Prospective demonstrators at the Dover National Test Site (DNTS) have the benefit of laboratory, field, and office equipment, including an on-site analytical gas chromatography (GC) laboratory, direct-push penetration testing capability, and a remotely accessible data acquisition, analysis and control system (DAACS). DNTS also has other sites on the base available for technology demonstrations under the NETTS program.

A unique and attractive feature of DNTS is the Groundwater Remediation Field Laboratory (GRFL), which enables demonstrators to conduct controlled releases of Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (DNAPL) contaminants into a natural surficial aquifer. The GRFL is the only place in the United States permitted to release DNAPL contaminants in support of remediation technology demonstrations. DNAPL releases are conducted within double-walled, sealed-joint, sheet-pile containment cells constructed in the natural geology and bounded at the bottom by a competent clay aquitard. This feature of the GRFL allows for mass and flux accounting of contaminant introduction and removal, a feature not available to experimenters operating at uncontrolled (i.e., historic) release sites. A general operating permit is in place for the controlled releases, streamlining the regulatory process for new experiments on the fate, transport, detection, monitoring, and remediation of fuels and solvents. The ongoing regulatory monitoring program at DNTS ensures against cell leakage.

The subsurface of DNTS consists of a water table aquifer of 35 to 45 feet of fine to medium sands with some silt and gravel. Discontinuous clay lenses are present. The average hydraulic conductivity is 1 × 10-3 cm/sec, and depth to the water table is approximately 25 feet. The primary contaminant focus is DNAPLs (chlorinated solvents), fuels, MTBE, and fuel/solvent mixtures.

Aerial view of the Dover NETTS showing support building, waste tank farm, and tent structures enclosing the test cells.