Remedial investigation report on the abandoned nitric acid pipeline at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Abstract

Upper East Fork Poplar Creek OU-2 consists of the Abandoned Nitric Acid Pipeline. This pipeline was installed in 1951 to transport liquid wastes {approximately} 4,800 ft from Buildings 9212, 9215, and 9206 to the S-3 Ponds. Materials known to have been discharged through the pipeline include nitric acid, depleted and enriched uranium, various metal nitrates, salts, and lead skimmings. A total of nineteen locations were chosen to be investigated along the pipeline for the first phase of this Remedial Investigation. Sampling consisted of drilling down to obtain a soil sample at a depth immediately below the pipeline. Additional samples were obtained deeper in the subsurface depending upon the depth of the pipeline, the depth of the water table, and the point of auger refusal. The nineteen samples collected below the pipeline were analyzed by the Y-12 Plant laboratory for metals, nitrate/nitrite, and isotopic uranium. Samples collected from three boreholes were also analyzed for volatile organic compounds because these samples produced a response with organic vapor monitoring equipment. The results of the baseline human health risk assessment for the Abandoned Nitric Acid Pipeline contaminants of potential concern show no unacceptable risks to human health via incidental ingestion of soil, inhalation of dust, dermal contact with the soil, or external exposure to radionuclides in the ANAP soils, under the construction worker and/or the residential land-use scenarios.