Site assessors take note: Water doesn`t always flow downhill
- Environmental Data Resources Inc., Southport, CT (United States)
With increasing frequency, geologists are being called as expert witnesses to testify in court that water does not necessarily flow downhill--a fact that has been overlooked by the environmental consulting industry. Environmental site assessments that are performed quickly by unqualified people and within the bounds of very tight budgets are inaccurate because contaminated groundwater from downgradient sites is showing up in upgradient wells. Much of the litigation involving groundwater contamination revolves around the fact that groundwater environments vary--water can behave differently in one environment than it does in another. The regional environment considers the characteristics of groundwater movement in a geologic environment encompassing many square miles, whereas the local or site-specific environment may involve only a single property. Although groundwater at a regional level tends to flow in the direction of the slope of regional topography, many surface and subsurface characteristics will affect the direction of groundwater flow before it reaches the water table.
- OSTI ID:
- 234076
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Solutions, Vol. 9, Issue 5; Other Information: PBD: May 1996
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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