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Preliminary S Tudies/B Ackground Book 1 CERCLA Preliminary Preliminary Studies/B ackground Book 1 CERCLA Preliminary Assessment of DOE'S Nevada Operations Office Nuclear Weapons Testing Areas Vol. 11, April 1988 DISCLAIMER Portions of this document may be illegible in electronic image products. Images are produced from the best available original document. CERCLA PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF DOE'S NEVADA OPERATIONS OFFICE WCILEAR WEAPONS TESrnG AREAS Prepared by Water Resources Center Desert Research Institute University of Nevada System ,Prepared for U.S. Department of Energy Nevada Operations Office Las Vegas, Nevada under contract DE-AC08-85NV10384 April 1988 CONTENTS VOLUME I I. INTRODUCTION 1.1 11. NEVADA TEST SITE TESTING AREAS 2.1 Frenchman Flat (Area 5) 2.1.1 2.2 Yucca Flat (Areas 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 15) 2.2.1 2.3 Rainier Mesa (Area 12) 2.3.1 2.4 Shoshone Mountain (Area 16) 2,4.1 2.5 Pahute Mesa (Areas 19 and 20) 2.5.1 2.6 Mercury Valley (Area 22 and 23) 2.6.1 2.7 Area 25/26 (Jackass Flats, NRDS) 2.7.1 VOLUME I1 111. OFF-SITE! AREAS 3.1 Tonopah Test Range, Nevada 3.2 Central Nevada Test Area, Nevada 3.3 Amchitka, Alaska 3.4 Shoal Test Area, Nevada 3.5 Rio Blanco Gas Stimulation, Colorado 3.6 Rulison Gas Stimulation, Colorado 3.7 Gasbuggy Gas Stimulation, New Mexico 3.8 Griome-Coach Site, New Mexico 3.9 Tatum Dome Test Site, Mississippi 3.10 Area 13, t ell is Air Force Range, Nevada SECTION 3.1 COVER SHEET NAME OF SIT!? Tonopah Test Range, Nevada LOCATION: The Tonopah Test Range ('ITR) is located in south central Nevada between longitudes 116"24' and 116"5S1W, and be; tween latitudes 37'33' and 37'53'N. DISPOSITION: The TIX is operated by the Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) for the DOE. The IX)E was permitted the use of this area through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOW by the De- partment of Air Force in November, 1956. ITR has restricted access. PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT REPORT TONOPAH TEST RANGE (lTR) INTRODUCTION ?TR is located in south central Nevada. The site, approximately 26 by 24, is surrounded on the east, west, and south sides by the Nellis Air Force Range (NAFR) (Figure 3.1.1). The area to the north of TTR is controlled by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Tonopah, the nearest town by road, is located 35 miles to the northwest while Las Vegas is located 140 miles to the southeast. Due west is Goldfield, the geographically nearest town to TTR (26 miles), however, access is not allowed on the dirt road that connects the two areas. OVERALL FACILITY DESCRTPTION In 1963 parts of TTR were used for a series of safety shots called operation Roller Coaster*. These safety shots dismbuGd plutonium and other uansuranics over parts of the test range. Prior to the MOU between the Department of Air Force and the ERDA (now DOE), lTR was used as a bombing range. Since 1969 Sandia National Laboratory (SNL) has been operating the TTR for DOE. SNL's principal responsibility is research and development of nuclear ord- nance: the arming, fusing, and firing systems used in U.S. nuclear bombs and warheads. Components in these systems developed by Sandia include power sup- plies and timing mechanisms, radars, switches, and other parts and circuitry which make up the inmcate actuating and control systems of those bombs and warheads. , In addition, SNL designs bomb casings for the weapons which would be dropped from aircraft. In the case of warheads, SNLs job is one of team-play with missile designers to assure compatibility of each device with its delivery vehi~le.~s The 'ITR is located in south central Nevada within the Basin and Range physiographic province. The boundaries of the TfR encompass several basins or portions of basins and several mountains. The majority of the facilities and test * One of the safety shots of operation Roller Coaster was conducted on the Nellis Air Force Range, just beyond the TIR boundary. For the purpose of this inves- tigation it will be considered part of l'TR. FIGURE 3.1.1. Lacation Map of the Tonopah Test Range. areas are located in Cactus Flat (Figure 3.1.2), however, one of the safety shots of operation Roller Coaster did occur in Stonewall Flat, the basin adjacent to Cactus Flat. The northeastern side of Cactus Flat is bordered by the Kawich Range which has a maximum elevation of 9,404 ft. To the south and southeast several low-ly- ing hills separate Cactus Flat from Gold Flat. The northeastern portion has a low-lying topographic divide separating it from Stone Cabin Basin. The Cactus Range, which has a maximum elevation of 7,482 ft, separated Cactus Flat and Stonewall Flat. Cactus Flat, which lies at 5,500 ft, has several playa lakes which occur along the long axis of the central portion of the valley. Stonewall Flat (4,650 ft) has one playa which is not located within the boundaries of Tll7. The facilities at the TTR consist of two main areas of development, areas 3 and 9, and many isolated sites which contain targets, con~vallutions,radars, tele- scopes, or telemetry stations (Figure 3.1.3). Area 3 is the Control Point Area. Its facilities include housing administration, an airsmp, a control tower, operation control facilities, telemetry playback equipment, and maintenance shops. Area 9 is the center for rocket and gun firings.!= ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING As previously mentioned, ?TR is surrounded on 3 sides by the Nellis Air Force Range. This area is used for the training of aircrews and operational evalu- ations of weapon system capability.16 Access to this area and to the TTR is re- stricted. North of the TTR the land is managed by the BLM. It is open range which is used for cattle grazing. The nearest national park or monument to the Tlli is Death Valley National Monument. It is located 50 miles to the southwest of the Cactus Range. Table 3.1.1 shows a list of endangered, threatened, or sensitive plants that are known to occur at the This list includes species protected under the Nevada Revised Statutes as well as those designated by the Northern Nevada Native Plant Society. FIGURE 3.1.2. Physiographic Map of Cactus Flat. 3.1.5 , TTR North Boundary ,----9 0 I 4* >----..-..-0 ,*-er-y '\% ,.- e O / \ 9 CUM,UTE NO2 CLEA~8~~~2~0.3 /i\,\ \ D '\ \\\ \ \\ \ \ \\ To Double .'I \\ \ Tracks Site *4# \ d--- \\\\ ----C --+--- 9-'* UUUN (Ohost Town) \ \ \ LEGEND \ ConUaves, Radars, TOl#lCOPm \ . or lolqmatrt SlaUons \ 0-- /'B 0 TU001. ',/ ODNWe8 SCALE . -Paved Roads MILES --(mprovod Roads FIGURE 3.1.3. Facility Map of ?TR. TABLE 3.1.1. ENDANGERED. THREATENED OR SENSmPLANT TAXA KNOWN TO OCCUR ON THE TONOPAH TEST RANGE. Federal! Nevada2 NNNPSs Species Status S tams Status Asclepias eastwoodiana 2C - W Coryphantha vivipara var. rosea 3C E Dc Gilia nyensis 3C - 0R Opuntia pulchella 3C E Dc Phacelia mustelina 3C - OR Sclerocactus polyancistrus 3C E Dc ' Federal status codes include: 2C Candidate 2 - USFWS need more information before listing ispossible. 3C Non-candidate - Taxa are considered to be more widespread than originally thought. and (or) have no identifiable threat. 2 Nevada status codes include: E Protected by Nemda Revised StatUte 527.270 as a critically endangered plant. or by NRS 527.060 under the Cacu and Yucca Law. - Indicates that no status has been given. ' NNNPS (Northern Nevada Native Plant Society) status codes include: W Watch - Taa of uncertain abundance and disuibuuon, and (or) for those whose threau cannot be defined to a reasonable degree. OR Other Rare - Taxa of iimited disuibution, but not under any presentiy known threat. Dc Deletion - Category c deletion indicates that taxa are mom widespread than originally thought. and (or) have no identifiable threat. RIT Recommended Federal Threatened - Taxa have been recommended for threatened Sfatus. Since the Roller Coaster test was conducted in two separate valleys, nvo sepa- rate ground-water systems are of importance. However, because these are re- stricted areas and for all practical purposes undeveloped, little is known about the aquifers. Typically, the valleys or more properly grabens of the Basin and Range Province contain thousands of feet of alluvial material eroded from adjacent moun- tain ranges. The particle size and distribution varies widely throughout these grabens. In Cactus Flat, well logs indicate the sediments are composed of gravels, sands, silts, and clays. Continuous confining layer are not present, so the aquifers that are used for water production are phreatic.5 The depth to ground water in Cactus Flat ranges from 90 to 150 ft,ls depending on the surface elevation of the well. Less is known of the Stonewall Flat ground-water system. Desert Well, the only well in Stonewall Flat, has no recorded well log. The stratigraphy would be expected to be similar to that of Cactus Flat. The depth to water at Desert Well was repotted to be 110 ft.~?: Regional ground-water discharge from both of these systems is believed tg be toward Sarcobatus Flat, but data are insufficient to confirm this hypothesis.13 The precipitation pattern in Nevada is principally related to topography. Sta- tions at higher elevations generally receive more precipitation than those at lower elevations. On the valley floors, where precipitation is small, little precipitation infiltrates into the ground-water reservoirs. The greater precipitation in the moun- tains provides most of the recharge. Water reaches the ground-water reservoirs by seepage loss from saeams on the alluvial apron and by underflow from the con- solidated rocks.
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