This gasoline station sits along Main Street in a small New England town. It rests on a valley floor near a stream visible to the right of the image.
On the morning I photographed the site, a mist lingered beneath a low cloud cover. The spring vegetation appeared especially lush. Against that green lawn stood a series of metal well casings—subtle indicators of groundwater monitoring below the surface.
In this image, I interpreted benzene data from monitoring wells and used color overlays to depict its presence in groundwater. A faint blue overlay represents groundwater flow moving beneath the station toward the nearby stream, where it may enter both streambed sediments and surface water. Colored fields indicate interpreted areas of benzene concentration, with purple representing the highest levels within the plume.
In the late 1980s, I worked on similar sites as an environmental consultant, monitoring excavated soil as leaking underground gasoline tanks were removed. Corrosion in steel tanks often created small perforations through which fuel escaped into surrounding soil and groundwater. Contaminated soil was transported for treatment, and replacement tanks were installed.
This image reflects the quiet intersection of everyday commerce and the geologic systems below—where small failures in infrastructure can have lasting effects on soil and water.