| Abstract: | The U.S. Army disposed of chemical agents, laboratory materials, and unexploded ordnance at the Old O-Field landfill at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, beginning prior to World War II and continuing until at least the 1950?s. Soil, ground water, surface water, and wetland sediments in the Old O-Field area were contaminated by the disposal of these materials. The site is in the Atlantic Coastal Plain, and is characterized by a complex series of Pleistocene and Holocene sediments formed in various fluvial, estuarine, and marine-marginal hydrogeologic environments. A previously constructed transient finite-difference ground-water-flow model was used to simulate ground-water flow and the effects of a pump-and-treat remediation system designed to prevent contaminated ground water from flowing into Watson Creek (a tidal estuary and a tributary to the Gunpowder River). The remediation system consists of 14 extraction wells located between the Old O-Field landfill and Watson Creek.Linear programming techniques were applied to the results of the flow-model simulations to identify optimal pumping strategies for the remediation system. The optimal management objective is to minimize total withdrawal from the water-table aquifer, while adhering to the following constraints: (1) ground-water flow from the landfill should be prevented from reaching Watson Creek, (2) no extraction pump should be operated at a rate that exceeds its capacity, and (3) no extraction pump should be operated at a rate below its minimum capacity, the minimum rate at which an Old O-Field pump can function. Water withdrawal is minimized by varying the rate and frequency of pumping at each of the 14 extraction wells over time. This minimizes the costs of both pumping and water treatment, thus providing the least-cost remediation alternative while simultaneously meeting all operating constraints.The optimal strategy identified using this objective and constraint set involved operating 13 of the 14 extraction wells at rates ranging from 0.4 to 4.9 gallons per minute. |
| Genre: | USGS Numbered Series |
| ProdID: | 45073 |
| Citation Author: | Banks, William S. L.; Dillow, Jonathan J. A. |
| Citation Contributing Office: | |
| Citation Datum: | |
| Citation Day: | |
| Citation Edition: | - |
| Citation Editor: | |
| Citation End Page: | |
| Citation Issue: | |
| Citation Keywords: | |
| Citation Language: | ENGLISH |
| Citation Larger Work Title: | |
| Citation LatN: | |
| Citation LatS: | |
| Citation LonE: | |
| Citation LonW: | |
| Citation Month: | |
| Citation No Pagination: | |
| Citation Number Of Pages: | |
| Citation Online Only Flag: | |
| Citation Phsyical Description: | vi, 17 p. : col. ill., col. maps ; 28 cm. |
| Citation Projection: | |
| Citation Public Comments: | |
| Citation Publisher: | |
| Citation Series: | Water-Resources Investigations Report |
| Citation Series Code: | WRI |
| Citation Series Number: | 2000-4283 |
| Citation Search Results Text: | Optimization of ground-water withdrawal at the old O-Field area, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland; 2001; WRI; 2000-4283; Banks, William S. L.; Dillow, Jonathan J. A. |
| Citation Start Page: | |
| Citation Volume: | |
| Citation Year: | 2001 |
| Type: | citation/reference |
| Text: | Optimization of ground-water withdrawal at the old O-Field area, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland; 2001; WRI; 2000-4283; Banks, William S. L.; Dillow, Jonathan J. A. |
| URL (THUMBNAIL): | http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/thumbnails/usgs_thumb.jpg |
| URL (INDEX PAGE): | http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/wri00-4283/ |
| Date Other: | Tue, 1 Jul 2003 00:00 -0500 |
| Publisher: | |
