HYDROGEOLOGIC STUDY SERVICES

Vertical Aqifer Profiling

Innovative is one of the few environmental consulting firms in Michigan that can effectively perform vertical aquifer profiling activities.  In homogenous sand and/or sand and gravel aquifer systems, the dissolved contaminants (especially MTBE) tend to plunge vertically within the aquifer as they move offsite in the hydraulically downgradient direction.  Vertical aquifer profiling is an art which requires extensive planning and well trained and experienced project and field level personnel to carry out the intensive drilling supervision, field logging and supervision of temporary monitoring well screen and sampling activities.  When done correctly, vertical aquifer profiling provides invaluable data as to the number of nested monitoring wells needed to screen the top of the groundwater table, the middle portion of the dissolved plume and the bottom most point of the aquifer system to demonstrate that the vertical extent of the dissolved contaminants have been delineated to below the RRD of the MDEQ Part 201 or 213 Residential Protective of Drinking Water Groundwater Cleanup Criteria.  Innovative has found, over the past 10 years of completing vertical aquifer profiling, that the light non-aqueous phase liquids (LNAPL’s) such as gasoline, float near the source and as they move hydraulically downgradient they dissolve into the aquifer formation and take on the characteristics of a solvent and start to plunge vertically as they move hydraulically downgradient.