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Bernard J. Franks

Publications and source records attributed to Bernard J. Franks.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1986

Movement and fate of creosote waste in ground water, Pensacola, Florida; U.S. Geological Survey toxic waste-ground-water contamination program

Ground- and surface-water contamination by pesticides used in the wood-preserving industry is widespread in the United States. Pine poles were treated with wood preservatives from 1902 to 1981 at a creosote works near Pensacola, Florida. Diesel fuel, creosote, and pentachlorophenol were discharged to two unlined impoundments that had a direct hydraulic connection to the sand-and-gravel aquifer. Evidence of wood-preserving waste contamination appears to be confined to the upper 30 meters of the aquifer. The waste plume extends downgradient approximately 300 meters south toward Pensacola Bay. In 1983, the creosote works site was selected by the U.S. Geological Survey's Office of Hazardous Waste Hydrology as a national research demonstration area to apply the latest techniques for characterizing hazardous waste problems. The multidisciplinary research effort is aimed at studying processes that affect the occurrence, transport, transformations, and fate of the toxic contaminants associated with wood preservatives in the environment. Clusters of two to five wells were constructed at different depths at nine sites to define the depth of contamination. Research studies are investigating sorption, dispersion, dilution, chemical reactions, bacterially mediated transformations, quality assurance, plume hydrodynamics, and the ultimate fate of these complex organic wastes.

Florida↗
USGS1981

Land application of domestic wastewater in Florida--statewide assessment of impact on ground-water quality

In Florida domestic waste water is being applied to the land for disposal and reuse. State and Federal regulations favor land-application methods over other advanced waste water treatment practices. Despite the increasing use of this alternative technology, little is known about localized effects on groundwater quality. This report documents the extent of land-application practices in Florida and summarizes case study information on some of the more adequately monitored site throughout the State. More than 2,500 sites in Florida are permitted by the Department of Environmental Regulation for applying domestic waste water to the land. The majority (more than 1,700 sites), classified as infiltration ponds, are concentrated in central and southern Florida. More than 560 sites classified as drainfields, and more than 250 sites classified as irrigation sites, are located primarily in central Florida. An estimated 150 million gallons per day of domestic waste water, after required secondary treatment, are applied to Florida soils. Despite the large numbers of sites and the considerable volume of waste water utilized, little is known about potential impact on groundwater quality. At the few sites where observation wells have been drilled and local groundwater quality monitored, no significant deterioration of water quality has been detected. (USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS1981

Chemical, physical, and radiological quality of selected public water supplies in Florida, February-April 1980

Virtually all treated public water supplies in Florida meet the National Interim Primary and Secondary Drinking Water Regulations. These findings are based on a water-quality reconnaissance of 126 raw and treated public water supplies throughout the State during the period February through April 1980. Primary drinking water regulations maximum contaminant levels were rarely exceeded, although mercury (1 site), fluoride (2 sites), and radionuclides (3 sites) in water supplies were above established maximum contaminant levels. Dissolved solids, chloride, copper, manganese, iron, color, sulfate, and pH, were occasionally slightly in excess of the recommended maximum contaminant levels of the secondary drinking water regulation. The secondary regulations, however, pertain mainly to the esthetic quality of drinking water and not directly to public health aspects. (USGS)

Florida↗
USGS1980

The surficial aquifer at the U.S. Naval Station near Mayport, Florida

The surficial aquifer at the U.S. Naval Station near Mayport, Florida, consists of about 70 feet of unconsolidated sand, shell , and clay. The principal water-bearing zone is a shell bed 35 to 55 feet below land surface. The aquifer is unconfined, and the water table was about 4 feet below land surface during the investigation (spring 1979). Aquifer tests indicate a transmissivity for the aquifer of approximately 2,400 feet squared per day. Water in the upper 40 feet of the aquifer is fresh, but becomes increasingly brackish with depth. Use of water from the surficial aquifer is limited because of low yields and poor water quality. Feasibility of injection of return cooling water into the surficial aquifer is limited by the shallow water table.

Florida↗
USGS1980

Chemical, physical, and radiological quality of selected public water supplies in Florida : January-May 1979

Verde Valley--an area of complex geology where the crust of the North American plate changes from unstable to stable--is in central Arizona in the transition zone between the Basin and Range and the Colorado Plateaus tectonic provinces. Volcanism and tectonism have been progressing northeastward along the transition zone for about 20 million years. The Verde Hot Springs area is the focal point of the intersection of three major lineaments. More than 100 water samples were collected from wells and springs in the valley, and temperatures of the potential geothermal resources were calculated using two geochemical methods or geothermometers--silica and Na-K-Ca geothermometers. Because of the high concentration of dissolved magnesium in the ground water, the silica geotemperatures are considered to be more reliable than the Na-K-Ca geotemperatures. The Camp Verde and Verde Hot Springs areas contain ground water that has quartz-silica geotemperatures of between 99 and 135C and chalcedony-silica geotemperatures of between 73 and 111C. The geochemical evidence to substantiate a geothermal resource in Verde Valley is not conclusive, and further work including test drilling, should be done to verify the silica geotemperatures given in the map. (Kosco-USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS1979

Estimated drawdowns in the Floridan aquifer due to increased withdrawals, Duval County, Florida

Hydrologic investigations of the Floridan aquifer in Duval County, Florida, have shown that an appropriate simplified model of the aquifer system consists of a series of sub aquifers separated by semipermeable beds. Data from more than 20 aquifer tests were reanalyzed by the Hantush modified method, which takes into account leakance from all confining units. Transmissivity values range from 20,000 to 240,000 square feet per day. Leakance was estimated to be 2.5x10 to the minus 6th power and 3.3x10 to the minus 5th power per day for the upper and lower confining units, respectively. Families of steady-state distance-drawdown curves were constructed for three representative transmissivity values based on hypothetical withdrawals from a point source ranging from 5 to 50 million gallons per day. Transient effects were not considered because the system reaches steady-state conditions within the time ranges considered. Drawdown at any point can be estimated by summing the effects of any hypothetical configuration of pumping centers. The accuracy of the parameters was checked by comparing calculated drawdowns in selected observation wells to measured water-level declines. (Woodard-USGS)

Florida↗