Mapping Fractures for More Efficient Remediation

  • September 23rd, 2025
  • By Kyle Spears
Fault Zones and LNAPL Distribution

At a former gas station site in Oklahoma City, a persistent LNAPL plume lingered for over 30 years—despite multiple remediation attempts. The missing piece? A clear understanding of subsurface fracture zones and preferential flowpaths that were controlling contaminant migration.

Greystone Environmental Services, in collaboration with Aestus, deployed our GeoTrax Survey™ electrical resistivity imaging technology and Electrical Hydrogeology™ Process to build a high-resolution, data-rich conceptual site model (CSM) with the following results:

  • The images showed:
    • 4 fracture zones controlling separate and dissolved phase contaminant migration
    • Vertical impacts reached up to 55 ft BGS (i.e., ~15 feet below the water table) in fracture zones
    • Zones of bioactivity where microbes were effectively degrading the impacts on the plume fringes
  • Image-targeted drilling in fracture zones led to extraction wells with up to 10 ft of free product
  • A resulting 152 gallons of LNAPL and 2,914 equivalent gallons of vapor were removed via targeted, high vacuum events from just 10 wells (an extraction event 11 years prior removed 212 gallons from 17 wells; so production increased from an average of 12 gallons/well to 15 gallons/well by targeting the fracture zones)

The integration of electrical resistivity imaging with groundwater data, PID readings, and boring logs enabled a 3D visualization of subsurface conditions, a snapshot of which can be seen in the video below.

Our client, Kathy Lippert of Greystone, had this to say about our collaboration on this site: “Aestus’ resistivity survey proved instrumental in understanding hydrocarbon migration patterns within our fractured aquifer system. Their expertise provided crucial insights that traditional methods simply could not deliver…”

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    Kyle Spears
    During his tenure at Aestus, Kyle previously led field teams to perform electrical hydrogeology characterization and identify preferential groundwater flowpaths, NAPL contaminant distribution, and geohazards in alluvial and bedrock sites across the USA. In his current role, Kyle works to build meaningful relationships with existing and new clients and help them solve problems relative to complex subsurface issues at their project sites. Kyle is based out of Edmond, Oklahoma.

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    Madison Culver
    Madison Culver, M.Sc.
    Staff Geologist / Field Technician
    Since joining Aestus in 2024, Madison has performed various project tasks including field data acquisition, data integration and analysis, 2D and 3D visualization, and project report development.

    As an undergraduate at Oklahoma Sate University, Madison utilized electrical resistivity imaging to locate a drilling target for a municipal water well in rural Oklahoma. Her Master’s degree, also from Oklahoma State University, focused on the production and laboratory testing of a novel groundwater tracing particle for use in a sole source aquifer.

    Madison previously worked at an environmental consulting firm in Dallas, Texas, where she performed soil/groundwater investigations/reporting, PFAS sampling programs, and Environmental Site Assessments.

    Madison is based out of Irving, Texas.
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    Michelle has a bachelor’s degree in Avionics Engineering Technology from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She also has experience as a small business owner, and over 15 years’ experience as an executive assistant in many different industries. She has her Professional Administrative Certification of Excellence (PACE) through the American Society of Administrative Professionals (ASAP).
    Michelle is based out of Wellington, Colorado.
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    Autumn M. Town, M.Sc.
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    Autumn performs various project tasks for Aestus, including field data acquisition, data integration and analysis, 2D and 3D visualization, and project report development. Since joining Aestus in 2023, she has helped meet project objectives such as mapping stratigraphy, identifying areas of contamination, and characterizing preferential flow pathways at complex sites across the United States.
    As an undergraduate at Oklahoma State University, Autumn utilized electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) to evaluate the hydrogeologic effects of PFAS-containing firefighting foams. While completing her Master’s degree, also at Oklahoma State University, she focused primarily on sedimentology and stratigraphy as she studied the effects of depositional and diagenetic processes on porosity development in a tight gas sandstone reservoir.

    Autumn is based out of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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    Prior to Aestus, Morgan used her environmental geology undergraduate degree working for a water resource company, a geosciences software company, and a seismic data acquisition company. She holds a Master's Degree in Computer Information Systems.

    Morgan is based out of Fort Collins, Colorado.
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    Grant graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Watershed Science. After graduating he completed 8 years of military service with the Colorado Army National Guard, including two deployments to the middle east. Before joining Aestus, he was a senior technician building custom automation equipment and wire harness mockups for aerospace companies.

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    Since joining Aestus in 2018, Samantha has performed all aspects of the Aestus project lifecycle, including acquisition field work, processing of geophysical data, data integration, 3D visualization, and reporting. As project manager, she oversees a variety of projects completed at complex sites across the United States and strives to help our clients efficiently leverage Aestus’ high-resolution GeoTrax Survey™ data to improve understanding of subsurface conditions.

    Prior to her time with Aestus, she earned her Bachelor’s degree (magna cum laude) in Physics from the University of Richmond and taught high school physics as a Teach for America corps member. She then completed her Master’s degree (Distinction) in Exploration Geophysics at the University of Leeds in the UK. For her thesis, she utilized several different geophysical techniques to characterize the subsurface remains of a former gasworks facility for which she was awarded the GETECH award for best overall performance in the Independent Project and the Association for Industrial Archaeology’s Dissertation Award.

    When she’s not investigating what’s below the ground, Samantha enjoys exploring all the above-ground fun her Stateline (South Lake Tahoe), NV home has to offer via trail running, mountain biking, and snowboarding.

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    Michael previously worked at an environmental consulting firm in Dallas, Texas, where he performed soil/groundwater investigations in the field and subsequently developed reports. Michael earned a Bachelor of Science in Geology from Baylor University.

    Michael is based out of Orlando, Florida.
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    Todd’s focus at Aestus centers on subsurface characterization using electrical hydrogeology and sustainable water supply. He is also a professor and the Sun Company Clyde Wheeler Chair in Hydrogeology at Oklahoma State University. He was the National Ground Water Association’s 2018 McEllhiney Lecturer and he is a founding member of the NGWAU program for groundwater outreach and education.

    Dr. Halihan is the recipient of the American Institute of Hydrology’s C.V. Theis Award winner. He is also a professional geophysicist (CA), professional driller (OK) and a PADI divemaster.

    Todd is based out of Stillwater, Oklahoma.
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    Stuart spent the first decade of his career as an environmental consultant primarily with Canonie Environmental and Harding Lawson Associates and gained experience performing cradle to grave site characterization and remediation work on high profile Superfund and other projects. This experience was the genesis of founding Aestus in 2001 as it became clear that the environmental industry needed more data density and more certainty for optimal decision-making on projects.

    Stuart is based out of Loveland, Colorado.