Publications by authors named "Benjamin Hagedorn"

Groundwater in agriculture-dominated regions of California has historically experienced nitrate pollution due to the application of excess nitrogen fertilizers. This study examines the nitrate pollution vulnerability of groundwater in sedimentary aquifers of California's South Coast Range using stepwise logistic regression (LR) modeling. Our results indicate an overall excellent model fit, but an acceptable statistical significance, according to a Wald statistic (p-Wald) cutoff of 0.

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In this study, a multi-tracer approach was applied to a complex, methane-impacted site in Southern California to (1) distinguish between natural gas and landfill gas (LFG)-derived methane impacts at site perimeter gas probes, (2) estimate the relative age of the LFG at these probes, and (3) document natural attenuation trends during a 3-year monitoring period. Relationships between methane and ethane values suggest that at the majority of probes, methane is from LFG and not from natural gas and that the relative contribution of LFG methane at these probes has increased over the monitoring period. To evaluate whether LFG is attenuating in the subsurface, the relative age of LFG was estimated by comparing readily degraded VOCs that are major constituents in LFG (toluene in this case) with those resistant to degradation (Freons).

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At a municipal solid waste landfill in southern California (USA) overlying a natural gas reservoir, methane was detected at concentrations of up to 40% (by volume) in perimeter soil gas probes. Stable isotope and (14)C values of methane together with gas composition (major components and volatile organic compounds) data were evaluated to assess the relative contributions of landfill gas and natural gas to the measured methane concentrations. The data was further used to estimate the residence time of the landfill gas in the probes.

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