Subsurface Point-Source Contamination

Locations of Toxics Program Subsurface Point-Source Contamination Investigations (Click on map for larger version) Geochemical zones in the plume of dissolved constituents -- from the Bemidji Site

The Toxics Program conducts intensive field investigations to study common classes of subsurface point-source contamination. (more information)

Contamination in Fractured-Rock Aquifers

Petroleum Related Contamination (including crude oil, gasoline and produced water)

Chlorinated Solvents Contamination

Contamination from Sources with Mixed Wastes (including landfills and wastewater discharge)

Complete listing of point-source investigations and projects >>

Other Subsurface Point-Source Investigations

• Creosote Waste in Ground Water — Pensacola, Florida [Completed]
• Subsurface Injection of Liquid Waste — Florida [Completed]

Subsurface Point-Source Contamination Information

• Index of Bibliographies from Point-Source Investigations
• Index of Photo Galleries for Point-Source Investigations
• Crosscutting Topics Related to Point-Source Contamination
• Contaminant Plume Geochemistry and Microbiology — Geochemical and microbiological characterization of processes related to contaminant plume migration and evolution
• Geophysical Characterization — Surface and borehole geophysical characterization of ground-water contamination
• Ground-Water Contaminant Transport — Contaminant transport and fate in ground water
• Natural Attenuation — Natural attenuation and biodegradation of contaminants
• Site Remediation — Research associated with the monitoring or assessment of site remediation activities
• Tracer Tests — The use and development of tracer tests to study contaminant transport and fate
• Unsaturated Zone — Contaminant transport and fate in the unsaturated zone
• Fact Sheets on Point-Source Contamination
• USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program, 2010: USGS Fact Sheet 2010-3011
• Bioremediation--Nature's way to a cleaner environment: USGS Fact Sheet FS-O54-95.
• Borehole-radar methods--Tools for characterization of fractured rock: USGS Fact Sheet FS-054-00.
• Cape Cod Toxic Substances Hydrology research site--Physical, chemical, and biological processes that control the fate of contaminants in ground water: USGS Fact Sheet 2006-3096.
• Characterizing ground-water chemistry and hydraulic properties of fractured-rock aquifers using the multifunction bedrock-aquifer transportable testing tool (BAT3): USGS Fact Sheet FS-075-01.
• Contaminant sorption by soil and bed sediment--Is there a difference?: USGS Fact Sheet 087-00.
• Contamination in fractured-rock aquifers--Research at the former Naval Air Warfare Center, West Trenton, New Jersey: USGS Fact Sheet 2007-3074.
• Fractured-rock aquifers--Understanding an increasingly important source of water: USGS Fact Sheet 112-02.
• Ground water contamination by crude oil near Bemidji, Minnesota: USGS Fact Sheet FS-084-98.
• Ground-water recharge in humid areas of the United States--A summary of Ground-Water Resources Program studies, 2003-2006: USGS Fact Sheet 2007-3007.
• Is septic waste affecting drinking water from shallow domestic wells along the Platte River in eastern Nebraska?: USGS Fact Sheet 072-03.
• The Mirror Lake Fractured-Rock Research Site--A multidisciplinary research effort in characterizing ground-water flow and chemical transport in fractured rock: USGS Fact Sheet FS-138-95.
• Naturally occurring radioactive minerals (NORM) in produced water and oil-field equipment--An issue for the energy industry: USGS Fact Sheet FS-142-99.
• The Norman Landfill Environmental Research Site--What happens to the waste in landfills?: USGS Fact Sheet 040-03.
• Robowell--Providing accurate and current water-level and water-quality data in real time for protecting ground-water resources: USGS Fact Sheet FS-053-02.
• Simulating contaminant attenuation, double-porosity exchange, and water age in aquifers using MOC3D: USGS Fact Sheet 086-99.
• Simulating transport of volatile organic compounds in the unsaturated zone using the computer model R-UNSAT: USGS Fact Sheet FS-019-98.
• USGS research on saline waters co-produced with energy resources: USGS Fact Sheet FS-003-97.
• Waste burial in arid environments--Application of information from a field laboratory in the Mojave Desert, southern Nevada: USGS Fact Sheet FS-179-95.

Meetings and Conferences

• USGS cosponsors the special session Fate and Transport of Radionuclides in the Environment at the 2009 AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco, California, December 14-18, 2009

New Publications

Upcoming Publications

• Loss of volatile hydrocarbons from an LNAPL oil source: Baedecker, M.J., Eganhouse, R.P., Bekins, B.A., and Delin, G.N., Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, doi:10.1016/j.jconhyd.2011.06.006 (IN PRESS).
• Comparing the bioavailability of dissolved organic carbon in different aquifer systems: Chapelle, F.H., Bradley, P.M., McMahon, P.B., Kaiser, K., and Benner, R., Ground Water (IN PRESS).
• Magnetic susceptibility as a proxy for investigating microbial mediated iron reduction: Mewafy, F., Atekwana, A., Werkema, D.D., Slater, L., Ntarlagiannis, D., Revil, A., Skold, M., and Delin, G., Geophysical Research Letters (IN PRESS).

New Publications

• Effects of the antimicrobial sulfamethoxazole on groundwater bacterial enrichment: Underwood, J.C., Harvey, R.W., Metge, D.W., Repert, D.A., Baumgartner, L.K., Smith, R.L., Roane, T.M., and Barber, L.B., 2011, Environmental Science and Technology, v. 45, no. 7, p. 3096-3101, doi:10.1021/es103605e.
• pmoA primers for detection of anaerobic methanotrophs: Luesken, F.A., Zhu, B., van Alen, T.A., Butler, M.K., Diaz, M.R., Song, B., Op den Camp, H.J.M., Jetten, M.S.M., and Ettwig, K.F., 2011, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, v. 77, no. 11, p. 3877-3880, doi:10.1128/aem.02960-10.