Plan for proposed aquifer hydraulic testing and groundwater sampling at Everest, Kansas, in January-February 2006.

Abstract

On September 8-9, 2005, representatives of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE), the Commodity Credit Corporation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (CCC/USDA), and Argonne National Laboratory met at the KDHE's offices in Topeka to review the status of the CCC/USDA's environmental activities in Kansas. A key CCC/USDA goal for this meeting was to obtain KDHE input on the selection of possible remedial approaches to be examined as part of the Corrective Action Study (CAS) for this site. As a result of the September meeting, the KDHE recommended several additional activities for the Everest site, to further assist in selecting and evaluating remedial alternatives for the CAS. The requested actions included the following: (1) Construction of several additional interpretive cross sections to improve the depiction of the hydrogeologic characteristics affecting groundwater and contaminant movement along the apparent main plume migration pathway to the north-northwest of the former CCC/USDA facility, and in the vicinity of the Nigh property. (2) Identification of potential locations for several additional monitoring wells, to better constrain the apparent western and northwestern margins of the existing groundwater plume. (3) Development of technical recommendations for a stepwise pumping study of the Everest aquifer unit in the area near and to the north of the Nigh property. On October 21, 2005, Argonne issued a brief Cross Section Analysis (Argonne 2006a) addressing these concerns, on behalf of the CCC/USDA. This report includes the following: (1) Preliminary recommendations for the siting of three new monitoring wells, at locations identified by the KDHE. Argonne also suggested, however, that the installation and sampling of these wells be deferred until after completion of the CAS evaluation. (2) A proposed strategy for testing of the Everest aquifer unit near the Nigh property, involving initial test pumping of the former Nigh domestic well and subsequent testing of a new well to be installed north-northeast of the Nigh well. On November 28, 2005, the KDHE provided written comments on the Cross Section Analysis and the recommendations outlined above. In response to the KDHE's comments, the CCC/USDA agreed (Roe 2005) to discontinue plans to test the Nigh well. The CCC/USDA agreed to proceed instead with the design and installation of a new pumping well and associated observation points to be used for pump testing of the Everest aquifer along the apparent contaminant migration pathway north-northeast of the Nigh property. In conjunction with this test, the CCC/USDA also proposed groundwater sampling with the cone penetrometer (CPT) at the possible monitoring well locations requested by the KDHE in lieu of installing permanent monitoring points.