Applied Innovative Technologies for Characterization of Explosives- Contaminated DoD Building Foundations and Underlying Soils

摘要

Badger Army Ammunition Plant (BAAP) is included in the first group of 13 inactive Army ammunition plants with transitioning missions. Installation Management Agency currently manages these plants and is in varying stages of transferring the properties out of Department of Defense (DoD) control. To accomplish this, many buildings used in the production, loading, handling, and storage of explosives must be demolished or characterized and decontaminated to a level protective of human health and the environment. BAAP alone has more than 1,400 buildings on the installation that will have to be addressed. Compounds associated with the buildings include nitrocellulose (NC), nitroglycerine (NG), dinitrotoluene (DNT), and common compounds such as asbestos-containing material, solvents, and metals. There are no full-scale technologies for nondestructive in situ characterization of hard to reach surfaces (e.g., under floors) in explosive-contaminated buildings. With adequate characterization, many buildings could be safely left in place, avoiding substantial costs and speeding up the transfer of the properties out of DoD control. This Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) demonstration evaluated a variety of methods for characterizing the foundations, adjacent areas, and underlying soils without having to remove the buildings and foundations first. The intent of this demonstration was to show that the evaluated methods could be applied to many of the buildings at BAAP and at similar sites throughout the United States. As part of this demonstration, field test methods including Raman spectroscopy, Expray colorimetric indicator, and the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) Royal Demolition Explosive (RDX) colorimetric field screening method were evaluated at five buildings in the Rocket Paste (RP) area at BAAP to determine the presence and/or concentration of NC or NG in soil samples and concrete slabs.