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continued to rise through 1992. Because the static water level was falling during this period, the <br /> increase in concentration cannot be attributed to desorption from soil during a rise in the water <br /> table, and the only plausible explanation is that gasoline was continuing to leach downward as the <br /> water table fell. After dropping sharply in early 1993, concentrations remained relatively constant at <br /> about 50,000 ppb until early 1995, when they began a second but less prolonged increase. This rise <br /> lasted only until the middle of 1998 and concentrations did not reach their earlier peak. During this <br /> period, the water table rose from 20 feet to 10 feet, and the increase in concentrations is probably <br /> mostly due to re-mobilization of hydrocarbons that had adsorbed to soil as the fuel leached <br /> downward from 1986-92, because the UST's had been removed for 8 years and no new source can <br /> be identified at this time. <br /> From the middle of 1998 until the start of groundwater remediation in the middle of 2000, TPH-g <br /> concentrations ranged from 50,000 to 75,000 ppb in MW-1. Since then, concentrations have <br /> generally ranged from 25,000 to 50,000 ppb, suggesting a 50% reduction in the magnitude of <br /> contamination in the past two years. This reduction has occurred during a period when the depth to <br /> groundwater fluctuated between 5 and 10 feet below grade, and cannot be plausibly attributed to a <br /> one-way(up or down) change in the depth to groundwater. <br /> The TPH-g concentration curve for MWA is plotted alongside the curves for MW-6 and KF-3 in <br /> Figure 9. There are two interesting aspects to this graph. First, it is readily apparent that with few <br /> exceptions, absolute concentrations are always highest in MW-1, intermediate in MW-6, and <br /> lowest in KF-3. Concentrations in MW-1 were normally 2-5 times greater than those in MW-6 but <br /> ioccasionally have been 30 times higher. Likewise, concentrations in MW-6 have usually been <br /> between 1.5 and 3 times higher than those in KF-3, but occasionally have been higher. On three <br /> occasions, concentrations have been lower than in KF-3 (August 1997, May 1998, and February <br /> 1999). However, the MW-6 data for February 1999 are clearly invalid, because the TPH-g <br /> concentration of 120 ppb was only 1-56/o of that reported for several quarters before and after that <br /> time. Furthermore, the May 1998 concentration in KF-3 was only 7% greater than that in MW-6. <br /> Therefore, only once has the concentration in KF-3 definitely exceeded that in MW-6, and never <br /> has it been more than 26% of the concentration in MW-1. It is customary and consistent with <br /> hydrogeologic principles to interpret a consistent concentration gradient as indicating that the well <br /> with the lowest concentration is farthest from the contaminant source, implying that KF-3 is farther <br /> than either MW-1 or MW-6 from the leak point. <br /> The second interesting aspect of Figure 9 is that it is apparent that MW-6 is "out of sync" with <br /> MW-1; during the period of TPH-g increase from 1995 to 1998 in MW-I, concentrations were <br /> declining in MW-6. During almost this entire time, the static water level was above the top of the <br /> screened casing in MW-6, yet TPH-g concentrations remained above 15,000 ppb until the last <br /> quarter or two. Hence, the gradual decline in TPH-g concentrations cannot be clearly linked to a <br /> rise in the static water level. Moreover, the TPH-g concentration rose steadily in 1999, peaking at <br /> 24,400 ppb in December, a month when concentrations are typically somewhat lower in this well. <br /> Again, the TPH-g trend cannot be clearly associated with the depth to groundwater, which remained <br /> 5-8 feet above the screened interval during the entire year. Therefore, the best interpretation of this <br /> 10 ' <br />