U.S. Department of EnergyOffice of Scientific and Technical Information
Results of Water and Sediment Toxicity Tests and Chemical Analyses Conducted at the Central Shops Burning Rubble Pit Waste Unit, January 1999
Abstract
The Central Shops Burning Rubble Pit Operable Unit consists of two inactive rubble pits (631-1G and 631-3G) that have been capped, and one active burning rubble pit (631-2G), where wooden pallets and other non-hazardous debris are periodically burned. The inactive rubble pits may have received hazardous materials, such as asbestos, batteries, and paint cans, as well as non-hazardous materials, such as ash, paper, and glass. In an effort to determine if long term surface water flows of potentially contaminated water from the 631-1G, 631-3G, and 631-2G areas have resulted in an accumulation of chemical constituents at toxic levels in the vicinity of the settling basin and wetlands area, chemical analyses for significant ecological preliminary constituents of concern (pCOCs) were performed on aqueous and sediment samples. In addition, aquatic and sediment toxicity tests were performed in accordance with U.S. EPA methods (U.S. EPA 1989, 1994). Based on the results of the chemical analyses, unfiltered water samples collected from a wetland and settling basins located adjacent to the CSBRP Operable Unit exceed Toxicity Reference Values (TRVs) for aluminum, barium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, and vanadium at one or more of the four locations that were sampled. The water contained very high concentrationsmore »
- Authors:
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 7557
- Report Number(s):
- WSRC-TR-99-00122
ON: DE00007557
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC09-89SR18035
- Resource Type:
- Technical Report
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; Water; Sediments; Toxicity; Chemical Analysis; Waste Disposal; Combustion
Citation Formats
Specht, W L. Results of Water and Sediment Toxicity Tests and Chemical Analyses Conducted at the Central Shops Burning Rubble Pit Waste Unit, January 1999. United States: N. p., 1999.
Web. doi:10.2172/7557.
Specht, W L. Results of Water and Sediment Toxicity Tests and Chemical Analyses Conducted at the Central Shops Burning Rubble Pit Waste Unit, January 1999. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/7557
Specht, W L. 1999.
"Results of Water and Sediment Toxicity Tests and Chemical Analyses Conducted at the Central Shops Burning Rubble Pit Waste Unit, January 1999". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/7557. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/7557.
@article{osti_7557,
title = {Results of Water and Sediment Toxicity Tests and Chemical Analyses Conducted at the Central Shops Burning Rubble Pit Waste Unit, January 1999},
author = {Specht, W L},
abstractNote = {The Central Shops Burning Rubble Pit Operable Unit consists of two inactive rubble pits (631-1G and 631-3G) that have been capped, and one active burning rubble pit (631-2G), where wooden pallets and other non-hazardous debris are periodically burned. The inactive rubble pits may have received hazardous materials, such as asbestos, batteries, and paint cans, as well as non-hazardous materials, such as ash, paper, and glass. In an effort to determine if long term surface water flows of potentially contaminated water from the 631-1G, 631-3G, and 631-2G areas have resulted in an accumulation of chemical constituents at toxic levels in the vicinity of the settling basin and wetlands area, chemical analyses for significant ecological preliminary constituents of concern (pCOCs) were performed on aqueous and sediment samples. In addition, aquatic and sediment toxicity tests were performed in accordance with U.S. EPA methods (U.S. EPA 1989, 1994). Based on the results of the chemical analyses, unfiltered water samples collected from a wetland and settling basins located adjacent to the CSBRP Operable Unit exceed Toxicity Reference Values (TRVs) for aluminum, barium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, and vanadium at one or more of the four locations that were sampled. The water contained very high concentrations of clay particles that were present as suspended solids. A substantial portion of the metals were present as filterable particulates, bound to the clay particles, and were therefore not biologically available. Based on dissolved metal concentrations, the wetland and settling basin exceeded TRVs for aluminum and barium. However, the background reference location also exceeded the TRV for barium, which suggests that this value may be too low, based on local geochemistry. The detection limits for both total and dissolved mercury were higher than the TRV, so it was not possible to determine if the TRV for mercury was exceeded. Dissolved metal levels of chromium, copper, iron, lead and vanadium were below the TRVs. Metal concentrations in the sediment exceeded the TRVs for arsenic, chromium, copper, and mercury but not for antimony and lead. The results of the water toxicity tests indicated no evidence of acute toxicity in any of the samples. The results of the chronic toxicity tests indicated possible reproductive impairment at two locations. However, the results appear to be anomalous, since the toxicity was unrelated to concentration, and because the concentrations of pCOCs were similar in the toxic and the non-toxic samples. The results of the sediment toxicity tests indicated significant mortality in all but one sample, including the background reference sediment. When the results of the CSBRP sediment toxicity tests were statistically compared to the result from the background reference sediment, there was no significant mortality. These results suggest that the surface water and sediment at the CSBRP Operable Unit are not toxic to the biota that inhabit the wetland and the settling basin.},
doi = {10.2172/7557},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/7557},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Jun 02 00:00:00 EDT 1999},
month = {Wed Jun 02 00:00:00 EDT 1999}
}