H.H. Zehner | Search USGS

USGS1989

Construction data and retrieval procedures for selected wells drilled from 1985 through 1987 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee

Twenty-eight wells were constructed by the U. S. Geological Survey for use in describing the groundwater flow system in Melton Valley, at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in eastern Tennessee. The wells were installed at 18 locations in Melton Valley and along the Clinch River during the period 1985 through 1987. During the same period, 19 wells were constructed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory at 7 locations in or near radioactive-waste burial grounds in Melton Valley. Construction data for all 47 wells are in the U.S. Geological Survey Groundwater Site Inventory data system, where information is also stored for 450 wells that were completed at the laboratory in earlier years. The data can be electronically retrieved by personnel who have access to the U.S. Geological Survey Prime computer located in Nashville, Tennessee, and retrieval procedures are given in the report. (USGS)

Tennessee↗

USGS1985

Hydrology and water-quality monitoring considerations, Jackpile uranium mine, northwestern New Mexico

The Jackpile Uranium Mine, which is on the Pueblo of Laguna in northwestern New Mexico, was operated from 1953 to 1980. The mine and facilities have affected 3,141 acres of land, and about 2,656 acres were yet to be reclaimed by late 1980. The intended use of the restored land is stock grazing. Fractured Dakota Sandstone and Mancos Shale of Cretaceous age overlie the Jackpile sandstone and a 200-ft-thick tight mudstone unit of the Brushy Basin Member underlies the Jackpile. The hydraulic conductivity of the Jackpile sandstone probably is about 0.3 ft/day. The small storage coefficients determined from three aquifer tests indicate that the Jackpile sandstone is a confined hydrologic system throughout much of the mine area. Sediment from the Rio Paguate has nearly filled the Paguate Reservoir near Laguna since its construction in 1940. The mean concentrations of uranium, Ra-226, and other trace elements generally were less than permissible limits established in national drinking water regulations or New Mexico State groundwater regulations. No individual surface water samples collected upstream from the mine contained concentrations of Ra-226 in excess of the permissible limits. Ra-226 concentrations in many individual samples collected from the Rio Paguate from near the mouth of the Rio Moquino to the sampling sites along the downstream reach of the Rio Paguate, however, exceeded the recommended permissible concentration of Ra-226 for public drinking water supplies. Concentrations in surface water apparently are changed by groundwater inflow near the confluence of the two streams. The altitude of the water tables in the backfill of the pits will be controlled partly by the water level in the Rio Paguate. Other factors controlling the altitudes of the water tables are the recharge rate to the backfill and the hydraulic conductivities of the backfill, alluvium, Jackpile sandstone, and mudstone unit of the Brushy Basin Member. After reclamation, most of the shallow groundwater probably will discharge to the natural stream channels draining the mine area. Groundwater quality may be monitored as: (1) ' Limited monitoring, ' in which only the change in water quality is determined as the groundwater flows from the mine; or (2) ' thorough monitoring, ' in which specific sources of possible contaminants are described. (Author 's Abstract)

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗

USGS1983

Hydrogeologic investigation of the Maxey Flats radioactive waste burial site, Fleming County, Kentucky

Burial trenches at the Maxey Flats radioactive waste burial site cover an area of about 20 acres, and are located on a plateau, about 300 to 400 feet above surrounding valleys. All waste is buried in the Nancy Member of the Borden Formation, and most is in the weathered shale (regolith) part of this member. Recharge to the rocks is probably by infiltration of rainfall through regolith at the top of the hill. At least two water tables are present: near the base of the regolith, at a depth of about 25 feet and; in the Ohio Shale, at a depth of about 300 feet. About 95 percent of ground-water discharge to streams is from colluvium on hillsides and valley alluvium. The remaining 5 percent is discharge from bedrock, of which about 0.5 percent is from rocks underlying the burial area. Waste radionuclides in the subsurface, other than tritium, were observed only in the regolith of the Nancy Member. Only tritium was observed with certainty in deeper rocks and in the adjacent valley alluvium. Other waste radionuclides were in streamwater and stream sediment, and may have been transported with overland runoff from the surface of the burial site. (USGS)

Kentucky↗