Characterization of Firing Range Soil from Camp Edwards, MA, and the Efficacy of Acid and Alkaline Hydrolysis for the Remediation of M1 105mm M67 Propellant.

摘要

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of alkaline and acid amendments as management techniques for the remediation of firing point soils at Camp Edwards, MA for U.S. Army Engineer District, New England. It was assumed that the major potential source of dinitrotoluene (DNT) contamination was from firing 105 mm howitzers on the gun and mortar Ranges over several decades. M1 propellant is approximately 90% nitrocellulose and 6- 8% DNT with the remaining percentages being binders and plasticizer. Soil from the J1 IBA Range was shipped from Camp Edwards to the ERDC Environmental Laboratory, Vicksburg MS for characterization. Both caustic and acid treatments failed to leach more than 10% of total DNT from the nitrocellulose matrix, even following significant abrasion and size reduction of the propellant. The low extraction efficiency of DNT may be due to the manufacturing processes used to produce the propellant. The small proportions which may have been released during leaching tests were rapidly destroyed as seen in prior experiments carried out with laboratory grade propellants at ERDC. The study confirms that propellants encapsulated in nitrocellulose are essentially unavailable and will not therefore present an unacceptable environmental or ecological risk.