Geostatistical Analysis of Hazardous Waste Site Data

Abstract

In 1971, dioxin contaminated wastes were dumped on a dirt farmroad in rural Missouri. Subsequent migration of the soil led to the contamination of the shoulders of an adjacent state highway. Kriging, a geostatistical estimation technique, was used to identify the sections of the highway shoulders that require cleanup. This case study combined with others presented in the literature indicates that kriging can be a useful technique for estimating the distribution of contaminants at a hazardous waste site if the contaminant distribution is homogeneous or if the site can be divided into homogeneous areas. Also, since large numbers of samples are often not collected at a hazardous waste site, estimation of the variogram may be difficult.