This handbook contains specific information on the application of a widely accepted groundwater monitoring methodology, which has been applied to coal and oil shale developmental sites. The original methodology described a chronological procedure for implementing a groundwater quality monitoring program. Activities of different steps within the methodology will, in practice, overlap to make sufficient use of personnel and time. The original steps include:
1 Select area or basin for monitoring
2 Identify pollution sources and causes and methods of waste disposal
3 Identify potential pollutants
4 Define groundwater usage
5 Define hydrogeologic situation
6 Study existing groundwater quality
7 Evaluate infiltration potential of wastes at the land surface
8 Evaluate mobility of pollutants from the land surface to water table
9 Evaluate attenuation of pollutants in the saturated zone
10 Prioritization of sources and causes
11 Evaluate existing monitoring programs
12 Establish alternative monitoring approaches
13 Select and implement the monitoring program
14 Review and interpret monitoring results
15 Summarize and transmit monitoring information.