1. Using Semi-Permeable Membrane Device (SPMD) Samplers in Cave Environments to Detect PCBs Presented by: Julie Schaer 1

2. Beaver Pond Resurgence at the West Virginia/ Virginia State Line 2

3. Map of West Virginia Showing Site Location Mercer County, WV 3

4. Topographical Map of study area with overlay of Limestone Bedrock 4

5. Limestone of Mercer County 5

6. Cave Entrance Locations Potential Source 6

7. Beaver Pond Resurgence 7

8. View Into Cave at Resurgence 8

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14. Beacon Cave Entrance 14

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16. A Walking Passage in Beacon Cave 16

17. Assembling SPMD Housings 17

18. Assembling SPMD Housings 18

19. Deploying the SPMD Housings 19

20. Topographical Map with Overlay of Beacon Cave Footprint 20

21. Results The SPMDs installed into Beacon Cave yielded the most significant PCB detections in the study area The detections from SPMDs installed into Beacon Cave were approximately double that of the next highest “hits” 21

22. Installation Challenges/ Differences from Above Ground Packaging to transport through a cave Finding a location with steady water Hiding the SPMD Sampler or Labeling the SPMD Sampler for your anticipated finders (Cavers vs. Spelunkers) Securing SPMD samplers for surge events 22

23. A “DAMP” Cave 23

24. Installation Challenges/ Differences from Above Ground Packaging to transport through a cave Finding a location with steady water Hiding the SPMD Sampler or Labeling the SPMD Sampler for your anticipated finders (Cavers vs. Spelunkers) Securing SPMD samplers for surge events 24

25. Hope I don’t Run into any uh dem BATS! 25

26. Potential Resources National Speleological Society (NSS) State Cave Surveys West Virginia Speleological Survey (WVaSS) Local Grottos Area Cavers Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, etc… 26

27. Cave Map Example 27

28. Beacon Cave System Overview Holiday Hole KFC Cave Cole Hole Beacon Cave Beaver Pond Cave Cave Name 250 504 500+ 15,000 247 Unknown 2 Days Under 6 hours Under 1 hour N/A Cave Length (Ft.) Groundwater Travel Time to Beaver Pond Resurgence Total16,501 28

29. Acknowledgements and Photo Credits Nick Schaer and George Dasher, WV DEP West Virginia Speleological Survey (WVaSS) Jerry Fuller Tri-State Grotto 29