Postaudit Study of DBCP and EDB Contamination in the Pearl Harbor Aquifer

Abstract

A simulation of the transport of dibromochloropropane (DBCP) and ethylene dibromide (EDB) in the vadose zone and ground water was conducted in the Mililani area of central Oahu, Hawaii to revisit the ground water contamination predictions made by researchers at the University of Hawaii in 1988 for selected wells of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply. Examination of sampled DBCP results in these wells indicated a large discrepancy between the observed and predicted concentrations in 1988. Therefore, a postaudit study was initiated in the same area to assist in better defining projected concentrations of contaminants in well waters in the future. With the new data, different modeling approaches were undertaken for simulating flow and contaminant transport in both the vadose and saturated zones. The new simulations indicate travel times of