Using Semi-Permeable Membrane Device (SPMD) Samplers in Cave Environments to Detect PCBs

The town of Bluefield West Virginia/Virginia is situated along the Greenbrier Limestone and portions of the drainage flow underground into and through a cave system. The community has a long history of coal mining and mining related industry. Historically, numerous business operations in the area were engaged in the maintenance, repair and salvage of electrical mining equipment. From 1930 to 1978 poly chlorinated bi-phenyls (PCBs) were extensively used as a dielcctric fluid in mining equipment as well as electrical transformers and capacitors.

As a result of these historic activities, migration of PCBs to surface water has been occurring from an unknown source or sources. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality set out to monitor the presence of PCBs in surface water using semi-permeable membrane device (SPMD) samplers. Along the suspected contaminant flow path, much of the surface water drainage flow is diverted through a cave system within the Greenbrier Limestone. More information was needed to narrow the location of the potential source or sources that are contributing to the PCB contamination. However, the inaccessibility of the underground flow component was an obstacle. Several non-traditional resources were used to assist in the installation of SPMD samplers into flow within the cave system. With only minor modifications of above ground installation techniques, the SPMD samplers have been successfully used to detect PCB movement through the cave system in Bluefield West Virginia/Virginia. This strategy could be repeated in other similar hydrogeologic situations.