This is the second in the 2021 Monthly Online Presentation Series!
Groundwater Research At/Near the Town of Brookhaven Landfill
Presented By:
David J. Tonjes
Dept. of Technology and Society
Stony Brook University
Abstract
The Town of Brookhaven landfill is in the south-central part of the Town. The waste management facility has caused much research to occur in this particular part of Long Island (contamination issues are a great impetus for expanded study of particular areas: see Brookhaven National Laboratory and Grumman-Bethpage as other well-known examples). USGS and the Town itself (with technical assistance from Stony Brook University) have done most of the work.
The presentation will focus on three areas: 1) modeling; 2) plume characterization; and 3) modifications of general LI aquifer concepts. The modeling review will cover Wexler’s early transport model and Aphale’s work on model validation. The plume characterization will include Stiff diagram research, Suffolk County’s use of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) and trace metals to identify landfill impacts on Beaverdam Creek. There will be discussion about the definition of the deep recharge area, Aphale’s redefinition of Gardiners Clay, and some of Mr. Tonjes research on South Shore aquifers discharge. Mr. Tonjes will also discuss some causes of Hanson’s modification of Sirkin’s glacial extent model, compost contamination work by Suffolk County, and some recent work by Stony Brook University students on metals and road salting, and redox conditions in the leachate plume.
Please join us for an exciting evening event!
It's free, just register using the button above and you will receive a link to the Zoom Meeting for that evening.
The presentation will be followed by a geologic trivia question and answer activity for those who would like to participate!
*Bio: David Tonjes is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Technology and Society, Stony Brook University, and the Director of the Waste Data and Analysis Center. He has conducted groundwater research on Long Island for about 30 years, much of it at or around the Brookhaven landfill. He is stubbornly attached to Stiff diagrams as a means of understanding overall groundwater quality but also likes it when there are other ways to tell a good story about data. His PhD was in Coastal Oceanography (at Stony Brook) but he spent more student days working with a Grundfos pump and generator than on a boat. He has never lost a bailer down a well.