An alternative ground-water monitoring program for waste disposal site investigations

Conference · Fri Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1993 · Journal of Environmental Health; (United States)

OSTI ID:5898221

Plumb, Jr, R H ^[1]

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1. Lockheed Environmental Programs Office, Las Vegas, NV (United States)

The present RCRA approach to monitoring ground-water conditions in the vicinity of waste disposal sites is a two step process. In the first step, a select list of indicator parameters are monitored to detect the presence of contaminants migrating from the facility. When these parameters are detected at unacceptable high levels, the second step of the program is triggered to more extensively characterize the constituents that may be impacting ground water. A technical assessment of this approach to the problem using composite ground-water monitoring data from more than 500 disposal site investigations identified several factors that result in a poor performance. Specifically, the indicator parameters that have been selected provide a correct assessment of the presence of contaminants less than50 percent of the time and the extensive sample characterization in the second phase of the program requires monitoring approximately 100 compounds that have never been detected in disposal site ground water. An analysis of the composite ground-water monitoring data from ongoing site investigations identified two trends that could be used to improve the present regulatory approach. First, it was demonstrated that volatile organic compounds represent approximately 80 percent of all the reported detectable events involving organic contaminants. Second, the composite monitoring data provide a reasonable basis to establish a shorter, revised list of parameters for the second phase of the monitoring program.

• OSTI ID: 5898221
• Report Number(s): CONF-9310166--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Journal of Environmental Health; (United States) Journal Volume: 56:3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540220* -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
CONTAMINATION
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
GROUND WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MANAGEMENT
MASS TRANSFER
MATTER
MONITORING
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
VOLATILE MATTER
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WATER