Postaudit Study of DBCP and EDB Contamination in the Pearl Harbor Aquifer
Publication: Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 12, Issue 6
Abstract
A simulation of the transport of dibromochloropropane (DBCP) and ethylene dibromide (EDB) in the vadose zone and ground water was conducted in the Mililani area of central Oahu, Hawaii to revisit the ground water contamination predictions made by researchers at the University of Hawaii in 1988 for selected wells of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply. Examination of sampled DBCP results in these wells indicated a large discrepancy between the observed and predicted concentrations in 1988. Therefore, a postaudit study was initiated in the same area to assist in better defining projected concentrations of contaminants in well waters in the future. With the new data, different modeling approaches were undertaken for simulating flow and contaminant transport in both the vadose and saturated zones. The new simulations indicate travel times of for contaminants to reach the water table, depending on the location. The approximate recovery time of wells in the study area is expected to occur after the year 2016 for DBCP. The predicted concentration of EDB in the wells is less than the current detection limit. Variabilities in model predictions due to parameter uncertainties and model limitations are also considered. Although the predicted concentrations from the present simulations match sampled data better than the concentrations from earlier modeling efforts, still a number of uncertainties remain.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The writers would like to acknowledge the support of the East-West Center in the form of a graduate degree fellowship to the first writer. They gratefully thank Dr. Lyle Wong of the Hawaii Department of Agriculture and Dr. Delwyn Oki from U.S. Geological Survey for providing additional data and for their advice. They also thank two anonymous reviewers for comments on the manuscript prior to its submittal. This is Contributed Paper CP-2006-07 of the Water Resources Research Center, University of Hawaii.
References
Burlinson, N. E., Lee, L. A., and Rosenblatt, D. H. (1982). “Kinetics and products of hydrolysis of 1,2-Dibromo-3chloropropane.” Environ. Sci. Technol., 16, 627–632.
Buxton, D. S., and Green, R. E. (1992). “Desorption and leachability of sorbed DBCP residues in Hawaii soils.” Technical Rep. No. 180, Water Resources Research Center, Univ. of Hawaii, Honolulu.
Freeze, R. A., and Cherry, J. A. (1979). Groundwater, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Giambelluca, T. W., Loague, K., Green, R. E., and Nullet, M. A. (1996). “Uncertainty in recharge estimation: Impact on groundwater vulnerably assessments for the Pearl Harbor Basin, Oahu, Hawaii, U.S.A.” J. Contam. Hydrol., 23, 85–112.
Gingerich, S. B. (1999). “Ground water and surface water in the Haiku Area, East Maui, Hawaii.” Water-Resources Investigations Rep. No. 98-4142, U.S. Geological Survey.
Green, R. E., Liu, C. C. K., and Tamrakar, N. (1986). “Modeling pesticide movement in the unsaturated zone of Hawaiian soils under agricultural use.” Evaluation of pesticides in ground water, W. Y. Garner, R. C. Honeycutt, and H. N. Nigg, eds., ACS Symp. Series No. 315, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 366–383.
Green, R. E., Schneider, R. C., Gavenda, R. T., and Miles, C. J. (1993). “Chapter 12: Utility of sorption and degradation parameters from the literature for site-specific pesticide impact assessments.” Sorption and degradation of pesticides and organic chemicals in soil, Science Society of America, Madison, Wis., 32, 209–225.
Harbaugh, A. W., and McDonald, M. G. (1996). “User’s documentation for MODFLOW-96, an update to the U.S. Geological Survey modular finite-difference ground-water flow model.” Open-File Rep. No. 96-485, U.S. Geological Survey.
Hayduk, W., and Laudie, H. (1974). “Prediction of diffusion coefficients for nonelectrolytes in dilute aqueous solutions.” AIChE J., 20, 611–615.
Honolulu Board of Water Supply (HBWS). (2001). Pumpage and head values data, Honolulu.
Hornsby, A. G., Wauchope, R. D., and Herner, A. E. (1996). Pesticide properties in the environment, Springer, New York.
Konikow, L. F., and Bredehoeft, J. D. (1987). “Computer model of two-dimensional solute transport and dispersion in ground water.” Technique of water resources Inv., Book, 7, Chap. C2, U.S. Geological Survey.
Liu, C. C. K., Tamrakar, N. K., and Green, R. E. (1987). “Biodegradation and adsorption of DBCP and the mathematical simulation of its transport in tropical soils.” Toxicity assessment: An international quarterly, Vol. 2, Wiley, New York, 239–252.
Loague, K. M., Green, R. E., Liu, C. C. K., and Liang, T. C. (1989). “Simulation of organic chemical movement in Hawaii soils with PRZM. 1: preliminary results for ethylene dibromide.” Pacific Science, 43, 67–95.
Miller, M. E., Green, R. E., Peterson, F. L., Jones, R. C., and Loague, K. (1988). “Hydrogeologic characteristics of subsoil and saprolite and their relation to contaminant transport, central Oahu, Hawaii.” Technical Rep. No. 178, Water Resources Research Center, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa, Manoa, Hawaii.
Mink, J. F. (1980). State of the groundwater resources of Southern Oahu, Board of Water Supply, City and County of Honolulu, Honululu.
Mink, J. F., and Lau, L. S. (1990). “Aquifer identification and classification for Oahu: Groundwater protection strategy for Hawaii.” Technical Rep. No. 179, Water Resources Research Center, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa, Manao, Hawaii.
Nichols, W. D., Shade, P. J., and Hunt, C. D, Jr. (1996). “Summary of the Oahu, Hawaii, regional aquifer-system analysis.” Professional Paper No. 1412-A, U.S. Geological Survey.
Oki, D. S. (1998). “Geohydrology of the Central Oahu, Hawaii, ground-water flow system and numerical simulation of the effects of additional pumping.” Water-Resources Investigations Rep. No. 97–4276, U.S. Geological Survey.
Oki, D. S., and Giambelluca, T. W. (1985). “Subsurface water and soil quality database for state of Hawaii. P 1.” Special Rep. No. 7:85, Water Resources Research Center, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa, Manoa, Hawaii.
Oki, D. S., and Giambelluca, T. W. (1989). “Groundwater contamination by nematicides: Influence of recharge timing under pineapple crop.” Water Resour. Bull., 25, 285–294.
Oki, D. S., Gingerich, S. B., and Whitehead, R. L. (1999). “Groundwater atlas of the United States: Segment 13 Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Island.” Hydrologic Investigations Atlas 730-N, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Va.
Orr, S. (1987). “Multiple cell simulation of trace organics transport in Basaltic Aquifer, Southern Oahu, Hawaii.” Thesis, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa, Manoa, Hawaii.
Orr, S., and Lau, L. S. (1987). “Trace organic (DBCP) transport simulation of Pearl Harbor Aquifer, Oahu, Hawaii: Multiple mixing-cell model, Phase I.” Technical Rep. No. 174, Water Resources Research Center, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa, Manoa, Hawaii.
Orr, S., and Lau, L. S. (1988). “Modeling of trace organic (DBCP) transport in Pearl Harbor Aquifer, Oahu, Hawaii: Method of characteristics. II.” Technical Rep. No. 175, Water Resources Research Center, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa, Manoa, Hawaii.
Oshiro, W. C., Miles, C. J., and Green, R. E. (1993). “Physical-chemical properties of selected pesticides for environmental fate modeling.” Research Series 069, College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, Univ. of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Peterson, F. L., Green, K. R., Green, R. E., and Ogata, J. N. (1985). “Drilling program and pesticide analysis of core samples from pineapple fields in Central Oahu.” Special Rep. No. 7.5:85, Water Resources Research Center, Univ. of Hawaii at Manoa, Manoa, Hawaii.
Simunek, J., Sejna, M., and van Genuchten, M. Th. (1998). The HYDRUS-1D software package for simulating the one-dimensional movement of water, heat and multiple solutes in variably-saturated media, version 2.0., U.S. Salinity Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service Riverside, Calif.
Souza, W. R., and Voss, C. I. (1987). “Analysis of an anisotropic coastal aquifer system using variable-density flow and solute transport simulation.” J. Hydrol., 92, 17–41.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). (1983). “Ethylene dibromide-notices of decision and emergency order suspending registrations of pesticide products containing edb for use as a soil fumigant; intent to cancel registrations of pesticide products containing edb; determination concluding the rebuttable presumption against registration; and availability of position document.” Federal Register, 46227–46248.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA). (1999). “Current drinking water standards.” Office of Water, ⟨http://www.epa.gov/OGWDW/dwh/t-soc/dbcp.html⟩.
van Genuchten, M. Th. (1980). “A closed-form equation for predictingthe hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils.” Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 44, 892–898.
van Genuchten, M. Th., Leij, F. J., and Yates, S. R. (1991). The RETC for quantifying the hydraulic functions of unsaturated soils, U.S. Salinity Laboratory, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Riverside, Calif.
Wong, L. (1983). “Soil Sampling for EDB on Oahu.” Preliminary Rep., Pesticide Branch, Division of Plant Industry, Dept. of Agriculture, State of Hawaii.
Zheng, C., and Wang, P. P. (1999). MT3DMS a modular three-dimensional multispecies transport model, The Univ. of Alabama Press, Ala.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Hydrologic Engineering
Volume 12 • Issue 6 • November 2007
Pages: 549 - 558
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Jul 12, 2005
Accepted: Apr 5, 2007
Published online: Nov 1, 2007
Published in print: Nov 2007
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.