I'm not a chemist nor an environmental guru of any sort, but I am attempting to figure out if sampling the meiofauna in the hyporheic zone of a river would give me any clues about the presence or absence of VOCs in the groundwater near an old factory. Currently a brownfield redevelopment site, this building and a nearby machine tool factory used TCE (trichloroethylene) as a solvent/degreaser until at least 1970. There are groundwater wells already in place and apparently monitored, but I'm interested more in the river itself -- could the TCE (and other VOCs) be finding their way to the river via groundwater? I can provide more details of the history and topography of the site, but my main question is whether it might be worth my time looking for interstitial organisms? I am reading that some (many?) are sensitive to metals, but I have not had much luck finding out about VOCs like TCE.
Many thanks, Kelly Stettner, Director BlackRiver Action Team (BRAT)...be part of the solution! 101 Perley Gordon Road Springfield, VT 05156 http://www.BlackRiverActionTeam.org
