Geology topics

Research about Naval Air Station Whiting Field

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Naval Air Station Whiting Field.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2024

Insight into sources of benzene, TCE, and PFOA/PFAS in groundwater at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Florida, through numerical particle-tracking simulations

Past waste-disposal activities at Naval Air Station Whiting Field (NASWF) have led to elevated concentrations of contaminants in the underlying sand and gravel aquifer. Contaminants include two of the most commonly detected chemicals in groundwater in many countries (benzene and trichloroethylene (TCE)) and the “forever chemicals” per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). A MODFLOW model (the Whiting Field Groundwater Model (WFGM)) was previously developed for NASWF and the surrounding area to simulate groundwater flow. To obtain insight into groundwater flow pathways for the identification of potential source areas, the MODPATH particle-tracking application was applied to the WFGM for three public supply wells and three monitoring wells at NASWF. The travel time to recharge areas was estimated using concentrations of the groundwater age-dating solutes tritium (as helium ingrowth) and chlorofluorocarbons detected in the monitoring wells. Simulated travel times agree with the groundwater ages and indicate that the calibrated WFGM reasonably represents groundwater flow velocities and pathways. The MODPATH simulations confirm suspected on-base source areas to explain chemical detection in the monitoring wells. In contrast, the particle-tracking simulations indicate that potential source areas to the public supply wells include both on- and off-base sources. This is important because PFAS chemicals can have multiple sources, including land application of sludge-based fertilizers. This approach that combines groundwater age dating with particle-tracking simulations can be applied at similar sites characterized by benzene-, TCE-, and PFAS-contaminated groundwater.

Florida↗

USGS2021

Groundwater chemistry, hydrogeologic properties, bioremediation potential, and three-dimensional numerical simulation of the sand and gravel aquifer at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, near Milton, Florida, 2015–20

The U.S. Geological Survey completed a study between 2015 and 2020 of groundwater contamination in the sand and gravel aquifer at a Superfund site in northwestern Florida. Groundwater-quality samples were collected from representative monitoring wells located along a groundwater-flow pathway and analyzed in the field and laboratory. In general, ambient groundwater in the sand and gravel aquifer is acidic, dilute, and oxic. Groundwater age-dating results indicate recharge to the contaminated parts of the aquifer occurred between the 1970s and 1980s. Natural gamma, electromagnetic induction, and borehole nuclear magnetic resonance logs indicated that aquifer hydraulic conductivities generally increased with depth as the aquifer formation material became coarser, characteristic of a prograding marginal-marine delta depositional environment. Aquifer formation material incubated with radiocarbon (carbon-14) cis -1,2-Dichloroethylene demonstrated biodegradation directly to carbon dioxide in contaminated and uncontaminated parts of the aquifer. A three-dimensional, numerical groundwater-flow MODFLOW model of the sand and gravel aquifer in the study area was constructed. The calibrated model reasonably reproduced measured groundwater heads and streamflows. Moreover, the model can be used to run simulations of outcomes of potential remedial strategies, such as monitored natural attenuation, as part of future feasibility studies in the area.

Florida↗

USGS2017

Implications of refining vertical resolution of hydraulic conductivity in the numerical modeling of groundwater flow to surface water, NAS Whiting Field, Florida

Naval Air Station Whiting Field is located near Milton, Florida and is one of the Navy's two primary pilot training bases. Commissioned in 1943, historic operations at Whiting Field generated industrial wastes that contaminated soil and the water-table aquifer. The Environmental Protection Agency placed Whiting Field on the Superfund program’s National Priorities List of contaminated sites in 1994. The U.S. Geological Survey was tasked with studying the contaminant migration and remediation processes at this site. A numerical model is under development to better define groundwater flow patterns, discharge to surface water, and the potential fate of contaminants. An initial model discretized the water-table aquifer into 5 layers, with the top layer between land surface and elevation -50 feet National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD29). However, with land surface ranging from 3.3 to 206.6 feet NGVD29, the top layer thickness is over 250 feet at highest land elevations. To more accurately simulate contaminant transport, refining the resolution in this top model layer is necessary.

Florida↗