SYMPOSIUM ABSTRACTS AND PRESENTATIONS

The 2007 New England Private Well Water Symposium was held December 3 & 4, 2007 at the Hyatt Regency in Newport Rhode Island. One hundred and twenty-three people attended the program representing a diverse audience of Federal, state, and local agency and organization staff, university researchers, Extension faculty and staff, graduate students, private non-profit organizations, and private sector professionals. The majority of participants came from the New England states. In addition, professionals attended from across the nation, including New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota, California, Ohio, Alaska, and Texas.

Below are links to presentation abstracts and many of the presentations. We will continue to post additional presentations as we receive them.



Monday, December 3, 2007

TIME
8 AM – 11:30 AM


Registration and exhibitor & poster set up
(link to posters)


11:30-12:30 PM


Lunch

12:20-12:30 PM

Welcome, purpose of program, opportunities & challenges

12:30-1:15 PM

Keynote Address

Kevin McCray, Executive Director, National Ground Water Association. (presentation)

1:15-1:45 PM Regional Perspective

Robert Varney, Regional Administrator, U.S. EPA- New England (presentation)

1:45-2:15 PM

Water Quality of Domestic Wells in the United States: Results from the NAWQA Program, 1991-2004.

Leslie DeSimone, Hydrologist, USGS. (abstract, presentation

2:15 – 2:30 PM

Break

 

2:30 – 3:00 PM

Concurrent Session 1:

Land Use and Nitrates.



1.  Nitrate pathways in the environment.
abstract
presentation







Dr. Arthur Gold, Professor, University of Rhode Island

 

Concurrent Session 2:

Education and Risk Communication.



1.  Social dimensions of private well testing: Why don’t people test their well water?
abstract
presentation
arsenic survey
nitrate survey



Barbara Liukkonen, University of Minnesota Water Resources Center

 

Concurrent Session 3:

Legal / Regulatory Issues



1.  Legal Limitations to Governmental Regulation of Groundwater.
abstract
presentation




Jesse J. Richardson, Jr., J.D., Policy and Research Advisor, Water Systems Council

 

Concurrent Session 4:

Naturally Occurring Contaminants: Focus on Arsenic

1. Residual Exposure to Arsenic in Households that use Bottled Water or Point-of-Use Treatment Devices for Mitigating Arsenic in Private Well Water.
abstract


Chris Paulu, ScD, Environmental Epidemiologist, Maine Department of Health and Human Services

 

 

 

3:00 – 3:30 PM

2. What influences the probability of detecting nitrate in private wells in the glacial aquifer system?
abstract

Kelly Warner, Hydrologist, USGS

2.  Developing Well Owner Education Programs that Work.
abstract
presentation




Andrew Stone, Executive Director, American Ground Water Trust

2.  Private drinking water wells and unintended conversion to public water systems.
abstract
presentation

Wendy Heiger-Bernays, Boston University School of Public Health

2. A predictive model for arsenic in private bedrock wells in NE for use as a tool for exposure assessment.
abstract


Joseph D. Ayotte, Hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey

3:30 – 4:00 PM

3. Managing Wastewater to Protect Groundwater: New Community Strategies
abstract
presentation


Lorraine Joubert, Program Director, RI NEMO 

3.  Gravel Pits, Groundwater, and Grade Schoolers: What Is The Connection?
abstract




John M. Peckenham
Assistant Director, Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research
and
Director, Maine Water Resources Research Institute

3. Issues with Open and Closed Loop Geothermal Heat Pumps Meeting the UIC Non-endangerment Threshold
abstract
presentation


Kenneth Pelletier, UIC Coordinator, MassDEP Drinking Water Program

 

3. Population Exposed to Groundwater Arsenic from Domestic Bedrock Wells in NE: A Case Study in Greater Augusta, ME
abstract


Yan Zheng, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University

4:00 – 5:30 PM

 

Plenary Workshop

Writing to be Read
abstract
presentation Cliffs notes

Eleanor Ely, Editor, Volunteer Monitor Newsletter


5:30 – 7:30 PM


Reception
Poster and Exhibit Viewing
(link to posters)



Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Time


7:30-8:30 AM

 


Registration Day 2

Breakfast

 


8:30-9:00 AM

Concurrent Session 5:

Land Use Focus on Agriculture.



1. Nitrate Contamination of a Bedrock Aquifer in East Montpelier, VT I: The Nitrate and Herbicide Story
abstract
presentation


Jeff Comstock, Vermont Agency of Agriculture

 

 

Concurrent Session 6:

Education and Risk Communication.



1.Using the Master Well Owner Network to Assess Well Water Quality and Management in Pennsylvania.
abstract



Bryan Swistock, Master Well Owner Network Coordinator, Penn State University

 

Concurrent Session 7: 

Policy




1. Dealing with Scientific Uncertainty in evaluating bedrock groundwater resources at the Planning and Zoning Commission Level.
abstract
(presentation not available)


Gary A. Robbins, Professor of Geology, Department of Natural Resources Management and Engineering, University of Connecticut 

Concurrent Session 8:

Naturally Occurring Contaminants: Focus on Radon


1. Bedrock Geology Control of Domestic Well Water Radon and Uranium Concentrations in Greater Augusta, ME
abstract
presentation



Dr. Paul Smitherman, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, University of Maine

 

 

 

9:00-9:30 AM

2. Nitrate Contamination of a Bedrock Aquifer in East Montpelier, Vermont II: The Geologic Connection.
abstract
presentation






Jonathan Kim, Vermont Geological Survey

2.  Down-Well Camera Highlights From The Southern Region.
abstract
presentation.zip* (this folder contains a presentation in mht format. To play, open from your computer using Microsoft Powerpoint. Double click on the videos to animate.)

E. Glynn Beck, Kentucky Geological Survey

2.  An Unlikely Pairing - Water Supply Protection and Landfill Expansion.
abstract
presentation











Catherine Skiba, P.G. Drinking Water Program.  Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Western Regional Office.

2. Concentrations of Naturally Occurring Radionuclides in Aquifers used for Drinking Water in New England and Comparisons
abstract








Zoltan Szabo, U.S. Geological Survey

9:30-10:00 AM

3. EPA's Pesticide Program Water Quality Initiative: Addressing Pesticide Water Quality Priorities
abstract
presentation







Kira Jacobs, Office of Ecosystem Protection, EPA Region 1- New England

3. Southern Region Down-Well Camera Team.
abstract
presentation.zip* (this folder contains a presentation in mht format. To play, open from your computer using Microsoft Powerpoint. Double click on the videos to animate.)

Dr. Paul Vendrell, University of Georgia, Ag and Environmental Services

3. Improving Well Yield Reliability through Municipal Study and Regulation
abstract
presentation









John A. Chambers, PG, LSP. Associate/Hydrogeologist, Fuss & O’Neill, Inc.

Jennifer R. Paquet, Town Planner, West Greenwich, Rhode Island

3.  Making Sense of Lab Test Results for the Public
abstract
presentation










Eric Frohmberg, Toxicologist, Maine Dept. of Health and Human Services, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

10:00-10:30 AM

BREAK & poster session (link to posters)




10:30-11:00 AM

Concurrent Session 9: 

Land Use Impacts
USE of GIS Technology


1.  Application of Spatial Statistics within GIS to Assess Natural Trends in Ground Water Quality in Fractured Bedrock and the Impact of Rural Development.
abstract
(presentation not available)

Meredith J. Metcalf
Department of Natural Resources Management and Engineering
University of Connecticut

 

Concurrent Session 10: 

Private Well Water Treatment




1.  Certification of Water Well Construction and Treatment Products.
abstract
presentation







Dave Purkiss, General Manager, Water Treatment and Distribution Systems, NSF International

Concurrent Session 11:

State of the State: Private Well Protection Programs - Potential Models of Success.




1. For A Few Dollars More...The Value of Including Major Ion Analysis in Private Well Testing to Define and Protect Groundwater in New England
abstract

 



David Wunsch, State Geologist and Director
New Hampshire Geological Survey, NH Department of Environmental Services

 

11:00-11:30 AM

2. Potential Sources of Elevated Manganese in Private Wells in CT.
abstract
(presentation not available)


Gary A. Robbins
Professor of Geology
Department of Natural Resources Management and Engineering, University of Connecticut

2.  Water Treatment - What Concerns the Water Well Public?
abstract
presentation




Garret W. Graaskamp, P.G. American Ground Water Trust

2.  Private Well Regulation Development and Implementation; The Rhode Island Experience.
abstract
presentation

 

Patrick Craft, Private Well Program Specialist,
Rhode Island Department of Health,
Office of Drinking Water Quality

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM

3. Inventory and Verification of Private Well Locations in MA
abstract
presentation




Suzanne Robert, Mass DEP, Drinking Water Program, Bureau of Resource Protection

3.  Private Well Water and Human Behavior: Decisions, decisions, decisions
abstract
presentation

Kathleen Bell, University of Maine School of Economics

3.  Overview of Groundwater Protection Issues facing Cape Cod and the Role of Regional Department in Private Well Protection.

George Heufelder, County Health Director
Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment

12:00 – 1:00 PM

Lunch
1:00-3:00 PM
Plenary Workshop

Social Marketing: A Tool to Influence Behavior
abstract
presentation

Dr. James Lewis, Health Management & Policy, School of Health and Human Services, University of New Hampshire
3:00-3:30 PM
Closing, Safe Journey Home