[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 163 (Tuesday, December 18, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8137-S8138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO HARRY E. LeGRAND

 Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I would like to recognize Harry E. 
LeGrand, a native North Carolinian, for his contributions to his State, 
his Nation, and the scientific community, particularly in the area of 
groundwater research and how the disposal of contaminated waste can 
affect our water supplies.
  Born in 1917 in Mebane, NC, Harry graduated from the University of 
North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.S. in geology. He was working as 
a geologic aide when he answered his nation's call to duty and served 
as an officer of the First Army in the European Theatre of World War II 
which included service stretching from the Normandy invasion to the 
Battle of the Bulge.
  Harry returned home after his valiant service to our country and 
married Undine Nye. Throughout his life both personally and 
professionally, Undine provided Harry with love and support and 
traveled with him on many geology trips, providing a sense of home even 
in far away places.
  When Harry went to work for the Ground Water Branch of the United 
States Geological Survey, USGS, he quickly noticed something that would 
follow him throughout his career--the lack of comprehensive records and 
data related to his field of study. Despite the fact that incomplete 
and imprecise data was a constant in his professional career, Harry saw 
this as an opportunity rather than an impediment and stated in an 
autobiographical article that ``working with imprecise data can be a 
blessing because it prompts clear reasoning that can lead to useful 
deductions.'' Where many people would see nothing more than a roadblock 
Harry saw opportunity, and the work he accomplished to fill in the many 
holes in available information and build on the data that did exist led 
to practices still heralded and in use today.
  Harry's work in those years focused primarily on groundwater in the 
fractured igneous and metamorphic rock in the Piedmont of North 
Carolina, and he discovered a useful system for locating high-yielding 
wells based on topography and soil thickness. During the 1950's, Harry 
worked with the USGS's Office of Radiohydrology to identify potential 
deep-well disposal sites for low-level radioactive material and was 
named head of the Radiohydrology Section in 1960. It was in this 
capacity that he became more interested in groundwater contamination 
and laid the foundation for future research of the role and impact of 
natural attenuation. Ever curious and eager to further knowledge on 
subjects that were under-researched, Harry soon turned his attention to 
karst hydrology. After much travel, research, and field work, Harry and 
his fellow Americans serving on the Karst Commission of the 
International Association of Hydrogeology laid the basis for useful 
generalizations that would have worldwide application. Harry's 
retirement did not slow him down and in 2004, 3 decades after leaving 
the USGS, Harry wrote a report that serves as a master groundwater 
conceptual model for sites in the igneous and metamorphic terrain of 
North Carolina.
  Harry spent his life pursuing fields of study that were largely 
under-researched at the time and, in many cases, offered little in the 
way of solid data upon which to build. Despite, or perhaps in spite of 
that, Harry pushed forward with research that furthered development in 
these fields and provided a solid foundation for research to come. 
While the worlds of geology and groundwater research might feel foreign 
to many of us, Harry identified many shared qualities between aquifers 
and human beings, and he expressed these commonalities in poetry. As if

[[Page S8138]]

his work on the subject wasn't enough, his real legacy might be 
introducing others to the underground waterscape that exists beneath 
our feet and inspiring future generations to continue to explore the 
natural world in which we live.

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