Evaluation of groundwater contamination from glass fiber dumping at Gozan-Dong, Incheon, Korea

The hydrology and chemistry of groundwaters in the Gozan-Dong area were investigated. The study was organized by the Korea Ministry of Environment to investigate possible groundwater contamination from glass fiber dumping. The flow regimes and chemical compositions of the groundwaters were assessed. Groundwaters in the Gozan-Dong area could be divided into two groups based on water chemistry and flow regime. These two groups have a zonal distribution, and were categorized into A and B zones. Zone A covers the areas near the glass fiber dump site and is characterized by partially confined aquifer condition and groundwaters of locally isolated hydrochemistry with no seasonal variation while zone B covers the other areas with unconfined aquifer condition and seasonally variable hydrochemistry. The groundwater flow regime suggested that the possible area of contamination from glass fiber dumping lay within the A zone. Identifications of, and quantification of fibers in the groundwater were carried out in accord with World Health Organization (WHO) specifications. While many fibers, in concentrations of the order of 103–105 fibers per liter of groundwater, were detected, analysis of their chemical composition did not produce any evidence that they were of glass fiber origin. ©