Geology topics

Research about East Chicago, Indiana

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including East Chicago, Indiana.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2018

Geochemistry and microbiology of groundwater and solids from extraction and monitoring wells and their relation to well efficiency at a Federally operated confined disposal facility, East Chicago, Indiana

In cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Chicago District, the U.S. Geological Survey investigated the processes affecting water quality, geochemistry, and microbiology in representative extraction and monitoring wells at a confined disposal facility (CDF) in East Chicago, Indiana. The CDF is a 140-acre Federally-managed facility that was the former location of an oil refinery and is now used for the long-term disposal and storage of dredge material from the Indiana Harbor and Indiana Harbor Canal. Residual petroleum hydrocarbons and leachate from the CDF are contained within the facility by use of a groundwater cutoff wall. The wall consists of a soil-bentonite slurry and a gradient control system made up of an automated network of 96 extraction wells, 42 monitoring wells, and 2 ultrasonic sensors that maintain an inward hydraulic gradient at the site. The pumps in the extraction wells require vigilant maintenance and must be replaced when unable to withdraw water at a rate sufficient to maintain the required inward gradient. The wells are screened in the Calumet aquifer, a coarse-grained sand and gravel unit that extends approximately 35 feet below the land surface and is not utilized for drinking-water supply at the CDF or in the surrounding area. This study was initiated to identify the cause of decreased pump discharges and to identify potential mitigation strategies. For this study, the U.S. Geological Survey collected groundwater and solids from monitoring and extraction wells. Groundwater samples were collected during June 2014 for precautionary health screening and on four occasions during September 2014 through November 2014. Groundwater samples collected from two extraction wells during June 2014 were analyzed for concentrations of anthropogenic organic constituents. During September through November 2014, groundwater samples were collected from one additional extraction well, and samples from three monitoring wells were analyzed for concentrations of inorganic and organic constituents, dissolved gases, and bacterial abundance and diversity. Solid samples were collected during April 2014, during September 2014 through November 2014, and during November 2016. Solid samples were collected from the exterior of extraction-well pumps and as flocculent from water samples. Solid samples were collected from 10 wells, including 1 extraction well and 3 monitoring wells sampled for water quality. Solid samples were analyzed for mineralogy, solid-phase habit, geochemistry, and organic composition. The following is a list of observations that were made during this study: (1) the water quality is substantially variable among the six well locations sampled as part of this study—lower (more negative) redox values and higher concentrations of many constituents (including calcium, magnesium, sodium, and sulfate) and properties (including dissolved solids, hardness, and turbidity) were detected in sampled wells located near the extraction wells with the highest frequency of failure; (2) water-level drawdown is variable between extraction wells—wells with the greatest drawdown may pull deeper groundwater into the borehole; (3) dissolved gas results indicate reducing oxidation-reduction processes in the aquifer material that can feasibly contribute iron, carbon dioxide, and other byproducts from hydrocarbon degradation to precipitates and solids that accumulate on and impair pump operation; (4) crystalline and amorphous solid-phase minerals are precipitating in the borehole; (5) several types of bacteria are present in water pumped from extraction wells and are likely responsible for bonding mineral and microbiologic matter to the pump (and other well components); and (6) bacteria may create microenvironments that facilitate precipitation of solids or inhibit dissolution of unstable minerals once the bacteria adhere to biofilm attached to the pump. Results of the study indicate that bacteria may be accumulating and entrapping solid material on the exterior of pumps. This accumulation reduces heat transfer and water discharge from the pump and may lead to decreased efficiency or mechanical failure. Observations could not be made on the well screen, gravel pack, or surrounding geologic formation; therefore, mitigating measures in the borehole may not solve well-productivity issues. Remedies for the pump fouling problems were derived from the review and interpretation of data collected during this study and from information documented in other sources about groundwater well fouling. Potential remedies to problems associated with pump fouling at the CDF may include the following: (1) reducing attractiveness of the extraction wells for microbiological growth by modifying the chemical or physical environment of the well, (2) modifying the pump exterior to decrease microbiological adherence, (3) changing the pumping regime to control the chemistry of water entering the well from the surrounding aquifer material, (4) modifying the pumps to be less physically and thermally attractive, and (5) removing hydrocarbons from groundwater and the aquifer material surrounding the wells or adding surfactants to make them more mobile. Pilot scale testing may be necessary to identify the most effective treatment or combination of treatments.

Indiana↗

USGS2016

Performance evaluation testing of wells in the gradient control system at a federally operated Confined Disposal Facility using single well aquifer tests, East Chicago, Indiana

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) performed tests to evaluate the hydrologic connection between the open interval of the well and the surrounding Calumet aquifer in response to fouling of extraction well pumps onsite. Two rounds of air slug testing were performed on seven monitoring wells and step drawdown and subsequent recovery tests on three extraction wells on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) in East Chicago, Indiana. The wells were tested in 2014 and again in 2015. The extraction and monitoring wells are part of the gradient control system that establishes an inward gradient around the perimeter of the facility. The testing established a set of protocols that site personnel can use to evaluate onsite well integrity and develop a maintenance procedure to evaluate future well performance. The results of the slug test analysis data indicate that the hydraulic connection of the well screen to the surrounding aquifer material in monitoring wells on the CDF and the reliability of hydraulic conductivity estimates of the surrounding geologic media could be increased by implementing well development maintenance. Repeated air slug tests showed increasing hydraulic conductivity until, in the case of the monitoring wells located outside of the groundwater cutoff wall (MW–4B, MW–11B, MW–14B), the difference in hydraulic conductivity from test to test decreased, indicating the results were approaching the optimal hydraulic connection between the aquifer and the well screen. Hydraulic conductivity values derived from successive tests in monitoring well D40, approximately 0.25 mile south of the CDF, were substantially higher than those derived from wells on the CDF property. Also, values did not vary from test to test like those measured in monitoring wells located on the CDF property, which indicated that a process may be affecting the connectivity of the wells on the CDF property to the Calumet aquifer. Derived hydraulic conductivity values from the initial air slug test during the 2015 testing period for MW–11A and MW–14A are an order of magnitude less than those derived from the final test during the 2014 testing period indicating the development of a low conductivity skin between the final test of the 2014 testing period and the beginning of the 2015 testing period that created a decrease in the connection of the monitoring well screen to the surrounding aquifer material. Repeated step drawdown and recovery testing of the extraction wells tested during this study provided results that indicate a slight increase in the development of a skin and a decrease in the connectivity of the extraction wells with the Calumet aquifer. Hydraulic conductivity values obtained from the test results were relatively similar in EW–4B and EW–14A but were substantially lower for EW–11C. This difference may be due to the presence of finer grained silt deposits in the area surrounding well nest 11. Skin factors calculated during the step drawdown and recovery analysis were lowest in EW–11C and relatively similar in EW–4B and EW–14A. Calculated skin factors increased slightly in the analysis of data collected in 2015 from that collected in 2014. Comparisons of the specific-capacity values calculated from well development data collected following extraction well installation to those calculated during the single well aquifer tests at EW–4B, EW–14A and EW–11C indicate that the productivity of extraction wells on the CDF property has diminished since 2008. Values calculated for monitoring wells MW–4A, MW–11A, and MW–14A were used to evaluate the decrease in air slug derived hydraulic conductivity for monitoring wells within the groundwater cutoff wall between testing in 2014 and 2015. Results from testing by this study indicate that implementation of an air slug testing regimen of the monitoring wells that control the gradient control system at the CDF throughout the course of a year may help sustain the connectivity between the monitoring wells and the surrounding aquifer and provide data to evaluate the need for different types of well development approaches to address chemical or biological fouling issues. Repeated step drawdown and recovery testing of the extraction wells tested during this study provided results that indicate a slight increase in the development of a skin and a decrease in the connectivity of the extraction wells with the Calumet aquifer. Implementation of a specific capacity testing regimen can provide data to record and track well condition through time for individual extraction wells. Results from aquifer testing by this study indicate that specific capacity test results, when paired with recovery testing, provide useful data to measure the development of any low conductivity wellbore skin through the skin factors derived for the individual extraction wells. An initial annual schedule of specific capacity and recovery tests would provide sufficient data to identify substantial short-term changes in the operating condition of the extraction wells.

Indiana↗

USGS2015

Application of a microfluidic quantitative polymerase chain reaction technique to monitor bacterial pathogens in beach water and complex environmental matrices

Microfluidic quantitative polymerase chain reaction (MFQPCR) and conventional quantitative polymerase chain reaction methods were compared side by side in detecting and quantifying 19 genetic markers associated with Escherichia coli and select bacterial pathogens in algae, beach sand, and water from Lake Michigan. Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), Shiga toxin-producing E. coli , Salmonella spp., Campylobacter jejuni , and Clostridium perfringens were among the pathogens tested. Of the pathogenic markers, eaeA that encodes intimin in EPEC was detected in all sample types: water (5%), detached/floating algae (42%), exposed/stranded algae (43%), sand below exposed algae (27%), and nearshore sand with no algae (22%). Other pathogenic markers, however, were detected sporadically. Despite comparable results from the two methods for the genetic markers tested in this study, the MFQPCR method may be superior, with the advantage of detecting and quantifying multiple pathogens simultaneously in environmental matrices.

Indiana↗

USGS2000

Mixed-function oxygenases, oxidative stress, and chromosomal damage measured in lesser scaup wintering on the Indiana Harbor Canal

During the winter of 1993-1994, male lesser scaup ( Aythya alfinis ) were collected on the heavily polluted Indiana Harbor Canal, East Chicago, Indiana, and examined for several bioindicators of chemical exposure. Livers were analyzed for activities of three cytochrome P450-associated monooxygenases and four measures of oxidative stress. Blood and spleen were analyzed by flow cytometry for chromosomal damage. In a concurrent study, scaup tissues were analyzed for organic and inorganic contaminants. Ethoxyresomfm-O-dealkylase (EROD) activity in livers of scaup collected in January 1994 was significantly higher than in livers of scaup collected in March 1994 or in livers of reference birds. Three hepatic monooxygenase activities were each significantly correlated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations in scaup carcasses. Thiobarbituric acid (TBA) activity in scaup livers was positively correlated with iron, boron, and lead concentrations in livers and polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations in carcasses. TBA activity was negatively correlated with protein-bound thiol activity and mercury concentrations in livers. The coefficient of variation of DNA content in scaup blood cells was correlated with PAH concentrations in scaup carcasses. This is the first field study with birds to demonstrate a correlation between liver monooxygenase activity and carcass PAH concentrations and to show a direct correlation between PAH concentrations in tissues and somatic chromosomal damage in blood.

Indiana↗