contamination. Successful means for removing hydrocarbons,
the most common pollutants, once they have reached the water
table and extended over a broad area have not been developed.
Pumping from the affected wells or specially constructed
wells and skimming from trenches or pits dug to the water
table has had only limited success. In a number of cases,
234
-------
where a spill has been reported immediately, excavation of
the soil before the hydrocarbon has had a chance to migrate
to the water table has been successful in preventing a seri-
ous ground-water contamination problem.
Paving industrial sites and correcting poor-housekeeping
practices have been undertaken in some instances where inter-
mittent spills and surface discharges have been shown to
have contaminated water from wells in and around such areas.
Also/ carbon filters have been used with some success to
treat water from wells contaminated by hydrocarbons.
Future Trends
The accidental spill is an unavoidable hazard that is part
of the risk inherent to the storing and transportation of
fluids. Thus, the number of new occurrences of this poten-
tial source of ground-water contamination will continue at
about the same or at an even greater rate in the future. It
is in the handling of spills after they have taken place
that better protection of ground-water resources can be
achieved. In the past, for example, liquids spilled on high-
ways have been removed at the expense of pollution to adja-
cent properties and aquifers in order to have a minimal ef-
fect on traffic flow.
Time appears to be the most important factor associated with
minimizing the contamination of ground-water supplies from
accidental spills. If clean-up operations are carried out
quickly, especially when hydrocarbons are involved, then
there is a chance to either remove much of the pollutant
from the surface before it enters the ground or to excavate
affected soil in the immediate area before the pollutant
reaches the water table. On the other hand, if action is
taken only after a broad area of an aquifer is affected, con-
tainment or removal of the contaminated ground-water body is
almost impossible.
Recognizing the importance of quick action, Pennsylvania has
adopted a regulation that requires individuals responsible
for a spill to immediately notify the Department of Environ-
mental Resources Regional Office when an incident occurs.
If ground water is threatened, the Regional Geologist at-
tached to the State's Ground Water Section attempts to re-
spond within a maximum of two hours. 36} in this manner,
a technical appraisal of the situation is available within a
short period of time, and clean-up operations and assessment
of damage can begin in a more orderly manner. Also in Penn-
sylvania, certain industries are required to develop a Pol-
lution Incident Prevention Program, which establishes a
235
-------
specific procedure for informing the state of spills or
other major pollution problems. New Jersey has a similar
program including a "hot line" for reporting spills.
Certainly, the Pennsylvania and New Jersey approaches to
this problem should be considered by other regulatory agen-
cies throughout the region. Also, there should be more
recognition and better understanding by the carrier and
other industries of the need for reporting spills to the
proper authorities. Finally, guidelines should be developed
for state and local highway personnel, railroad operators,
and industrial plant managers defining such procedures as
who should be informed of accidental spills and how to han-
dle the incident initially.
Industry has long appreciated the ills associated with poor
housekeeping and a number of trade organizations such as the
Manufacturing Chemists Association and the American Petro-
leum Institute have published manuals and educational book-
lets on the prevention and control of surface discharges. 73,
1^9,130) Nevertheless, more controls are needed on prac-
tices that can lead to contamination of ground-water re-
sources beneath and in the vicinity of industrial, commer-
cial, and construction sites. Elimination of open discharge
of wastes to the ground surface, paving and control of run-
off in areas susceptible to infiltration of pollutants, and
maintenance of above-ground distribution systems are espe-
cially important and may require more attention from regula-
tory agencies. The long-term effects on ground-water qual-
ity of traditional practices of dumping waste petroleum
products at the point of use should be evaluated and again
controls established if the problem is of great enough magni-
tude to justify regulation.
The need for research into how to remove pollutants from an
aquifer after it has been contaminated has been pointed out
in other sections of this report. The specific problems in-
volved with hydrocarbons are discussed in the section on
"Buried Pipelines and Storage Tanks".
MINING ACTIVITY
A major activity in the 11-state study area that has resulted
in a wide variety of ground-water contamination problems is
mining. Coal, stone, sand, and gravel are the principal
products, but iron, copper, zinc, and lead have been impor-
tant minerals to the region in the past. Extraction of salt
by solution and underground excavation, carried out princi-
pally in western New York State, is not included in this sec-
tion. The mining activity itself does not normally lead to
236
-------
ground-water contamination. Problems that have occurred
have been mostly related to the handling and transportation
of brine solutions, and they are characteristic of ground-
water contamination occurrences from leaky pipelines,
spills, and surface impoundments.
Mines in the northeast are of two basic types, surface mines
and underground mines. Economics dictate the nature and ex-
tent of the mining. Where the ore deposit is close to the
land surface or where rock is incompetent, surface mining is
the most economical means of extraction. Where the mineral
is deep or is unworkable from the surface because of local
geologic conditions, shafts and drifts follow the trend of
the deposit underground. Many mines in the area have been
opened and closed periodically over the years depending on
market conditions for the particular product.
The number and size of mines in the northeast is not known
in detail. Underground mines are hidden from view and many
were never recorded or adequately mapped. Some idea of the
amount of area involved in mining operations is indicated in
Table 40, which lists the number of acres in each state dis-
turbed by strip and surface mining as of January 1965. Ac-
cording to the table, Pennsylvania is by far the leading
state because of extensive coal deposits. It also is the
state with the most underground mines, again because of coal
production. Table 41 lists the number of abandoned and in-
active underground mines in the northeast. Figure 33 shows
the principal coal mining areas of Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Because of the nature of mining, in which land as a resource
must be consumed, the dollar value of production per amount
of land used is high relative to that of all other indus-
tries except agriculture and silviculture. Last year in the
United States, an average of 1,000 acres of land per week
was consumed by active surface coal mine operations alone.
134) Reclamation may never fully restore this acreage.
Even where mines are operated underground, there may be sig-
nificant land consumption through the placement of waste
piles and surface impoundments, and land subsidence and col-
lapse.
Mining is one of the few activities causing ground-water con-
tamination in the region for which the geologic and hydro- •
logic setting has been extensively studied. Historically,
the presence of ground water in mines has been a severe prob-
lem hindering operations, and a principal concern of the
mining industry is keeping the work area free of water. For
example, in the 1870's the Ueberroth zinc mine near Friedens-
ville, Pennsylvania, was being pumped at a rate of 12,000
237
-------
Table 40. LAND DISTURBED BY STRIP AND SURFACE MINING IN THE NORTHEAST AS OF JANUARY 1, 1965, BY COMMODITY
AND STATE (acres). 131>
State
Connecticut
Delaware
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
ro
00 New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Clay
200
400
1,200
700
1,400
1,700
10,400
-
-
Coal
(Bituminous,
Lignite and
Anthracite)
-
-
-
2,200
-
—
-
302,400
-
-
Stone
100
200
4,400
2,200
1,200
100
2,000
12,500
24,400
20
2,300
Sand and
Gravel
16,100
5,200
28,200
18,800
36,400
8,000
27,600
42,200
23,800
3,600
4,000
Iron Ore
-
100
100
20
1,100
1,000
700
8,800
-
-
All Other
100
10
1,712
800
900
200
1,800
605
402
-
400
Total
16,300
5,710
34,812
25,220
40,300
8,300
33,800
57,705
370,202
3,620
6,700
-------
Table 41. ABANDONED AND INACTIVE UNDERGROUND MINES IN THE NORTH-
EAST AS OF 1966. 133)
Coa[ Metal Non metal
Connecticut - o o
Delaware -
Maine 7
Maryland 564 7
Massachusetts - 7 i
New Hampshire _ 24 o
New Jersey - 26
New York - 61 j7
Pennsylvania 7,824 160 55
Rhode Island - 2 4
Vermont - ]7 3
239
-------
•
«k
-
|—MAJOR COAL DEPOSITS
Figure 33. Principal coal areas of Pennsylvania and Maryland
-------
gpm from a depth of 250 feet. -^5) Underground mines are
almost invariably below the water table, and surface mines
are often excavated into the water table. Dewatering has
led directly or indirectly to the two major ground-water
problems resulting from mining activity — a regional lower-
ing of the water table, and excessive mineralization of
water associated with mines. In an attempt to keep the
working areas of the mine dry and to remove as much of the
mineral deposits as possible, operators may lower the water
table by allowing water to drain from the mine by gravity,
by pumping water directly from the mine, or by the use of
wells in the vicinity of the mine.
The effects of lowering the water table on the ground-water
system may be threefold. In the first place, the volume of
ground water in storage is reduced, thereby limiting ground-
water availability. Second, the water level may fall below
the intakes of productive wells in the area forcing their
abandonment. Third, lowering the water table can expose
minerals to the process of oxidation. Percolating waters
can dissolve these minerals in significant concentrations.
It is the increased mineralization of ground water that is
the problem of greatest concern with regard to contamination
of both surface waters and ground waters. Many economic de-
posits in bedrock are associated with sulfide minerals, the
most prominent in the northeast being that of coal with
pyrite (FeS2). Pyrite may be found in the adjacent sedi-
mentary rocks such as shale, sandstone, and limestone, as
well as within and between the coal seams. Other examples
are the copper ores of New Jersey, which are sulfides. 136)
Chalcopyrite is a principal copper mineral in Vermont, oc-
curring in an iron sulfide ground mass. 137)
If there is no change in the hydrogeologic environment, py-
rite and most other sulfides are stable under the conditions
that exist below the water table. If the water table is
lowered, oxidation of the sulfides takes place in the dewa-
tered zone. Oxidation of sulfides by itself does not con-
tribute to ground-water contamination because oxidation oc-
curs above the water table. However, when water is brought
into contact with the mineral system, for example, if a mine
is abandoned and dewatering activities stop, the result is
quite different. Oxidation of pyrite followed by contact
with water produces ferrous sulfate (FeSOa) and sulfuric
acid (H2SO4) in solution. Downward percolating rainwater,
or a rise in the water table will introduce this solution
into the ground-water system, causing a drop in pH, and a
rise in sulfate and iron content.
241
-------
The highly mineralized water associated with mine workings
is normally referred to as "acid mine drainage." Although
there is no typical analysis for mine drainage and it can
vary in quality from place to place, water discharging from
coal mines has been divided into four general classes as
shown in Table 42.
Other sources of ground-water contamination associated with
mining activities include leachate from waste rock piles and
leakage from tailing ponds. These processes of contamina-
tion are similar to those described in the sections of this
report entitled "Landfills" and "Surface Impoundments".
Case Histories
The principal areas where ground-water contamination from
mining activities is of importance are the regions of Penn-
sylvania and Maryland underlain by coal deposits. The major
emphasis of regulatory agencies, to date, has been directed
toward control and correction of the complex problems of
acid mine drainage to surface waters. It is estimated that
Pennsylvania alone has over 2,300 miles of streams that are
adversely affected by coal mine drainage. 139) Many of
these streams contain water with a pH of less than 4.0, iron
concentrations greater than several hundred mg/1, and sul-
fates greater than 1,000 mg/1. The problem of poor-quality
water is of such long standing and is so areally extensive
that contamination of both surface waters and ground waters
is looked upon as an almost normal occurrence in the heavily
mined regions. The widespread effects of mining have made
it difficult to drill wells yielding a satisfactory quantity
of water with acceptable quality. Dewatering and excavation
of underground mines have created physical problems, in
addition to water-quality problems, that make the construc-
tion of wells in some areas almost impossible. Thus, ground
water as a source of supply has probably declined in impor-
tance.
Compilations of individual cases involving degradation of
well-water quality are not available, but the problem has
been investigated on a regional basis. The results of such
a study in the Toms Run Basin located in Clarion County,
northwest Pennsylvania, is probably typical of the effects
that mining can have on ground-water quality. 140) The area
has been mined for coal, and drilled for oil and gas for
nearly 100 years. Coal mining has occurred exclusively in
the western half of the basin, in the extreme north and
along the southwest edge. Oil and gas wells have been
242
-------
Table 42. MINE DRAINAGE CLASSES. 139>
Class
Class II
Class III
Class IV
PH
Acidity, mg/l, CaCC>3
to Ferrous Iron, mg/l, Fe
U)
Ferric Iron, mg/l, Fe
Aluminum, mg/l, Al
Sulfates, mg/l, SO^
Acid
discharges
2.0- 4.5
1,000 -15,000
500 - 10,000
0
0 - 2,000
1,000 - 2,000
Partially
oxidized
and/or
neutralized
3.4-
0 -
0 -
0 -
0 -
500 -
6.6
100
500
1,000
20
10,000
Oxidized and
neutralized
and/or
alkaline
6.5 - 8.5
0
0
0
0
500 - 10,000
Neutralized
and not
oxidized
6.5 - 8.5
0
50 - 1,000
0
0
500 - 10,000
-------
drilled throughout the entire basin into Devonian sandstones
between 2,200 and 2,500 feet deep. The Mississippian and
Pennsylvanian rocks of the area comprise a three-aquifer
system separated by shale and siItstone confining beds. At
the top of the geologic section lies the only mineable coals
within a sequence of sandstone and shale.
The investigation showed that coal mine drainage has a dele-
terious effect on ground water. Highly fractured bedrock
together with abandoned gas, oil, and water wells have al-
lowed poor quality water to migrate from areas of mining in-
to the principal fresh-water aquifers of the region. Be-
cause of deterioration of cement seals and casings, the aban-
doned wells act as conduits for interchange of water between
the aquifers in the basin, thereby aggravating the problem.
Small diameter, uncased holes drilled to define coal deposits
also allow aquifer interchange. Detailed mapping of water-
quality relationships in two of the principal fresh-water
aquifers revealed a very low pH and abonormally high concen-
trations of iron and sulfate in the vicinity of the coal
mines. Table 43 shows the effects of mining on ground-water
quality for two of the major aquifers in the basin.
As mentioned above, slag piles and settling ponds are also
sources of contamination from mining activities. In north-
eastern Pennsylvania, water with a zinc content of up to
200 mg/1 has been leached from a slag pile at a smelter and
has entered a shallow sandstone aquifer. The contaminated
ground water is discharging into and severely affecting
aquatic life in a nearby creek. 14D in Port Washington,
New York, ponds used in a sand and gravel operation for
settling silt and clay particles have contaminated several
important coastal plain aquifers in the area. 142) The
source of supply for the ponds is salt water from a harbor
adjacent to the mining operation. Long-term use of the salt
water in the sand and gravel pits, which cover an area of
about two square miles, has raised the chloride content of
some nearby shallow and deep wells from a normal level of
less than 20 mg/1 to over 1,000 mg/1.
Future Trends
As with so many other problems of ground-water contamination,
mine drainage would essentially be ignored were it not for
its surface manifestation. Active mines appear to be less
significant as sources of contamination than are abandoned
mines for a number of reasons. First, in an active mine,
the water table is held at or just below the working floor
of the mine in a parastable state, reducing drainage that
has come in contact with oxidized minerals. Secondly, pol-
244
-------
Table 43. SUMMARY OF WATER QUALITY IN THE TOMS RUN DRAINAGE BASIN. 141>
Lower Aquifer
Non-mining areas
Areas near mining
Upper Aquifer
Non-mining areas
Areas near mining
pH_
6.3 -6.8
2.9-5.4
6.5-6.7
3.0 -5.5
Total Iron
(mg/l)
3-16
25 - 160
10- 15
20 - 70
Sulfate
(mg/l)
4-13
30 - 620
10 - 15
39- 80
245
-------
luted-surface water discharges can be traced to the source
mine, so operators are more careful about the water that
they discharge. Finally, recently developed regulations in
some states require engineering practices be applied to
active mines that will reduce the volume of polluted water
generated or discharged, both during operations and after
abandonment. Unfortunately, the major volume of mine drain-
age comes from abandoned mines. Of the 1,500 significant
mine discharges in the Susquehanna River Basin of New York,
Pennsylvania, and Maryland producing acidity, 75 percent
comes from abandoned mines. 143)
No single method to control acid mine drainage has been ef-
fective in all cases. Partially successful measures have
been applied by mining companies and enforcement agencies,
and they fall into the following categories:
1. Minimizing the water-mineral-oxygen content
2. Regulating flow of surface waste water
3. Protecting minerals from weathering and erosion follow-
ing completion of mine operations
4. Neutralization of acid
One pollution abatement method for abandoned underground
mines has been sealing with either air- or water-tight seals.
In theory, the air seal prevents oxygen from entering the
mine. In practice, the procedure has had minimal success.
Such seals are created by constructing walls across mine
openings or by collapsing portions of the mine.
Water-tight seals have become more popular for sealing aban-
doned mines. Theoretically, the water-tight seal should
eliminate surface discharge, restore the pre-mining ground-
water level, and exclude oxygen from the mine, provided that
the bedrock has not been extensively fractured by the mining
operations. Cost of water-tight sealing at Moraine State
Park, Pennsylvania, was $1,266,213 for 65 mine seals, an
average of $19,480 per seal. 144) Sealing boreholes or
fracture zones can range from $100 to $1,200 per hole and
sealing shafts from $7,000 to $25,000 per shaft. 145)
Neutralization of acid mine drainage and precipitation of
iron has been an alternative proposal for controlling con-
tamination. This method, however, carries a high cost of
treatment. Capital cost of a mine drainage treatment plant
in southwestern Pennsylvania was $200,000 a few years ago.
Capital recovery costs run as high as $29,000 per year, and
246
-------
the annual outlay for lime can range from $12,000 to $64,000,
depending on how much acid must be treated. To treat mildly
acid water, one company incurred costs of $0.13/1,000 gal-
lons; for highly acid water $0.72/1,000 gallons. 146)
Preventing pollution from abandoned surface mines has been
attempted by backfilling. However, this type of reclamation
is also very costly. For example, backfilling recently cost
$672,208 for 462 acres in the area of Moraine State Park,
Pennsylvania. 144)
Many of the northeast states have provisions in their water
laws that can cover ground-water degradation due to mining
activity. The difficulty of enforcement in the case of
abandoned mines has been a major hindrance to alleviating
the problem. Pennsylvania has water statutes specifically
referring to operation of mines and disposal of mine wastes,
including acid mine drainage. 34) The Clean Streams Law
(1965) requires that active mine discharge to surface water
not exceed seven mg/1 of iron, have a pH of six to nine, and
have no acidity. 139) Mining permits in Pennsylvania in-
clude a section on mine closing which must be approved by
the Sanitary Water Board. 146) These statutes have no ef-
fect upon pre-1965 abandoned mines.
The tremendous costs involved in correcting existing contam-
ination of surface waters and ground waters from mining
activities will prevent public agencies from making major
headway toward solving this problem in the foreseeable fu-
ture. Considerable research has already been carried out
and is underway on the subject of mine drainage, which may
lead to the development of more effective control over con-
tamination from both abandoned and operating mines. However,
at present, this source of contamination appears to be one
that will continue as a significant problem in portions of
the study region.
PETROLEUM EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
Exploration for and development of oil and gas resources is
no longer a significant industry in the study region. Most
of the petroleum exploration has occurred in New York and
Pennsylvania; minor exploration has taken place in New
Jersey and Maryland. Virtually no exploration has been car-
ried out east of New York, where geologic conditions have
been considered unfavorable for the formation of petroleum.
Figure 34 shows the general area where oil and gas explora-
tion and development has taken place.
'Petroleum exploration and development may cause ground-water
247
-------
NORTH
Figure 34. Principal oil and gas exploration and development areas
248
-------
contamination at sites of both active and abandoned wells.
At many oil fields in New York and Pennsylvania, initial de-
velopment took place around the turn of the century, at
which time most of the production occurred, followed by a
period of declining activity. Today, individual wells in
the region produce a minimum of oil and gas, and large quan-
tities of salt water must be separated from the fluid pumped
from a well in order to obtain the petroleum product.
Nevertheless, the number of active oil and gas wells in the
region is still significant. In 1973, according to the In-
terstate Oil Compact Commission, there were 32,596 operating
oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania, 5,400 in New York, and 15
in Maryland. During 1972, 1,632 wells were abandoned in
Pennsylvania, 573 in New York, and one in Maryland. 147)
The high yield of salt water from producing wells represents
the principal threat to ground-water quality in fresh-water
aquifers in the petroleum recovery region. Natural brines
from deep strata tapped by the oil and gas wells is brought
to the surface with the petroleum product. The oil and wa-
ter mixture is then subjected to separation processes. The
waste water produced from the separation process is a brine
solution, which is usually disposed of in unlined settling
pits or discharged to the ground. Pipelines and separation
tanks may be in disrepair at these installations and can
discharge to the surface. The saline waters from these
various sources can infiltrate into shallow fresh-water aqui-
fers and cause contamination.
Abandoned oil and gas wells also present problems to ground-
water quality. For example, abandoned oil wells can dis-
charge brine continuously, contaminating shallow fresh-water
aquifers. Abandoned gas wells can discharge brine where the
gas reserve has been depleted and salt water has migrated to
the wells. Even where the exploration and production com-
pany has conscientiously capped and/or plugged the abandoned
well, the casing may eventually leak or corrode, introducing
brine or brine and waste oil and gas into near-surface aqui-
fers.
Most of the oil and gas exploration in the study region has
taken place on the Appalachian Plateau. This broad area of
gently dipping rock strata has been dissected by major
streams. The stream valleys have been partially filled with
alluvium and are discharge areas for ground water circu-
lating out of the uplands. Non-degradable pollutants such
as brine introduced into leaky oil and gas wells in the up-
lands can eventually find their way to natural discharge
areas in the valleys. As a result, regional problems can
result from ground-water contamination due to petroleum ex-
249
-------
ploration and development.
Case Histories
An estimation of the number of cases in which water wells in
the northeast have been contaminated as a result of petro-
leum exploration and development is not possible. Individ-
ual cases and regional effects have been noted, but the over-
all problem has not been studied in detail.
One typical area where contamination from this source has
been observed is Chemung County, in the western part of New
York adjacent to the Pennsylvania border. Here concentra-
tions of chloride and total dissolved solids in water from
many domestic wells have shown a rising trend over many
years. The upper bedrock of Chemung County is composed of a
sequence of sandstone and shale, overlain by glacial drift.
Within the major stream valleys, the sand and gravel de-
posits are productive aquifers. Elsewhere, the bedrock
aquifer is utilized. Salt beds and zones of highly mineral-
ized water are known to underlie the area at depth. Al-
though never a highly productive petroleum area, a number of
gas wells were drilled and later abandoned. It is believed
that many of these old wells are conduits for the upward
migration of the mineralized water. 148) Whereas natural
chloride content of the shallow fresh-water aquifers in the
County is less than 10 mg/!7 concentrations of this constit-
uent in water from domestic wells believed to be contamin-
ated by brine from the deeper gas strata range from 100 to
500 mg/1. Analyses of water from many domestic, industrial
and municipal wells in the Susquehanna River Basin in New
York indicate similar conditions. 149)
In the Jamestown area of New York, salt beds are known to
occur at depths of 1,500 to 2,000 feet below land surface.
Oil and gas wells have been drilled through these beds, and
it is suspected that many of those abandoned are now allow-
ing mineralized water to migrate into the shallow fresh-
water aquifers. Water from some of the shallow wells is re-
ported to also contain traces of oil and natural gas. 150)
In Venango County, Pennsylvania, discharge of oil field
brines to unlined surface impoundments and directly onto the
land surface has contaminated a number of privately-owned
springs and wells used for water supply. The problem is un-
der study by the state and some seepage basins have been
moved.
250
-------
Future Trends
In a 1969 report on ground-water contamination from natural
gas and oil production in New York, prepared by Leslie J.
Grain of the U. S. Geological Survey, the author recommends
that the first step toward attacking this problem should be
"to delineate more exactly the area involved and to deter-
mine the magnitude of the pollution in these areas." 151)
This statement clearly defines the present status of know-
ledge on contamination from petroleum exploration and devel-
opment in the study region. For the most part, present con-
tamination problems pass unnoticed because they generally
occur in sparsely populated areas. However, as urban and
suburban development proceeds, reports of contamination from
petroleum exploration and development probably will increase.
The continuing corrosion of casings and failure of seals in
abandoned oil and gas wells also will aggravate the problem.
These factors, however, may be partially offset by a growing
effort on the part of public agencies to have abandoned
wells properly plugged. Pennsylvania has statutes that
specifically refer to "the control and prevention of pollu-
tion of surface and underground waters resulting from drill-
ing, operation, abandonment or plugging of oil or gas
wells." 34) New York has had regulations on the drilling
and plugging of wells since 1963. 152) However, little con-
trol can be exerted on operators who abandoned wells before
such regulations were enacted.
SALT-WATER INTRUSION
Intrusion of salty water into fresh-water aquifers is one
form of ground-water contamination that is widely recognized
as a potential problem in the northeast. There are two
principal regions in which salty water is found under natu-
ral conditions and, thus, fresh-water aquifers are prone to
the intrusion of salt water caused by pumping from domestic,
municipal, and industrial wells. The two regions are shown
on Figure 35 and are referred to in this discussion as the
Coastal Region and the Inland Region. The former borders
the Atlantic Ocean, and the latter is in the western por-
tions of New York and Pennsylvania.
Coastal Region
Salt water occurs naturally in water-table and artesian
aquifers along the Atlantic coast. Boundaries between nat-
ural fresh water and salty water in the principal aquifers
of the Coastal Plain are shown on Figure 36. The fresh-salt
water boundaries of the relatively shallow aquifers of
251
-------
A.
NORTH
L
DEPTH BELOW LAND SURFACE TO SHALLOWEST
ZONE OF GROUND WATER CONTAINING MORE THAN
1,000 MG/L OF DISSOLVED SOLIDS.
^ | LESS THAN 500 FEET
500- 1,000 FEET
GREATER THAN 1,000 FEET
LESS THAN 1,000 MG/L ( NO WELLS
KNOWN TO PRODUCE MINERALIZED
WATER IN QUANTITIES GREATER THAN
0.01 MGD )
Figure 35. Depth to mineralized ground water in major aquifers in the
coastal and inland regions
252
-------
75°
73°
72o
NJ
--'
UJ
NORTH
PLEISTOCENE
TERTIARY
CRETACEOUS
Figure 36. Inland limit of saline ground water in the coastal plain formations of
the northeast United States 155)
-------
Pleistocene age correspond closely with the present-day
shoreline. However, in some of the deeper aquifers of Ter-
tiary and Cretaceous age, natural salty water occurs many
miles from the sea. Also, at some localities near the shore,
deep wells may penetrate alternating zones of fresh and
salty water.
The Coastal Plain deposits consist of a wedge-shaped mass of
unconsolidated rock materials that thickens in a direction
roughly perpendicular to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
The unconsolidated sediments range in thickness from a thin
veneer along the Fall Line, which is the western limit of
the physiographic province, to as much as 10,000 feet or
more along the east coast of Maryland. Aquifers consisting
of sands and gravels are areally extensive, underlying hun-
dreds of square miles, and the major aquifer units that have
been identified are separated by aquicludes of silt and clay.
According to Upson, the seeming anomalies in the pattern of
occurrence of salty water in the Coastal Plain deposits are
thought to stem from differences in the circulation pattern
of fresh ground water in the different aquifers, controlled
at least in part by the relationship between intake areas
and discharge areas for each aquifer. 154)
In the glaciated New England states bordering the Atlantic
Ocean, salty water is found in the shallow unconsolidated
deposits and in the bedrock aquifers along the shoreline
and underlying tidal estuaries of the major rivers. No
large saline water bodies have been noted that extend many
miles inland as in the case of some of the coastal plain
aquifers.
Large-scale movement of salt water through an aquifer can
occur, displacing fresh ground water, either permanently or
temporarily, for a period of time in some cases measured in
years. The salt water encroaches into the fresh-water aqui-
fer as a front, which moves laterally. However, in the
vicinity of pumping wells tapping a fresh-water zone situ-
ated above a salty-water zone, vertical migration of salt
water also can occur. Lateral migration is characteristic
of salt-water intrusion in the Coastal Plain. In the New
England states, salt-water intrusion is characterized prin-
cipally by small-scale and temporary intrusions of salt-
water tongues induced by local pumping from wells construct-
ed close to an existing salt-water body.
Salt-water intrusion occurs as the result of some change in
the head relationship between the fresh-water aquifer and
interconnected bodies of salt water. The body of salt water
in contact with the aquifer may be in a seaward direction or
254
-------
in a deeper section of the aquifer or may be in a tidal por-
tion of a surface stream, bay, or estuary. Pumping from
wells lowers the water level in the aquifer and induces the
salt-water body to move either laterally or vertically to-
ward the wells. If pumpage is great enough, the decrease in
amount of fresh ground water in storage is being compensated
for by an increase in the amount of salty ground water in
storage. If the pumpage from wells induces recharge from a
saline surface-water body, the salty water can enter the
fresh-water aquifer and begin to move toward the wells.
One of the mechanisms that can aggravate a problem of salt-
water intrusion is leaky or corroded well casings. They can
act as an avenue for saline water to migrate from an aquifer
containing salt water to an underlying or overlying aquifer
containing fresh water. Another is the dredging of a rela-
tively impermeable soils from the bottom of a bay or tidal
river. This can result in infiltration of saline surface
water to underlying aquifer which is being pumped heavily
for water-supply purposes.
The intrusion of salty water into a fresh-water aquifer is
characterized by a rise in chloride concentration and total
dissolved solids content. For the purpose of this discus-
sion, fresh ground water is defined as water having a chlo-
ride content of less than 40 mg/1 and generally less than
100 mg/1 total dissolved solids. Salty water is defined as
water having a chloride content of 40 to about 16,500 mg/1
and a total dissolved solids content of about 100 to 31,000
mg/1. Determination of whether salt-water intrusion has
occurred in the principal aquifers of the Coastal Region is
relatively simple because normal baseline conditions in the
fresh-water zones are generally represented by chloride
concentrations of less than 20 mg/1.
Case Histories -
Intrusion of salty water is almost always a very slow proc-
ess. In most heavily pumped areas in the Coastal Region,
no contamination has been reported. In some localities
where encroachment has taken place, records show that many
decades have elapsed before the salt content of the ground
water rose to a point where it becomes objectionable.
Records also show that the encroachment tends to be re-
stricted to relatively small areas immediately adjacent to
the wells that are being pumped. Few cases of broad region-
al encroachment are known in the study area, and even in
those cases, the rate of movement of the advancing salt wa-
ter is usually only a few feet per year.
255
-------
For example, one of the most intensively studied salt-water
intrusion cases is that involving Coastal Plain deposits in
southern Nassau and southeastern Queens Counties, Long Is-
land, New York. 155,156,157) One wedge of salty water is
found in the shallow glacial deposits and two more are in
the upper and lower portions of the underlying artesian
aquifer. Another artesian aquifer, in which no intrusion
has been observed under the land area, lies directly on the
bedrock. Figure 37 shows the relationship of the salty and
fresh ground-water bodies.
For the most part, the position of the shallow wedge of
salty ground water has not changed during historic time.
However, the salty ground-water bodies in the underlying
artesian aquifer are actively advancing inland in response
to pumpage of about 100 mgd from this aquifer. Much of the
water pumped is discharged directly to sea from sewage treat-
ment plants, and the consumption of water and the lowering
of water levels has led to salt-water intrusion. Neverthe-
less, it is estimated that the two salty-water wedges in the
artesian aquifer have moved inland an average of about 1,000
feet or less since the early 1900's. Locally, in the vicin-
ity of some well fields, the deep salty-water wedge has
moved more than a mile inland during the past several dec-
ades at a rate of about 300 feet per year.
Table 44 is a summary of data on known ground-water contami-
nation cases in the northeast. It is based on the results
of a 1969 survey by the American Society of Civil Engineers
Task Committee on Saltwater Intrusion and a review of pub-
lished and unpublished information on file with regional
offices of the U. S. Geological Survey and state geological
surveys throughout the study area. 159)
In spite of the fact that the northeast coastline is more
than 1,000 miles in length, relatively few serious problems
of ground-water contamination have occurred. One of the
principal factors for this, as already mentioned, is the
relatively slow lateral movement of salt-water fronts that
may be advancing into fresh-water portions of the Coastal
Plain aquifers. Another important factor, unlike many other
sources of ground-water contamination, is the general wide-
spread knowledge of the positions of salty-water bodies in
the region. Considerable research and monitoring of salt-
water/fresh-water relationships have been carried out since
the early 1930's, and because of the information available,
drilling of supply wells in areas prone to salt-water intru-
sion has been limited. Finally, every state within the
Coastal Plain province (New York, New Jersey, Delaware and
Maryland) is regulating pumpage from the Coastal Plain
256
-------
NORTH —
i
-i SEA
£ LEVEL
-
tn
3OO
o
LJ 600
CD
•
-
-
- 900
o
•
•
u
u 1200
Shallow salty ground water
BAY
-SOUTH
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
SAND AND GRAVEL ARTESIAN AQUIFER
DEEP SAND AND GRAVEL ARTESIAN AQUIFER
1/2
I mile
Figure 37,, Occurrence of salty ground water in southeastern Queens and southwestern
Nassau Counties, Long Island, New York, in 1961
-------
to
en
CO
Table 44. SUMMARY OF DATA ON CONTAMINATION CASES RELATED TO SALT-WATER INTRUSION IN COASTAL
AREAS.
Location
CONNECTICUT
Long Island Sound coastal area
including the Cities of New
Haven and Bridgeport
DELAWARE
Coastline and Delaware River
MAINE
Town of Bowdoinham,
Sagadahoc County
Nature of problem
Lateral intrusion of salty water from harbors
and tidal river estuaries has contaminated
water from several dozen industrial and mu-
nicipal wells tapping glacial sand and
gravel, Triassic sandstone and shale, and
crystalline rock aquifers in areas of heavy
pumping.
Lateral and vertical intrusion of salty water
from the Delaware River and Delaware Bay
and from the Ocean has contaminated wa-
ter from three municipal well fields because
of intensive pumping from shallow aquifers
and the dredging of impermeable soils.
Salty water from tidal reach of Kennebec
River has contaminated a well 300 feet
deep, tapping the bedrock aquifer.
Remedial action
Pumpage relocated inland or re-
duced; some wells abandoned;
and at least one scavenger well
installed to hold back salty
water.
Pumpage relocated inland; wells
abandoned; wells deepened;
tidal gate constructed to hold
back salty surface water in one
tributary to the Delaware River.
Well abandoned
-------
Table 44 (continued). SUMMARY OF DATA ON CONTAMINATION CASES RELATED TO SALT-WATER INTRUSION
IN COASTAL AREAS.
to
en
vo
Location
MARYLAND
Harbor District, City of
Baltimore
Joppatowne, Harford County;
and Westover, Sommerset
County
Cambridge, Dorchester County;
Annapolis, Anne-Arundal County;
and Solomons-Patuxent River
area, St. Mary's County
MASSACHUSETTS
Provincetown; Scituate; and
Sommerset
Nature of problem
Salty water from Patapsco River estuary has
intruded the water table and shallow arte-
sian aquifers.
Salty water from Chesapeake Bay has been
induced into fresh water aquifers tapped
by two municipal well fields because of
heavy pumpage and leaks in casings of
abandoned wells.
Lateral and vertical intrusion of salty water
from tidal river estuaries has contaminated
shallow water table and artesian aquifers
affecting water quality from numerous do-
mestic and industrial wells. Problem has
been aggravated by leaks in casings of
abandoned wells.
Minor lateral intrusion from ocean and
salt-water marshes has affected water from
wells tapping shallow aquifers.
Remedial action
Many industrial wells aban-
doned.
Several wells abandoned,
others being monitored.
Abandoned wells are being
plugged; pumpage has been
reduced; and water quality
is being monitored.
New wells drilled farther in-
land; pumpage from old wells
reduced.
-------
Table 44 (continued). SUMMARY OF DATA ON CONTAMINATION CASES RELATED TO SALT-WATER INTRUSION
IN COASTAL AREAS.
N)
O\
O
Location
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Portsmouth
NEW JERSEY
Sayreville, Middlesex County;
Gibbstown-Paulsborough area,
Gloucester County; Newark,
Essex County; Rahway area,
Union-Middlesex Counties;
Salem, Salem County
Atlantic City, Atlantic County;
and several areas in Cape
May County
Nature of problem
Minor lateral intrusion from tidal water in
Piscataqua River.
Salty water from tidal estuaries and bays
has intruded water table and artesian
aquifers due to intensive pumping and
harbor and canal dredging
Salty and brackish water from saline-water
aquifers has intruded shallow and deep
fresh-water aquifers due to heavy pumping
and corroded well casings. Problem mostly
local in nature
Sommers Point, Atlantic County Wedge of salty water has moved about
3,000 feet landward into the Cohansey
aquifer.
Remedial action
Unknown
Pumpage relocated inland;
and many wells abandoned.
Pumpage has been reduced in
a few wells; wells with leaky
casings have been sealed; and
new, double-cased wells have
been drilled into the artesian
aquifer. Some tidal gates
have been installed.
Pumpage has been reduced;
monitoring; new wells are
planned inland.
-------
Table 44 (continued). SUMMARY OF DATA ON CONTAMINATION CASES RELATED TO SALT-WATER INTRUSION
IN COASTAL AREAS.
to
a\
Location
NEW JERSEY (continued)
Artificial Island, Salem County
NEW YORK
Kings Count/, Long Island
Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk
Counties, Long Island
PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia
Nature of problem
Salt-water intrusion at nuclear generating
plant.
Salt-water intrusion resulting in severe
contamination of glacial aquifer due to
lowering of water table below sea level
over a broad area.
Lateral and vertical intrusion of salty
water from ocean into the water table and
artesian aquifers, but only immediately
adjacent to shorelines. Problem caused
by pumping, leaky well casings, and
dredging.
Lateral intrusion of salty water from the
tidal Delaware River has contaminated
industrial wells in the shallow aquifer
due to pumping. Leaky well casings and
dredging the Delaware River has aggra-
vated the problem.
Remedial action
Pumpage has been concentrated
at southern end of island where
aquiclude is thickest.
Pumpage reduced; all public
and many industrial water-supply
wells abandoned; artificial re-
charge of cooling water re-
quired.
Pumpage near shorelines re-
duced; ground-water diversions
under strict control; artificial
recharge of cooling water re-
quired.
Some industrial wells aban-
doned.
-------
to
0\
to
Table 44 (conHnued). SUMMARY OF DATA ON CONTAMINATION CASES RELATED TO SALT-WATER INTRUSION
IN COASTAL AREAS.
Location Nature of problem Remedial action
RHODE ISLAND
City of Providence; Town of Salty water from tidal river estuaries and Pumpage has been reduced,
Barrington bays has contaminated water from some mu- the ground-water supply may
nicipal wells tapping the glacial outwash be replaced with surface
aquifer due to heavy pumping. water.
-------
aquifers. These regulations, which involve complete control
over rates and patterns of pumpage from proposed significant
ground-water^diversions, were prompted to a great degree by
the recognition of the need for management of water re-
sources in areas subject to salt-water intrusion.
Although serious problems of ground-water contamination are
not numerous, the presence of salty water in coastal aqui-
fers throughout the region has a limiting effect on the
availability of ground water. Well diversions must be kept
within certain limits in order to maintain salt-water fronts
in as much of a status-quo position as possible, which is
the present philosophy of regulatory agencies in the region.
In fact, in order to aid in reducing the threat of contami-
nation from this source, artificial recharge of cooling wa-
ters and storm waters has been encouraged in Long Island,
New York and in some parts of New Jersey. There are more
than 1,000 recharge or diffusion wells returning used ground
water to the aquifers underlying Long Island. 160) in 1965,
an average of about 77 mgd was injected, mostly cooling wa-
ter used for air conditioning. In addition, there are more
than 2,000 recharge basins in Nassau and Suffolk Counties
ranging from about 10 to 20 feet in depth and from about one
to 30 acres in size. The basins are unlined excavations
which receive storm-water runoff from streets and highways.
A method used in the region to limit encroachment of saline
surface water inland in rivers and streams, in areas where
salty surface-water intrusion into underlying aquifers might
occur, is the installation of tidal gates. These structures
hold back saline water from flowing upstream during high-
tide periods. A number of tidal gates have been placed
across small coastal streams in Cape May County, New Jersey,
for example. 161) Relief wells have also been installed in
a few locations. The purpose of these wells is to pump salt
water, thereby lowering the head in the saline ground-water
body and retarding or preventing movement of saline water
toward wells pumping from a fresh-water zone.
Future Trends -
Because of the close regulatory control over diversion of
ground water near coastal regions in some of the states and
the general knowledge of where saline ground-water bodies
might be encountered in most of the states, it is unlikely
that the number of problems of contamination from this
source will rise significantly in the near future. However,
one possibility that might lead in the future to the estab-
lishment of new positions farther inland for salt-water
fronts in some areas is a change in water-management atti-
263
-------
tudes. These changes might occur in response to greater de-
mands for water-supply development because of continuing
population growth in coastal areas.
The landward extent of a wedge of salty water is controlled
by the rate at which ground water is discharging from the
aquifer into the ocean. Some of the counties within the
Coastal Plain area may become water-short in the near future
and the decision will have to be made on how to meet in-
creased water needs. One alternative, of course, is the im-
portation of surface water into those areas presently depend-
ent upon ground water. Another alternative would involve
abandoning the present management concept of maintaining
salt-water fronts in a status-quo position, withdrawing more
fresh ground water for consumptive use, and permitting salt
water to move inland to a new position of stabilization.
The replacement of wells contaminated and lost in the proc-
ess may be considerably less costly than importing surface
water or some other alternative that might be proposed for
solving water-supply needs. A technical-economic evaluation
of the feasibility of removing more ground water from stor-
age would be of considerable aid to water planners in the
Coastal Region.
Inland Region
Little information has been collected and analyzed, or pub-
lished, on salt-water intrusion in the Inland Region of New
York and Pennsylvania. Natural saline water occurs at depth
in consolidated rock formations. However, these areas are
usually overlain by aquifers containing fresh water. Saline
water also has been encountered in unconsolidated glacial
deposits in some locations that are discharge areas for min-
eralized ground water originating in the rock formations.
As in the Coastal Region, saline water tends to move toward
wells when the fresh-water head is reduced by pumping. Ver-
tical rather than lateral encroachment is more characteris-
tic of the Inland Region. The presence of natural saline
water may be related to one or more of the following causes:
retention in the rock formation of the salty water in which
the formation was deposited (connate water); solution of
salt from the formation itself or from adjacent formations;
and entrance of salt water into the formation after it was
deposited and subsequently exposed to another source of salt
water. 162)
Because of the widespread and complex occurrence of saline
water in the region, it can be difficult to determine whether
salt-water intrusion has occurred or whether poor quality
water yielded by a particular well is the result of natural
264
-------
conditions. In addition, unlike the Coastal Region where
fresh waters are only slightly mineralized, ground water can
be considered "fresh" by well owners in the Inland Region
and have high concentrations of hardness, sulfates, chlo-
rides, and dissolved solids.
Figure 38 illustrates how variations of chemical quality can
occur in ground water as a result of natural recharge and
discharge relationships. In the uplands, recharge from pre-
cipitation reaches the water table and becomes ground water.
Some of the ground water travels through deeper rock zones;
comes in contact with carbonate, sulfate, and chloride min-
erals, which are taken into solution; and ultimately dis-
charges to the unconsolidated deposits in the valley. If
wells are being pumped in the valley, the salinity of water
in the sand and gravel aquifer may be increased because of
vertical intrusion of a higher percentage of saline water
from deeper, more highly mineralized zones. Figure 39 shows
how local ground-water circulation can produce a relatively
thin fresh-water zone above salt water. Heavy pumpage in
this situation from wells tapping the shallow deposits can
produce vertical salt-water intrusion. It should be noted
that Figures 38 and 39 are only two examples of many types
of different conditions that could be encountered in various
parts of the Inland Region.
The natural occurrence of saline water and the potential for
salt-water intrusion are limiting factors on the development
of ground water. Some regional investigations of ground-
water resources have been carried out by federal and state
agencies, and as more are completed, the nature and occur-
rence of saline water will become better defined. Because
of this/ problems of salt-water intrusion should be more
easily avoided through proper well location and construction.
Governmental controls over diversions of ground water in the
Inland Region, as a protective measure against salt-water
intrusion, do not exist and would be difficult to enforce un-
til the problem is better defined by additional area-wide
studies.
RIVER INFILTRATION
Throughout the northeast, rivers and lakes are a major
source of recharge to high capacity public supply and indus-
trial water wells. Where a surface-water body is hydrauli-
cally connected with an aquifer, pumping from wells and the
resulting drawdown of water levels in the aquifer can in-
duce surface water to infiltrate through the stream bed and
into the ground-water reservoir. This infiltrated water can
then migrate to the pumping wells. Studies of the relation-
265
-------
NJ
9
-
RECHARGE AREA
.WATER TABLE
DISCHARGE AREA
RECHARGE AREA
ZONE OF WATER LOW
IN DISSOLVED SOLIDS
GROUND-WATER
FLOW LINES
SAND AND GRAVEL
DEPOSITS
ZONE OF WATER
MODERATELY HIGHX
IN DISSOLVED SOLIDS
ZONE OF WATER
HIGH IN CHLORIDE
x/ x x x \x x
Figure 38. Variations of chemical quality of ground water as related to recharge
and discharge relationships
-------
~
STREAM
WATER TABLE
SWAMP
JN£ONSOLl5ATED/ DEPOSITS
FRESH-WATER FLOW PATH
^ SALT-WATER FLOW PATH
20
40
60
100
or o
Q. CO
Figure 39. Local ground-water circulation, producing a relatively thin fresh-
water zone above the salt water
-------
ship between surface water and ground water have shown that
wells drilled within a few hundred to as much as a thousand
feet away from rivers and lakes can yield a high percentage
of water derived from infiltration. For example, pumping
tests conducted along the Delaware River in the vicinity of
Camden, New Jersey, indicate that, at a pumping rate of six
mgd from one major field, about 60 percent of the well water
is derived from river infiltration and only 40 percent from
ground-water storage. 165) Discussions with water-well
drillers, municipal water works operators, and representa-
tives of state agencies indicate that infiltrated surface
water pumped from wells in the study region amounts to many
hundreds of millions of gallons per day. Individual well
capacities range from one-quarter of a million to as much
as six mgd.
If the infiltrated water passes through a large enough vol-
ume of soil and aquifer materials before arriving at the
pumping well, natural filtration,' adsorption, and ion ex-
change can take place. Turbidity, organic materials, patho-
genic bacteria, and some chemical constituents can be effec-
tively removed or reduced. Thus, high-quality ground-water
supplies can be developed adjacent to many poor-quality
streams. This feature of infiltrated ground water plus the
large amount of potential recharge available from major
streams have made the development of wells adjacent to sur-
face-water bodies very attractive to water-works operators.
Unfortunately, few investigations have been made to deter-
mine whether trace amounts of such pollutants as heavy
metals, organic compounds and viruses can migrate through
aquifer materials to pumped wells. In a few cases, bacteria
have been known to survive infiltration from the surface-
water source to the well. Also, acid or reducing surface
waters that come in contact with some aquifer materials can
dissolve iron and manganese that naturally occur in a pre-
cipitated form in the sediments. This action has resulted
in a build-up of iron and manganese in the well water and
has required the construction of treatment plants for reduc-
tion of these constituents. In some instances, iron and
manganese concentrations have been great enough to result
in abandonment of the well supply.
Case Histories
Several documented case histories in the study area illus-
trate some of the problems of ground-water contamination
that can occur from surface-water infiltration. For exam-
ple, infiltrated water from a polluted tributary of the
Hudson River dissolved iron and manganese in the natural
268
-------
sand and gravel sediments tapped by a high capacity caisson
well in southeastern New York. 166) Analyses of water from
the stream had never shown high levels of manganese, but the
surface water was contaminated with wastes from two paper
mills, a textile plant, and several sewage treatment plants.
The aquifer consists of manganese-rich debris from glacially
eroded crystalline rock.
Manganese concentration in water from the caisson well,
which was capable of producing several mgd, rose from less
than one mg/1 when the well was first drilled to more than
14 mg/1 after several months of pumping. Tests at the site
definitely established that a major portion of the water
pumped from the caisson well was derived from infiltration
from the stream. Water temperature in the well varied ac-
cording to the water temperature of the tributary and the
manganese content of water from an observation well located
halfway between the stream and the caisson well rose and
fell in direct relation to the amount of induced river water.
Even though the caisson well is 100 feet from the stream,
high counts of coliform bacteria were detected in the ground
water, and it was concluded that the source of this contam-
inant was also related to infiltration of the surface water.
No means were found for diverting the polluted surface water
away from the well without reducing its yield to an unac-
ceptable level. Treatment for the high concentration of
manganese was considered to be uneconomic, and the well was
abandoned.
In a case in Connecticut, a six-mgd well field was developed
adjacent to the Connecticut River. Again, the reducing en-
vironment created by the infiltrated river water moving
through iron-rich unconsolidated sediments resulted in a
water-quality problem. 167) Pumping tests at the site re-
vealed that production wells capable of producing two mgd
each and located 150 feet from the bank of the river were
recharged with up to 90 percent induced infiltrated surface
water and with only 10 percent ground-water storage. Figure
40 shows the relationship between pumping from one of the
test wells and changes in iron and hardness concentrations.
The initial total hardness (as CaC03) of the well water
ranged from about 120 to 160 mg/1. The initial concentra-
tion of iron was less than 0.1 mg/1. Concentrations of hard-
ness and iron in the Connecticut River adjacent to the site
averaged 44 and 1.0 mg/1 respectively. The diagram shows
that during periods of pumping, the iron content rose in the
well water and stabilized at a level similar to that found
in the river. Meanwhile, the concentration of hardness in
the well water declined to a level of 80 mg/1. An iron-
treatment plant was constructed at the site so that the
269
-------
•j
3
1.0
9
a: .8
bl
i-
_i
a. .7
ui
a
en
a
o
6
.5
E 4
-J
o
- .3
2
H 800
r
60 £
-
-
40 H
m
I
20
APR. MAY JUN. JUL. AUG. SEP OCT NOV. DEC
1964
JAN FEB. MAR. APR. MAY. JUN. JUL AUG
1965
Figure 40. Effect of infiltration of Connecticut river water on quality of water
from test production well
-------
ground water could be used for public supply.
A public-supply well in Onondaga County, New York, has oc-
casionally yielded water with high concentrations (0.15 mg/1)
of lead. SI) Tjie source of the pollutant is concluded to be
a river several hundred feet away, which provides a major
portion of the recharge to the well. The amount of the pol-
lutant reaching the well during any given period depends on
the character of industrial discharges to the stream and its
flow stage.
Future Trends
Cases similar to those described above involving iron and
manganese are very common throughout the northeast. However,
in spite of the cost for treatment brought about by this
type of problem, the development of ground water as compared
to surface water is still economically favorable. The drill-
ing of wells recharged by rivers and lakes will continue,
and infiltrated ground water will remain as a vital source
of supply for municipalities and industries.
Unfortunately, few detailed chemical analyses are available
for water from wells which depend on a high percentage of re-
charge from polluted streams. More information is needed on
the fate of such trace substances as heavy metals and or-
ganic compounds in waters that are infiltrated from rivers
and lakes. Herbicides and pesticides, for example, can con-
centrate in bottom sediments of surface-water bodies, and
data are lacking on whether these substances can be leached
by surface waters induced into underlying aquifers. In
addition, many of these ground-water supply systems have
been in operation for many years. Conceivably, the ion ex-
change and adsorptive capacities of the aquifer sediments
for removal of potential pollutants may be nearly exhausted.
Information is lacking on the ability of various types of
sediments to treat infiltrated surface water and the time
factors involved.
Health agencies in the region generally rely on maintaining
an arbitrary distance between the well supply and the sur-
face-water source as a safeguard against ground-water con-
tamination. Also, codes covering well construction call for
sealing the well against possible leakage of surface water
along the annular space outside the casing and require the
site to be protected against flooding from the nearby stream.
Pumping tests of up to five days are another requirement,
the purpose of which theoretically is to provide enough data
for determination of the effects of infiltrated surface wa-
ter on ground-water quality.
271
-------
Because of the highly complex geologic and hydrologic condi-
tions that occur in the study area, especially in the gla-
ciated portion, these safeguards may not be adequate. The
ability for surface water to infiltrate to high-capacity
wells varies greatly from place to place. For example, a
uniform distance of 200 feet for wells located near two
polluted streams of similar quality may be safe in one in-
stance but not in the other, depending on the percentage of
surface water infiltrated, the time of travel for a drop of
infiltrated surface water to migrate from the bottom of the
stream bed to the well screen, and the ability of the sedi-
ments in the aquifer to modify the quality of the surface
water. Weeks, and in some cases months, of pumping may be
required for a detectable volume of infiltrated surface wa-
ter to reach a particular well. Only then can a proper
judgement be made on long-term water-quality relationships
between surface water and ground water.
Regulation of well development adjacent to streams should be
based on a more specific and technical analysis of hydraulic
and water-quality conditions at each particular site under
consideration. In some cases, ground-water supplies that
may be perfectly safe for public consumption are not being
developed because they do not meet arbitrary requirements
set by regulatory agencies. At other sites, the parameters
are being met but may not be protective enough.
One problem that appears to be quite common to infiltrated
ground-water supplies containing high concentrations of iron
is the growth of iron bacteria in water from wells after
some period of use. Little is known about the cause of this
phenomenon, for example whether the bacteria originates in
the aquifer as a result of the addition of trace amounts of
organic matter due to infiltration of surface water or
whether it may be related to conditions in the particular
water-supply distribution systems. Also, long-lasting
methods for cleaning up this form of contamination have not
been developed.
UNDERGROUND STORAGE AND ARTIFICIAL RECHARGE OF WASTE WATER
Waste water is purposely disposed of or recharged to the un-
derground in the northeast region in a number of different
ways. Discharge of sewage effluent to septic tanks and cess-
pools is the most common method and is discussed separately
in another portion of the report. Other means of disposal
include deep wells drilled into saline aquifers, shallow
wells discharging into fresh-water aquifers, pits and basins
for rapid infiltration, and spray irrigation. Each of these
is discussed separately in the following paragraphs.
272
-------
Deep Disposal Wells
Disposal of industrial wastes in saline aquifers through
wells more than 1,000 feet deep has been practiced in only
two of the states of the study region, New York and Penn-
sylvania. Four injection wells have been constructed in New
York and nine in Pennsylvania. 168,169) To date, only one
of the wells has ever been placed into operation in New York.
In Pennsylvania, all but perhaps one or two of the original
nine injection wells have been shut down. 169)
Most of the wells have not been put into operation or have
been abandoned because of difficulties in the physical oper-
ation of the system. One 1,600 foot-deep injection well did
fail in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1968. 170) Apparently, after
four years of operation during which approximately 55,000
barrels per day of spent sulfite liquor containing fiber,
titanium dioxide, clay, and lignin-like compounds were pump-
ed into the well under pressure, the injection tubing cor-
roded, and the pressure was released to the outer well
casing. It is not known whether shallow fresh-water aqui-
fers were contaminated, but a considerable volume of the
pollutant was discharged into Lake Erie.
Few if any new industrial-waste injection wells will be con-
structed in the region in the foreseeable future. Inter-
views with representatives of environmental agencies in the
11 states covered by this report revealed a very negative
attitude toward deep well disposal. The principal reason
given is that geologic conditions are not considered to be
favorable for the safe disposal and storage of chemical
wastes underground. In most states, a proposal for deep dis-
posal of industrial wastes would not even be considered. In
others, rigid constraints imposed by regulatory agencies
would most likely rule out consideration of such an alterna-
tive for waste disposal.
Shallow Disposal Wells
Shallow wells, less than 1,000 feet deep, completed in fresh-
water aquifers are used in the northeast to dispose of a
variety of liquid wastes including storm water, sewage, cool-
ing water, and industrial effluent. They can be constructed
for the specific purpose of injecting the fluid under con-
trolled conditions, sometimes under pressure, or they simply
can be abandoned water wells converted to receiving waste
water. Public agencies in some portions of the study region
have encouraged experimentation with or use of shallow wells
for disposal or recharge of storm-water runoff from streets
and buildings, unadulterated cooling water from air condi-
273
-------
tioners, and tertiary-treated sewage effluent. Although
shallow wells recharging fresh-water aquifers with untreated
sewage effluent or industrial waste water exist, they are
considered to be illegal throughout the region.
The type and degree of contamination of fresh ground-water
aquifers that can occur as a result of waste-water recharge
through wells depends, of course, on the source of the pol-
lutant. For example, storm waters can contain high levels
of BOD, COD, nitrates, phosphates, chlorides, and heavy
metals. 69) The injection of heated waste waters from air
cooling systems can raise ground-water temperatures.
Case Histories -
Storm-water runoff from paved areas at industrial sites, air-
ports, and roadways is sometimes collected in dry wells,
which consist of perforated or porous concrete rings set in
a hole usually dug five to 10 feet below land surface or to
the top of the water table. If the water contains fertil-
izers, pesticides, and insecticides used on lawns in a
housing development, or a high level of chlorides from ap-
plication of deicing salts, contamination of the shallow
aquifer can occur in the vicinity of the disposal well. The
injection of drainage water, and possible injection of in-
dustrial wastes through disposal wells has produced some
ground-water contamination in the Buffalo, New York,
area. 163) use of dry wells or "sumps" is common in sub-
urban Long Island, New York. The wells are placed in park-
ing lots at apartment, office, industrial and shopping cen-
ter complexes, or in cloverleafs of housing developments, to
collect and dispose of runoff. Tens of thousands of dry
wells are probably used throughout the region for a similar
purpose. However, their construction is not normally super-
vised by public agencies and their locations in any partic-
ular area are unknown.
Controlled experiments involving injection of municipal
sewage wastes have been carried out in at least two loca-
tions in the study region. A major research project in the
treatment and injection of renovated water has been underway
for a number of years at Bay Park in Nassau County, New York
under the direction of the U. S. Geological Survey. 171,172)
Tertiary-treated sewage has been injected periodically at a
test rate of as high as 350 gpm into a fresh-water zone of
the Magothy aquifer at a depth of 418 to 460 feet below land
surface. Data are being collected to determine the feasi-
bility of this method for replenishment of the aquifer.
The second experiment involved disposal of filtered sewage
274
-------
from the Town of Riverhead, Suffolk County, New York, into
shallow wells screened in the glacial outwash. 173) Consid-
erable plugging of the well screens was encountered, and the
system has not been adapted to permanent use.
Instances of uncontrolled disposal of domestic wastes to
wells that have led to recorded cases of ground-water con-
tamination include one in Berks County, Pennsylvania, in
which it was discovered that sewage from a number of houses
was being discharged into wells about 100 feet deep. 174)
It is feared that both the unconsolidated and consolidated
aquifers in the area have been contaminated. In several
villages in Connecticut, water softener effluent discharged
into dry wells at apartment buildings has raised chloride
and sodium concentrations in water from nearby domestic
wells tapping shallow glacial deposits. 175)
Since 1933, New York State has required the return to the
ground of water pumped for industrial air-conditioning pur-
poses "in an uncontaminated condition through diffusion
wells or other approved structures." 176) The regulation
covers all new industrial wells with capacities in excess of
100,000 gpd. The term "diffusion wells" actually refers to
a recharge or injection well, and they have been used almost
exclusively for disposing of waste water from air condition-
ing or cooling systems. Estimates are that 1,000 such wells,
screened in the glacial and Magothy aquifers of Long Island,
are in operation today and inject about 80 mgd of heated
water into the subsurface. 160) Reports of problems related
to thermal pollution of ground water in Long Island are not
numerous, but as far back as 1937, an investigation in Kings
County noted a rise of 14°F in the sediments surrounding a
diffusion well in the shallow glacial aquifer. 158) The
well injected about one mgd of cooling waste water from an
ice manufacturing plant. Natural temperature of shallow
ground water on Long Island is 52° to 56°F. The temperature
of the recharge water was about 83°F. A few wells in other
parts of Kings County have yielded water with temperatures
about 80°F. 177)
In New Jersey, protection of ground-water diversion rights
in critical areas of the state has encouraged recharge of
waste cooling water from air conditioning systems at commer-
cial and industrial sites rather than disposal of the waste
water to sewers. Normally, the only form of pollution is a
rise in temperature because the ground water is circulated
through a closed system and chemicals for corrosion control
are not added to the cooling water. Whether enough recharge
wells of this type have been drilled in urbanized areas of
New Jersey to locally modify the normal ground-water temper-
275
-------
ature of about 52°F has not been investigated.
Use of wells completed in fresh-water aquifers for disposal
of industrial wastes is probably rare in the region. How-
ever, one case that came to light in Pennsylvania a few
years ago is worthy of note. Plating wastes that were being
injected illegally through shallow wells contaminated a lime-
stone aquifer. 178) The principal pollutant is hexavalent
chromium. Water from public-supply wells several thousand
feet away were affected before the source of contamination
was discovered and eliminated.
Future Trends -
Recharge of waste water through shallow wells will probably
not be an important source of contamination in the northeast
in the future except in the case of dry wells used for dis-
posal of storm-water runoff.and recharge wells used to in-
ject waste cooling waters. Such waters generally are not
considered as sources of contamination to ground water. How-
ever, more controls are needed to guard against use of dry
wells and recharge wells for disposal of waters that may
contain chemical pollutants originating from industrial
processes. Furthermore, runoff from highways, roadways,
parking lots and lawn areas can contain fertilizer, salt,
pesticide, and other organic and inorganic residues. Re-
search is needed to determine the effects of these sub-
stances on ground-water quality in urban areas.
Additional research on well-construction techniques and wa-
ter renovation is needed to solve current problems of plug-
ging of screens and clogging of aquifer materials before
disposal of treated sewage effluent in shallow wells can be
widely practiced. The New England River Basins Commission
in their 1973-1974 Long Island Sound Regional Study has con-
cluded 'that technological capability for recycling treated
waste water into underground supplies will not be available
before 1985. 179) Industrial-waste water is regarded by
regulatory agencies as too hazardous for injection into
fresh-water aquifers because of the hazardous materials that
may be contained in the effluent, and injection will con-
tinue to be prohibited.
Recharge Basins
Recharge basins are used in the region to dispose of storm-
water runoff, industrial and commercial wastes, and treated
sewage. They are unlined rectangular excavations up to 20
feet deep, and they range in size from a few thousand square
feet to more than 10 acres. Where rapid infiltration is de-
276
-------
sired, or the water table is shallow, basins are sometimes
constructed partially or completely above ground within a
set of dikes in order to raise the head of the recharge
water.
Probably the greatest density of recharge basins in the
study area is on Long Island, New York, where more than
2,000 are used for disposal of storm-water runoff and about
200 for discharge of industrial and commercial wastes. It
is estimated that in 1966 about 100 mgd was recharged to
shallow aquifers through the storm-runoff detention basins
and about 30 mgd through the 200 industrial and commercial
basins. 180) Principally as a conservation measure to in-
sure continued replenishment of the aquifers underlying Long
Island, most new housing and industrial developments in
Nassau and Suffolk Counties have been required over the past
two decades to include the construction of one or more ba-
sins, depending on the size of the drainage area involved.
In addition, much of the runoff from highways and streets on
Long Island is collected in recharge basins. Industrial and
commercial waste water disposed of in recharge basins on
Long Island generally is derived from cooling systems and
thus heat is the only pollutant.
The use of recharge basins for rapid infiltration of treated
municipal sewage effluent is not widely practiced in the re-
gion. However, interest in this method of disposal is grow-
ing because of stricter regulation of waste discharge to
surface streams. For example, in New Jersey, rapid infil-
tration of municipal waste that has received at least sec-
ondary treatment has been approved by regulatory agencies
over the past few years in a number of cases where disposal
to surface waters available to the treatment plant has been
ruled out because of enforcement of a stream water-quality
classification system. In these cases, use of septic tanks
was also ruled out because individual lot sizes were too
small or the projected flow rate was too high.
In New York, rapid infiltration of municipal sewage wastes
dates back to 1936 at the Lake George Village treatment
plant. Altogether, about a dozen other municipal systems in
the state are recharging through leaching pits or sand
filters. Average flow rates are relatively small, with none
exceeding one mgd. 181) Massachusetts has another relative-
ly old rapid infiltration system at Fort Devens, where
treated sewage effluent has been recharged underground for
about 30 years. 182)
Because of the general lack of monitoring of ground-water
quality at such sites, it is not known what effect recharg-
277
-------
ing of treated sewage has over the long term. Certainly
concentrations of nitrates are raised, along with those of
chlorides and perhaps other minerals, in the immediate
vicinity of the recharge basins, but how extensive this con-
tamination is under different conditions of soil, geology,
and hydrology is unknown. Nevertheless, as an alternative
for domestic waste disposal, rapid infiltration probably
compares favorably with the use of septic tanks at many lo-
cations because the sewage can be treated to some degree be-
fore it is discharged underground.
Spray Irrigation
Spray irrigation has been defined as "the controlled spray-
ing of liquid onto land at a rate measured in inches of
liquid per week with the flow path being infiltration and
percolation within the boundaries of the disposal site." 183)
Within the northeast region, spray irrigation has been ap-
plied to both forested sites and agricultural lands. The
method has been used to dispose of municipal or domestic
wastes from small communities, housing developments, and
recreational areas. It has also been used for the land
treatment of some industrial wastes, principally from food
processing. As in the case of rapid infiltration of sewage
effluent discussed above, the percentage disposed of through
spray irrigation is small as compared to the overall dis-
charge of waste effluent in the region. However, interest
and activity in the application of spray irrigation is grow-
ing, again because of stricter controls over discharge of
sewage and industrial wastes to surface streams.
Although information is limited on the location and opera-
tion of existing spray irrigation systems, discussions with
representatives of public agencies in the region indicate
that the practice is carried out in a limited way or experi-
mentally in every one of the 11 states. Information for
those sites for which data has been collected indicates that
the average rate of disposal of wastes is generally less
than one mgd. However, there are exceptions. For example,
the Hunt-Wesson Foods Corporation in Bridgeton, New Jersey,
reportedly spray irrigates three mgd, and the H. J. Heinz
Company in Salem, New Jersey, periodically spray irrigates
1.3 mgd. Both involve application of wastes from food
processing. 183)
The spray-irrigation system that has received the most re-
search is the one in operation at State College, Pennsyl-
vania. 184) At this site, personnel from the Pennsylvania
State University have been studying such factors as infiltra-
tion capacity of the soil, effects of climate, and the abil-
278
-------
ity of the land to treat domestic sewage effluent. Studies
are continuing and include the collection of information on
long-term effects of spray irrigation of waste water on
ground-water quality.
Because of the general lack of monitoring and/or the evalua-
tion of data collected from monitoring wells, little is
known at present with regard to the relationship between
high rates of sewage application to the land and the ability
of the soils to render the effluent harmless. However, data
on two cases of ground-water contamination related to spray
irrigation were collected in this survey. One involved a
well supply that became contaminated with a phenolic mate-
rial from spray irrigation of organic wastes from a chicken
processing plant in Maryland. 185) The other involved con-
tamination of a limestone aquifer in Pennsylvania caused by
spraying and lagooning of phenolic materials and solvents
from chemical industries. In this latter case, a contamin-
ated zone 4,000 feet long and 300 feet wide was formed in
the shallow aquifer. Spray irrigation has been halted and
the waste lagoons have been lined. 141)
Because of the large land area normally required for this
method of disposal of municipal wastes, use of spray irriga-
tion will probably continue to be limited to small communi-
ties and individual industries. More information is needed,
based on monitoring of existing sites, in order to deter-
mine whether spray irrigation represents a significant
source of ground-water contamination. Two states in the
study region, Pennsylvania and Vermont, have prepared manu-
als on site selection and system design for spray irriga-
tion. 186,187) AS interest in this process increases, other
states in the region will probably develop similar standards.
Considerable additional research is needed on the effects of
the various types of wastes proposed for land application so
that future problems related to degradation of ground-water
quality can be avoided.
WATER WELLS
Water wells themselves are not normally sources of ground-
water contamination except where a casing has been corroded
or ruptured, where well screens or the open borehole inter-
connects two separate aquifers, or where the surface casing
has not been adequately sealed in soil or rock. In these
instances, water wells can serve as a means for transmission
of pollutants from one aquifer to another or from the land
surface to an aquifer.
One of the most common problems related to this source of
279
-------
contamination is the vertical movement of saline water into
a fresh-water aquifer. In a number of the cases of salt-
water intrusion listed in Table 44, the contamination of the
fresh-water aquifer was aggravated by the presence in the
area of numerous abandoned and corroded well casings, which
allowed saline water to enter the fresh-water aquifer either
from an overlying or underlying saline-water aquifer or from
an adjacent salty surface-water body. Probably the most
classic case of this type of contamination has taken place
in Baltimore, Maryland. 188) Contamination of ground water
by industrial waste was first recognized in the late 1800's
when it was reported that soils in the heavily industrial-
ized districts of that coastal municipality were saturated
with acid from metal processing operations and sulfuric acid
plants. A sample of ground water collected from a 30-foot
deep well in the area in 1944 contained 664 mg/1 of chromium,
Also, the concentration of copper sulfate in ground water
was sufficiently high to warrant investigation of the eco-
nomic feasibility of recovering and processing this compound,
This ground-water body contaminated with industrial waste,
together with saline water that had encroached into the
shallow aquifers underlying the industrial area, have led to
corrosion of abandoned wells and intrusion of saline water
into the deeper, fresh-water, artesian aquifer. The casings
have developed holes or collapsed and act as conduits allow-
ing the poor-quality water to migrate into the deeper arte-
sian aquifer. At locations where leaky well casings are not
in abundance, salt-water intrusion has not occurred because
the artesian aquifer is protected by an overlying clay forma-
tion.
Other causes of casing failure have been related to stray
electrical currents in the ground in the industrial area,
which may cause holes to develop in well casings. Also, in-
adequate sealing of rotary-drilled water wells has allowed
saline water to migrate downward along the annular space be-
tween the outer casing and the bore hole.
It is estimated that about 1,500 wells had been drilled in
the industrial area up to 1950, of which more than 1,000 are
no longer accessible. Many are covered by buildings, paved
areas, and artificial fill. Only about 12 percent of the
more than 1,000 abandoned wells have been plugged. A major
portion of the remaining wells are probably the principal
contributing factor to saline-water intrusion that has af-
fected most of the industrial well fields in the area.
Discussions with drilling contractors in the region have re-
vealed a number of other practices related to abandoned
280
-------
water wells that could lead to ground-water contamination.
The most common observation was the destruction of water
wells during demolition of buildings or houses in order to
make way for new highways, to clear the way for road widen-
ing, or to prepare a site for construction of apartments,
offices, and shopping centers. In most cases, the old wells
serving the demolished houses are simply bulldozed over.
The surface casings and seals are broken, and because of
this, the old wells become a direct route for pollutants,
such as highway deicing salts or sewage from leaky pipelines,
to enter the underlying aquifer.
Operating wells can also act as conduits for pollutants to
migrate into an aquifer. Normally this occurs because the
annular space between the casing and the borehole is im-
properly sealed. Surveys of sanitary conditions of domestic
wells in the region, some of which are summarized on page
152 of this report, indicate that a high percentage of pri-
vately-owned water wells in any particular area do not meet
minimum health standards. Inspections by health authorities
reveal that in numerous cases the well is not properly pro-
tected against contamination from overland runoff contain-
ing septic fluids, barnyard wastes, or storm waters and/or
the water yielded by a particular well shows a relatively
high concentration of bacteria. It was the general con-
sensus of opinion of those health authorities interviewed
that a high percentage of wells serving individual residences
are sources of contamination in the immediate vicinity of
the well but that public-supply wells serving communities
are rarely operating under unsanitary conditions.
A number of states and local health agencies have adopted
regulations and codes governing well construction and the
plugging of abandoned wells. Also, water-well drillers must
be licensed in eight out of the 11 states. New York is in-
cluded as one of the eight states but licensing only ap-
plies to Long Island.
The regulations covering construction of public water-supply
wells normally call for protection against flooding of the
site, minimum distance from a potential source of pollution
such as a sewer line, and minimum length of casing and sur-
face grouting. However, the specific standards set by indi-
vidual states vary considerably. For example, in Connecti-
cut a protective radius of 200 feet is required between a
public supply well and potential sources of contamination.
In the neighboring state of Massachusetts the radius is 400
feet. In New Jersey, installation of a cement grout extend-
ing from land surface to a depth of 50 feet is rigidly en-
forced, whereas in many of the other states, codes covering
281
-------
this aspect of well construction are not specifically spell-
ed out.
Only in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and
Long Island, New York is the plugging of abandoned wells
mandatory. 34) some of these states, for example in New
Jersey, have issued explicit requirements that must be fol-
lowed, such as material to be used. Enforcement of plugging
of large diameter wells has been relatively successful be-
cause these are the same states where diversion rights for
ground-water pumpage must be sought by application to the
state. Thus, the existence and location of high capacity
wells is generally recorded. Periodic reporting by ground-
water users indicates when wells with diversion rights go
out of service or are replaced. Thus, the state agency can
follow up with a request for plugging the abandoned well.
In the remaining states in the region, locations of oper-
ating public-supply and industrial wells are generally not
recorded and enforcement of the plugging of abandoned wells
would be extremely difficult. The same holds true for do-
mestic and small commercial wells throughout the region.
Certainly more control is needed over the construction of
domestic wells and the fate of abandoned wells. Also, li-
censing of well drillers in those states where such regula-
tion does not exist would aid in correcting some of the
faulty construction practices now in use in such areas.
Most important of all, the arbitrary reasoning behind some
of the rules involving such protective codes as distances to
potential sources of contamination should be reevaluated.
The origin of some of these codes dates back many decades,
before the occurrence and movement of ground water under
various hydrologic and geologic conditions was adequately
understood.
AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES
A number of activities associated with crop growing, horti-
culture, dairy farming, and cattle raising can lead to con-
tamination of ground-water supplies. Pollutants derived
from fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, animal wastes, and
irrigation return flows can infiltrate with rain water or
snow melt and eventually can be carried down to the underly-
ing aquifer. Considerable treatment of waste products from
agricultural activities takes place in the soil zone, and
contamination of ground water from this source probably
ranks very low in importance compared with other sources
discussed in this report. The only exception to this is the
application of fertilizers, which have affected ground-water
quality in heavily cultivated areas such as the lower Con-
282
-------
necticut River valley, where tobacco is a very important
crop, and Long Island, New York, where potato farming is a
major industry. In both of these regions, urbanization has
changed land-use patterns and agricultural activity has de-
clined radically since the early 1950's. However, nitrates
related to heavy use of fertili2ers during decades of culti-
vation are still contained in fresh-water aquifers and con-
siderable time will be required before this pollutant has
been flushed out. Undoubtedly, in other farm areas in the
region, such as southern New Jersey, parts of Delaware and
Maryland, and northern New England, contamination of aqui-
fers over broad areas is occurring. However, population
density is still low enough so that the problem remains rel-
atively obscure.
One problem related to fertilizers and also herbicides that
should not be overlooked is the potential for significant
ground-water contamination from the large quantities of
these two substances which are applied to lawns in suburban
areas. It is conceivable that some of the high nitrate con-
centrations observed in ground waters underlying suburban
areas may be caused by the heavy application of lawn fertil-
izers rather than agricultural activity which took place be-
fore the area became urbanized. Additional research on this
subject is needed. In addition, more data is needed on
whether the organic and inorganic compounds found in the
various types of herbicides have penetrated the soil zone
and entered the ground-water system in suburban areas.
A few cases of contamination of ground water from the appli-
cation of pesticides have been noted in the region. Because
of the lack of well-water analyses that include tests for
pesticide compounds, it is difficult to tell whether the
cases given below are unique or whether they represent a
widespread problem.
*Water from a domestic well in Connecticut was affected
by thallium which had been used in a rose spray. Apparently,
thallium-rich waste water from the rose growing operation
had seeped into the sandstone aquifer tapped by the domes-
tic well. 189)
*Chlorinated hydrocarbons from pesticide spray used on
cranberry bogs in Massachusetts have affected the water
quality from at least one sand and gravel aquifer used for
public supply. In another case in Massachusetts, the pres-
ence of chlorinated hydrocarbons from the operation of a
greenhouse has been confirmed in a sample of water from a
shallow sand and gravel aquifer. 190)
283
-------
*A spring in New Hampshire has been found to contain
traces of arsenic, presumably from the residue of pesticide
sprays used for orchards. 191)
*Arsenate compounds used for insect control in the
blueberry barrens of Maine have been found in surface
streams and may have entered shallow ground-water aqui-
fers. 192)
*Water from a domestic well in Pennsylvania was contam-
inated by chlordane applied to trenches around the house
served by the well. The chlordane was used for termite con-
trol. 142)
With regard to barnyard or animal waste problems, discussions
with health authorities indicate that many domestic wells in
farm areas are contaminated because of the improper handling
of manure combined with poor well construction. Normally
the only well affected by a particular source of animal
wastes is the well serving the same farm.
Irrigation is not widely practiced in the region and esti-
mates of the proportion of irrigated land to total crop land
are less than two percent. Based on this fact, it is doubt-
ful that salinity problems related to irrigation return
flows are significant in the study region. 193)
Agricultural activities in the traditional sense will prob-
ably decline in the future as the region becomes even more
urbanized. However, the use of fertilizers, herbicides, and
pesticides by individual home owners in suburban areas will
continue, and the potential for contamination of ground
water from these activities has not received enough atten-
tion in the past. There is a definite need for controlled
studies of long-term affects from the application of commer-
cial products sold for suburban agricultural use on lawns,
gardens, trees, and shrubs. If it is found that ground-
water quality is being affected, then consideration should
be given to controls over the use of such products, and pro-
grams directed toward education of the public should be de-
veloped so that more efficient handling and application can
be achieved.
284
-------
REFERENCES CITED
SECTION VI
1. Murray, C. R., and E. B. Reeves, "Estimated Use of Water
in the United States in 1970," U. S. Geological Survey
Circular 676, 1972.
2. New Jersey Commission on Efficiency and Economy in State
Government, "Water Resources Management in New Jersey,"
1967.
3. Thomas, J. D., and S. G. Heidel, "Chemical and Physical
Character of Municipal Water Supplies in Maryland,"
Maryland Geological Survey Report of Investigation No. 9,
1969.
4. Heath, R. C., "Ground Water in New York," State of New
York Conservation Department, Water Resources Commission
Bulletin GW-51, 1964.
5. Connecticut Interagency Water Resources Planning Board,
"Statewide Long-Range Plan for the Management of the Water
Resources of Connecticut, Phase I Report," Connecticut
Office of State Planning, Department of Finance and Con-
trol, HUD Project No. P-128, 1971.
6. Todd, D. K., "The Water Encyclopedia," Port Washington,
N. Y., Water Information Center, Inc., 1971.
7. Tippetts-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton Engineers, "Survey of
New Jersey Water Resources Development," New Jersey Leg-
islative Commission on Water Supply, 1955.
8. New York State Water Resources Commission, "Developing
and Managing the Water Resources of New York State/'
New York State Conservation Department, Division of Water
Resources, 1967.
9. Deutsch, Morris, "Ground-Water Contamination and Legal
Controls in Michigan," U. S. Geological Survey Water-
Supply Paper 1691, 1963.
10. Water and Petroleum Study Group, "Evaluation and Treatment
of Oil Spill Accidents on Land with a View to the Protec-
tion of Water Resources," Bonn, West Germany, Federal Min-
istry of the Interior, Second Edition, December 1970.
285
-------
11. Lieber, Maxim, N. M. Perlmutter, and H. L. Frauenthal,
"Cadmium and Hexavalent Chromium in Nassau County Ground
Water," Journal American Water Works Association, Vol. 56,
No. 6, June 1964.
12. Suffolk County, New York, Personal Communication, 1973.
13. Kasabach, H. F., "Geology and Ground-Water Resources of
Hunterdon County, New Jersey," New Jersey Bureau of Geol-
ogy and Topography Special Report No. 24, 1966.
14. Wright, J. F., "Administrative and Legal Considerations:
An Interstate Viewpoint," University of California Water
Resources Engineering Educational Series, 1973.
15. Albany County Health Department, New York, Personal Com-
munication, 1973.
16. Parizek, R. R., W. B. White, and Donald Langmuir, "Hydro-
geology and Geochemistry of Folded and Faulted Rocks of
the Central Appalachian Type and Related Land Use Prob-
lems," Pennsylvania State University Mineral Conservation
Series Circular 82, 1971.
17. Gaun, G. R., and L. J. McCabe, "Review of the Causes of
Waterborne Disease Outbreaks," Journal American Water Works
Association, Vol. 65, No. 1, January 1973.
18. Drewry, W. A., and Rolf Eliassen, "Virus Movement in Ground
Water," Journal Water Pollution Control Federation, Vol. 40,
No. 8, Pt. 2, August 1968.
19. Rasmussen, W. C., and G. E. Andreasen, "A Hydrologic Budget
of the Beaverdam Creek Basin, Maryland," U. S. Geological
Survey Open-file Report, March 1967.
20. Olmsted, F. H., and A. G. Hely, "Relation Between Ground
Water and Surface Water in Brandywine Creek Basin, Penn-
sylvania," U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper
417-A, 1962.
21. Morrill, G. B., Ill, and L. G. Toler, "Effect of Septic-
Tank Wastes on Quality of Water, Ipswich and Shawsheen
River Basins, Massachusetts," U. S. Geological Survey
Journal of Research, Vol. 1, No. 1, January-February 1973.
22. Geraghty & Miller, Inc., Consultant's Report, 1972.
286
-------
75. Hepple, Peter, ed., "The Joint Problems of the Oil and
Water Industries - Proceedings of a Symposium, Brighton,
England, January 1967," The Institute of Petroleum, Lon-
don, 1967.
76. Kimmel, G. E. , "Nitrogen Content of Ground Water in Kings
County, Long Island, New York," U. S. -Geological Survey
Professional Paper 800-D, Geological Survey Research, 1972.
77. Ground Water Section, "Site Memorandum," Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Resources, Division of Water
Quality, January 1969.
78. Ground Water Section, "Site Memorandum," Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Resources, Division of Water
Quality, May 1970.
79. Water Compliance Section, Connecticut Department of Envi-
ronmental Protection, Personal Communication, 1973.
80. Department of Health, New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection, Personal Communication, 1973.
81. Onondaga County Health Department, New York, Personal Com-
munication, 1973.
82. Geraghty & Miller, Inc., Consultant's Investigation, 1973.
83. Legislative Research Council, "The Use and Effects of High-
way De-icing Salts," Massachusetts Senate Document 2, Jan-
uary 1965.
84. Hanes, R. E., L. W. Zelazny, and R. E. Blaser, "Effects
of Deicing Salts on Water Quality and Biota," National
Academy of Sciences, Highway Research Board, National Co-
operative Highway Research Program Report 91, 1970.
85. Highway Research Board, "Environmental Degradation by De-
icing Chemicals and Effective Countermeasures," National
Academy of Sciences, Highway Research Record Number 25,
1973.
86. National Resources and Agriculture Committee, "Interim
Report of the Special Commission on Salt Contamination of
Water Supplies and Related Matters," Massachusetts Senate
Document 1485, January 1973.
87. Connecticut State Department of Health, "Analyses of Con-
necticut Public Water Supplies," Seventh Edition, 1971.
287
-------
23. York County Health Department, Maine, in cooperation with
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Investigation in
progress, 1973.
24. Woodhull, R. S., "Evaluation of Public Drinking Water
Supplies in Connecticut," Connecticut Section American
Water Works Association, unpublished paper presented at
South Egremont, Mass., June 22, 1973.
25. Gill, H. E., "Ground-Water Resources of Cape May County,
New jersey: Salt-Water Invasion of Principal Aquifers,"
New Jersey Division of Water Policy and Supply Special
Report 18, 1962.
26. Randall, A. D., "Movement of Bacteria from a River to a
Municipal Well - A Case History," Journal American Water
Works Association, Vol. 62, No. 11, November 1970.
27. The Comptroller General of the United States, "Improved
Federal and State Programs Needed to Insure the Purity
and Safety of Drinking Water in the United States," U. S.
General Accounting Office Report to the Congress, Novem-
ber 1973.
28. Wenk, V. D., "Water Pollution: Domestic Wastes," The
MITRE Corporation, Office of Science and Technology,
Executive Office of the President, PB 202778-06, Volume
6, 1971.
29. Rensselaer County Health Department, "Water Resources in <•
Rensselaer County," New York State Department of Health,
1961.
30. Rensselaer County Health Department, New York, Personal
Communication, 1973.
31. Connecticut Health Department, Personal Communication,
1973.
32. Muhich, A. J., A. J. Klee, and P.W. Britton, "Preliminary
Data Analysis: 1968 National Survey of Community Solid
Waste Practices," U. S. Public Health Service Publication
No. 1867, 1968.
33. The General Electric Company, "A Proposed Plan of Solid
Waste Management for Connecticut," Connecticut Department
of Environmental Protection, June 1973.
34. van der Leeden, Frits, "Groundwater Pollution Features of
Federal and State Statutes and Regulations," U. S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency, Environmental Monitoring Series
600/4-73-OOla, July 1973.
288
-------
35. Field, Richard, et al, "Water Pollution and Associated
Effects from Street Salting," U. S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency, Environmental Protection Technology Series
R2-73-257, May 1973.
36. Westlund, C. W., Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Resources, Personal Communication, 1973.
37. Anonymous, "Drink Purified Sewage? No, Say Experts,"
Ground Water Age, August 1973.
38. Public Health Service, "Drinking Water Standards, 1962,"
U. S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, 1962.
39. Geraghty & Miller, Inc., Consultant's Report, 1969.
40. Pinder, G. F. , "A Galerkin-Finite Element Simulation of
Groundwater Contamination on Long Island, New York,"
Water Resources Research, Vol. 9, No. 6, December 1973.
41. Perlmutter, N. M., and Julian Soren, "Effects of Major
Water-Table Changes in Kings and Queens Counties, New
York City," U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper
450-E, Geological Survey Research, 1963.
42. Delaware River Basin Commission, Personal Communication,
1973.
43. Geraghty & Miller, Inc., Consultant's Report, 1973.
44. Geraghty, J. J., "Movement of Contaminants Through Geo-
logic Formations," Water Well Journal, Vol. 16, 1962.
45. Private Water Company Representative, Personal Communica-
tion, 1973.
46. County Personnel, Personal Communication, 1973.
47. Delaware Division of Environmental Control, Personal
Communication, 1973.
48. Miller, J. C., "Ground-Water Contamination in Delaware:
Hydrogeologic Controls, Case Histories, Prevention and
Abatement," Chesapeake Section American Water Works As-
sociation, unpublished paper, September 1973.
49. Town Personnel, Personal Communication, 1973.
289
-------
50. New Hampshire Department of Public Works and Highways,
Special Services Division, Personal Communication, 1973.
51. Rights and Ways Division, "Annual Well Claims Report,"
Maine State Department of Transportation, July 1972.
52. Gregg, J. C., "Ion Exchange System to Treat High-Nitrate
Well Water," Public Works, September 1972.
53. Bouma, J., et al, "Soil Absorption of Septic Tank Effluent,"
University of Wisconsin, Soil Survey Division, Information
Circular Number 20, 1972.
54. Feth, J. H., "Nitrogen Compounds in Natural Water - A
Review," Water Resources Research, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1966.
55. Holzer, T. L., "Limits to Growth and Septic Tanks," pre-
sented at Conference on Rural Environmental Engineering,
Warren, Vermont, September 26, 1973.
56. Nassau-Suffolk Research Task Group, "The Long Island
Ground-Water Pollution Study," State of New York Depart-
ment of Health, 1969.
57. Perlmutter, N. M., and Ellis Koch, "Preliminary Hydrogeo-
logic Appraisal of Nitrate in Ground Water and Streams,
Southern Nassau County, Long Island, New York," U. S.
Geological Survey Professional Paper 800-B, Geological
Survey Research, 1972.
58. Perlmutter, N. M., and Ellis Koch, "Preliminary Findings
on the Detergent and Phosphate Contents of Water of
Southern Nassau County, New York," U. S. Geological
Survey Professional Paper 750-D, Geological Survey Re-
search, 1971.
59. Miller, J. C., "Nitrate Contamination of the Water-Table
Aquifer in Delaware," Delaware Geological Survey Report of
Investigation No. 20, 1972.
60. Miller, J. C., "Nitrate Contamination of the Water-Table
Aquifer by Septic-Tank Systems in the Coastal Plain of
Delaware," presented at the Conference of Rural Environ-
mental Engineering, Warren, Vermont, September 26, 1973.
61. Division of Environmental Health Service, "A Report on
Wells and Septic Systems in Montgomery County," Montgom-
ery County Health Department, Maryland, 1968.
62. Confidential Communication, 1973.
290
-------
63. Health Commission, Stamford, Connecticut, Personal Commu-
nication, 1973.
64. Division of Water Supply and Pollution Control, Rhode Is-
land Department of Health, Personal Communication, 1973.
65. Tourbier, Joachim, "Water Resources as a Basis for Compre-
hensive Planning and Development in the Christina River
Basin," University of Delaware Water Resources Center, 1973.
66. Hill, D. E., and H. F. Thomas, "Use of Natural Resources
Data in Land and Water Planning," The Connecticut Geology-
Soil Task Force, Connecticut Agricultural Experimental
Station, Bulletin 733, 1972.
67. Kolega, J.J., W. C. Wheeler, and G. W. Hawkins, Jr., "Cur-
rent Septic Tank System Installation Practices in Connec-
ticut," Journal of the Water Pollution Control Fpr^ra-t-i nn r
Vol. 38, No. 10, October 1966.
68. The Soap and Detergent Association, "The Suffolk County
Detergent Ban - A Clarifying Comment," Water in the News,
December 1970.
69. Sartor, J. D., and G. B. Boyd, "Water Pollution Aspects of
Street Surface Contaminants," U. S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Office of Research and Monitoring/ 1972.
70. Matis, J. R., "Petroleum Contamination of Ground Water in
Maryland," Ground Water, Vol. 9, No. 6, November-December
1971.
71. Westlund, C. W., "Groundwater Pollution in Pennsylvania,"
University of California Water Resources Engineering Edu-
cational Series, 1973.
72. Todd, D. K., "Groundwater Pollution in Europe - A Confer-
ence Summary," U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Of-
fice of Research and Monitoring, 1973.
73. Engineering and Technical Research Committee, "The Migration
of Petroleum Products in Soil and Ground Water - Principles
and Countermeasures," American Petroleum Institute, 1972.
74. Economic Commission for Europe, "Proceedings of the Seminar
on the Protection of Ground and Surface Waters Against Pol-
lution by Crude Oil and Oil Products, Geneva, December 1969,"
United Nations, Volumes 1 and 2, 1970.
291
-------
88. New Jersey State Department of Health, Personal Communi-
cation, 1973.
89. Hutchinson, F. E., "Environmental Pollution from Highway
Deicing Compounds," Journal of Soil and Water Conservation,
Vol. 25, No. 4, July-August 1970. ~ '—
90. Hutchinson, F. E., and B. E. Olson, "The Relationship of
Road Salt Applications to Sodium and Chloride Ion Levels
in the Soil Bordering Major Highways," National Academy
of Sciences, Highway Research Board, Highway Research
Record Number 193, 1967.
91.. Pollack, S. J., and L. G. Toler, "Effects of Highway De-
icing Salts on Ground Water and Water Supplies in Massa-
chusetts," Massachusetts Department of Public Works and
U. S. Geological Survey Open-file Report, 1972.
92. Geraghty & Miller, Inc., Investigations, 1964-73.
93. New Jersey Department of Health, Files, 1973.
94. Freeport, Maine Water Department, Personal Communication,
1973.
95. Bried, Raymond, "The Great Salt Controversy," Yankee,
March 1973.
96. Gillies, N. P., ed., "Ground Water Newsletter," Vol. 3,
No. 4, Port Washington, N. Y., Water Information Center,
Inc., February 1974.
97. City of New York Environmental Protection Administration,
Personal Communication, 1973.
98. State of New Jersey County and Municipal Government Study
Commission, "Solid Waste: A Coordinated Approach," Sev-
enth Report, 1972.
99. Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Per-
sonal Communication, April 1973.
100. Bureau of Housing and Environmental Control, "A Plan for
Solid Waste Management in Pennsylvania," Pennsylvania
Department of Health, Solid Waste Publication No. 3, 1970.
101. Hagerty, D. J., L. Pavoni, and J. E. Heer, Jr., "Solid
Waste Management," New York, Van Nostrand Reinhold Engi-
neering Series, 1973.
292
-------
102. Salvato, J. A., W. G. Wilkie, and B. E. Mead, "Sanitary
Landfill - Leaching Prevention and Control," Journal
Water Pollution Control Federation, Vol. 43, No. 10,
October 1971.
103. Emrich, G. H., "Guidelines for Sanitary Landfills -
Ground Water and Percolation," paper presented at En-
vironmental Conference on Research and Development on
Landfill Disposal of Solid Waste, Deerfield, Massachusetts,
October 24 - 28, 1970.
104. Apgar, M. A., and Donald Langmuir, "Ground Water Pollution
Potential of a Landfill Above the Water Table," Ground
Water, Vol. 9, No. 6, November-December, 1971.
105. Emrich, G. H., and R. A. Landon, "Generation of Leachate
from Landfills and Its Subsurface Movement," paper pre-
sented at the Annual Northeastern Regional Anti-Pollution
Conference, University of Rhode Island, July 1969.
106. Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Files,
1973.
107. Otton, E. G., "Solid Waste Disposal in the Geohydrologic
Environment of Maryland," Maryland Geological Survey
Report of Investigations No. 18, 1972.
108. Thomas, C. E., Jr., M. A. Cervione, Jr., and I. G. Gross-
man, "Water Resources Inventory of Connecticut, Part 3,
Lower Thames and Southeastern Coastal River Basins,"
Connecticut Water Resources Commission, Connecticut Water
Resources Bulletin No. 15, 1968.
109. Emrich, G. H., and R. A. Landon, "Investigation of the
Effects of Sanitary Landfills in Coal Strip Mines on
Ground Water Quality," Pennsylvania Department of En-
vironmental Resources, Bureau of Water Quality Manage-
ment Publication No. 30, 1971.
110. Delaware Geological Survey, Personal Communication, 1973.
111. Grossman, I. G., "Waterborne Styrene in a Crystalline
Bedrock Aquifer in the Gales Ferry Area, Ledyard,
Southeastern Connecticut," U. S. Geological Survey
Professional Paper 700-B, Geological Survey Research, 1970
112. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau
of Geology, Personal Communication, 1973.
293
-------
113. Geraghty & Miller, Inc., Consultant's Report, January
1973.
114. A. W. Martin Associates, Inc., "New Concept in Solid
Waste Disposal in Quarry Conversion," Constructioneer,
January 1972.
115. Besselievre, E. B., "The Treatment of Industrial Wastes,"
New York, McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1969.
116. Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Press
Release, September 4, 1973.
117. Schiffman, Arnold, Ground Water Technical Services,
Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Personal Com-
munication, 1973.
118. Confidential Communication, 1973.
119. Perlmutter, N. M., and Maxim Lieber, "Dispersal of Plating
Wastes and Sewage Contaminants in Ground Water and Surface
Water, South Farmingdale-Massapequa Area, Nassau County,
New York," U. S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper
1879-G, 1970.
120. Delaware River Basin Commission, "A Resolution to Amend
the Water Quality Standards in Relation to Protection of
Ground Water," December 12, 1972.
121. Maryland Water Resources Administration, "Groundwater
Quality Standards," Regulation 08.05.04.04, May 1, 1973.
122. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, "Rules and Regulations,
Section 101.4-Impoundments," Clean Streams Law of 1937,
Chapter 101 - Special Water Pollution Regulations, Sep-
tember 2, 1971.
123. Greenman, D. W., et al, "Ground-Water Resources of the
Coastal Plain Area of Southeastern Pennsylvania," Penn-
sylvania Topographic and Geologic Survey Bulletin W-13,
1961.
124. Arthur D. Little, Inc., "Study of Waste Oil Disposal
Practices in Massachusetts," report to Massachusetts
Division of Water Pollution Control, 1969.
125. Council on the Environment of New York City, "Waste Oil
Study Shows 23 Million Gallons Lost Yearly in Metropol-
itan Area," Press Release, March 1974.
294
-------
126. New York State Department of Health, Personal Communica-
tion, 1973.
127. Chemung County Health Department, New York, Personal Com-
munication, 1973.
128. Bureau of Water Pollution Control, "Investigation Report,"
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Divi-
sion of Water Resources, May 1973.
129. Water Resources Committee, "Guidelines for Chemical Plants
in the Prevention, Control, and Reporting of Spills,"
Manufacturing Chemists' Association, Inc., 1972.
130. Battelle Northeast, "Oil Spill Treating Agents - A Com-
pendium," American Petroleum Institute Committee for Air
and Water Conservation, 1970.
131. U. S. Department of Interior, "Surface Mining and Our
Environment: A Special Report to the Nation," Washington,
D. C., U. S. Government Printing Office, 1967.
132. Chiu, S. Y., et al, "Methods for Identifying and Evaluating
the Nature and Extent of Nonpoint Sources of Pollutants,
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Water
Programs, Nonpoint Source Control Branch, 1973.
133. U. S. Geological Survey, "The National Atlas of the United
States of America," U. S. Department of Interior, 1970.
134. Franklin, B. A., "Strip Mining for Coal in 1973," New
York Times, February 28, 1974.
135. Metsger, R. W., A. H. Willman, and C. G. Van Ness, "Field
Guide to the Friedensville Mine'," Allentown, Pennsylvania,
The New Jersey Zinc Company, 1973.
136. Woodward, H. P., "Copper Mines and Mining in New Jersey,"
New Jersey Department of Conservation and Development,
Geologic Series Bulletin 57, 1944.
137. Murthy, V. R.., "Bedrock Geology of the East Barre Area,
Vermont," Vermont Geological Survey Bulletin No. 10,
1957.
138. Hill, R. D., "Mine Drainage Treatment, State of the Art
and Research Needs," U. S. Department of Interior, Fed-
eral Water Pollution Control Administration, 1968.
295
-------
139. Emrich, G. H., and G. L. Merritt, "Effects of Mine Drain-
age on Ground Water," Ground Water, Vol. 7, No. 3, May-
June 1969.
140. Merritt, G. L., and G. H. Emrich, "The Need for Hydrogeo-
logic Evaluations in a Mine Drainage Abatement Program: A
Case Study - Toms Run, Clarion County, Pennsylvania,"
Third Symposium on Coal Mine Drainage Research, Mellon
Institute, May 19 - 20, 1970.
141. Bureau of Water Quality Management, Pennsylvania Depart-
ment of Environmental Resources, Personal Communication,
1973.
142. Swarzenski, W. V., "Hydrogeology of Northwestern Nassau
and Northeastern Queens Counties, Long Island, New York,"
U. S. Geological Survey Water-Supply Paper 1657, 1963.
143. Crews, J. E., "Establishing Priorities in Mine Drainage
Reductions: A Cost-Effectiveness Approach," Water Re-
sources Bulletin, American Water Resources Association,
1973.
144. Foreman, J. W., and D. C. McLean, "Evaluation of Pollution
Abatement Procedures, Moraine State Park," U. S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Monitoring,
1973.
145. Anonymous, "Digging Into Mine Waste," Environmental
Science & Technology, Vol. 8, No. 2, February 1974.
146. Thompson, D. R., and G. H. Emrich, "Hydrogeologic Consid-
erations for Sealing Coal Mines," Pennsylvania Department
of Health, Bureau of Sanitary Engineering Publication No.
23, 1969.
147. Interstate Oil Compact Commission, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,
Personal Communication, 1974.
148. Wetterhall, W. S., "The Ground-Water Resources of Chemung
County, New York," State of New York Department of Conser-
vation, Water Power and Control Commission Bulletin GW-40,
1959.
149. Randall, A. D., "Records of Wells and Test Borings in the
Susquehanna River Basin, New York," New York State Depart-
ment of Environmental Conservation Bulletin No. 69, 1972.
296
-------
161. Geraghty & Miller, Inc., Investigation of Ground Water
Conditions for the Cape May County Board of Chosen Free-
holders, New Jersey, May 1971.
162. Krieger, R. A., J. L. Hatchett, and J. L. Poole, "Pre-
liminary Survey of the Saline-Water Resources of the
United States," U. S. Geological Survey Water-Supply
Paper 1374, 1957.
163. LaSala, A. M., Jr. "Ground-Water Resources of the Erie-
Niagara Basin, New York," State of New York Conservation
Department, Water Resources Commission Basin Planning
Report ENB-3, 1968.
164. Kantrowitz, I. H., "Ground-Water Resources in the Eastern
Oswego River Basin, New York," State of New York Conser-
vation Department, Water Resources Commission Basin Plan-
ning Report ORB-2, 1970.
165. Sheppard T. Powell Engineers, and Leggette & Brashears,
"Report on the Effect of Ship Channel Enlargement Above
Philadelphia," prepared for The Committee for Study of
the Delaware River, May 1954.
166. Municipal Files and Confidential Communication, 1973.
167. Geraghty & Miller, Inc., "Availability of Water Resources
in the Midstate Region of Connecticut," Connecticut Water
Resources Commission, 1965.
168. ORSANCO Advisory Committee on Underground Injection of
Wastewaters, "Underground Injection of Wastewaters in the
Ohio Valley Region," Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation
Commission, 1973.
169. Warner, Donald, Department of Mining and Engineering,
University of Missouri, Personal Communication, 1974.
170. Greenfield, S. 1-1., "EPA - The Environmental Watchman,"
American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Memoir
18, 1972.
171. Vecchioli, John, "Experimental Injection of Tertiary-
Treated Sewage in a Deep Well at Bay Park, Long Island,
New York - A Summary of Early Results," New England Water
Works Association Bulletin, Vol. LXXXVI, No. 2, June 1972.
172. Koch, Ellis, A. A. Giaimo, and D. J. Sulam, "Design and
Operation of the Artificial Recharge Plant at Bay Park,
New York," U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper
751-B, 1973.
298
-------
173. Baffa, J. J., and N. J. Bartilucci, "Wastewater Reclama-
tion by Ground Water Recharge on Long Island," Journal
American Water Works Association, Vol. 39, No. 3, March
1967.
174. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources,
Bureau of Water Quality Management Files, 1973.
175. U. S. Geological Survey, Hartford, Connecticut, Regional
Office Files, 1973.
176. Johnson, A. H., "Ground Water Recharge on Long Island,"
Journal American Water Works Association, Vol. 49, No.
11, November 1948.
177. Geraghty, J. J., "Ground-Water Problems in the New York
City Area," Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences,
Vol. 80, Article 4, September 21, 1959.
178. Private Water Company, Confidential Files, 1973.
179. Long Island Sound Regional Study Group, "Toward a Plan
for Long Island Sound," New England River Basins Commis-
sion, Special Release, 1974.
180. Parker, G. G. , Philip Cohen, and B. L. Foxworthy, "Arti-
ficial Recharge and Its Role in Scientific Water Manage-
ment with Emphasis on Long Island, New York," American
Water Resources Association, Proceedings of the National
Symposium on Ground-Water Hydrology, 1967.
181. Boggedain, F. O., "New York State's View of Land Disposal,"
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Proceedings of
Conference on Land Disposal of Municipal Effluents and
Sludges, EPA-902/9-73-001, 1973.
182. Sullivan, R. H., M. M. Conn, and S. S. Baxter, "Survey
of Facilities Using Land Application of Wastewater," U. S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water Programs
Operations, EPA-430/9-73-006, 1973.
183. Reed, Sherwood, et al, "Wastewater Management by Disposal
on the Land," U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Cold Regions
Research and Engineering Laboratory, Special Report 171,
1972.
184. Kardos, L. T., "A New Prospect: Preventing Eutrophication
of Our Lakes and Streams," Environment, Vol. 12, No. 2,
March 1970.
299
-------
The use and purpose of monitoring wells should be better un-
derstood in the region. The general philosophy that moni-
toring wells are protective devices should be discouraged.
Monitoring should be applied when there is a need to deter-
mine the status of ground-water quality at a particular lo-
cation and to gain a perspective on long-term water quality
at selected sites. At new sites, where a specific activity
may lead to contamination of ground water, monitoring wells
should be used only to determine whether procedures designed
to protect ground-water quality have been successful. The
monitoring wells themselves should not be considered as a
method of preserving ground-water quality.
Existing Problems
The present approach toward existing problems in most states
of the study region is to attempt corrective action only af-
ter a specific incident of ground-water contamination has
been discovered. This "brush-fire" approach is not suitable
in a region where use of ground water is increasing in im-
portance. Furthermore, only a very small percentage of the
existing problems have been discovered to date. Taking into
account the tens of thousands of ground-water sources pres-
ently in use, there is the potential threat to the health of
individuals in addition to the threat of adverse effects on
industrial and agricultural activities.
Probably the most revealing aspect of this entire investiga-
tion is that significant numbers of cases of ground-water
contamination do exist and have been documented for each of
the sources discussed in SECTION VI. The importance of this
rather elementary finding is that many of the activities
causing known ground-water contamination cases are common
throughout the region. Therefore, locating and evaluating
additional cases should be of major concern to public agen-
cies charged with the responsibility of protecting water
quality. For example, for every landfill where pollutants
have been discovered leaching into the underlying aquifer,
there are hundreds more located in similar geologic settings
and designed in the same manner, but for which no ground-
water quality data are available. For every surface impound-
ment where it has been shown that pollutants are being added
to the ground-water system, there are hundreds more being
operated, unmonitored, under similar conditions.
It is recommended that a major effort be directed, within
the financial resources available to local, state and feder-
al agencies, toward defining the areal extent and severity
of existing ground-water contamination problems. Research
is needed to find the most suitable methods for such inven-
302
-------
tories. One possible method is the use of aerial photo-
graphic techniques, including remote sensing and multi-
spectral photography, to locate potential sources of contam-
ination such as salt piles and industrial waste lagoons.
Another is the compilation of data already available on the
locations of potential sources of contamination, such as
areas containing high densities of septic tanks and routes
of buried pipelines subject to leakage of toxic compounds.
Much of this information has already been collected for
other purposes. A third method is evaluation of chemical
analyses of ground water already on file with public agen-
cies. The success of this alternative would depend to a
great degree on the availability of more complete analyses
of water samples now collected from supply wells by public
agencies in the region.
Essential to such inventories are methods that can be used
to delineate the actual size and shape of contaminated
ground-water bodies and the characteristics of the pollu-
tants contained in an aquifer. The drilling of test holes
is a standard technique used for gathering data on the areal
extent of contaminated water zones and for collecting water
samples. Wells will always be essential to such investiga-
tions, but drilling methods, details of design, and the
materials selected must be applicable to the particular type
of problem involved. A more scientific approach to present
practices of drilling and constructing wells used for data
collection and monitoring in cases of ground-water contam-
ination is needed. Further research into the application of
geophysical techniques is also warranted. For example,
electrical resistivity has shown great promise for defining
the presence of highly saline water bodies under certain
geologic and hydrologic conditions, as has the use of differ-
ences in ground-water temperature for mapping the affected
portion of an aquifer.
After inventories of ground-water contamination problems are
underway, the results can begin to be used to warn against
use of certain aquifers or portions of aquifers for specific
purposes. Within the legal framework under which each state
must operate, development or withdrawal of ground water
could be limited in affected aquifer zones. It would be the
task of the proper public agency to determine "critical
zones" around each known significant case of ground-water
contamination. In each "critical zone", ground-water diver-
sion would be restricted from the standpoint of either the
quantity that can be pumped or the purpose for which it can
be used. Wells and other monitoring techniques would aid in
determing when and how to modify the areal extent of a
303
-------
Table 45. RESTRICTIONS ON GROUND-WATER USE IN THE CRITICAL ZONES SHOWN
ON FIGURE41.
Zone Description
Area in which water-table
aquifer already contains
pollutant or ground-water
quality is threatened be-
cause of proximity to con-
taminated area.
Restrictions on use of
water-table aquifer
1. No ground-water pumpage
permitted except where poor
quality water can be used
safely for special purposes
or the pollutant can be suc-
cessfully removed by treat-
ment.
2. Ground-water quality
monitored.
Restrictions on use of
shallowest artesian aquifer
1. Pumpage regulated so
that head is maintained
above water table;
otherwise pumpoge not
permitted.
2. Well construction strictly
regulated to guard
against inter-aquifer ex-
change of contaminated
water.
3. Well-water quality
periodically monitored.
Area in which natural
process such as adsorption,
dispersion, and ion ex-
change will have reduced
the concentration of the
pollutant significantly but
not to a level acceptable
For potable water supplies.
3.
Ground-water pumpage
limited to prevent signifi-
cant increase in rate of
travel of contaminated
water.
Ground-water use for pot-
able water supplies not per-
mitted unless pollutant can
be successfully removed by
treatment.
Ground-water quality
strictly monitored.
1. Pumpage regulated so
that head is maintained
above the water table in
Zone A but con be lower
than water table within
this zone.
2. Well construction regu-
lated.
Area in which natural
processes will have reduced
the concentration of the
pollutant to a level accept-
able for potable water sup-
plies.
2.
Ground-water pumpage
limited to prevent signif-
icant increase in rate of
travel of contaminated
water.
Ground-water quality
monitored.
Proposed ground-water users
warned that pumpoge may
be restricted in the future
if ground-water contamina-
tion spreads to Zone B.
306
-------
dealing with such categories as extensive municipal land-
fills or application of highway deicing salts. Specific
needs for research, regulation and monitoring of these and
other sources are discussed later in this section.
Meanwhile, basic research is needed on how to cope with
those cases in which pollutants in the ground-water system
must be removed. This condition could present itself if no
other alternative is reasonably available for replacement of
threatened well supplies, or if pollutants being discharged
from a ground-water source are contaminating a stream essen-
tial for water supply and recreational use. The present pol-
icy of most states in the region is to require that a pollu-
tant be removed from an aquifer and that water quality be re-
stored to its baseline conditions. However, such a policy
breaks down because present methods available for removal
and even containment of a pollutant are technically too dif-
ficult to apply and too costly to implement effectively.
Prevention of Additional Problems
Equally as pressing as the need to develop methods and strat-
egies for dealing with existing problems of ground-water con-
tamination is the need to establish ways to prevent future
problems. Each of the 11 states in the study region already
appears to have legislation which, although general in na-
ture, would allow regulations and policies to be formulated
and enforced for the prevention of ground-water quality deg-
radation. Also, as pointed out in the previous section of
this report, many codes in various states have been adopted
to cover specific activities that can lead to ground-water
contamination, such as those dealing with landfill siting,
well construction, and sealing of surface impoundments. In
addition, such broad approaches as New York State's classi-
fication of ground waters have been attempted as a means for
preventing "pollution of ground waters", l)
Nevertheless, there has not been an overall evaluation of
the various options available to regulatory agencies for
protecting ground-water quality. Such alternatives for con-
trol as the setting of ground-water standards, enforcement
of land-use restrictions in critical areas, imposition of
restraints on each individual type of activity that can lead
to ground-water contamination, and regulation of patterns of
ground-water use should be explored. Obviously, the choice
of any control method must be influenced by geologic and
hydrologic conditions in the area of interest and must take
into consideration the type of activity involved. Further-
more, any regulation, code, or policy must be tested against
the following considerations:
307
-------
3. Greater enforcement of proper construction and installa-
tion practices.
4. Enforcement of bans on discharge of hazardous wastes to
septic-tank systems at industrial sites.
Buried Pipelines and Storage Tanks
1. Codes and regulations calling for consideration of fac-
tors involving design and management of proposed major
pipelines carrying organic and inorganic pollutants as
related to possible effects of leaks on underlying aqui-
fers.
2. Consideration/ in special cases of high risk to potable
water supplies, of the use of liners in excavations con-
taining buried pipelines and storage tanks.
3. More efficient monitoring of potential fluid losses, and
regulations calling for the reporting of tank and pipe-
line failures.
4. Additional research into methods for removing hydrocar-
bons from unconsolidated and rock aquifers.
5. Additional research into the overall effects of leaky
sanitary and storm sewers on ground-water quality.
Application and Storage of Highway Deicing Salts
1. Greater effort to reduce wastage of salt by means of
equipment modification and education of those involved
in salt spreading.
2. Additional research to better determine the role that
highway deicing salts play in the degradation of water
quality in the various aquifers of the region.
3. Consideration of aquifer susceptibility to contamination
in the design of highway drainage systems.
4. Guidelines governing the siting, construction, and over-
all protection of water wells located in close proximity
to existing and proposed major highways.
5. Research into the significance of naturally occurring
and artificially added trace elements in highway deicing
salts.
6. Protection of ground water from salt-storage areas.
310
-------
Landfills
1. Inventories of industrial and municipal landfills.
2. Increased monitoring of ground-water quality in the vi-
cinity of landfills.
3. Additional research on: the character of leachate from
landfills; the ability of underlying natural soils to
reduce the concentrations of different types of leach-
ate; the effects of various types of cover material,
slopes/ and other landfill operational procedures on
rainfall infiltration rates.
4. Additional research into the use and composition of clay
and synthetic liners, methods of leachate collection,
and processes for the treatment of leachate.
5. Development of procedures for completing landfills to
minimize the continued production of leachate after
waste disposal operations have ended.
6. Enforcement of regulations prohibiting disposal of toxic
wastes in landfills.
7. Review of existing guidelines governing the siting and
design of new landfills.
Surface Impoundments
1. Development of guidelines and procedures for the siting
and design of proposed surface impoundments.
2. Research into the need for and design of artificial
liners for surface impoundments containing various types
of organic and inorganic pollutants.
3. Inventories of existing surface impoundments, chemicals
and wastes being stored, and design and operation of
these systems,
4. Increased monitoring of ground-water quality in the vi-
cinity of surface impoundments and monitoring of losses
of liquids to the ground-water system from surface im-
poundments .
5. Evaluation of the use of surface impoundments as a means
of treatment of municipal and industrial wastes in the
northeast versus their potential for causing ground-
water quality degradation.
311
-------
used or proposed,
7. Evaluation of guidelines presently being used to control
site selection and the type of waste tolerated where mu-
nicipal and industrial effluent is applied to the land.
Water Wells
1. More uniform and effective controls over well construc-
tion practices and the siting of wells.
2. More effective control over the fate of abandoned wells.
Agricultural Activities
1. Research into the effects on ground-water quality of the
application of fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides
in urban areas.
2. Greater control over agricultural practices that lead to
contamination of shallow aquifers tapped by domestic
wells in rural areas.
314
-------
REFERENCES CITED
SECTION VII
Division of Water Resources, "Classifications and Stan-
dards Governing the Quality and Purity of Waters of
New York State," New York State Department of Environ-
mental Conservation, Parts 700-703, Title 6, Official
Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations, April 1968,
315
-------
SECTION IX
APPENDIX A - GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Alluvium - Clay, silt, sand, gravel, or other rock materials
transported by flowing water and deposited in comparatively
recent geologic time as sorted or semi-sorted sediments in
riverbeds, estuaries, flood plains, lakes, shores and in fans
at the base of mountain slopes.
Aquiclude (Confining Bed) - A body of less permeable material
than the adjacent aquifer(s).
Aquifer - A geologic formation, group of formations, or part
of a formation that is water yielding.
Artesian - The occurrence of ground water under sufficient
pressure to rise above the upper surface of the aquifer.
Artesian Aquifer - An aquifer overlain by a confining bed and
containing water under artesian conditions.
Artificial Recharge - The addition of water to the ground-
water reservoir by activities of man, such as irrigation, or
spreading basins.
Base Flow - The fair-weather flow of streams, composed largely
of ground-water effluent.
Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) - The quantity of oxygen util-
ized primarily in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter
in a specified time and at a specified temperature. The time
and temperature are usually five days and 20°C.
Brackish Water - Water containing dissolved minerals in excess
of acceptable potable water standards, but less than that of
sea water.
Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) - The measure of the readily
oxidizable material in water which provides an approximation
of the minimum amount of organic and reducing material present,
Chemical Water Quality - The nature of water as determined by
the concentration of chemical constituents.
Clastic - Consisting of fragments of rocks or organic struc-
tures that have been moved individually from their places of
origin.
318
-------
Concentration - The weight of solute dissolved in a unit volume
of solution.
Connate Water - Water that was deposited simultaneously with
the sediments, and has not since then existed as surface water
or as atmospheric moisture.
Consumptive Use - The quantity of water discharged to the atmos-
phere or incorporated in the products of vegetative growth or
industrial processes.
Contamination - The degradation of natural water quality as a
result of man's activities, to the extent that its usefulness
is impaired.
Crystalline - Rock composed of crystals or fragments of crystals.
Degradable - Capable of being decomposed, deteriorated, or de-
cayed into simpler forms with characteristics different from
the original. Also referred to as biodegradable.
Degradation of Water Quality - The act or process of reducing
the level of water quality so as to impair its original use-
fulness.
Demineralization - The process of reducing the concentration of
chemical constituents.
Domestic Well - A well which supplies water for the occupants
of a single residence.
Drawdown - The lowering of the water table or peizometric surface
caused by pumping or artesian flow.
Evapotranspiration - The combined processes of evaporation from
land, water, and other surfaces, and transpiration by plants.
Fall Line - A line joining the waterfalls on a number of suc-
cessive rivers that marks the point where each river descends
from the upland (Piedmont) to the lowland (Coastal Plain).
Flood Plain - The flat ground along a stream course which is
covered by water at flood stage.
Fluvial Sediment - Those deposits produced by stream or river
action (see Alluvium).
Glacial Drift - Boulders, till, gravel, sand or clay transported
by a glacier or its meltwater.
319
-------
Porosity - The relative volume of the pore spaces between
mineral grains in a rock as compared to the total rock volume.
Primary Treatment (Sewage) - The removal of larger solids by
screening, and of more finely divided solids by sedimentation.
Production Well - A well from which ground water is obtained.
Public Supply Well - A well from which ground water is ob-
tained serving more than one individual or household.
Recharge Basin - A basin designed for the purpose of adding
water to the ground-water reservoir.
Salt-Water Intrusion (or Encroachment) - Movement of salty
ground water so that it replaces fresh ground water.
Saturation, Zone of - The zone in which interconnected inter-
stices are saturated with water under pressure equal to or
greater than atmosphere.
Secondary Treatment - The oxidation of organic matter in sew-
age through bacterial action.
Sedimentary Rock - Rocks formed by the accumulation of sediment.
Soft Water - Water containing 60 mg/1 or less of hardness.
Specific Capacity - The rate of discharge of water from a well
divided by the drawdown of the water level in it. Properly
stated, it relates to the time of pumping.
Storage (Aquifer) - The volume of water held in the interstices
of the rock.
Surface Water - That portion of water that appears on the land
surface.
Tertiary Treatment - Advanced waste treatment which removes
additional impurities which remain in the effluent after secon-
dary treatment.
Transmissivity - The rate at which water is transmitted through
a unit width of the aquifer under a unit hydraulic gradient.
Unconsolidated Rocks - Uncemented or loosely coherent rocks.
Water Cycle - The complete cycle through which water passes;
water vapor in the atmosphere, liquid and solid as precipitation
as part of surface and ground water and eventually back to
atmospheric vapor.
322
-------
Water Quality - Pertaining to the chemical, physical and biolog-
ical constituents found in water and its suitability for a par-
ticular purpose.
Water Table - That surface in an unconfined water body at which
the pressure is atmospheric. It is defined by the levels at
which water stands in wells that penetrate the water body just
far enough to hold standing water.
Water-Table Aquifer - An aquifer containing water under water-
table conditions.
323
-------
SELECTED WATER
RESOURCES ABSTRACTS
INPUT TRANSACTION FORM
W
GROUND WATER CONTAMINATION IN THE
NORTHEAST STATES
David W. Miller, Frank A. Deluca, and Thomas L. Tessier
Geraghty & Miller, Incorporated
Port Washington, New York 11050
68-01-0777
(:d 6V:
• do n
Environmental Protection Agency Report No. EPA-660/2-74-056, June 1974
An evaluation of principal sources of ground-water contamination has been carried out in II
northeast states, including all of New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland,
and Delaware. The findings of this study have been used to determine priorities for research into
ways to correct existing sources of contamination and to point out deficiencies in present control
methods for protection against further degradation of ground-water quality. Principal sources of
ground-water quality degradation caused by man's activities that are common to most parts of the
region are septic tanks and cesspools, buried tanks and pipelines including sanitary and storm
sewers, the application and storage of highway deicing salts, municipal and industrial landfills
of solid waste, unlined surface impoundments, spills, and the uncontrolled discharge of pollutants
on the land surface. In New York and Pennsylvania, mining and petroleum exploration and de-
velopment have caused many instances of ground-water contamination, but the extent of the
problem has not been defined. Salt-water intrusion in coastal areas has been adequately controlled,
but little is known of the potential threat to fresh-water aquifers from the encroachment of saline
water that naturally occurs in inland formations underlying the western portions of the region.
*Ground water, *water pollution, *landfills, *septic tanks, *waste storage
Northeast United States, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
• ov.,*;,,
Send To:
WATER RESOURCES SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION CENTER
US DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
WASHINGTON.D C. 2024O
Marion R. Scalf
R.S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory
------- |