Location: Stanford University
see Map showing Mitchell
Map showing Bloch
This will be the 364th meeting since 1954.
(Two presentations: Geology and Case Study, with time for discussion)
This lecture will focus upon the nature of groundwater contamination in the Santa Clara Valley, and the history of the discovery and aggressive investigation and remediation of contaminated sites. The geologic features contributing to varying degrees of groundwater vulnerability to surficial contamination will also be discussed. The evolution of investigation techniques, remedial technologies, and regulatory policy will be profiled. Examples of where the inescapable virtues of basic geologic thinking have been applied to groundwater cleanup investigations will also be presented. Finally, a brief case study of the San Martin perchlorate plume will be given.
Perchlorate is the explosive ingredient of rocket fuel
Thomas K.G. Mohr will present the Santa Clara Valley Water District's work on the highly publicized San Martin perchlorate plume. The groundwater contamination was first discovered in 2000 and subsequent investigations have indicated that a 10-mile-long perchlorate plume has impacted at least 500 water supply wells, mostly private domestic wells and agricultural wells. As a result, there has been a high level of public concern and the problem has received significant media attention. This presentation will discuss both technical and community relations aspects associated with this high-profile case, and the integral role the District has played in providing technical support to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board’Äôs direction of the case. The San Martin perchlorate problem illustrates the critical value of groundwater in the daily lives of citizens and how a single contamination impact can affect every corner of a community. The vulnerability of domestic wells to contamination will be reviewed.
Mr. Thomas Mohr, R.G., C.E.G., C.H. is the Solvents and Toxics Cleanup Liaison for the Santa Clara Valley Water District, where he provides stakeholder oversight for more than 100 solvents and other groundwater contamination plumes. He has been instrumental in identifying risks to from 1,4-dioxane at chlorinated solvent release sites, and is the author of the District's Solvent Stabilizers White Paper. Mr. Mohr is the Vice President of the Groundwater Resources Association of California where he serves as Seminar Chair. He has organized numerous symposia in GRA's Series on Groundwater Contaminants.
Not a photo of Tom (smile)
Reservations: The preferred way to make reservations is simply to email Janice Sellers at janice@seismosoc.org by Sept. 10, tell her you will attend, commit to pay, and bring your payment to the meeting. Janice always emails a confirmation; if you don't get one, assume email crashed yet again and email her a second time. A check made to "PGS" is preferred, payable at the meeting.
If you want to pay in advance:
Stanford faculty and students: Please make dinner reservations by Sept. 10. Contact Dr. Juhn Liou via his mailbox (and leave check), Geological and Environmental Sciences Office, Geocorner - Bldg. 320 (Rm. 118). Make checks out to "PGS."
All others, including faculty and students from other Bay Area universities and colleges and USGS: Please make dinner reservations by Sept. 10. Contact Janice Sellers, at Seismological Society of America, 201 Plaza Professional Building, El Cerrito, CA 94530, phone (510) 559-1780. Send check made out to "PGS" to Janice.
Dinner is $30.00. Includes wine (5:30 to 6:15 PM.), dinner (6:15-7:30 PM.), tax, and tip.
For students from all universities and colleges, the dinner, including the social 3/4-hour, is $5.00 and is partially subsidized thanks to the School of Earth Sciences, Stanford University (Note, no-show reservations owe the full price).
Doris, whose wonderful crew prepares our meals, asked that we let you know that people who are late RSVP'ing and people who show up without a reservation will be welcome but that they will be eating on paper plates with plastic utensils (food supply permitting).
Dues for Academic Year 2004-2005 ($10.00) should be sent to Janice Sellers, Seismological Society of America, 201 Plaza Professional Building, El Cerrito, CA 94530. Janice's phone: (510) 559-1780.
Officers: Cheryl Smith, President; Mike Diggles, Vice President; Vicki Langenheim, Secretary; Janice Sellers, Treasurer; Adina Paytan, Field-Trip Czarina
Date created: 09/03/2004
Last modified: 09/03/2004
Created by: Mike Diggles, Vice President, PGS.
