Geohydrology of the proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant site in southeastern New Mexico

The proposed site for the U.S. Department of Energy's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) is in the Los Medanos area located about 40 km east of Carlsbad, in eastern Eddy County, NM. Geohydrologic data have been collected from this area since 1972, and the data will be used as part of a study evaluating the feasibility of storing defense-associated transuranic wastes in bedded salt at a depth of 655 m. The salt beds are within the Salado Formation of Permian age. The study presented includes the determination of ground-water flow boundaries; potentiometric heads; ground-water chemistry; and hydraulic properties through pump, slug, pressure-pulse, and tracer tests. Data collected during drilling and testing 30 hydrologic holes have indicated three zones above the Salado Formation that could potentially transport wastes to the biosphere if the proposed facility is breached. These zones include the Magenta and Culebra Dolomite members of the Rustler Formation and the contact zone between the Rustler and Salado formations