An analysis of the remediation systems on the contaminant plume at the Plainville landfill

Abstract

The Plainville landfill, located in Plainville, Massachusetts, has been the subject of study by several groups in recent years. A contaminant plume, exiting from the southwest corner of the landfill, is contaminating the groundwater downgradient and may affect drinking water wells located there. A two-phase remediation scheme, consisting of an interim overburden air sparging system and a final proposed pump and treat and air sparging system, has been proposed to mitigate the groundwater contaminant plume. This thesis assesses these remediation systems to determine their ability to remediate the contaminants in the groundwater plume. The interim and final proposed air sparging systems were analyzed using existing quarterly reports and a literature review. A MODFLOW groundwater flow model was used to analyze the pump and treat system. These analyses were then compared to the model utilized to design the remediation scheme. Several discrepancies in the design of the remediation scheme were noted as a result of this analysis. First, the presence of till lenses throughout the remediation zone was not addressed. Also, the extraction of water from the competent bedrock layer appears counterproductive. In addition, the air sparging system was not field tested to ascertain the flow pattern in the subsurface. Finally, the installation of the bedrock air sparging wells appears redundant. These discrepancies, however, will only decrease the projected efficiency of the proposed remediation schemes and increase clean up time. Consequently, the results of this study seem to indicate that the proposed remediation scheme is adequately designed