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Geochemical and Hydrological Investigations of Historical Data Collected at the Lee Acres Landfill and Giant Bloomfield Refinery, New Mexico, 1985–2020

Scientific Investigations Report 2025-5091
Prepared in cooperation with the Bureau of Land Management
By:  and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20255091

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Abstract

The Lee Acres Landfill and Giant Bloomfield Refinery are adjacent properties near the City of Farmington, New Mexico, each having undergone monitoring and remediation related to historical site activities. At the landfill, site cleanup has included the installation of a capillary barrier over former liquid waste lagoons and periodic monitoring of groundwater elevations and groundwater quality. At the refinery, remediation has focused on several petrochemical and crude oil release areas and included soil excavation, groundwater treatment, and regular monitoring of groundwater elevations and quality. Groundwater at both sites has higher concentrations of volatile organic compounds and trace metals than background aquifer concentrations. In 2022, the U.S. Geological Survey compiled the Lee Acres-Giant Bloomfield Refinery Database (LAGBRD), which contains publicly available groundwater-elevation data and organic and inorganic groundwater-quality data from both sites, spanning from 1985 to 2020. Data from the LAGBRD and precipitation data from other sources were used to better understand the cause of relatively high manganese concentrations observed in some groundwater wells at the site through comparison of groundwater chemistry to chemical end members, interpretation of spatial and temporal patterns in the groundwater chemistry, and interpretation of groundwater flow properties. In this study, elevated chloride concentrations in groundwater downgradient from the landfill have been attributed to landfill leachate based on the temporal and spatial variability of chloride concentrations and chloride-to-bromide ratios. Installation of a capillary barrier and surface-water runoff controls at the landfill in 2005 appears to have altered infiltration patterns at that site, resulting in a decrease in chloride at some wells but an increase in chloride and dissolved manganese at others. The timing and relation among groundwater elevation, chloride concentration, and manganese concentration suggest that leachate stored in the vadose zone provides a continued source of contamination to groundwater.

Suggested Citation

Gray, E.L., and Ferguson, C.L., 2025, Geochemical and hydrological investigations of historical data collected at the Lee Acres Landfill and Giant Bloomfield Refinery, New Mexico, 1985–2020: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2025–5091, 35 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20255091.

ISSN: 2328-0328 (online)

Study Area

Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgments
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Methods
  • Geochemical Signatures of Groundwater at the Lee Acres Landfill
  • Groundwater Elevation
  • Further Considerations
  • Summary and Conclusions
  • References Cited
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title Geochemical and hydrological investigations of historical data collected at the Lee Acres Landfill and Giant Bloomfield Refinery, New Mexico, 1985–2020
Series title Scientific Investigations Report
Series number 2025-5091
DOI 10.3133/sir20255091
Publication Date December 08, 2025
Year Published 2025
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston, VA
Contributing office(s) New Mexico Water Science Center
Description viii, 35 p.
Country United States
State New Mexico
Other Geospatial Lee Acres Landfill and Giant Bloomfield Refinery
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Additional publication details