Using Major Ions Data to Support the Demonstration of Hydraulic Containment in a Fractured Bedrock Aquifer
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Using Major Ions Data to Support the Demonstration of Hydraulic Containment in a Fractured Bedrock Aquifer Steven P. Sayko, P.G. and William F. Daniels, P.G., Services Environmental, Inc.; Richard J. Passmore, Glenn Springs Holdings, Inc. Abstract Demonstration of hydraulic containment is typically accomplished by contouring groundwater level data from monitoring wells and interpreting groundwater flow directions from the potentiometric contours. In fractured bedrock aquifers, the interpretation of water levels is often confounded by the complex structure and sharp contrasts in hydraulic properties. The Hyde Park Landfill Site in Niagara Falls, New York, is located over a fractured dolomite aquifer. A bedrock hydraulic containment system was installed and began operation in 1993. However, hydraulic containment could not be conclusively demonstrated with water level data. Installation of additional pumping wells, monitoring wells, and increased pumping had not resolved the difficulties in demonstrating containment. In 2001, it was recognized that a re-characterization of the site and revision of the site conceptual model was necessary to address the containment objective. A complete site reassessment was performed, including an extensive geophysical investigation, reevaluation of the site conceptual model, and the installation of 113 small-diameter, short-screen piezometers. As part of this effort, 70 of the new piezometers were sampled for major ions. The major ions results supported the site conceptual model and interpretation of water level data from the new piezometers, and strongly supported the interpretation of hydraulic containment. The combination of a supportable site conceptual model, water level data, and major ions data demonstrate that the hydraulic containment objectives have been achieved. This paper presents the use of major ion data for support of the hydraulic performance requirements. 100 Introduction A 1986 agreement (the RRT) required that a groundwater recovery system be installed in the bedrock aquifer at the Hyde Park Landfill Site in Niagara Falls, New York (the Site). The agreement required that hydraulic containment be achieved along a delineated plume perimeter. Specifically, the RRT required that an inward hydraulic gradient be maintained and demonstrated using well pairs located normal to the plume perimeter, one well within and one well outside of the plume perimeter. Unfortunately, water levels in fractured bedrock aquifers are often confounded by the complex structure and sharp contrasts in hydraulic properties. The groundwater containment system was installed and began operating in 1993. To date, the inward hydraulic gradient demonstration required in the RRT has not been fully satisfied. This failure to measure inward gradients at all monitoring well pairs is related to the hydrogeologic conditions in the bedrock aquifer, not due to an ineffective performance of the bedrock groundwater containment system. In 2000, a reassessment of 17 years of Site data and the preparation of a numerical groundwater flow model were initiated. The client, principal consultant, and two new consulting firms formed a working technical team to complete this reassessment. By 2001, it was recognized that the existing Site conceptual model and monitoring well network lacked sufficient detail/resolution to reliably demonstrate inward hydraulic gradients. A complete re-characterization of the Site would be required to develop a new Site conceptual model and increase the resolution of the monitoring network. Additional investigations were performed, including an extensive geophysical investigation, borehole packer testing, borehole vertical flow measurements, borehole video logging, literature review, and extensive continuous water level monitoring. Based on these efforts, the Site conceptual model changed from a three interval (Upper, Middle, and Lower) bedrock system, to a layer-cake of 11 thin, bedding-parallel, flow zones separated by aquitards ranging from 5 to 25 feet in thickness. This characterization is consistent with the work of Johnston (1964) and Yager (1996). A total of 113 small-diameter, short-screen piezometers were installed, slug tested, and monitored for an extended period with electronic water level recorders and hand measurements. Seventy of the new piezometers were sampled for Site- specific organic parameters, major ions, and stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen. This paper presents the major ion data as it was used in support of the hydraulic containment performance. These data have been interpreted and presented to the EPA as a line of evidence that the hydraulic containment objective of the RRT is satisfied. The geochemical evaluation presented here is highly simplified; for a technical discussion of geochemistry, the reader is referred to Hanshaw and Back (1979), Hem (1970), Deutsch (1997), or numerous other texts on the subject. Geology The Site is located approximately one mile east of the Lower Niagara River, Figure 1. The bedrock beneath the Site is the Lockport Formation, a Silurian aged dolomite. In the vicinity of the Site, the Lockport and the underlying formations, strike approximately north 70º east, and dip to the south at approximately 40 feet per mile. The Lockport at the Site sustains pumping rates between 0.1 and 40 gallons per minute. Figure 2 presents a simple west-to-east geologic cross- Figure 1. Site Location. section from the Niagara River through the Site. All of 101 the active Site remediation and monitoring is in the Lockport Dolomite. Figure 2. Simplified geologic cross-section. The orange on the surface represents the glacial till overburden. The vertical exaggeration is approximately 5:1. The Rochester Shale Member of the Clinton Group underlies the Lockport and provides an essentially impermeable bottom for the Lockport. The top of the Rochester shale outcrops in the Niagara River Gorge approximately 200 feet above the river and the Lockport discharges from a seepage face along the gorge above the Rochester Shale. East and north of the Site are conduits and a canal that carry water to the New York Power Authority (NYPA) Robert Moses hydroelectric power generating station. Near the Site, these features are excavated approximately to the top of the Rochester Shale. Water levels in the conduits and canal fluctuate by as much as 14 feet daily but maintain a relatively stable average water level throughout the year. The conduits and canal may act as both an area of discharge and recharge, depending on the flow zone that intercepts these features. In the vicinity of the Site, individual flow zones were identified by Johnston (1964) based on direct observation of seepage from bedding planes during the excavation of the NYPA conduits and canal. Seepage is clearly observed along long linear bedding planes. Figure 3 shows a photo of ice forming along one flow zone that outcrops in the NYPA canal north of the Site. Figure 3: Icicles formed along a flow zone discharging in the NYPA canal. During Site investigations in 2000 and 2001, flow zones were defined at bedding planes where transmissive zones were frequently observed. The zones were identified using borehole geophysics and vertical flow measurements. The zones identified were consistent with the flow zones identified by Johnston (1964) and later Yager (1996). Because the bedding in the Lockport is very uniform, the elevations of the flow zones are predictable to within a few feet. However, the hydraulic properties within a flow zone can be highly variable. Transmissivity values measured in the flow zones ranged from less than 0.001 ft2/day, up to 1,000 ft2/day, depending on the flow zone. Site Re-Characterization The original Site conceptual model defined three intervals in the bedrock. This characterization has since been replaced with a conceptual model with 11 discrete flow zones. The revision in the Site conceptual model was 102 undertaken not because the original conceptualization was incorrect; a model, conceptual or mathematical, is an approximation of a real system, and a model is acceptable if it satisfies the project objectives. The three-interval conceptual model satisfied the original project objectives. However, that characterization was insufficient to satisfy the “precision” necessary to address the inward hydraulic gradient monitoring requirement defined in the RRT. Specifically, the Upper, Middle, and Lower bedrock monitoring wells had long-open intervals that typically intercepted two or more discrete flow zones; these wells provided a composite head representative of the heads in the discrete flow zones intercepted, and the transmissivity of the flow zone at the well location. Sokol (1963) provides an analysis of the head averaging that occurs for wells that are completed across multiple flow zones with varying transmissivities. Figure 4 presents a cross-sectional view showing the 11 discrete flow zones identified, and the construction of the Upper, Middle, and Lower bedrock monitoring wells. Figure 4. Looking Along Strike: Upper (blue), Middle (green), and Lower (red) bedrock monitoring wells intercept multiple flow zones. Flow zones FZ-01 to FZ-11 (parallel lines dipping to the right) are numbered from the top to the bottom of the formation. The lack of precision related to the water levels from monitoring wells intercepting multiple flow zones was addressed by installing short-screen, flow zone specific piezometers. Many of the long open-interval bedrock monitoring wells were retrofitted