A study of the relationships between historical land use and petroleum contamination in southeastern Palm Beach County, Florida

Protection of groundwater resources in southeastern Florida is essential because of increasing demands on water quality and supply. Because water is furnished to public and private water systems from production wells that tap the non-artesian surficial aquifer, contamination of groundwater from leaking petroleum storage tanks must be curtailed. In the study, a series of land use maps is developed based on aerial photographs (1970, 1984, and 1991) for a 40 square mile area in southeastern Palm Beach County, Florida. The locations of petroleum storage tank systems and contaminated sites are mapped. The point biserial correlation coefficient is used to examine the strength of the relationships between historical land use, storage tank system capacity, and the presence of petroleum. contamination. The results indicate no correlation between the intensity of urbanization (historical land use) and petroleum contamination and positive correlation between petroleum storage system capacity and petroleum contamination.