Preliminary characterization of the F-Area Railroad Crosstie Pile at the Savannah River Site. Revision 1

摘要

Historical information about the F-Area Railroad Crosstie Pile is limited. The unit is believed to have been a borrow area for earth fill that began receiving railroad crossties during the 1960s. The number of crossties at the unit began to increase significantly in 1984 when major repair of the SRS rail system was initiated. An estimated 100,000 used railroad crossties have accumulated at the unit since 1984. In an effort to determine the impact of the railroad crossties on the environment a total of 28 soil samples were collected from four test borings in March of 1991. Sample depths ranged from ground surface to 21.5 feet. Three of the borings were extended to the water table and groundwater samples were collected, one in an upgradient ''background'' area, and two downgradient from the unit. Few analytes were reported above detection limits. Test results are summarized in Section 4.0 and analytes not detected are summarized in Appendix A to this report. In three soil samples collected from depths between 10 and 21.5 feet, copper occurred at levels slightly above background. These copper values were detected in the sidegradient test boring and in the two downgradient test borings. Three organic analytes, acetone, pyridine, and Toluene, were reported above detection limits but well below drinking water standards (DWS) in all test borings, including the upgradient boring. Radionuclide activities were reported above background in both soil and water samples from all test borings. There do not appear to be any statistically significant trends in radionuclide activities with depth, or between upgradient or downgradient borings. The analytes detected in the test borings downgradient from the unit cannot be attributed to the railroad crosstie pile as they are not significantly different than the values reported for the upgradient, background test boring.