Date of Award
12-1990
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Geological and Environmental Sciences
First Advisor
Dr. Richard N. Passero
Second Advisor
Dr. Alan Kehew
Third Advisor
Dr. Thomas Straw
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
Major cations and anions were analyzed to determine groundwater chemistry at a site used for the disposal of municipal sludge in the late 1960s and contaminated Portage Creek sedimem dredged in the late 1970s. The disposal site consists of five unlined basins constructed over 50 to 100 feet of stratified sand and gravel outwash underlain by silt and clay. Groundwater in the outwash is unconfined and flows from east to west. A groundwater divide in the center of the site produces local divergent flow to the northwest and southwest. Measurements of chemical constituents indicate that three factors influence groundwater chemistry at the site: (1) upgradient groundwater contribution, (2) groundwater recharge and discharge on and adjacent to the site, and (3) past fill activities. Analyses do not show inorganic contamination from past sewage sludge lagooning; but, contamination probably has occurred as the result of landfilling of the Portage Creek sediment.
Recommended Citation
Christensen, Richard Howard, "A Hydrogeological and Hydrogeochemical Investigation of Groundwater at a Landfill for Sludge from the Kalamazoo Wastewater Treatment Plant" (1990). Masters Theses. 1055.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/1055