Investigation of shallow groundwater contamination near East Fork Poplar Creek, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Book · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989

OSTI ID:6941789

Carmichael, J K

Alluvial soils of the flood plain of East Fork Poplar Creek in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, are contaminated with mercury and other metals, organic compounds, and radionuclides originating from the Y-12 Plant, a nuclear-processing facility located within the US Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Reservation. Observation wells were installed in the shallow aquifer of the flood plain, and water quality samples were collected to determine if contaminants are present in the shallow groundwater. Groundwater in the shallow aquifer occurs under water-table conditions. Recharge is primarily from precipitation and discharge is to East Fork Poplar Creek. Groundwater levels fluctuate seasonally in response to variations in recharge and evapotranspiration. During extremely dry periods, the water table drops below the base of the shallow aquifer in some flood-plain areas. Contaminants were found in water samples from several of the wells in concentrations which equaled or exceeded drinking-water standards established by the US Environmental Protection Agency are antimony, chromium, lead, mercury, selenium, phenols, and strontium-90. Total and dissolved uranium concentrations exceeded the analytical detection limit in nearly 70% of the wells in the flood plain. The results of water quality determinations demonstrate that elevated concentrations of most trace metals (and possibly organic compounds and radionuclides) were caused by contaminated sediments in the samples. The presence of contaminated sediment in samples is suspected to be the result of borehole contamination during well installation. 21 refs., 20 figs., 6 tabs.

• OSTI ID: 6941789
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540220 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
540230 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
540320* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
540330 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Radioactive Materials Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
ALKALINE EARTH ISOTOPES
ANTIMONY
AROMATICS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
CHROMIUM
CONTAMINATION
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FEDERAL REGION IV
GROUND WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
LEAD
MASS TRANSFER
MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE LEVEL
MERCURY
METALS
MONITORING
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEI
OAK RIDGE
OAK RIDGE RESERVATION
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHENOLS
POLLUTION
RADIOISOTOPES
RADIONUCLIDE MIGRATION
SAFETY STANDARDS
SELENIUM
SEMIMETALS
SOILS
STANDARDS
STREAMS
STRONTIUM 90
STRONTIUM ISOTOPES
SURFACE WATERS
TENNESSEE
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
US AEC
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
USA
WATER
WATER POLLUTION
Y-12 PLANT
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES