Screening of contaminants in Waste Area Grouping 2 at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Abstract

Waste Area Grouping 2 (WAG 2) of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is located in the White Oak Creek Watershed and is composed of White Oak Creek Embayment, White Oak Lake and associated floodplain, and portions of White Oak Creek (WOC) and Melton Branch downstream of ORNL facilities. Contaminants leaving other ORNL WAGs in the WOC watershed pass through WAG 2 before entering the Clinch River. Health and ecological risk screening analyses were conducted on contaminants in WAG 2 to determine which contaminants were of concern and would require immediate consideration for remedial action and which contaminants could be assigned a low priority or further study. For screening purposes, WAG 2 was divided into four geographic reaches: Reach 1, a portion of WOC; Reach 2, Melton Branch; Reach 3, White Oak Lake and the floodplain area to the weirs on WOC and Melton Branch; and Reach 4, the White Oak Creek Embayment, for which an independent screening analysis has been completed. Screening analyses were conducted using data bases compiled from existing data on carcinogenic and noncarcinogenic contaminants, which included organics, inorganics, and radionuclides. Contaminants for which at least one ample had a concentration above the level of detection weremore » placed in a detectable contaminants data base. Those contaminants for which all samples were below the level of detection were placed in a nondetectable contaminants data base.« less