Hydrostratigraphy and recharge distributions from direct measurements of hydraulic conductivity using the UFA trademark method

The simulation of contaminant migration and movement through subsurface materials surrounding hazardous and mixed waste sties requires knowledge of the transport characteristics of the soils, sediments, and rocks of the site under unsaturated and saturated conditions. The hydraulic conductivity, diffusion coefficient, and retardation factor must be known in order to use existing and developing models of contaminant release from subsurface systems. The new Unsaturated Flow Apparatus (UFA) method makes it possible to measure transport parameters in a very short time while replicating the wide range of conditions that exist in the field. The chemical, physical, and mineralogical properties of each soil sample are compared to transport parameters measured by the UFA method to determine the primary physical parameter/hydrologic characteristic relationships for predicting volatile organic compound (VOC) and water migration in arid soils and sediments. The Plutonium Finishing Plant in the 200-West Area at the Hanford Site is the site of a mixed-waste contaminant plume. The plume contains carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) as the primary VOC, Pu and Am as the primary radionuclides, water, aqueous sodium nitrate solutions, and other organics (lard oil, tributylphoshate, chloroform). An estimated 3.5 million gal of liquid waste was discharged to three unlined cribs (similar to septic tanks drain fields) between 1955 and 1973. This project investigated unsaturated transport phenomena using the new UFA method to optimize long-term experimental and demonstration strategies for site remediation. Three unexpected benefits resulted from the UFA method in FY 1993: hydrostratigraphic mapping, subsurface flux and recharge mapping, and pore water extraction from vadose zone samples for chemical analysis. 54 refs