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Charles A. Pascale

Publications and source records attributed to Charles A. Pascale.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2006

Monitoring regional effects of high pressure injection of wastewater in a limestone aquifer

More than 10 billion gallons (38 × 10 6 m 3 ) of acid industrial liquid waste has been injected in about 11 years under high pressure into a saline-water-filled part of a limestone aquifer of low transmissivity between 1,400 and 1,700 feet (430 and 520 m) below land surface near Pensacola, Florida. A similar waste disposal system is planned for the same zone at a site about 8.5 miles (13.7 km) to the east. The injection zone is the lower limestone of the Floridan aquifer. The lower limestone is overlain by a confining layer of plastic clay about 220 feet (67 m) thick at the active injection site and underlain by another confining layer of shale and clay. The upper confining layer is overlain by the upper limestone of the Floridan aquifer. The active injection system consists of two injection wells about a quarter of a mile (0.4 km) apart and three monitor wells. Two of the monitor wells (deep monitors) are used to observe hydraulic and geochemical effects of waste injection in the injection zone at locations about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south and 1.9 miles (3.1 km) north of the center of the injection site. The third well (shallow monitor), used to observe any effects in the upper limestone, is about 100 feet (30 m) from one of the injection wells. Since 1972 the injection zone has also been monitored at a test well at the planned new injection site. Three more monitor wells in the injection zone were activated in early 1974 at sites 17 miles (27 km) northeast, 22 miles (35 km) east and 33 miles (53 km) northeast of the injection site. The six deep monitors provide a system for evaluating the regional effects of injecting wastes. No change in pressure or water quality due to injection was, by mid-1974, evident in the upper limestone at the injection site, but static pressures in the lower limestone at the site had increased 8 fold since injection began in 1963. Chemical analyses indicated probable arrival of the diluted waste at the south monitor well in 1973. By mid-1974 waste evidently had not reached the north monitor well. Calculations indicate that by mid-1974 pressure effects from waste injection extended radially more than 40 miles (64 km) from the injection site. By mid-1974 pressure effects of injection were evident from water-level measurements made at the five deep monitor wells nearest the active injection site. No effects were recognized at the well 33 miles (53 km) away. Less than 20 miles (32 km) northeast of the active injection site, the lower limestone contains fresh water. Changes in the pressure regime due to injection indicate a tendency for northeastward movement of the fresh-water/salt-water interface in the lower limestone.

Groundwater↗
USGS1982

Water resources of the Ochlockonee River area, northwest Florida

The Ochlockonee River area comprises about 1,420 square miles in the panhandle of northwest Florida. In 1975, the population of the area was about 48,000. Water use averaged 11.4 million gallons per day; about half was pumped from wells and half from streams. The area receives 57 inches of precipitation per year on the average. Much of this water enters the surficial sand aquifer, seeps to streams, or enters the underlying water-bearing zone of the upper confining unit and the Floridan aquifer. The water-bearing zone of the upper confining unit is used for rural domestic supplies and is also important because the water it stores is a source of recharge to the underlying Floridan aquifer. The Floridan aquifer underlies all of the Ochlockonee River area and, except for the city of Quincy, is the principal source of municipal water supply. Well yields range from as little as 20 gallons per minute in Gadsden County to as much as 4,500 gallons per minute in Leon County. The transmissivity of the Floridan aquifer ranges from about 170 feet squared per day in the southern part of the area to 5,100 feet squared per day in the northern part. Storage coefficients calculated from two aquifer tests are 2 x 10-4 and 2.6 x 10-4. At Tallahassee, directly east of the Ochlockonee River, transmissivity is as high as 130,000 feet squared per day. The Floridan aquifer is recharged by downward leakage of water from the surficial sand aquifer and from the water-bearing zone of the upper confining unit. The Floridan aquifer is also recharged directly by rainfall in northern Leon County and in southern Georgia where it is near or at land surface. Ground water moves toward the southeast from the potentiometric high in southwestern Gadsden County and south from Leon County toward Wakulla Springs, located about 10 miles south of Tallahassee. The potentiometric surface of the upper part of the Floridan aquifer ranges from about 50 feet higher than that of the middle and lower part of the Floridan aquifer in southwestern Gadsden County to about 10 feet higher near Midway in eastern Gadsden County. The aquifer discharge in the basin area is by wells and by natural discharge through seeps and springs along the Ochlockonee River and at Ochlockonee Bay. Water levels in the Floridan aquifer fluctuate in response to seasonal and long-term variations in rainfall. Hydrographs do not show evidence of any long-term water-level declining trend. Saline water (more than 1,000 milligrams per liter of dissolved solids) occurs naturally within the Floridan aquifer throughout the Ochlockonee River area at depths ranging from 200 to 600 feet below sea level. The depth below which dissolved solids in water exceed 500 milligrams per liter in the Havana area ranges from 200 to 250 feet below sea level; in the Quincy area, from 400 to 450 feet below; and in the Greensboro area, from 200 to 250 feet below. Concentrations of dissolved solids in water pumped from wells tapping the Floridan aquifer in the Ochlockonee River area range from 60 to 1,370 milligrams per liter; chloride from 0 to 630 milligrams per liter; sulfate from 0.0 to 280 milligrams per liter; and fluoride from 0.0 to 1.3 milligrams per liter. Streamflow originating in the Ochlockonee River area in Florida averages about 1,000 million gallons per day; minimum discharge during dry periods is about 285 million gallons per day. Stream yields range from 0.90 to 2.62 cubic feet per second per square mile. Quincy Creek, at State Highway 267 at Quincy, the primary source of water for the city of Quincy, yields an average flow of 19 million gallons per day, has a 7-day 10-year low flow of 2.8 million gallons per day, and contains water of acceptable quality. The chemical quality of most streams in the basin is acceptable for most uses. Dissolved-solids concentration is generally less than 135 milligrams per liter; pH ranges from 5.3 to 7.3 units; color from 20 to 90 platinum-cobalt units; and turbidity from 3 to 85 Jackson turbidity units. Variations in chloride concentration in water from the Ochlockonee River (5.2 to 140 milligrams per liter) are influenced by discharge of food processing waste and municipal sewage plant effluent to the river. The three large lakes in the basin range from 4,000 to 7,000 acres in surface area. All are now used primarily for recreation. Dissolved-solids concentrations of water from the lakes range from less than 20 to 50 milligrams per liter. A major flood occurred in 1975 when the Ochlockonee River near Havana reached the third highest stage of record and the peak flood at the Sopchoppy River exceeded that for the period of record (11 years in 1975); no significant damage occurred.

Florida↗
USGS1978

Hydrologic monitoring of a waste-injection well near Milton, Florida, June 1975 - June 1977

This report presents the hydraulic and chemical data collected from June 1, 1975, when injection began, to June 30, 1977 through a monitoring program at a deep-well waste-injection system at the American Cyanamid Company's plant near Milton, about 12 miles northwest of Pensacola. The injection system consists of a primary injection well, a standby injection well, and two deep monitor wells all completed open hole in the lower limestone of the Floridan aquifer and one shallow-monitor well completed in the upper limestone of the Floridan aquifer. Two of the monitor wells and the standby injection well are used to observe hydraulic and geochemical effects of waste injection in the injection zone at locations 8,180 feet northeast, 1,560 feet south, and 1,025 feet southwest of the primary injection well. The shallow-monitor well, used to observe any effects in the first permeable zone above the 200-foot-thick confining bed, is 28 feet north of the primary injection well. Since injection began in June 1975, 607 million gallons of treated industrial liquid waste with a pH of 4.6 to 6.3 and containing high concentrations of nitrate, organic nitrogen and carbon have been injected into a saline-water-filled limestone aquifer. Wellhead pressure at the injection well in June 1977 average 137 pounds per square inch and the hydraulic pressure gradient was 0.53 pound per square inch per foot of depth to the top of the injection zone. Water levels rose from 36 to 74 feet at the three wells used to monitor the injection zone during the 25-month period. The water level in the shallow-monitor well declined about 8 feet. No changes were detected in the chemical character of water from the shallow-monitor well and deep-monitor well-north. Increases in concentration of bicarbonate and dissolved organic carbon were detected in water from the deep-test monitor well in February 1976 and at the standby injection well in August 1976. In addition to increases in bicarbonate and dissolved organic carbon, sulfate, total organic nitrogen, and total nitrogen concentrations have also increased substantially in samples from these wells. Nitrogen gas concentrations in water samples collected at the three deep-monitor wells ranged from 19 to 176 milligrams per liter, methane from 4.5 to 11.4 milligrams per liter, and carbon dioxide from 7.7 to 44 milligrams per liter. The most probable number of denitrifying bacteria in water samples collected at the three deep-monitor wells ranged from less than 2 colonies to 17 colonies per 100 milliliters. None of the water samples collected in April 1977 at the three deep-monitor wells showed positive concentrations of acetone, ethanol, methanol, or acrylonitrile.

Florida↗
USGS1978

Hydrologic monitoring of waste-injection wells near Pensacola, Florida, March 1970 - December 1977

This report presents hydraulic and chemical data collected from March 1970 to December 1977 at a deep-well waste-injection system at the Monsanto Company's plant near Pensacola, Florida. The injection system presently consists of Injection Well A, Injection Well B, and two deep monitor wells all completed open hole in the lower limestone of the Floridan aquifer and one shallow monitor well completed in the upper limestone of the Floridan aquifer. The two deep monitor wells are used to observe hydraulic and geochemical effects of waste injection in the injection zone at locations 1.5 miles south-southeast and 1.9 miles north-northwest of the center of the injection site. The shallow monitor well, used to observe any effects in the first permeable zone above the 220-foot-thick confining bed, is 100 feet northeast of Injection Well A. Since injection began in July 1963, about 14.2 billion gallons of acidic industrial waste consisting of an aqueous solution of nitric acid, inorganic salts, and numerous organic compounds have been injected into a limestone aquifer containing saline water. From July 1963 to April 1968, the pH of the waste was raised to about 5.5 with aqueous ammonia prior to injection. Since 1968, no aqueous ammonia has been added and the waste has been injected at a pH of about 2.3. Wellhead injection pressures at both injection wells in December 1977 averaged 170 pounds per square inch and the hydraulic pressure gradient was 0.52 pound per square inch per foot of depth to the top of the injection zone. Increases in pressures since 1970 at the north and south monitor wells ranged from 21 to 31 pounds per square inch. The pressure in the shallow monitor well declined about 6 pounds per square inch. No changes were detected in the chemical characteristics of water from the shallow monitor and the north monitor wells. Since late 1973, concentrations of bicarbonate and dissolved organic carbon in water from the south monitor well have increased. These increases in bicarbonate and dissolved organic carbon have been accompanied by increases in gas content of water at the point of discharge from the well and a distinctive odor like that of the waste. In samples of water from the south monitor well, concentrations of nitrogen gas ranged from 5.1 to 12.7 milligrams per liter, methane from 24 to 70 milligrams per liter, and carbon dioxide from 14 to 56 milligrams per liter.

Florida↗
USGS1978

Hydrologic monitoring of a deep-well waste-injection system near Pensacola, Florida, March 1970 - March 1977

This report presents hydraulic and chemical data collected at a deep-well waste-injection system near Pensacola, Florida. Since injection began in July 1963, about 13.3 billion gallons of industrial acidic waste containing nitric acid, inorganic salts and numerous organic compounds have been injected into a saline-water-filled limestone aquifer. Wellhead pressure at two injection wells averaged 180 pounds per square inch in March 1977 and the hydraulic pressure gradient was 0.53 pound per square inch per foot of depth to the top of the injection zone. Increases in pressure since 1970 at two wells used to monitor the injection zone at sites located 1.9 miles north and 1.5 miles south of the injection site have been about 22 and 29 pounds per square inch. The pressure in a shallow monitor well, penetrating the first permeable zone above the 220-foot-thick confining bed, declined about 4 pounds per square inch. No changes were detected in the chemical character of water from the shallow monitor well and the north monitor well, but since late 1973, concentrations of bicarbonate and dissolved organic carbon in water from the south monitor well have increased. (Woodard-USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS1978

Hydrologic, geologic, and water-quality data, Ochlockonee River basin area, Florida

This report presents hydrologic, geologic, and water-quality data collected within the Ochlockonee River basin area, in the panhandle of northwest Florida. The data are presented in graphs and tables. Surface-water data include streamflow measurements and analyses of water collected at 58 sites; ground-water data include descriptions of 360 wells and core holes, analyses of water and hydrographs of selected wells, lithologic logs of 131 wells and test borings, and natural-gamma logs of selected wells ranging in depth from 110 to 1,346 feet. Rainfall and municipal pumpage data also are compiled. Maps show the location of the data-collection sites within the area.

Florida↗
USGS1977

Hydrologic monitoring of a waste-injection well near Milton, Florida, June 1975 - December 1976

This report presents the hydraulic and chemical data collected from June 1, 1975 to December 31, 1976 through a monitoring program at a deep-well waste-injection system at the American Cyanamid Company's plant near Milton, Florida. The injection system consists of a primary injection well, a standby injection well, and two deep monitor wells all completed open hole in the lower limestone of the Floridan aquifer and one shallow-monitor well completed in the upper limestone of the Floridan aquifer. Two of the monitor wells and the standby injection well are used to observe hydraulic and geochemical effects of waste injection in the injection zone at locations 1,025 feet southwest, 1,560 feet south, and 1.55 miles northeast of the primary injection well. The shallow-monitor well, used to observe any effects in the first permeable zone above the 200-foot-thick confining bed, is 28 feet north of the primary injection well.

Florida↗