Jay Clausen (Ogden) Marc Grant (Ogden) Ben Gregson (MAARNG) - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

E xplosives in G r oundw at er w it hin an Impact Ar ea at E xplosives in G r oundw at er w it hin an Impact Ar ea at t he Massachuset t s Milit ar y Reser vat ion t he Massachuset t s Milit ar y Reser vat ion

Jay Clausen (Ogden) Marc Grant (Ogden) Ben Gregson (MAARNG)

Presented at National Ground Water Association National Convention. December 13-14, 2000. Las Vegas, NV (IAGWSPO Contact Ben Gregson, 508-958-5821).

Sit e Locat ion Sit e Locat ion Sit e Locat ion Sit e Locat ion

I mpact Area Massachusetts Military Reservation

Pur pose Pur pose

Has training with artillery and mortar weapon systems had an impact on groundwater at Camp Edwards (past, present, future)?

Camp E dw ar ds Hist or y Camp E dw ar ds Hist or y

Training and I mpact Areas used since

1911

Designed to house 30,000 troops during

WWI I

Records for 1989 indicate 6456 mortar

practice and HE rounds and 1799 artillery practice rounds fired into the I mpact Area

– munitions usage could have been 200

times higher during wartime

Camp E dw ar ds Hydr ogeologic Model Camp E dw ar ds Hydr ogeologic Model

Groundwater flow is radial from a mound to the southeast of the I mpact Area in the J Range Area

Camp E dw ar ds Lit hology Camp E dw ar ds Lit hology

ELEVATI ON I N FEET (MSL)

• 100
• 50

50 100 150 200

Sea Level

Legend

VC Sand & Gravel F Sand & Silt Till Bedrock Water Table Well Screen

E xplosive Fat e E xplosive Fat e-

• and

and-

• Tr anspor t Concept ual Model

Tr anspor t Concept ual Model

Deposition of particulates to ground

surface

Slow dissolution of particulates Once in solution rapid movement through

unsaturated zone leaving little residual contamination (RDX and HMX)

Rapid groundwater transport away from

source

RDX Dist r ibut ion Hypot hesis RDX Dist r ibut ion Hypot hesis

Shallow surface soil detections reflect

presence of solid particulates

– evidence of soil concentrations in excess of

RDX solubility limit

Absence of RDX in deeper soil may be

the result of:

– very small spatial footprint – dissolved RDX only present in wetting front – the amount of RDX residual in solution is

inconsequential compared to the total volume of soil

RDX present in groundwater

Soil Result s Soil Result s

Legend

Non-Detect I mpact Area Boundary Water-Level Contours Roads Detect

E xplosive Dist r ibut ion in Sur f ace Soil

NTs DNTs NG aDNTs RDX H M X TNT

2.6% 4.6% 7.3% 26.8% 33.1% 22.8% 2.6%

E xplosive Dist r ibut ion In G r oundw at er

N T s D N T s D A N T s aD N T s R D X H M X T N T

2.8% 3.6% 0.6% 19.6% 46.1% 23.7% 3.6%

Plan View of RDX Det ect ions in t he Impact Ar ea Plan View of RDX Det ect ions in t he Impact Ar ea

Inner G r oundw at er Tr ansect w it hin t he Impact Ar ea Inner G r oundw at er Tr ansect w it hin t he Impact Ar ea

210 160 110 60 10

• 40
• 90

O ut er G r oundw at er Tr ansect w it hin t he Impact Ar ea O ut er G r oundw at er Tr ansect w it hin t he Impact Ar ea

210 160 110 60 10

• 40
• 90

Longit udinal Cr oss Longit udinal Cr oss-

• Sect ion t hr ough t he Impact Ar ea

Sect ion t hr ough t he Impact Ar ea

210 160 110 60 10

• 40
• 90

Possible Sour ce Ter ms Possible Sour ce Ter ms

High-order

detonations*

Low-order

detonations*

UXO * EOD activities

at the J Range

Disposal/ Burial

sites

Washout

Findings Findings

RDX and HMX present in surface soil

immediately adjacent targets

RDX and HMX present in groundwater

downgradient of targets

TNT is largely degraded before reaching

groundwater

Conclusions Conclusions

Training using artillery rounds (UXO,

low/ high-order detonation, or both) appears to have resulted in an impact to groundwater

Training with mortar rounds and its

impact on groundwater is pending

MMR findings are potentially applicable

to other bombing ranges and battlefields