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Hydrogeologic framework, hydrology, and water quality in the Pearce Creek Dredge Material Containment Area and vicinity, Cecil County, Maryland, 2010-11

Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5263
Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
By: , , , , and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20125263

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Abstract

In 2009, to support an evaluation of the feasibility of reopening the Pearce Creek Dredge Material Containment Area (DMCA) in Cecil County, Maryland, for dredge-spoil disposal, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began to implement a comprehensive study designed to improve the understanding of the hydrogeologic framework, hydrology, and water quality of shallow aquifers underlying the DMCA and adjacent communities, to determine whether or not the DMCA affected groundwater quality, and to assess whether or not groundwater samples contained chemical constituents at levels greater than maximum allowable or recommended levels established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Safe Drinking Water Act. The study, conducted in 2010-11 by USGS in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, included installation of observation wells in areas where data gaps led earlier studies to be inconclusive. The data from new wells and existing monitoring locations were interpreted and show the DMCA influences the groundwater flow and quality. Groundwater flow in the two primary aquifers used for local supplies-the Magothy aquifer and upper Patapsco aquifer (shallow water-bearing zone)-is radially outward from the DMCA toward discharge areas, including West View Shores, the Elk River, and Pearce Creek Lake. In addition to horizontal flow outward from the DMCA, vertical gradients primarily are downward in most of the study area, and upward near the Elk River on the north side of the DMCA property, and the western part of West View Shores. Integrating groundwater geochemistry data in the analysis, the influence of the DMCA is not only a source of elevated concentrations of dissolved solids but also a geochemical driver of redox processes that enhances the mobilization and transport of redox-sensitive metals and nutrients. Groundwater affected by the DMCA is in the Magothy aquifer and upper Patapsco aquifer (shallow water-bearing zone). Based on minimal data, the water quality in the upper Patapsco aquifer deep water-bearing zone does not seem to have been impacted by the DMCA.

Suggested Citation

Dieter, C.A., Koterba, M.T., Zapecza, O.S., Walker, C., and Rice, D.E., 2013, Hydrogeologic framework, hydrology, and water quality in the Pearce Creek Dredge Material Containment Area and vicinity, Cecil County, Maryland, 2010-11: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2012-5263, Report: xiii, 219 p.; Appendix, https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20125263.

ISSN: 2328-0328 (online)

ISSN: 2328-031X (print)

Study Area

Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Hydrogeologic framework, hydrology, and water quality in the Pearce Creek Dredge Material Containment Area and vicinity, Cecil County, Maryland, 2010-11
Series title Scientific Investigations Report
Series number 2012-5263
DOI 10.3133/sir20125263
Year Published 2013
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Water Science Center
Description Report: xiii, 219 p.; Appendix
Country United States
State Maryl
County Cecil County
Other Geospatial Pearce Creek Dredge Material Containment Area
Datum North American Datum 1983
Projection Universal Mercator projection, Zone 18N
Scale 1000000
Online Only (Y/N) N
Additional Online Files (Y/N) Y
Additional publication details