2016 NGWA Groundwater Summit

Estimating Groundwater Discharge and Contaminant Loading to Newtown Creek, Brooklyn/Queens New York

Monday, April 25, 2016: 12:00 p.m.
Platte River Room (The Westin Denver Downtown)
Jeffrey J. Frederick, RG, CPG , Environmental Services and Disaster Management, Louis Berger, Elmsford, NY
Shane McDonald, CPG , Louis Berger Group, Inc., Malvern, PA
Eileen Mahoney, PhD , NYCDEP, New York,, NY

Estimating the amount of groundwater discharging to a surface water body is a fundamental underpinning for establishing a comprehensive CSM. The Newtown Creek Superfund Site is a tidal estuary in an urban setting. Newtown Creek, a tributary to the East River and the New York Harbor Estuary, is 3.5 miles long and 200 feet wide, has five tributaries, and is surrounded by a prolific porous media aquifer. The creek has a complex hydrogeologic history and has been the recipient of historical and ongoing releases of contamination. Determining the groundwater discharge to the creek is the first step is assessing the importance of groundwater as a contaminant loading mechanism to the creek. Several methods were used to evaluate groundwater discharge to the creek including Thermal Imaging, Trident Probes, UltraSeeps seepage metering, and intrusive investigations using a barge-mounted Waterloo Profiler. Groundwater samples were collected and heads were measured at multiple depth within and below the sediment. This talk will discuss the methods used to collect the groundwater discharge and contaminant load information and the analyses that were undertaken to determine the importance of groundwater as sources of fresh water and contaminants to Newtown Creek. The analyses showed that groundwater is a significant source of contaminant loads, second only to loads contributed from NAPL migration.

Jeffrey J. Frederick, RG, CPG, Environmental Services and Disaster Management, Louis Berger, Elmsford, NY
Jeff Frederick is a hydrogeologist and Program Manager with Louis Berger. He has been a consulting geologist for 20 years, and he is serving his second term as President of the Northeast Section of AIPG.


Shane McDonald, CPG, Louis Berger Group, Inc., Malvern, PA
Shane McDonald's experience includes in-depth involvement in environmental, water supply, and geotechnical projects. He is expert in the application of computers to geologic and hydrogeologic data and in the use of computer models and GIS. As Louis Berger’s Quality Consultant for groundwater modeling, McDonald is responsible for assuring the technical quality of the firm’s groundwater modeling and geostatistical projects and programs. He has been responsible for the development of innovative approaches to complex geologic problems and is expert in the conceptualization of complex geologic and hydrogeologic settings.



Eileen Mahoney, PhD, NYCDEP, New York,, NY
Eileen Mahoney is the Director of Hazardous Materials and Superfund Planning and Assessment at the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.