Instructors
Tom Sale, Ph.D. (Colorado State University)
Dan Kelleher, P.G. (Midwest GeoSciences Group)

Register for this event on Midwest GeoSciences Group website

This 2-day course is co-hosted by the NYSCPG and Midwest GeoSciences Group. The content of this course is designed around the new textbook, Modern Contaminant Hydrology written by Tom Sale and Joseph Scalia (2024). The goal is to advance modern conceptual foundations for contaminant transport in natural subsurface settings in support of better use of finite cleanup resources.

The new textbook moves away from the conceptualization of a homogenous "aquifer", recognizes the capacities of aquifers to passively assimilate contaminants, and stylistically embraces inherent uncertainties. Central themes include:

• The paradigm of modern contaminant hydrology has dramatically evolved in the past few years, partly due to how we approach understanding sedimentary sequences in combination with relating secondary alterations from weathering to contaminant occurrence and migration.
• Subsurface complexities from heterogeneous strata include variability at different scales of transmissive and low permeability zones.
• Diffusion is a critical process governing storage and release of contaminants in low permeability zones.
• Transverse mixing of contaminants in plumes is typically a weak process.
• Blended water quality data from monitoring wells are generally rejected as a basis for studying transport processes.
• All plausible contaminant phases including gas, nonaqueous, aqueous, and sorbed are interdependent and must be recognized.
• Reactions including phase changes, sorption, and biogeochemical transformations need to be resolved to understand the behavior of source zones and plumes.
• Reactions can be distinctly different in transmissive and low k zones.
• The conventional wisdom of absolute characterization of heterogeneous subsurface settings is often functionally impossible and therefore conceptual models with measurable degrees of uncertainty must be embraced.

This 2-day course provides opportunity to earn 16-Professional Development Hours (PDH) plus an optional 1.5 hour post-course online module.

The course also includes a free electronic version of the new textbook, Modern Contaminant Hydrology soon-to-be-announced through Dr. John Cherry's "Groundwater Project". This course preludes with pre-session online assessment for each participant in order to address your questions and topics during the course.

Dr. Tom Sale is internationally-recognized among the most expert authorities on LNAPL science. His research at the Center of Contaminant Hydrology at Colorado State University has created many technology breakthroughs creating a paradigm shift for LNAPL site management strategies.

Dr. Sale is an Associate Professor and Director of Center for Contaminant Hydrology, Civil and Environmental Engineering. He has authored numerous landmark papers and is the driving force behind patented technologies that have changed the direction of the LNAPL industry. He also contributes to LNAPL projects as a consultant and a regulation policy reviewer.

His research and consulting activities are dedicated to finding solutions for anthropogenic releases of contaminants to subsurface environments and their subsequent transport, fate, and management. Specific areas of interest are pragmatic expectations for Nonaqueous Phase Liquid (NAPL) remedies and passive strategies for management of NAPL releases. His collaborations have changed the LNAPL industry along with developments for remediation for both LNAPL and DNAPL.

His inventive mind and collaborative ability has enabled the Center for Contaminant Hydrology to conduct approximately $1.5 million /year in research and support 11 students. Current and recent research sponsors include ExxonMobil, Chevron, Suncor Energy, BP, Shell, CH2M, ARCADIS and the USDoD. He is dedicated to innovative solutions for groundwater contamination and development of groundwater resources.

Dr. Sale has bachelor degrees in Chemistry and Geology from Miami of Ohio (1980), a M.S. degree in Watershed Hydrology from the University of Arizona (1984), and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering from Colorado State University (1998).

Dan Kelleher, PG, CIPM is a hydrogeologist dedicated to hydrogeological and geotechnical analysis of sedimentary sequences, aquifer testing, fractured rock hydrogeology, and predictive ground water modeling. Dan's business acumen promotes personal trust, integrity, and relentless QA/QC.

Dan leads specialized technical teams for challenging projects and facilitates educational courses and webinars for geologists, engineers and environmental scientists.

He and Tim Kemmis co-founded of Midwest GeoSciences Group to simply professionals to do better job of TAKING THE MYSTERY OUT OF THE SUBSURFACE (R), this course is part of the journey.

Register for this event on Midwest GeoSciences Group website