Geochemical and physical properties of wetland soils at the Savannah River site.

摘要

The Savannah River Site (SRS), located in Aiken, Allendale, and Barnwell Counties, South Carolina, is a nuclear production facility operated for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by Westinghouse Savannah River Company (WSRC). To facilitate future human health and ecological risk assessments, treatability studies, remedial investigations, and feasibility studies for its wetland areas, SRS needs a database of background geochemical and physical properties of wetland soils. These data are needed for comparison to data collected from wetland soils that may have been affected by SRS operations. SRS contains 36,000 acres of wetlands and an additional 5,000 acres of bottom land soils subject to flooding. Recent studies of wetland soils near various waste units at SRS show that some wetlands have been impacted by releases of contaminants resulting from SRS operations (WSRC, 1992). Waste waters originating from the operations facilities typically have been discharged into seepage basins located in upland soils, direct discharge of waste water to wetland areas has been minimal. This suggests that impacted wetland areas have been affected indirectly as a result of transport mechanisms such as surface runoff, groundwater seeps, fluvial or sediment transport, and leaching. Looney et al. (1990) conducted a study to characterize the geochemical and physical properties of upland soils and shallow sediments on the SRS. A primary objective of the upland study was to collect the data needed to assess the qualitative and quantitative impacts of SRS operations on the environment. By comparing the upland soils data to data collected from waste units located in similar soils, SRS impacts could be assessed. The data were also intended to aid in selection of remediation alternatives. Because waste units at SRS have historically been located in upland areas, wetland soils were not sampled. (Abstract Truncated)