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National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program--
Long Island-New Jersey (LINJ) Coastal Drainages Study Unit

GW Background and Perspective (part 2)


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Report                                                     Strata            Constituents     Well Use          Number     Major Findings
                                                                                                                 of wells
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Coastal Plain - New Jersey
Louis and Vowinkel, 1989,                                  PRM and           Pesticides and   domestic,         81         -Pesticide residues detected in 33% of wells - most frequent
Proceedings of a National                                  Kirkwood-         nutrients        irrigation, and              detections were for metabolites of aldicarb, carbofuran, atrazine,
Research Conference:                                       Cohansey                           public supply                alachlor, and chloroform.
Pesticides in Terrestrial and                                                                                              -NO3 concentrations exceeded 10 mg/l in 33% of wells.
Aquatic environments.

Szabo and others, 1994,                                    Kirkwood-         Pesticides and   observation       5          -Pesticides and NO3 found primarily in agricultural areas.
Proceedings of the 4th                                     Cohansey          nitrate                            nested     -NO3 detected at all depths, pesticides only at <70 feet below land
National Conference on                                                                                          sites      surface.
Pesticides: New directions
in pesticide research,
development, management,
and policy

Navoy, A., 1993, USGS-OFR                                  PRM               VOCs             Public Supply                -GW flow model with particle tracking indicates PS wells are
93-454                                                                                                                     vulnerable to contamination by VOCs.
                                                                                                                           -Results supported by available water-quality data.

Barton and others, USGS-OFR                                Kirkwood-         phenols, trace   Public supply,    166        -Data Report
92-631                                                     Cohansey and      elements,        irrigation,
                                                           AC 800-ft         nutrients,       commercial,
                                                           Sand              VOCs, and        domestic, and
                                                                             pesticides       observation

Fusillo and others, 1985,                                  outcrop of        VOCs             Municipal,        315        -VOCs detected in all three aquifer units. Distribution of
Ground Water, v23, #3                                      PRM aquifer                        industrial                   detections related to land use in outcrop area.
                                                           system                             irrigation, and              -TCE, PCE, and benzene were the most frequently detected
                                                                                              observation                  compounds.

Barton and others, 1987, WRI                               northern          VOCs, trace      Public supply,    71         -Ground-water quality significantly related to land-use and
87-4023                                                    portion of        elements,        domestic,                    hydrogeologic variables
                                                           PRM outcrop       major ions,      observation,                 -VOCs were detected most frequently, and NO3 concentrations
                                                                             nutrients,       and unused                   were highest, in urban areas.
                                                                             pesticides                                    -Pesticides were detected most frequently, and DO concentrations
                                                                                                                           were highest, in agricultural areas.

Vowinkel and Battaglin, 1995,                              Kirkwood-         VOCs, trace      Public supply,    1100       -Concentrations of numerous compounds are greater in water from
WSP 2381-D                                                 Cohansey and      elements,        domestic,                    the outcrop area of the PRM than downdip.
                                                           PRM aquifer       major ions,      industrial,                  -Concentrations of numerous compounds are greater in water from
                                                           systems           nutrients, and   irrigation,                  the outcrop area of the PRM than the outcrop area of the K-C.
                                                                             pesticides       observation                  -Concentrations of many constituents are related to land use.
                                                                                                                           -Effects of land use are similar in the outcrop of the PRM and K-C

Vowinkel, 199?, Proceedings of                             PRM aquifer       Pesticides and   Public supply     558        -PS wells ranked as having high, medium, or low vulnerability to
Toxics conference,                                         system            NO3                                           pesticide contamination based on variables describing the
Colorado Springs, CO.                                                                                                      sensitivity of an aquifer to contamination and the intensity of
                                                                                                                           pesticide use in sensitive areas.
                                                                                                                           -NO3 used as a surrogate for pesticides to test accuracy of model
                                                                                                                           -Concentrations of NO3 in water samples were significantly larger
                                                                                                                           in medium and high vulnerability groups than in the low group.

Vowinkel and others, 1994,                                 PRM aquifer       Pesticides and   Public supply     2300       -2300 PS wells ranked as having high, medium, or low
Proceedings of the 4th                                     system of         NO3                                           vulnerability to pesticide contamination based on variables
National Conference on                                     Coastal Plain                                                   describing the sensitivity of an aquifer to contamination and the
Pesticides: New Directions                                 and various                                                     intensity of pesticide use in sensitive areas.
in pesticide research,                                     aquifers in                                                     -Most important criteria in determining sensitivity of water to
development, management,                                   northern NJ                                                     contamination of a PS well in the PRM system is its location
and policy.                                                                                                                relative to the outcrop of the aquifer in which it is screened.

Vowinkel, Current project                                  PRM aquifer       Pesticides and   Public supply     90         -stratified subset of the 2300 PS wells used in Vowinkel and others,
                                                           system of         NO3                                           ????; 30 wells in each the high, medium, and low vulnerability
                                                           Coastal Plain                                                   groups.
                                                           and various                                                     -Each well will be sampled for pesticides and NO3
                                                           aquifers in                                                     -Observed results will be compared to predicted vulnerability
                                                           northern NJ                                                     grouping to determine accuracy of model.

Vowinkel and Tapper, 1995,                                 outcrop areas     NO3, VOCs,       Public supply,    233        -shallow wells screened within 30 meters land surface
WRI 93-4178                                                of Kirkwood-      pestcides,       domestic                     -NO3 concentrations elevated in agricultural areas
                                                           Cohansey and                                                    -isotopes indicate source of nitrate predominantly fertilizers
                                                           PRM aquifers
Coastal Plain - Long Island

Koppelman, 1978, Nassau-                                   upper glacial     VOCs,            ?                 ?          -VOCs detected in shallow and deep portions of aquifer system in
Suffolk Regional Planning                                  and Magothy       nutrients                                     both counties.
Board, v.4                                                 in Nassau and
                                                           Suffolk COs.

Myott, 1980, Nassau County                                 upper glacial,    VOCs,            Public supply     684        -VOCs found throughout aquifer system (detected in 54%, 37%,
Department of Health -                                     Magothy, and      pesticides,      and                          and 11% of shallow, intermediate and deep wells).
1978 report year                                           Lloyd             herbicides,      monitoring                   -Nitrate-nitrogen greater than 10 mg/L detected in 13%, 5%, and
                                                           aquifers in       and inorganics                                0% of shallow, intermediate and deep wells.
                                                           Nassau
                                                           County

Eckhardt and others, 1989,                                 upper glacial     VOCs,            Production        903        -Shallow ground-water quality affected by human activities.
WRI 86-4142                                                in Nassau and     inorganics,      and                          -Spatial distribution of TCA and TCE directly correlated with
                                                           Suffolk COs.      nutrients, and   monitoring                   population density.
                                                                             pesticides

Eckhardt and Stackelberg,                                  upper glacial     VOCs, boron,     observation       90         -5 land-use areas located along regional gw divide
1995, Ground Water, in                                     in Nassau and     nitrate, and                                  -90 randomly located wells screened within 40 ft. of water table
press                                                      Suffolk COs.      pesticides                                    -Spatial distribution of contaminants related to land use
                                                                                                                           -Statistically significant relations between shallow gw quality and
                                                                                                                           variables representing the type and degree of human activities.

Stackelberg, 1995, WRI 94-                                 upper glacial     VOCs,            Public supply,    207        -5 land-use areas located along regional gw divide
4080                                                       and Magothy       nutrients,       observation                  -207 randomly located wells screened in shallow, intermediate,
                                                           aquifers in       trace elements                                and deep zones of aquifer system
                                                           Nassau and                                                      -distribution of contaminants related to land use and depth
                                                           Suffolk COs.                                                    -areas sewered for over 20 years show signs of improving QW

Pearsall, 1988, unpublished                                upper glacial -   inorganics       observation       90         -Comparison of native ground-water and current ground-water
conference proceedings                                     Nassau and                                                      quality conditions indicate that large proportions of the
                                                           Suffolk COs.                                                    concentrations of inorganic constituents in shallow gw are the
                                                                                                                           result of human activities and not natural geochemical reactions.

Eckhardt and Pearsall, 1989,                               upper glacial     VOCs and         Public supply,    105        -TCE detected in 42% of samples and at concentrations as high as
WRI 86-4333                                                and Magothy       inorganics       monitoring                   38,000 ug/L
                                                           in Nassau CO.                      and cooling                  -VOCs detected in wells screened more than 400 feet deep.

Feldman and others, 1992, WRI                              upper glacial     VOCs and         Public supply,    67         -TCE and PCE detected near water table at concentrations greater
90-4182                                                    and Magothy       inorganics       industrial, and              than 1000 ug/L.
                                                           in Nassau CO.                      observation                  -VOCs detected more than 500 feet below land surface.

Buxton and others, 1981, OFR                               upper glacial,    chloride, NO3,   industrial and    77         -GW resource being reconsidered for supplemental public supply
81-1186                                                    Magothy,          major            observation                  -VOCs were sampled but retention time exceeded, therefore,
                                                           Jameco            inorganics,                                   results not entered into national database
                                                           Gravel, and       trace elements                                -upper glacial aquifer contaminated with chloride and NO3 from
                                                           Lloyd in                                                        salt water encroachment and human activities.
                                                           Kings and                                                       -deeper aquifers contaminated in areas with good hydraulic
                                                           Queens COs.                                                     connection between shallow and deep aquifers.

Cartwright, Current project                                upper glacial,    VOCs,            industrial,       ~80        -sites from Buxton and others, 1981 being resampled
                                                           Magothy,          inorganics,      observation                  -some additional observational wells installed and sampled
                                                           Jameco            nutrients,                                    -analyses include suite of VOCs
                                                           Gravel, and       trace elements                                -all QW data will have been collected by end of `95 field season
                                                           Lloyd in
                                                           Kings and
                                                           Queens COs;

Buxton and others, 1993, WRI                               upper glacial     aldicarb and     domestic,         72         -aldicarb applied in large quantities from 1975-79
93-????                                                    in agricultural   tritium          observation,                 -movement of aldicarb is conservative with virtually no decay
                                                           area of Suffolk                    and                          -aldicarb persists within aquifer
                                                           Co.                                temporarily
                                                                                              screened
                                                                                              intervals
Piedmont and New England provinces of northern New Jersey

Serfes, in press, NJ Geological                            Crystalline       major and        Ambient           43         -Ambient network - sites near known pollution sources and those
Survey - GSR ??                                            bedrock of        minor ions,      network                      where VOCs were detected were excluded from analysis.
                                                           New England       nutrients,                                    -Ground water is of the calcium bicarbonate type.
                                                           province          radionuclides,                                -Ground water rarely exceeds any health based standards,
                                                                             and VOCs                                      however, locally may need treatment for undesirable
                                                                                                                           characteristics or constituents.
                                                                                                                           -10% of samples exceeded the gross-alpha particle activity
                                                                                                                           standard.

Nicholson and others, 199?,                                Valley-fill,      Major ions,      observation,      76         -QW affected by human activities, especially in northern and
WRI 93-????                                                carbonate,        nutrients,       Public                       central parts of study area
                                                           gneiss, and       TEs, VOCs,       Supply,                      -VOCs detected in 5 wells tapping valley-fill aquifers
                                                           conglomerate      and isotopes     domestic, and                -VOCs detected in 4 wells tapping carbonate aquifers
                                                           aquifers in                        commercial                   -major ions and TEs generally near or below reporting limits
                                                           New England
                                                           province

Serfes, 1994, NJ Geological                                Bedrock of        major and        Ambient           150        -Ambient network - sites near known pollution sources and those
Survey - GSR 35                                            the Piedmont      minor ions,      network                      where VOCs were detected were excluded from analysis.
                                                                             nutrients,                                    -Ground water is of the calcium-magnesium-sodium bicarbonate
                                                                             radionuclides,                                type.
                                                                             and VOCs                                      -Ground water rarely exceeds any health based standards,
                                                                                                                           however, locally may need treatment for undesirable
                                                                                                                           characteristics or constituents.
                                                                                                                           -6.5% samples exceeded gross-alpha particle activity and 3%
                                                                                                                           exceeded the radium standard.

Czarnick and Kozinski, 1994,                               glacial           VOCs, trace      Public supply     71         -No inorganics detected at concentrations greater than established
WRI 92-4083                                                sediments,        elements,        and                          in primary drinking-water standards
                                                           sedimentary       common ions,     observation                  -VOCs were rarely detected
                                                           and igneous       and nutrients,                                -Ground water is of the calcium bicarbonate type
                                                           bedrock in the                                                  -Tritium was detected in almost every sample.
                                                           Piedmont

Schaefer and others, 1993, WRI                             glacial           major ions.      observation,      29         -concentrations of most TEs and nutrients less than MCLs
91-4169                                                    deposits in the   TEs,             withdrawal,                  -VOCs detected in 50% of wells in valley fill sediments
                                                           Piedmont          nutrients, and   test, unused
                                                                             VOCs

Vowinkel and others, 1994,                                 various           Pesticides and   Public supply     2300       -2300 PS wells ranked as having high, medium, or low
Proceedings of the 4th                                     bedrock and       NO3                                           vulnerability to pesticide contamination based on variables
National Conference on                                     valley-fill                                                     describing the sensitivity of an aquifer to contamination and the
Pesticides: New Directions                                 aquifers of the                                                 intensity of pesticide use in sensitive areas.
in pesticide research,                                     Piedmont and                                                    -All PS wells in the Piedmont province are sensitive to
development, management,                                   New England                                                     contamination because of the absence of confining units and the
and policy.                                                and the PRM                                                     shallow depth to the top of the open interval.
                                                           of the Coastal                                                  -The predominant land use within a 800-m buffer around a well is
                                                           Plain                                                           a significant predictor of NO3 concentrations in sensitive parts of
                                                                                                                           an aquifer system.
Vowinkel, Current project                                  various           Pesticides and   Public supply     90         -stratified subset of the 2300 PS wells used in Vowinkel and others,
                                                           bedrock and       NO3                                           ????; 30 wells in each the high, medium, and low vulnerability
                                                           valley-fill                                                     groups.
                                                           aquifers of the                                                 -Each well will be sampled for pesticides and NO3
                                                           Piedmont and                                                    -Observed results will be compared to predicted vulnerability
                                                           New England                                                     grouping to determine accuracy of model.
                                                           and the PRM
                                                           of the Coastal
                                                           Plain

Clawges and Vowinkel,199?,                                 bedrock           NO3              Public supply,    132        -NO3 greater in residential and agricultural areas
in press                                                   aquifers of the
                                                           Piedmont
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