skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Hanford Site background: Part 1, Soil background for nonradioactive analytes. Revision 1, Volume 1

Abstract

The determination of soil background is one of the most important activities supporting environmental restoration and waste management on the Hanford Site. Background compositions serve as the basis for identifying soil contamination, and also as a baseline in risk assessment processes used to determine soil cleanup and treatment levels. These uses of soil background require an understanding of the extent to which analytes of concern occur naturally in the soils. This report documents the results of sampling and analysis activities designed to characterize the composition of soil background at the Hanford Site, and to evaluate the feasibility for use as Sitewide background. The compositions of naturally occurring soils in the vadose Zone have been-determined for-nonradioactive inorganic and organic analytes and related physical properties. These results confirm that a Sitewide approach to the characterization of soil background is technically sound and is a viable alternative to the determination and use of numerous local or area backgrounds that yield inconsistent definitions of contamination. Sitewide soil background consists of several types of data and is appropriate for use in identifying contamination in all soils in the vadose zone on the Hanford Site. The natural concentrations of nearly every inorganic analyte extend to levelsmore » that exceed calculated health-based cleanup limits. The levels of most inorganic analytes, however, are well below these health-based limits. The highest measured background concentrations occur in three volumetrically minor soil types, the most important of which are topsoils adjacent to the Columbia River that are rich in organic carbon. No organic analyte levels above detection were found in any of the soil samples.« less

Publication Date:
Research Org.:
USDOE Richland Operations Office, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
10175047
Report Number(s):
DOE/RL-92-24-Vol.1-Rev.1
ON: DE93017682; TRN: 93:018005
DOE Contract Number:  
AC06-87RL10930
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Apr 1993
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; 11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS; HANFORD RESERVATION; SOILS; CHEMICAL ANALYSIS; SAMPLING; CONTAMINATION; INORGANIC COMPOUNDS; CHEMICAL COMPOSITION; COMPILED DATA; BASALT; ELEMENTS; TRACE AMOUNTS; REMEDIAL ACTION; 052000; 540220; 054000; WASTE MANAGEMENT; CHEMICALS MONITORING AND TRANSPORT; HEALTH AND SAFETY

Citation Formats

. Hanford Site background: Part 1, Soil background for nonradioactive analytes. Revision 1, Volume 1. United States: N. p., 1993. Web. doi:10.2172/10175047.
. Hanford Site background: Part 1, Soil background for nonradioactive analytes. Revision 1, Volume 1. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/10175047
. 1993. "Hanford Site background: Part 1, Soil background for nonradioactive analytes. Revision 1, Volume 1". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/10175047. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/10175047.
@article{osti_10175047,
title = {Hanford Site background: Part 1, Soil background for nonradioactive analytes. Revision 1, Volume 1},
author = {},
abstractNote = {The determination of soil background is one of the most important activities supporting environmental restoration and waste management on the Hanford Site. Background compositions serve as the basis for identifying soil contamination, and also as a baseline in risk assessment processes used to determine soil cleanup and treatment levels. These uses of soil background require an understanding of the extent to which analytes of concern occur naturally in the soils. This report documents the results of sampling and analysis activities designed to characterize the composition of soil background at the Hanford Site, and to evaluate the feasibility for use as Sitewide background. The compositions of naturally occurring soils in the vadose Zone have been-determined for-nonradioactive inorganic and organic analytes and related physical properties. These results confirm that a Sitewide approach to the characterization of soil background is technically sound and is a viable alternative to the determination and use of numerous local or area backgrounds that yield inconsistent definitions of contamination. Sitewide soil background consists of several types of data and is appropriate for use in identifying contamination in all soils in the vadose zone on the Hanford Site. The natural concentrations of nearly every inorganic analyte extend to levels that exceed calculated health-based cleanup limits. The levels of most inorganic analytes, however, are well below these health-based limits. The highest measured background concentrations occur in three volumetrically minor soil types, the most important of which are topsoils adjacent to the Columbia River that are rich in organic carbon. No organic analyte levels above detection were found in any of the soil samples.},
doi = {10.2172/10175047},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/10175047}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1993},
month = {Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1993}
}