A proposed strategy for assessing compliance with the RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) ground-water monitoring regulations

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:6231101

Parsons, A M; Davis, P A

To satisfy the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) ground-water monitoring regulations, a hazardous waste management facility must have a ground-water monitoring system consisting of at least one upgradient and three downgradient wells and show that the downgradient wells are capable of immediately detecting a statistically significant amount of contamination at the water table. Because the regulations are subjective, it is often difficult for the owner/operator and the regulator to assess whether a monitor-well network satisfies the regulations. A probabilistic strategy is presented which satisfies the regulations and attempts to minimize subjectively in evaluating the performance of a monitor-well network. The proposed strategy is based on a determination of the likely ground-water flow paths through both the unsaturated and saturated zones and ground-water travel times. The approach involves three stages of analysis: (1) optimization of monitor well location, (2) evaluation of the sampling interval, and (3) assessing the monitoring well network performance through time. 11 refs., 6 figs.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (USA)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE/DP
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-76DP00789
• OSTI ID: 6231101
• Report Number(s): SAND-90-1553C; CONF-910172--1; ON: DE91006968
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540220 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
540320* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
AQUIFERS
COMPLIANCE
FLOW RATE
FUNCTIONAL MODELS
GROUND WATER
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
HYDRAULIC CONDUCTIVITY
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MONITORING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLUMES
POLLUTION
PROBABILISTIC ESTIMATION
REGULATIONS
SAMPLING
SANDIA LABORATORIES
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WATER
WATER POLLUTION
WATER WELLS
WELLS