Preliminary Assessment
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PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT APALACHICOLA NATIONAL FOREST FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY BURIAL SITE NO. 2 Prepared For: United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service 1720 Peachtree Road, NW Suite 710W Atlanta, Georgia 30367-9102 FINAL - December 1, 1998 Prepared By: BAT Associates, Inc. 704 South Illinois Avenue Suite C-202 Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830 BAT Associates, Inc. Preliminary Assessment - Apalachicola National Forest FSU Burial Site No. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................. i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................... iii 1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 2.0 SITE DESCRIPTION, OPERATIONAL HISTORY, AND WASTE CHARACTERISTICS ........................................................................................ 2 3.0 GROUND WATER PATHWAY ...................................................................................... 7 4.0 SURFACE WATER PATHWAY ................................................................................... 11 5.0 SOIL EXPOSURE AND AIR PATHWAYS .................................................................. 12 6.0 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................ 13 7.0 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 14 LIST OF TABLES TABLE 6-1 Sampling Recommendations and Parameters ...................................................... 13 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 2-1 Site Location .......................................................................................................... 3 FIGURE 2-2 Site Sketch ............................................................................................................. 4 FIGURE 2-1 Typical Waste Pit and Existing Monitoring Well Details ..................................... 6 FIGURE 3-4 Regional Stratigraphy ............................................................................................ 8 973002 Final - December 1, 1998 i BAT Associates, Inc. Preliminary Assessment - Apalachicola National Forest FSU Burial Site No. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS (Cont.) APPENDICES APPENDIX A - PA Score Sheets APPENDIX B - Copies of References 973002 Final - December 1, 1998 ii BAT Associates, Inc. Preliminary Assessment - Apalachicola National Forest FSU Burial Site No. 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In accordance with the requirements of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, and the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986, BAT Associates, Inc. conducted a Preliminary Assessment (PA) of the FSU Burial Site No. 2 located in the Apalachicola National Forest, in Leon County west of Tallahassee, Florida. The purpose of the PA is to differentiate sites that pose little or no potential threat to human health and the environment from sites that warrant further investigation. The PA also supports emergency response and removal activities, fulfills public information needs, and generally furnishes appropriate information about the site early in the site assessment process. The scope of the investigation included a review of available file information, a comprehensive target survey, and a site and environs reconnaissance that was conducted on December 9, 1997. Florida State University (FSU) Burial Site No. 2 covers approximately 0.36 acres in a remote area in the Apalachicola National Forest. The site is a relatively flat area measuring 80 feet x 120 feet inside a 6-foot high chain-link security fence topped with barbed wire. Radioactive contaminated solids, containerized liquids, and animal remains were deposited in 26 pits between March 16, 1967 and June 14, 1979. Waste disposal activities were conducted on the southern-half area of the site. No disposals have been made since June 14, 1979. There is no record of this site being listed on the CERCLIS database. The pits are 8 feet long by 7 feet wide, and are 8 feet deep. Waste was placed in the lower 4 foot depth of the pit by a backhoe, covered with approximately 4 inches of earth fill, and covered by a 4-inch concrete slab in pits 1 through 15. Each pit was then backfilled to grade with approximately 4 feet of soil. No concrete slab was installed in pits 16 - 26, only soil was used as backfill. The remaining pits, numbers 27 - 40, have not been used and are assumed to be empty and free of any disposed wastes as indicated in waste disposal records obtained from FSU. Six groundwater monitoring wells have been installed along the perimeter of the site. Monitoring well samples taken over a period of fifteen years show an average activity of 15 dpm/ml. A release of hazardous substances to groundwater is suspected due to lack of containment, high soil permeability, heavy precipitation, and the presence of karst terrain. There is no information on whether the contamination has migrated beyond the monitoring wells. It is also unknown if any additional chemical analysis of the groundwater has been conducted in the past. Although none of the pits have runoff control, there are no indications of a release from the site through the surface water pathway. It is possible that, because of the slope to the southwest of the central pits, precipitation could percolate through the landfill and later emerge into surface water. 973002 Final - December 1, 1998 iii BAT Associates, Inc. Preliminary Assessment - Apalachicola National Forest FSU Burial Site No. 2 Potentially contaminated ground water may also discharge to surface water along these slopes. However, the high soil permeability should cause much of this flow to migrate downwards, minimizing this effect on surface water. No stressed vegetation or other evidence of contamination at the site or along the runoff path was found. Therefore, a release to surface water is considered possible, but not likely. The soil exposure pathway does not appear to present a substantial risk at this site, because of the amount of soil and concrete covering the disposed material in the pits and current use of the property, which limits public access. A release through the air pathway is not suspected due to the soil and vegetation covering the pits, which prevent release of dust or gases. Score sheets, developed by EPA, were used to evaluate a site disposition based on the site score. In general, sites that score 28.50 or greater receive a further action recommendation, while sites that score less than 28.50 receive no further recommended action. Based on existing information gathered and professional judgement, this site received a PA score of 38.16 (Appendix A). During the hazard scoring phase of this PA, the hazard ranking values for this site were estimated, and a number of uncertainties exist. These uncertainties, which contributed to the high site score, are: • No data are available on how far contamination in the groundwater may have spread. • No data are available on whether or not local wetlands and the Lost Creek receive water from groundwater filtering through the site. • Very little data are available on what specific contaminants, other than radioisotopes, may be present, and therefore it is impossible to determine mobility factors. Based on these and other potential uncertainties, the scoring was developed using a worst case scenario. It was assumed that the areas around the site are critical habitats and are used by endangered species identified by the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission. It was also assumed that the groundwater contamination from the site is impacting local surface water resources and terrestrial habitats. These assumptions may or may not be valid, however only additional study and sampling will eliminate these uncertainties. Based on the site score received, and the lack of additional waste information, it is recommended that additional groundwater and soil sampling be conducted at the site to identify and determine the presence of RCRA listed wastes (in addition to verifying low-level radiological contamination), and to indicate possible contamination migration in the groundwater and soil. 973002 Final - December 1, 1998 iv BAT Associates, Inc. Preliminary Assessment - Apalachicola National Forest FSU Burial Site No. 2 1.0 INTRODUCTION In accordance with the requirements of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, and the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986, BAT Associates, Inc. conducted a Preliminary Assessment (PA) of the FSU Burial Site No. 2 located in the Apalachicola National Forest, in Leon County west of Tallahassee, Florida. The purpose of this investigation was to collect information concerning conditions at the site sufficient to assess the threat posed to human health and the environment, and to determine the need for additional CERCLA/SARA activities or other appropriate actions. The scope of the investigation included a review of available file information, a comprehensive target survey, and a site and environs reconnaissance that was conducted on December 9, 1997. 973002 Final - December 1, 1998 1 BAT Associates, Inc. Preliminary Assessment - Apalachicola National Forest FSU Burial Site No. 2 2.0 SITE DESCRIPTION, OPERATIONAL HISTORY, AND WASTE CHARACTERISTICS 2.1 Location The site is located