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Title: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 300 area facility liquid effluent monitoring: 1994 and 1995 field tests

Abstract

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Effluent Management Services manages liquid waste streams from some of the 300 Area buildings on the Hanford Site near Richland, Washington, to ensure liquid discharges to the Columbia River are in compliance with permit requirements. The buildings are owned by the U.S. Department of Energy and operated by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. In fiscal year (FY) 1994 and FY 1995, three field tests were conducted to gather information that could be used to (1) increase the understanding of 300 Area building liquid waste streams based on the characterization and monitoring data collected during calendar year (CY) 1994 and CY 1995 and (2) establish improved methods for evaluating facility releases. The three field tests were (1) an evaluation of a continuous monitoring/event-triggered sampling system, (2) a volatile organic compound hold-time study, and (3) an investigation of the dilution and retention properties of the 300 Area process sewer. The results from the first field test showed that future characterization and monitoring of 300 Area facility liquid waste streams could benefit significantly from augmenting continuous monitoring with event-triggered sampling. Current continuous-monitoring practices (i.e., monitoring of pH, conductivity, and flow) cannot detect discharges of organic pollutants. Effluent control effectiveness wouldmore » be enhanced by incorporating a continuous total organic carbon analyzer in the system to detect events involving releases of organic compounds. In the second field test, sample hold times were shown to have a significant effect on volatile organic compound data. Samples analyzed in the field within 1 hour of collection generally had 1.5 to 3 times higher volatile organic compound concentrations than those analyzed 1.5 to 4 weeks later at on-site and off-site laboratories, respectively. The number of volatile organic compounds detected also decreased with increasing hold times.« less

Authors:
; ; ;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Environmental Restoration and Waste Management, Washington, DC (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
552785
Report Number(s):
PNNL-11553
ON: DE97054076; TRN: 98:008642
DOE Contract Number:
AC06-76RL01830
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Jul 1997
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
05 NUCLEAR FUELS; HANFORD RESERVATION; RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT; BUILDINGS; LIQUID WASTES; MONITORING; REGULATIONS; COMPLIANCE; ORGANIC COMPOUNDS

Citation Formats

Riley, R.G., Thompson, C.J., Damberg, E.G., and Ballinger, M.Y. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 300 area facility liquid effluent monitoring: 1994 and 1995 field tests. United States: N. p., 1997. Web. doi:10.2172/552785.
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Riley, R.G., Thompson, C.J., Damberg, E.G., & Ballinger, M.Y. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 300 area facility liquid effluent monitoring: 1994 and 1995 field tests. United States. doi:10.2172/552785.
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Riley, R.G., Thompson, C.J., Damberg, E.G., and Ballinger, M.Y. Tue . "Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 300 area facility liquid effluent monitoring: 1994 and 1995 field tests". United States. doi:10.2172/552785. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/552785.
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@article{osti_552785,
title = {Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 300 area facility liquid effluent monitoring: 1994 and 1995 field tests},
author = {Riley, R.G. and Thompson, C.J. and Damberg, E.G. and Ballinger, M.Y.},
abstractNote = {Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Effluent Management Services manages liquid waste streams from some of the 300 Area buildings on the Hanford Site near Richland, Washington, to ensure liquid discharges to the Columbia River are in compliance with permit requirements. The buildings are owned by the U.S. Department of Energy and operated by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. In fiscal year (FY) 1994 and FY 1995, three field tests were conducted to gather information that could be used to (1) increase the understanding of 300 Area building liquid waste streams based on the characterization and monitoring data collected during calendar year (CY) 1994 and CY 1995 and (2) establish improved methods for evaluating facility releases. The three field tests were (1) an evaluation of a continuous monitoring/event-triggered sampling system, (2) a volatile organic compound hold-time study, and (3) an investigation of the dilution and retention properties of the 300 Area process sewer. The results from the first field test showed that future characterization and monitoring of 300 Area facility liquid waste streams could benefit significantly from augmenting continuous monitoring with event-triggered sampling. Current continuous-monitoring practices (i.e., monitoring of pH, conductivity, and flow) cannot detect discharges of organic pollutants. Effluent control effectiveness would be enhanced by incorporating a continuous total organic carbon analyzer in the system to detect events involving releases of organic compounds. In the second field test, sample hold times were shown to have a significant effect on volatile organic compound data. Samples analyzed in the field within 1 hour of collection generally had 1.5 to 3 times higher volatile organic compound concentrations than those analyzed 1.5 to 4 weeks later at on-site and off-site laboratories, respectively. The number of volatile organic compounds detected also decreased with increasing hold times.},
doi = {10.2172/552785},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1997},
month = {Tue Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1997}
}
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Technical Report:
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DOI:  10.2172/552785
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  • ;
    The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) operates a number of research and development (R and D) facilities for the Department of Energy on the Hanford Site. According to DOE Order 5400.1, a Facility Effluent Monitoring Plan is required for each site, facility, or process that uses, generates, releases, or manages significant pollutants or hazardous materials. Three of the R and D facilities: the 325, 331, and 3720 Buildings, are considered major emission points for radionuclide air sampling and thus individual Facility Effluent Monitoring Plans (FEMPs) have been developed for them. Because no definition of ''significant'' is provided in DOE Ordermore » 5400.1 or the accompanying regulatory guide DOE/EH-0173T, this FEMP was developed to describe monitoring requirements in the DOE-owned, PNNL-operated facilities that do not have individual FEMPs. The remainder of the DOE-owned, PNNL-operated facilities are referred to as Balance-of-Plant (BOP) facilities. Activities in the BOP facilities range from administrative to laboratory and pilot-scale R and D. R and D activities include both radioactive and chemical waste characterization, fluid dynamics research, mechanical property testing, dosimetry research, and molecular sciences. The mission and activities for individual buildings are described in the FEMP.« less

  • ;
    The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (Pacific Northwest) operates a number of Research and Development facilities for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on the Hanford Site. According to DOE Order 5400.1, a written environmental monitoring plan is required for each site, facility, or process that uses, generates, releases, or manages significant pollutants or hazardous materials. Facility Effluent Monitoring Plans (FEMPs) have been developed on the Hanford Site to document the facility effluent monitoring portion of the Environmental Monitoring Plan (DOE 2000) for the Hanford Site. Three of Pacific Northwest's R and D facilities, the 325, 331, and 3720 Buildings, aremore » considered major emission points for radionuclide air sampling; thus, individual FEMPs have been developed for these facilities. Because no definition of ''significant'' is provided in DOE Order 5400.1 or the accompanying regulatory guide DOE/EH?0173T, this FEMP was developed to describe monitoring requirements in the DO E-owned, Pacific Northwest-operated facilities that do not have individual FEMPs. These facilities are referred to as Balance-of-Plant (BOP) facilities.« less

  • ;
    The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) operates a number of Research & Development (R&D) facilities for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on the Hanford Site. Facility effluent monitoring plans (FEMPs) have been developed to document the facility effluent monitoring portion of the Environmental Monitoring Plan (DOE 2000) for the Hanford Site. Three of PNNL’s R&D facilities, the 325, 331, and 3720 Buildings, are considered major emission points for radionuclide air sampling, and individual FEMPs were developed for these facilities in the past. In addition, a balance-of-plant (BOP) FEMP was developed for all other DOE-owned, PNNL-operated facilities at the Hanfordmore » Site. Recent changes, including shutdown of buildings and transition of PNNL facilities to the Office of Science, have resulted in retiring the 3720 FEMP and combining the 331 FEMP into the BOP FEMP. This version of the BOP FEMP addresses all DOE-owned, PNNL-operated facilities at the Hanford Site, excepting the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory, which has its own FEMP because of the unique nature of the building and operations. Activities in the BOP facilities range from administrative to laboratory and pilot-scale R&D. R&D activities include both radioactive and chemical waste characterization, fluid dynamics research, mechanical property testing, dosimetry research, and molecular sciences. The mission and activities for individual buildings are described in Appendix A. Potential radioactive airborne emissions in the BOP facilities are estimated annually using a building inventory-based approach provided in federal regulations. Sampling at individual BOP facilities is based on a potential-to-emit assessment. Some of these facilities are considered minor emission points and thus are sampled routinely, but not continuously, to confirm the low emission potential. One facility, the 331 Life Sciences Laboratory, has a major emission point and is sampled continuously. Sampling systems are located downstream of control technologies and just before discharge to the atmosphere. The need for monitoring airborne emissions of hazardous chemicals is established in the Hanford Site Air Operating Permit and in notices of construction. Based on the current potential-to-emit, the Hanford Site Air Operating Permit does not contain general monitoring requirements for BOP facilities. However, the permit identifies monitoring requirements for specific projects and buildings. Needs for future monitoring will be established by future permits issued pursuant to the applicable state and federal regulations. A number of liquid-effluent discharge systems serve the BOP facilities: sanitary sewer, process sewer, retention process sewer, and aquaculture system. Only the latter system discharges to the environment; the rest either discharge to treatment plants or to long-term storage. Routine compliance sampling of liquid effluents is only required at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory. Liquid effluents from other BOP facilities may be sampled or monitored to characterize facility effluents or to investigate discharges of concern. Effluent sampling and monitoring for the BOP facilities depends on the inventories, activities, and environmental permits in place for each facility. A description of routine compliance monitoring for BOP facilities is described in the BOP FEMP.« less

  • ; ;
    Radionuclide emission points for 300 Area and Battelle Private facilities are presented herein. The sampling systems and associated emission specifics are detailed.

  • ;
    In January 1993, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) established an are monitoring dosimeter program in accordance with the Department of Energy (DOE) Radiological Control Manual (RCM). The purpose of the program was to minimize the number of areas requiring issuance of personnel dosimeters and to demonstrate that doses outside Radiological Buffer Areas are negligible. In accordance with the RCM, personnel dosimetry shall be provided to (1) radiological workers who are likely to receive at least 100 mrem annually and (2) declared pregnant workers, minors, and members of the public who are likely to receive at least 50 mrem annually. Programmore » results confirmed that personnel dosimetry was not needed for individuals located in areas monitored by the program.« less