GEI’s Mike Hawthorne to Present at NGWA Conference on Fractured Rock and Groundwater

Mike Hawthorne, P.G., will be presenting a paper at this year’s NGWA Conference on Fractured Rock and Groundwater held in Burlington, Vermont from October 2-3. The Conference will focus on the use of innovative techniques, cutting-edge research, and lessons learned from practical experience regarding characterizing and remediating groundwater in fractured rock environments. Coauthors include Lisa Reyenga, PE of GEI, and Allison Elder, Harley Hopkins, Matthew Walker, and Mark Malander, all of ExxonMobil Environmental Services.

Mike’s presentation is on the “Quantification of LNAPL Transmissivity in Fractured Porous Media,” and is scheduled for Monday, October 2^nd at 10am.

Session Overview:

Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (LNAPL) transmissivity is a metric to quantify the hydraulic recoverability of LNAPL. Existing methods to measure LNAPL transmissivity are applicable to granular porous media and often fail to reliably quantify LNAPL transmissivity in fractured porous media. LNAPL transmissivity calculations in fractured porous media require measurement of the geometry and discharge rate for individual fractures containing mobile LNAPL. A modification of methods designed for granular porous media has been developed by Mike and Lisa (patent pending) to provide improved measurement of LNAPL transmissivity in fractured porous media at the individual fracture and aggregate well scales. A second benefit of the process is the high-resolution definition of individual fractures containing mobile LNAPL.

About Mike Hawthorne:

Mike is a Principal and Vice President with GEI Consultants, Inc., the founder of Applied NAPL Science Review, and an active contributor to ITRC, ASTM and other NAPL related guidance document teams. He has spent 29 years characterizing and remediating NAPL releases across the United States in various hydrogeologic environments at refining, pipeline, gas plant, terminal, UST, and other industrial and transportation related sites. Mike is the lead author on API’s national LNAPL transmissivity study and the author of multiple NAPL transmissivity articles and conference presentations.