Abstract
An area accommodating various industrial facilities has fairly high probability of groundwater contamination with multiple chlorinated solvents. Source identification of multiple chlorinated solvents is an essential procedure for the management and remediation of contaminated groundwater. Hydrogeologic investigations and periodic collection of groundwater chemical data in an industrial complex in Wonju, Korea were used for the source identification of multiple chlorinated solvents. In this study, an example is presented highlighting the potential impact of seasonal rainfall events as the key factor for discriminating between contaminant sources. This method was effective in identifying and allocating sources of small contaminant plumes masked by a major contaminant plume. The apparent main sources of high concentration multiple chlorinated contaminants such as trichloroethene, carbon tetrachloride, and chloroform were located in the uppermost area of the study site. By using the proposed method, additional contaminant source locations were identified. This result demonstrates that source allocation is effective by using simply concentration data under the influence of temporal groundwater recharge. When this method is incorporated with compound-specific stable isotope analysis based on the chemical evolution of the chlorinated contaminants, the source identification results can be more decisive in a complex study area with multiple overlapping plumes.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Abe, Y., Aravena, R., Zopfi, J., Parker, B., and Hunkeler, D., 2009, Evaluating the fate of chlorinated ethenes in streambed sediments by combining stable isotope, geochemical and microbial methods. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 107, 10–21.
Abe, Y., Aravena, R., Zopfi, J., Shouakar-Stash, O., Cox, E., Roberts, J.D., and Hunkeler, D., 2009, Carbon and chlorine isotope fractionation during aerobic oxidation and reductive dechlorination of vinyl chloride and cis-1, 2-dichloroethene. Environmental Science and Technology, 43, 101–107.
Alimi, H., Ertel, T., and Schug, B., 2003, Fingerprinting of hydrocarbon fuel contaminants: Literature review. Environmental Forensics, 4, 25–38.
Atmadja, J. and Bagtzoglou, A.C., 2001, State of the art report on mathematical methods for groundwater pollution source identification. Environmental Forensics, 2, 205–214.
Baek, W. and Lee, J.Y., 2011, Source apportionment of trichloroethylene in groundwater of the industrial complex in Wonju, Korea: a 15-year distribute and perspective. Water and Environment Journal, 25, 336–344.
Basu, N.B., Rao, P.S.C., Falta, R.W., Annable, M.D., Jawitz, J.W., and Hatfield, K., 2008, Temporal evolution of DNAPL source and contaminant flux distribution: impacts of source mass depletion. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 95, 93–109.
Benson, S., Lennard, C., Maynard, P., and Roux, C., 2006, Forensic applications of isotope ratio mass spectrometry-A review. Forensic Science International, 157, 1–22.
Blessing, M., Schmidt, T.C., Dinkel, R., and Haderlein, S.B., 2009, Delineation of multiple chlorinated ethene sources in an industrialized area-A forensic field study using compound-specific isotope analysis. Environmental Science and Technology, 43, 2701–2707.
Chapman, S.W., Parker, B.L., Cherry, J.A., Aravena, R., and Hunkeler, D., 2007, Groundwater-surface water interaction and its role on TCE groundwater plume attenuation. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 91, 203–232.
Chartrand, M.M.G., Hirschorn, S.K., Lacrampe-Couloume, G., and Sherwood Lollar, B., 2007, Compound-specific hydrogen isotope analysis of 1, 2-dichloroethane: Potential for delineating source and fate of chlorinated hydrocarbon contaminants in groundwater. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 21, 1841–1847.
Clement, T.P., 2011, Complexities in Hindcasting Models-When should we say enough is enough? Ground Water, 49, 620–629.
Clement, T.P., Johnson, C.D., Sun, Y., Klecka, G.M., and Bartlett, C., 2000, Natural attenuation of chlorinated ethene compounds: model development and field-scale application at the Dover site. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 42, 113–140.
Clement, T.P., Kim, Y.C., Gautam, T.R., and Lee, K.K., 2004, Experimental and numerical investigation of DNAPL dissolution processes in a laboratory aquifer model. Ground Water Monitoring and Remediation, 24, 88–96.
Clement, T.P., Truex, M.J., and Lee, P.A., 2002, Case study for demonstrating the application of U.S. EPA’s monitored natural attenuation screening protocol at a hazardous waste site. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 59, 133–162.
Duffy, C.J. and Brandes, D., 2001, Dimension reduction and source identification for multispecies groundwater contamination. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 48, 151–165.
Ehlke, T.A., Imbrigiotta, T.E., and Dale, J.M., 2004, Laboratory comparison of polyethylene and dialysis membrane diffusion samplers. Ground Water Monitoring and Remediation, 24, 53–59.
Gangwon Province, 2005, Detailed investigation and Basic Remediation Design for Contaminant Soil and Groundwater in Woosan Industrial Complex, Wonju City, Gangwon Province, Korea.
Glaser, B., Dreyer, A., Bock, M., Fiedler, S., Mehring, M., and Heitmann, T., 2005, Source apportionment of organic pollutants of a highway-traffic-influenced urban area in Bayreuth (Germany) using biomarker and stable carbon isotope signatures. Environmental Science and Technology, 39, 3911–3917.
Harter, T. and Talozi, S., 2004, Evaluation of a simple, inexpensive dialysis sampler for small diameter monitoring wells. Ground Water Monitoring and Remediation, 24, 97–105.
Hunkeler, D., Chollet, N., Pittet, X., Aravena, R., Cherry, J.A., and Parker, B.L., 2004, Effect of source variability and transport processes on carbon isotope ratios of TCE and PCE in two sandy aquifers. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 74, 265–282.
Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC), 2005, Technology Overview of Passive Sampler Technologies; DSP-4. Interstate Technology & Regulatory Council, Authoring Team: Washington, DC., www.itrcweb.org.
Jo, Y.J., Lee, J.Y., Yi, M.J., Kim, H.S., and Lee, K.K., 2010, Soil contamination with TCE in an industrial complex: contamination levels and implication for groundwater contamination. Geosciences Journal, 14, 313–320.
Jochmann, M.A., Blessing, M., Haderlein, S.B., and Schmidt, T.C., 2006, A new approach to determine method detection limits for compound-specific isotope analysis of volatile organic compounds. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 20, 3639–3648.
Mansuy, L., Philp, R.P., and Allen, J., 1997, Source identification of oil spills based on the isotopic composition of individual components in weathered oil samples. Environmental Science and Technology, 31, 3417–3425.
Okuda, T., Kumata, H., Naraoka, H., and Takada. H., 2002, Origin of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in Chinese cities solved by compound-specific stable carbon isotopic analyses. Organic Geochemistry, 33, 1737–1745.
Rolle, M., Clement, T.P., Sethi, R., and Molfetta, A.D., 2008, A kinetic approach for simulating redox-controlled fringe and core biodegradation processes in groundwater: model development and application to a landfill site in Piedmont, Italy. Hydrological Processes, 22, 4905–4921.
Squillace, P.J. and Moran, M.J., 2007, Factors associated with sources, transport, and fate of volatile organic compounds and their mixtures in aquifers of the United States. Environmental Science and Technology, 41, 2123–2130.
Slater, G.F., 2003, Stable isotope forensics—when isotopes work. Environmental Forensics, 4, 13–23.
The Korea Ministry of Environment (KMOE), 2010, National wide groundwater monitoring reports in 2009.
Walker, S.E., Dickhut, R.M., Chisholm-Brause, C., Sylva, S., and Reddy, C.M., 2005, Molecular and isotopic identification of PAH sources in a highly industrialized urban estuary. Organic Geochemistry, 36, 619–632.
Wonju City and Environmental Management Corporation (EMC), 2003, Detailed investigation report on contaminated soil and groundwater in the Woosan Industrial Complex and Joongangdong area in Wonju City, Wonju City, Korea.
Yang, E.E., Kim, H.G., and Kim, D.J., 2003, Final research report on investigation of potential soil contaminated area and its management plan in Wonju City. Gangwon Regional Environmental Technology Development Center (KETeC), Korea.
Yang, J.H., Lee, K.K., and Clement, T.P., 2012, Impact of seasonal variations in hydrological stresses and spatial variations in geologic conditions on a TCE plume at an industrial complex in Wonju, Korea. Hydrological Processes, 26, 317–325.
Yu, S.Y., Chae, G.T., Jeon, K.H., Jeong, J.S., and Park, J.G., 2006, Trichloroethylene contamination in fractured bedrock aquifer in Wonju, South Korea. Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 76, 341–348.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yang, JH., Lee, KK. Locating plume sources of multiple chlorinated contaminants in groundwater by analyzing seasonal hydrological responses in an industrial complex, Wonju, Korea. Geosci J 16, 301–311 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12303-012-0028-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12303-012-0028-1