Experimental Plan: Uranium Stabilization Through Polyphosphate Injection 300 Area Uranium Plume Treatability Demonstration Project

This Test Plan describes a laboratory-testing program to be performed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in support of the 300-FF-5 Feasibility Study (FS). The objective of the proposed treatability test is to evaluate the efficacy of using polyphosphate injections to treat uranium contaminated groundwater in situ. This study will be used to: (1) Develop implementation cost estimates; (2) Identify implementation challenges; and (3) Investigate the technology's ability to meet remedial objectives These activities will be conducted in parallel with a limited field investigation, which is currently underway to more accurately define the vertical extent of uranium in the vadose zone, and in the capillary fringe zone laterally throughout the plume. The treatability test will establish the viability of the method and, along with characterization data from the limited field investigation, will provide the means for determining how best to implement the technology in the field. By conducting the treatability work in parallel with the ongoing Limited Field Investigation, the resulting Feasibility Study (FS) will provide proven, site-specific information for evaluating polyphosphate addition and selecting a suitable remediation strategy for the uranium plume within the FS time frame at an overall cost savings

Micron-Size Zero-Valent Iron Emplacement in Porous Media Using Polymer Additives: Column and Flow Cell Ex-periments

At the Hanford Site, an extensive In Situ Redox Manipulation (ISRM) permeable reactive barrier was installed to prevent chromate from reaching the Columbia River. However, chromium has been detected in several wells, indicating a premature loss of the reductive capacity in the aquifer. Laboratory experiments have been conducted to investigate whether barrier reductive capacity can be enhanced by adding micron-scale zero-valent iron to the high-permeability zones within the aquifer using shear-thinning fluids containing polymers. Porous media were packed in a wedge-shaped flow cell to create either a heterogeneous layered system with a high-permeability zone between two low-permeability zones or a high-permeability channel sur-rounded by low-permeability materials. The injection flow rate, polymer type, polymer concentration, and injected pore volumes were determined based on preliminary short- and long-column experiments. The flow cell experiments indicated that iron concentration enhancements of at least 0.6% (w/w) could be obtained using moderate flow rates and injection of 30 pore volumes. The 0.6% amended Fe0 concentration would provide approximately 20 times the average reductive capacity that is provided by the dithionite-reduced iron in the ISRM barrier. Calculations show that a 1-m-long Fe0 amended zone with an average concentration of 0.6% w/w iron subject to a groundwater velocity of 1 m/day will have an estimated longevity of 7.2 years

Site Characterization Plan: Uranium Stabilization through Polyphosphate Injection

An initial feasibility study of options to treat the uranium plume at the 300-FF-5 Operable Unit considered hydraulic containment, slurry wall containment, and groundwater extraction as potential remedial action technologies. None were selected for interim action, and reduction of contamination levels by natural processes was considered a viable alternative while source removal actions continued. Subsequent planning for a Phase III feasibility study focused on methods that would reduce the concentration of uranium in the aquifer, including multiple methods to immobilize uranium using chemical-based technologies. Based on an initial technology screening, the polyphosphate technology was identified as the best candidate to treat the for further evaluation and selected for treatability testing. The overall objective of the polyphosphate treatability test is to evaluate the efficacy of using polyphosphate injections to treat uranium contaminated groundwater in situ. The objective of the work elements included in this site characterization plan is to collect site-specific characterization data that will be needed to design and implement a field-scale demonstration of the technology

Treatability Test Plan for an In Situ Biostimulation Reducing Barrier

This treatability test plan supports a new, integrated strategy to accelerate cleanup of chromium in the 100 Areas at the Hanford Site. This plan includes performing a field-scale treatability test for bioreduction of chromate, nitrate, and dissolved oxygen. In addition to remediating a portion of the plume and demonstrating reduction of electron acceptors in the plume, the data from this test will be valuable for designing a full-scale bioremediation system to apply at this and other chromium plumes at the Hanford Site

Effect of Geochemical and Physical Heterogeneity on the Hanford 100D Area In Situ Redox Manipulation Barrier Longevity

The purpose of this study was to quantify the influence of physical and/or geochemical heterogeneities in the Hanford 100D area In Situ Redox Manipulation (ISRM) barrier, which may be contributing to the discontinuous chromate breakthrough locations along the 65-well (2,300 ft long) barrier. Possible causes of chromate breakthrough that were investigated during this study include: (1) high hydraulic conductivity zones; (2) zones of low reducible iron; and (3) high hydraulic conductivity zones with low reducible iron. This laboratory-scale investigation utilized geochemical and physical characterization data collected on 0.5 to 1 foot intervals from four borehole locations. Results of this laboratory study did not provide definitive support any of the proposed hypotheses for explaining chromate breakthrough at the Hanford 100-D Area ISRM barrier. While site characterization data indicate a significant degree of vertical variability in both physical and geochemical properties in the four boreholes investigated, lateral continuity of high conductivity/low reductive capacity zones was not observed. The one exception was at the water table, where low reductive capacity and high-K zones were observed in 3 of four boreholes. Laterally continuous high permeability zones that contain oxic sediment near the water table is the most likely explanation for high concentration chromium breakthrough responses observed at various locations along the barrier. A mechanism that could explain partial chromate breakthrough in the ISRM barrier is the relationship between the field reductive capacity and the rate of chromate oxidation. Subsurface zones with low reductive capacity still have sufficient ferrous iron mass to reduce considerable chromate, but the rate of chromate reduction slows by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude relative to sediments with moderate to high reductive capacity. The original barrier longevity estimate of 160 pore volumes for homogeneous reduced sediment, or approximately 20 years, (with 5 mg/L dissolved oxygen and 2 ppm chromate) is reduced to 85 pore volumes (10 years) when the wide spread 60 ppm nitrate plume is included in the calculation. However, this reduction in barrier lifetime is not as great for high permeability channels, as there is insufficient time to reduce nitrate (and consume ferrous iron). If the cause of laterally discontinuous breakthrough of chromate along the ISRM barrier is due to oxic transport of chromate near the water table, additional dithionite treatment in these zones will not be effective. Treatment near the water table with a technology that emplaces considerable reductive capacity is needed, such as injectable zero valent iron

Treatability Study of In Situ Technologies for Remediation of Hexavalent Chromium in Groundwater at the Puchack Well Field Superfund Site, New Jersey

This treatability study was conducted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), at the request of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2, to evaluate the feasibility of using in situ treatment technologies for chromate reduction and immobilization at the Puchack Well Field Superfund Site in Pennsauken Township, New Jersey. In addition to in situ reductive treatments, which included the evaluation of both abiotic and biotic reduction of Puchack aquifer sediments, natural attenuation mechanisms were evaluated (i.e., chromate adsorption and reduction). Chromate exhibited typical anionic adsorption behavior, with greater adsorption at lower pH, at lower chromate concentration, and at lower concentrations of other competing anions. In particular, sulfate (at 50 mg/L) suppressed chromate adsorption by up to 50%. Chromate adsorption was not influenced by inorganic colloids

Drilling Specifications: Well Installations in the 300 Area to Support PNNL’s Integrated Field-Scale Subsurface Research Challenge (IFC) Project

Part of the 300 Area Integrated Field-Scale Subsurface Research Challenge (IFC) will be installation of a network of high density borings and wells to monitor migration of fluids and contaminants (uranium), both in groundwater and vadose zone, away from an surface infiltration plot (Figure A-1). The infiltration plot will be located over an area of suspected contamination at the former 300 Area South Process Pond (SPP). The SPP is located in the southeastern portion of the Hanford Site, within the 300-FF-5 Operable Unit. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) with the support of FH shall stake the well locations prior to the start of drilling. Final locations will be based on accessibility and will avoid any surface or underground structures or hazards as well as surface contamination

River-Induced Flow Dynamics in Long-Screen Wells and Impact on Aqueous Samples

Previously published field investigations and modeling studies have demonstrated the potential for sample bias associated with vertical wellbore flow in conventional monitoring wells constructed with long-screened intervals. This article builds on the existing body of literature by (1) demonstrating the utility of continuous (i.e., hourly measurements for ∼1 month) ambient wellbore flow monitoring and (2) presenting results from a field experiment where relatively large wellbore flows (up to 4 L/min) were induced by aquifer hydrodynamics associated with a fluctuating river boundary located approximately 250 m from the test well. The observed vertical wellbore flows were strongly correlated with fluctuations in river stage, alternating between upward and downward flow throughout the monitoring period in response to changes in river stage. Continuous monitoring of ambient wellbore flows using an electromagnetic borehole flow meter allowed these effects to be evaluated in concert with continuously monitored river-stage elevations (hourly) and aqueous uranium concentrations (daily) in a long-screen well and an adjacent multilevel well cluster. This study demonstrates that when contaminant concentrations within the aquifer vary significantly over the depth interval interrogated, river-induced vertical wellbore flow can result in variations in measured concentration that nearly encompass the full range of variation in aquifer contaminant concentration with depth

An Experimental Study of Micron-Size Zero-Valent Iron Emplacement in Permeable Porous Media Using Polymer-Enhanced Fluids

At the Hanford Site, an extensive In Situ Redox Manipulation (ISRM) permeable reactive barrier was installed to prevent chromate from reaching the Columbia River. However, chromium has been detected in several wells, indicating a premature loss of the reductive capacity in the aquifer. One possible cause for premature chromate breakthrough is associated with the presence of high-permeability zones in the aquifer. In these zones, groundwater moves relatively fast and is able to oxidize iron more rapidly. There is also a possibility that the high-permeability flow paths are deficient in reducing equivalents (e.g. reactive iron), required for barrier performance. One way enhancement of the current barrier reductive capacity can be achieved is by the addition of micron-scale zero-valent iron to the high-permeability zones within the aquifer. The potential emplacement of zero-valent iron (Fe0) into high-permeability Hanford sediments (Ringold Unit E gravels) using shear-thinning fluids containing polymers was investigated in three-dimensional wedge-shaped aquifer models. Polymers were used to create a suspension viscous enough to keep the Fe0 in solution for extended time periods to improve colloid movement into the porous media without causing a permanent detrimental decrease in hydraulic conductivity. Porous media were packed in the wedge-shaped flow cell to create either a heterogeneous layered system with a high-permeability zone in between two low-permeability zones or a high-permeability channel surrounded by low-permeability materials. The injection flow rate, polymer type, polymer concentration, and injected pore volumes were determined based on preliminary short- and long-column experiments