A MultiGaussian Kriging Application to the Environmental Impact Assessment of a New Industrial Site in Alcoy (Spain)

Abstract

In this chapter an application to a real case of the multiGaussian kriging technique to assess the environmental impact of a new industrial site in the area of the La Canal Aquifer is presented. The La Canal Aquifer area in Alcoy (Valencia – Spain) has been intensively studied during the past few years as a potential location for a new industrial site. The high environmental value of this area, which is located near the Font Roja Natural Park, is because of its biotic reserve value (flora and fauna) and also because the aquifer formation that underlines the area is the main water-supplying source for the city of Alcoy.

The main objective of the hydrogeological study was to analyse the potential risk of contamination of the aquifer as a result of a failure in the industrial waste management system. The aquifer had previously been characterized on a regional level. Afterwards, a field data sampling campaign was designed to obtain local conductivity data and in situ soil characteristics. The set of conductivity data was obtained from Lefranc tests.

The multiGaussian kriging technique was used to determine the risk maps associated with the different thicknesses of the clay layer located over the limestone aquifer. This clay layer is the natural formation that prevents the limestone aquifer from being contaminated by providing an additional security to the artificial systems in case of a local or permanent spill of a contaminant in the surface. A simple one-dimensional contamination model in the non-saturated zone was developed based on the previous characterization of the aquifer system to obtain the concentrations of a contaminant in the soil and groundwater considering both a permanent spill coming from an improperly preserved pipeline and an accidental local spill of contaminant to the ground.