Investigation of a natural geochemical barrier. [Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project]
Groundwater data from lysimeters and monitor wells in the vicinity of the Bowman, North Dakota, Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project site indicated that there is a mechanism in the subsurface which cleans up downward-percolating fluids. It was hypothesized that clays and organic materials in the sediments sequestered hazardous constituents from infiltrating fluids. A program was designed to collect sediment cores from various locations on and around the site and to analyze the sediments to determine whether there has been a build up of hazardous constituents in any specific type of sedimentary material. Materials that concentrate the hazardous constituents would be potential candidates to be used in constructed geochemical barriers. The water quality of the groundwater contained within the sedimentary section indicates that there is a transport of contaminants down through the sediments and that these contaminants are removed from solution by the iron-bearing minerals in the organic-rich lignite beds. The data gathered during the course of this investigation indicate that the lignite ashing operations have added very little of the hazardous constituents of concern--arsenic, chromium, molybdenum, selenium, or uranium--to the sediments beneath the UMTRA Project site. At both locations, the hazardous constituents are concentrated in the upper most lignite bed. These data offer a natural analog for laboratory tests in which sphagnum peat was used to sequester hazardous constituents. Constructed geochemical barriers are a viable mechanism for the clean-up of the majority of hazardous constituents from uranium mill tailings in groundwater.
- Research Organization:
- USDOE Albuquerque Field Office, NM (United States). Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project Office; Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-82AL14086
- OSTI ID:
- 6934261
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/UMTRA-400666-0000; ON: DE93010094
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ABANDONED SITES
REMEDIAL ACTION
GROUND WATER
WATER QUALITY
MILL TAILINGS
DECONTAMINATION
CONTAMINATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
NORTH DAKOTA
CLEANING
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
NORTH AMERICA
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
SOLID WASTES
TAILINGS
USA
WASTES
WATER
054000* - Nuclear Fuels- Health & Safety
540250 - Environment
Terrestrial- Site Resource & Use Studies- (1990-)
540350 - Environment
Aquatic- Site Resource & Use Studies- (1990-)