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P. E. Church

Publications and source records attributed to P. E. Church.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2002

Distribution of volatile organic compounds in sediments near Sutton Brook Disposal Area, Tewksbury, Massachusetts, May 2001

Ground water at the Sutton Brook Disposal Area, a former municipal landfill in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, located adjacent to Sutton Brook, a tributary of the Shawsheen River, is contaminated by volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Results from the use of passive-vapor-diffusion samplers show vapor concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons as high as 500,000 parts per billion by volume in pore waters of streambed sediments along an approximate 2,000-foot reach of Sutton Brook where it flows between lobes of the former landfill. Petroleum hydrocarbons were also detected in the sediments on the eastern shore of Quarry Pond, which is south of the southern landfill lobe, with a maximum vapor concentration near 2,000 parts per billion by volume. Vapor concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons in the sediments of Sutton Brook vary by two to three orders-of-magitude over distances of 50 to 100 feet. Chlorinated hydrocarbons also were detected with passive-vapor-diffusion samplers, but generally at locations downstream of where petroleum hydrocarbons were detected, and mostly at vapor concentrations of less than 100 parts per billion by volume.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1996

Effectiveness of highway-drainage systems in preventing contamination of ground water by road salt, Route 25, southeastern Massachusetts; description of study area, data collection programs, and methodology

Four test sites along a 7-mile section of Route 25 in southeastern Massachusetts, each representing a specific highway-drainage system, were instrumented to determine the effectiveness of the drainage systems in preventing contamination of ground water by road salt. One of the systems discharges highway runoff onsite through local drainpipes. The other systems use trunkline drainpipes through which runoff from highway surfaces, shoulders, and median strips is diverted and discharged into either a local stream or a coastal waterway. Route 25 was completed and opened to traffic in the summer of 1987. Road salt was first applied to the highway in the winter of 1987-88. The study area is on a thick outwash plain composed primarily of sand and gravel. Water-table depths range from 15 to 60 feet below land surface at the four test sites. Ground-water flow is in a general southerly direction, approximately perpendicular to the highway. Streamflow in the study area is controlled primarily by ground-water discharge. Background concentrations of dissolved chloride, sodium, and calcium-the primary constituents of road salt-are similar in ground water and surface water and range from 5 to 20, 5 to 10, and 1 to 5 milligrams per liter, respectively. Data-collection programs were developed for monitoring the application of road salt to the highway, the quantity of road-salt water entering the ground water, diverted through the highway-drainage systems, and entering a local stream. The Massachusetts Highway Department monitored road salt applied to the highway and reported these data to the U.S. Geological Survey. The U.S. Geological Survey designed and operated the ground-water, highway- drainage, and surface-water data-collection programs. A road-salt budget will be calculated for each test site so that the effectiveness of the different highway-drainage systems in preventing contamination of ground water by road salt can be determined.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1996

Comparison of hydraulic conductivities for a sand and gravel aquifer in southeastern Massachusetts, estimated by three methods

Hydraulic conductivities of a sand and gravel aquifer were estimated by three methods: constant- head multiport-permeameter tests, grain-size analyses (with the Hazen approximation method), and slug tests. Sediment cores from 45 boreholes were undivided or divided into two or three vertical sections to estimate hydraulic conductivity based on permeameter tests and grain-size analyses. The cores were collected from depth intervals in the screened zone of the aquifer in each observation well. Slug tests were performed on 29 observation wells installed in the boreholes. Hydraulic conductivities of 35 sediment cores estimated by use of permeameter tests ranged from 0.9 to 86 meters per day, with a mean of 22.8 meters per day. Hydraulic conductivities of 45 sediment cores estimated by use of grain-size analyses ranged from 0.5 to 206 meters per day, with a mean of 40.7 meters per day. Hydraulic conductivities of aquifer material at 29 observation wells estimated by use of slug tests ranged from 0.6 to 79 meters per day, with a mean of 32.9 meters per day. The repeatability of estimated hydraulic conductivities were estimated to be within 30 percent for the permeameter method, 12 percent for the grain-size method, and 9.5 percent for the slug test method. Statistical tests determined that the medians of estimates resulting from the slug tests and grain-size analyses were not significantly different but were significantly higher than the median of estimates resulting from the permeameter tests. Because the permeameter test is the only method considered which estimates vertical hydraulic conductivity, the difference in estimates may be attributed to vertical or horizontal anisotropy. The difference in the average hydraulic conductivities estimated by use of each method was less than 55 percent when compared to the estimated hydraulic conductivity determined from an aquifer test conducted near the study area.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗