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D.F. Goerlitz

Publications and source records attributed to D.F. Goerlitz.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2007

Use of on-site high performance liquid chromatography to evaluate the magnitude and extent of organic contaminants in aquifers

Appraisal of ground water contaminated by organic substances raises problems of difficult sample collection and timely chemical analysis. High-performance liquid chromatography was evaluated for on-site determination of specific organic contaminants in ground water samples and was used at three study sites. Organic solutes were determined directly in water samples, with little or no preparation, and usually in less than an hour after collection. This information improved sampling efficiency and was useful in screening for subsequent laboratory analysis. On two occasions, on-site analysis revealed that samples were undergoing rapid change, with major solutes being upgraded and alteration products being formed. In addition to sample stability, this technique proved valuable for monitoring other sampling factors such as compositional changes with respect to pumping, filtration, and cross contamination. -Authors

Ground Water Monitoring Review↗
USGS2007

Organic contamination of ground water at Gas Works Park, Seattle, Washington

Gas Works Park, in Seattle, Washington, is located on the site of a coal and oil gasification plant that ceased operation in 1956. During operation, many types of wastes, including coal, tar, and oil, accumulated on-site. The park soil is currently (1986) contaminated with compounds such as polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, trace metals, and cyanide. Analyses of water samples from a network of observation wells in the park indicate that these compounds are also present in the ground water. Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds were identified in ground water samples in concentrations as large as 200 mg/L. Concentrations of organic compounds were largest where ground water was in contact with a non-aqueous phase liquid in the soil. Where no non-aqueous phase liquid was present, concentrations were much smaller, even if the ground water was in contact with contaminated soils. This condition is attributed to weathering processes in which soluble, low-molecular-weight organic compounds are preferentially dissolved from the non-aqueous phase liquid into the ground water. Where no non-aqueous phase liquid is present, only stained soils containing relatively insoluble, high-molecular-weight compounds remain. Concentrations of organic contaminants in the soils may still remain large.

Washington↗
USGS2006

Degradation of phenolic contaminants in ground water by anaerobic bacteria: St. Louis Park, Minnesota

Coal-tar derivatives from a coal-tar distillation and wood-treating plant that operated from 1918 to 1972 at St. Louis Park, Minnesota contaminated the near-surface ground water. Solutions of phenolic compounds and a water-immiscible mixture of polynuclear aromatic compounds accumulated in wetlands near the plant site and entered the aquifer. The concentration of phenolic compounds in the aqueous phase under the wetlands is about 30 mg/1 but decreases to less than 0.2 mg/1 at a distance of 430 m immediately downgradient from the source. Concentrations of naphthalene (the predominant polynuclear compound in the ground water) and sodium (selected as a conservative tracer) range from about 20 mg/1 and 430 mg/1 in the aqueous phase at the source to about 2 mg/1 and 120 mg/1 at 430 m downgradient, respectively. Phenolic compounds and naphthalene are disappearing faster than expected if only dilution were occurring. Sorption of phenolic compounds on aquifer sediments is negligible but naphthalene is slightly sorbed. Anaerobic biodegradation of phenolic compounds is primarily responsible for the observed attenuation. Methane was found only in water samples from the contaminated zone (2-20 mg/1). Methane-producing bacteria were found only in water from the contaminated zone. Methane was produced in laboratory cultures of contaminated water inoculated with bacteria from the contaminated zone. Evidence for anaerobic biodegradation of naphthalene under either field or laboratory conditions was not obtained.

Minnesota↗
USGS2002

Migration of wood-preserving chemicals in contaminated groundwater in a sand aquifer at Pensacola, Florida

Operation of a wood-preserving facility for nearly 80 years at Pensacola, FL, contaminated the near-surface groundwater with creosote and pentachlorophenol. The major source of aquifer contamination was unlined surface impoundments that were in direct hydraulic contact with the groundwater. Episodes of overtopping the impoundments and overland flow of treatment liquor and waste were also significant to the migration and contamination of the groundwater. Solutes contaminating the ground-water are mainly naphthalene and substituted phenols. Sorption did not influence retardation of solutes in transport in the groundwater. Phenol and the mono substituted methylphenols appear to be undergoing bio-transformation. Pentachlorophenol (PCP) was not found in significant concentrations in the groundwater possibly because the solubility of PCP is approximately 5 mg/L at pH 6, near the average acidity for the groundwater.

Florida↗
USGS1994

The geochemical evolution of low-molecular-weight organic acids derived from the degradation of petroleum contaminants in groundwater

The geochemical evolution of low-molecular-weight organic acids in groundwater downgradient from a crude-oil spill near Bemidji, Minnesota, was studied over a five year period (1986–1990). The organic acids are metabolic intermediates of the degradation of components of the crude oil and are structurally related to hydrocarbon precursors. The concentrations of organic acids, particularly aliphatic acids, increase as the microbial alteration of hydrocarbons progresses. The organic-acid pool changes in composition and concentration over time and in space as the degradation processes shift from Fe(III) reduction to methanogenesis. Over time, the aquifer system evolves into one in which the groundwater contains more oxidized products of hydrocarbon degradation and the reduced forms of iron, manganese, and nitrogen. Laboratory microcosm experiments with aquifer material support the hypothesis that organic acids observed in the groundwater originate from the microbial degradation of aromatic hydrocarbons under anoxic conditions. The geochemistry of two other shallow aquifers in coastal plain sediments, one contaminated with creosote waste and the other with gasoline, were compared to the Bemidji site. The geochemical evolution of the low-molecular-weight organic acid pool in these systems is controlled, in part, by the presence of electron acceptors available for microbially mediated electron-transfer reactions. The depletion of electron acceptors in aquifers leads to the accumulation of aliphatic organic acids in anoxic groundwater.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗
USGS1989

Transport and degradation of water-soluble creosote-derived compounds

Creosote is the most extensively used insecticide and industrial wood preservative today. It is estimated that there are more than 600 wood-preserving plants in the United States, and their collective use of creosote exceeds 4.5xl0 6 kg/yr (von Rumker et al ., 1975). Creosote is a complex mixture of more than 200 major individual organic compounds with differing molecular weights, polarities, and functionalities, along with dispersed solids and products of polymerization (Novotny et al ., 1981). The major classes of compounds previously identified in creosote show that it consists of ∼85% (w/w) polynuclear aromatic compounds (PAH), ∼12% phenolic compounds, and ∼3% heterocyclic nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen containing compounds (NSO).

Book chapter↗
USGS1984

Phenolic contamination in the sand-and-gravel aquifer from a surface impoundment of wood treatment wastes, Pensacola, Florida

Creosote and pentachlorophenol wastewaters discharged to unlined surface impoundments have resulted in groundwater contamination in the vicinity of an industrial site near Pensacola, Florida. Total phenol concentrations of 36,000 microgm/liter have been detected 40 ft below land surface in a test hole 100 ft south of an overflow impoundment but less than 10 microgm/liter 90 ft below land surface. Samples collected in test holes 1,350 ft downgradient from the surface impoundments and 100 ft north of Pensacola Bay, above and immediately below a clay lens, indicate that phenol contaminated groundwater may not be discharging directly into Pensacola Bay. Phenol concentrations exceeding 20 microgm/liter were detected in samples from a drainage ditch discharging directly into Bayou Chico. Microbiological data collected near the test site suggest that an anaerobic methanogenic ecosystem contributes to a reduction in phenol concentrations in groundwater. A laboratory study using bacteria isolated from the study site indicates that phenol, 2-methylphenol, and 3-methylphenol are significantly degraded and that methanogenesis reduces total phenol concentrations in laboratory digestors by 45%. Pentachlorophenol may inhibit methanogenesis at concentrations exceeding 0.45 milligm/liter. (USGS)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS1979

Analysis of picric acid in water by high-performance liquid chromatography

Methods for the determination of picric acid (2,4,6, trinitrophenol) in water employing high-performance liquid chromatography are presented. Ion-pair chromatography under an isocratic condition is performed on a reverse-phase column. Picric acid can be determined directly in water at a lower detection limit of 10 micrograms per liter. By use of an extraction procedure, detection down to 0.1 microgram per liter can be realized.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1979

Direct analysis of RDX and TNT in water by high-performance liquid chromatography

A method for the determination of RDX (1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazacyclohexane) and TNT (2,4,6-trinitrotoluene) directly in water is given. The high-performance liquid chromatographic technique permits detection down to 0.1 microgram per liter in filtered water. No ancillary extraction or concentrating procedures are used.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1967

Determination of phenoxy acid herbicides in water by electron-capture and microcoulometric gas chromatography

A sensitive gas chromatographic method using microcoulometric titration and electron-capture detection for the analysis of 2,4-D, silvex, 2,4,5-T, and other phenoxy acid herbicides in water is described. The herbicides are extracted from unfiltered water samples (800-1,000 ml) by use of ethyl ether ; then the herbicides are concentrated and esterilied. To allow the analyst a choice, two esterilication procedures--using either boron trifluoride-methanol or diazomethane--are evaluated. Microcoulometric gas chromatography is specific for the detection of halogenated compounds such as the phenoxy acid herbicides whereas it does not respond to nonhalogenated components. Microcoulometric gas chromatography requires care and patience. It is not convenient for rapid screening of l-liter samples that contain less than 1 microgram of the herbicide. Although electroncapture gas chromatography is less selective and more critically affected by interfering substances, it is, nevertheless, convenient and more sensitive than microcoulometric gas chromatography. Two different liquid phases are used in the gas chromatographic columns--DC-200 silicone in one column and QF-1 silicone in the other. The performance of both columns is improved by the addition of Carbowax 20M. The Gas Chrom Q support is coated with the liquid phases by the 'frontal-analysis' technique. The practical lower limits for measurement of the phenoxy acid herbicides in water primarily depend upon the sample size, interferences present, anal instrumentation used. With l-liter samples of water, the practical lower limits of measurement are 10 ppt (parts per trillion) for 2,4-D and 2 ppt for silvex and 2,4,5-T when electron-capture detection is used, and approximately 20 ppt for each herbicide when analyzed by microcoulometric-titration gas chromatography. Recoveries of the herbicides immediately after addition to unfiltered water samples averaged 92 percent for 2,4-D, 90 percent for silvex, and 98 percent for 2,4,5-T. Studies on the stability of herbicides added to water samples showed that 2,4-D may be rapidly degraded, especially if the samples are obtained from areas which have been repeatedly sprayed with 2,4-D. When degradation was observed, added 2,4-D rapidly decomposed within 10 days. At concentrations of about 200 ppt, however, the degradation rate was diminished. In 20 days the concentration of 2,4-D was reduced to 160-180 ppt.

Water Supply Paper↗