Baseline risk assessment of groundwater contamination at the uranium mill tailings site near Shiprock, New Mexico. Draft
This report evaluates potential impact to public health or the environment resulting from groundwater contamination at the former uranium mill processing site. The tailings and other contaminated material at this site were placed in a disposal cell on the site in 1986 by the US Department of Energy`s (DOE) Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project. Currently, the UMTRA Project is evaluating groundwater contamination. This risk assessment is the first document specific to this site for the Groundwater Project. This risk assessment follows the approach outlined by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The first step is to evaluate groundwater data collected from monitor wells at the site. Evaluation of these data showed that the main contaminants in the floodplain groundwater are arsenic, magnesium, manganese, nitrate, sodium, sulfate, and uranium. The complete list of contaminants associated with the terrace groundwater could not be determined due to the lack of the background groundwater quality data. However, uranium, nitrate, and sulfate are evaluated since these chemicals are clearly associated with uranium processing and are highly elevated compared to regional waters. It also could not be determined if the groundwater occurring in the terrace is a usable water resource, since it appears to have originated largely from past milling operations. The next step in the risk assessment is to estimate how much of these contaminants people would be exposed to if a drinking well were installed in the contaminated groundwater or if there were exposure to surface expressions of contaminated water. Potential exposures to surface water include incidental contact with contaminated water or sediments by children playing on the floodplain and consumption of meat and milk from domestic animals grazed and watered on the floodplain.
- Research Organization:
- Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-91AL62350
- OSTI ID:
- 10189475
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/AL/62350-48D; ON: DE94001513; BR: EW2010102/EX2040010; TRN: 93:025543
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Sep 1993
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
FEED MATERIALS PLANTS
ABANDONED SITES
MILL TAILINGS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
GROUND WATER
CONTAMINATION
ARSENIC
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
MAGNESIUM
NITRATES
SODIUM
SULFATES
URANIUM
RADIOECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
NEW MEXICO
RISK ASSESSMENT
PUBLIC HEALTH
US EPA
COMPILED DATA
054000
540230
540220
HEALTH AND SAFETY
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS MONITORING AND TRANSPORT
CHEMICALS MONITORING AND TRANSPORT