- eBooks
- Groundwater in Our Water Cycle (Poeter, Fan, Cherry, Wood and Mackay, 2020)
- Properties of Organic Contaminants (Mackay, Allen-King and Rixey, 2024)
- Case studies
- Estimating the Release Date of MTBE: A Case Study (Mackay, 2025)
- Field research conducted in 1991 at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, CO
- Facilitated Transport of Organic Contaminants in a High Concentration, Multicomponent Plume (Mackay, Myller, Bianchi-Mosquera, Honeyman, Schirmer, Allen-King, Ball, and Stollar, 2025). Ground Monitoring and Remediation, published online http://doi.org/10.1111/gwmr.70028.
I have several other publications in the proverbial pipeline, but we’ll have to wait to see if they pan out.
My research with teams of students, staff and colleagues at other universities and consulting firms has addressed many aspects of groundwater contamination and decontamination, often utilizing highly detailed field studies of existing groundwater contamination and/or highly controlled field experiments. The field studies and experiments were conducted with resolution approaching that of laboratory studies but at scales and often including processes impossible to represent in laboratory studies.
Field research conducted within existing plumes of contamination:
- Testing of an approach to create a permeable bio-barrier using a transect of wells containing an oxygen-releasing compound to enhance bioremediation of a petroleum hydrocarbon plume at a fuel spill site in Strathroy, Ontario
- Factors limiting flushing of chlorinated hydrocarbons from a sandy aquifer during highly controlled experiments comparing pulsed and continuous pumping (pump & treat alternatives) downgradient of a solvent spill site at Dover Air Force Base, DE
- Evaluation of transport and transformation of MTBE (methyl tert-butyl ether) arising from a fuel spill at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA
- Using detailed transects of monitoring wells to quantify mass discharge of MTBE
- Testing of methods for release of oxygen or other gases to stimulate bioremediation or serve as tracers of water flow, including lab and field studies at Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA
- Remediation of groundwater via various configurations of permeable reactive bio-barriers (PRBs)
- aerobic PRBs using diffusive oxygen releasers or solid oxygen sources
- anaerobic PRBs using diffusive hydrogen release, zero valent iron, or gypsum as sulfate source
- Quantification of natural source zone depletion (NSZD) at petroleum hydrocarbon release sites with lingering contamination in the San Francisco Bay area, CA
- Full-scale application of sulfate release for enhancement of in situ biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in source zone in San Francisco Bay area, CA
- Elution test to quantify facilitated transport within a plume in a granular aquifer containing a complex mixture of organic and inorganic contaminants from a hazardous waste site at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, CO
Field research involving controlled injection or release of contaminants addressing transport, sorption, and transformation of
- Chlorinated and brominated hydrocarbons in a sandy aquifer at Canadian Forces Base Borden, ON
- Comparison of transport behavior of TCE/PCE vs. herbicides (alachlor, propachlor, atrazine, simazine and others) in a sandy aquifer at Canadian Forces Base Borden, ON
- Methane in the unsaturated zone near Davis, CA
- Gasoline and gasohol in the unsaturated zone near Davis, CA
Douglas M. Mackay
Adjunct Professor Emeritus, Department of Land, Air & Water Resources
http://lawr.ucdavis.edu/
dmmackay@ucdavis.edu