| The management of groundwater contamination from organic chemicals is a challenging task at heterogeneous sites where back-diffusion has been shown to dominate remediation time scales following source removal. High resolution quantitative data provides insight into complex processes which affect diffusion rates, and ultimately, the fate and transport of contaminants. This thesis uses a case study involving investigation at a site with 1) heterogeneous geology, 2) a complex mixture of contaminants, and 3) source treatment and isolation, to show the value of high resolution data in providing new insight into processes missed by crude investigation techniques. The quantitative data collected as part of the study is also used to evaluate the ability of the membrane interface probe (MIP) to rapidly characterize back-diffusion potential in a heterogeneous environment. The comparison reveals that although MIP provides some information regarding qualitative features of site hydrogeology and contaminant distributions, results are highly variable due to sources of physical and chemical heterogeneity. |
