ML102000377

Mecklenberg County Land Use & Environmental Services Agency McGuire Tritium Releases

ML102000377
Person / Time
Site:	McGuire, Mcguire
Issue date:	02/27/2008
From:	Mecklenburg County, NC
To:	Office of Information Services
References
FOIA/PA-2010-0209
Download: ML102000377 (7)

Text

MECKLENBURG COUNTY Land Use & Environmental Services Agency Water & Land Resources 2/27/2008 McGuire Tritium Release

Background

On February.6, 2008, Tim Gause (Business Relations Manager with Duke Energy) notified Land Use and Environrmental Service Agency (LUESA) that the McGuire Nuclearfacility experience(d an Unintentional release of treated wastewater to the environment. Duke Energy reported that approx imately 140.000 gal Ions ot' low-level tri ti ated wastewater con tai ning approximately 9,000 Pico-curies/liter (pCi/L), leaked from a containment pond into the subsurface on Sunday, february 3, 2008. The wastewater was being held, prior to a scheduled release, in accordance with the facility's permit. Duke Energy notified the State of NC and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday, February 4, 2008. Duke Energy asserted that there was no public heahh risk associated with this release in thai the radionuclide levels in the leaked wastewater were far below the EPA's DrinkingaWater Standard For tritium, which is 20,000 pCi/L..

Groundwater Following the report o1-the dischar-geon 2/6/2008 a iviap showing the facility with adjascent prn)perties and well locations was produced. Potential release locations were identified. The actual location of the release was not confirmed by Duke Energy Until 1, 2/I 1/2008.

2/7/2008 The Mecklenburg County Ilcalth Director was notified verbally of dhe release. There was not an immeIdiate public health concern becaIse the level of tritiu m discharged was below the EPA Drinking Water Standard. However, it was noted that active drinking water wells are located on properties adjacent to the McGuire Facility.

2/I 1/2008 John Williamson (704-875-5894)of Duke Energy Environmental Group) identified the actual relc~ase location0 uring a telephone Conversation. The closest drinking water wells, on Stinson Cove Road are more than 4,000 feet away and are not believed to be directly impacted by this release. Surface water was within 1,000 feet. John referred questions about tile flow of the water, the levels of tritium in the grotndwater and the location of' groundwate.r monitoring wells on the property to Steve Mooneyhan (704-875-4646).

2/12/2008 A conversation with Steve Mooneyhan hi-hlighte'd the following:

-Therelease came From a final holding pond (one million .gallons) constructed of1 concrete with sealecdjo ints. In a perm itted discharge the water Ilows lroinl one of three ponds (the final holding pond or one. of the two settling poncds) though a pipe to a sluice where a composite sample is taken. The water enters a storm water canal and is discharged to the Pt.( )tII.U p FRIt)F

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river. Nuclear Regulatory Comrission regulates (he discharge. The discharge linit is 20,000 pCi/l,. (Note: it is my understanding that this is based on a cdose amount so highcr levels can be discharged as long as the diluted level of tritium does not exceed 20,000 pCi/L.)

" The final holding pond was drained and no obvious leaks were detected. There is sludge in the bottom of the pond that will be removed and. further investigation to determine the cause of the releasc.

Water that flows through the ponds is secondary water oiginating from steam process and water treatment. The water first goes to a sump where is moved btoone of the two settling.ponds (each 2,5 imlillion gallons). If additional treatment is needed (ex. fobaming) it goes.to the final holding pond. Typically water doeks not flow thl:ough the final holding pond so having it off line is not an issue. Water from the two settling ponds is discharged along the same route as the final holding pond.

[here are 65 groundwater hionitoring wells around the facility. Duke Energy completes quar1terly sampling oftthe monitoring wells. Duke Energy is currently completing a Groundwater flow analysis. In general terms the groundwater is flowing towards the river.

" Duke Energy completes an annual radiological environmental report.

The McGuire Facility does a volIuntary notification When o monitoring well results are > 20,O00pCi/L o a1n unintended loss of morc than 100 gallons.

. Duke Energy and GWS discussed adding a representative from the Health Department to the notification list and the possibility of a site visit.

February 19, 2008 GWS contacted Andrew Pitner, NCDLNR- Aquifer PRA ecCfioI Section to confirm he was aware of the release and to notify him that IJUESA would be making a site visit.

Andrew had been notified.

On February 20, 2008, D)uke Energy employees Harry Sloan (704-875-4671) and Cyndi Martlinec (704-382-4367) provided it ficld tour For Lisa Corbitt and David Buetow of LUESA of the area where the spill occurred and nearby groundwater monitoring wells at the McGuire Nuclear Facility. Duke Energy provided monitoring wells maps, quarterly tritium results, and the 2006 Annual Rad iological Environmental operating report.

- Dtriring a site visit ILUFSA was notified of a second previous release liorom a pipC that extended into the woods. Releases from this pipe occurred in batches durin the monitoringf tile p.-. Th pipe .had visiby been disconnected and the discharge From tie p11 monitoring was redirected. Water was discharging from the pipe in the woods during1 the site visit bar according to flhury Sloan and Cy ndi Mar'il-icc this vs dsgTroundwater discharie. There are nionitoring wells in the iirea of the discharge.

Iriimany water is broulght in from Lake Noran thmAnrhiough 8 reci Ic iilliuon pril)*s. Each P

pump is capable of 250,000 gallons per minuI..This water enterIs tile Iacility and is discharged through the main discharge canal. Nuclear Regulator y Commission regu0lates iHOPL.E

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the discharge. The. discharge limit is 20,000,pCi/L. (Note: it is my understanding that this is based on a close arnountso higher levels can be discharged as longl as trhe diuted level of tritium does not exceed 20,000 pCi/L.)

> Typical tritium levels in the discharge canal are 1,500-2,000 pCi/1.

3 The other two large ponds on the facility:arie for emergency cooling water and for storm water runoff.

• Duke Energy has two drinking water wells located on the property across NC 73. The McGluire Nuclear facility is served by Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities.

February 2 1, 2008 A review of the monitoring well data provided by Duke Energy showed:

That. tritium is in the groundwater but at levels below the drinking water standards.

o- The highest tritium level in the groundwater nmonitoring wells is 11,600 pCi/L. (5/23/07 at M- 104R. The well is located between the settling ponds and the lake. The R iiidicates the well is in bedrock. This well has had tritium above 10,000 pCi/L for all sampling events in 2007.

Follow-up conversations included:

>- Andrew Pitner of NCDENR - Aquifer Protection Section will take the lead on determining if there is a violation to the Groundwater 2L standards.

- Valerie Patterson (704m875-5605) Public Awareness'Manager contact for Duke Energy o Confimed who' is notified of a release -All Surrounding Counties, DWQ, NCDP.NR, EOC for Mecklenburg,,:Gaston, Lincoln, hiedell and Catawba. Towns include Huntersviile" Dayidsdn, +CorneliusMooresville and Mount' Holly.

Individuals include Doug.Bean, Rusty Rozzelle, Cary Saul and Harry Jones.

o A request was made to addlRick Christenbury to the contacts so that the Mecklenburg County Health Director would have a ClirelC notification.

In conclusiOn, continued monitoring of the groundwater will be necessary to delermine if there was an impaCt Ifrom tile release. T'ritiuni levels in monitoring well M I04R west of the release exceed, the levels of tritium that were released, from the final holding pond. D[ke Energy has a series of Groundwater monitoring wells in the area of the release that are monitored on a quarterly basis. The closest drinking water well is more than 4,000 feet east of [lie release and the level of the 1ritium in the water released is below the drinking water standard and thus presCilts no health risk to the public as initially indicated by l)uke Energy.

TritiuL. is naturally occurring in the environment and is a radiological by-produ ct. To establish a background level of tritium in Mccklenburg. County GWS will sample drinking water wells in the GWS Ambient Monitoring Network for triti uni. Yo better unIiCderstand potential inpaIts horonl the operation of the McGuire Nuclear Facility, Groundwater & Wastewater Services will sample at least two off site wells adjacent to the McGuire F1acility.

,- Well I will be located east of the primary discharge canal on Stinson Cove Road.

> Well 2 will be located south of the plant near the old unlined landfill.

The iCsul ts [tor these two wells will be Complared to thie background levels established throuIgh the GWS A\mhient Monitoring Nciwork. In addition a requcst has been made that Duke Energy consider including wells loc0ated in these two areas fOr the annual radiolOgYic Ilmon itorinno I'l()Il'f{ ++I'R,It -

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Surface Water Clharlotte-MecklenbuI'g Storm Water Services staffcollected samples for Tritium analysis from both Lake Norman and N4t. Island Lake on February 7, 2008. In order to determine the extent of tdi impact of the release oon surface water, if ajny, samples were collected upstream of the facility,.at the facility's outfall / discharge point on Mountain Island Lake, at the drinking water intakes on both lakes and at several points downstream of the facility ending at the Mouziiain Island Lake dam. A "blank" sample of de-ionized water-was also collected from Charlotte.-

Mecklenburg Utilities' LaborItory for quality control purposes. For specific sampling site locations, refer to Figure 1. Samples from each site were collected in gtass bottles and immediately placed in scaled zip-loc bags to prevent cross-site contamination. All samples were shipped Fed-Lx overnight to GEL, Laboratories in Charleston, SC for analysis.

Literature indicates that. natu rally occurring Tritium, levels in the environment range upward to approximately 30 pCi/L, However, sample analysis indicated that average loca l background Tritium1levels across both Lake Norman and Mountain Island Lake were approximately 915 pCi/L. This is approximately 30 times higher than levels that iigikht be, expected front an areat unimpacted by nuclear power generation facilities.

The McGuire Nucleatr facility itfall / discharge point on Moultain Islhnd Lake was reported at 6,490 pC7i/L. Although thits site was elevated to approximately 7 times the local average background Tritiimn level, this sample remained well below the EPA's Drinking Water Standard lor thle contaminant.

The DI water b]link collected dorilnig the saItiple run was relported at 8 15 pCiIL. DI water generation facilities at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities' LIaboratory.draw process water directly froi tihe City water supply. The City's water supply is drawn from both Lake Normn and Mountain Island Lakes where this is very close to the average background contaminant level, For specific sample results, refier to Table 1.

Steve Mooneylian of Duke Energy indicated that Duke routinely collects composite sanmples at the discharge point (location #5 in Figure 1) for compliance monitoring. Steve was not sui:prised by the 6,490 pCi/L result and indicated that typical treated discharges froml the facility were in that range or higher, up to approximately 9,000 pCi/l,.

On February 20. 2008, Duke Energy employees provided Lisa Corbitt and David BIuetow of L[jIIFSA with a field tour tL thte area where the spill occurred and near-by gi-oulindwater mninitorii wells at the McGuirc Nuclear Faicility. Both Lisa and David expressed confidence in the in*nlnCr in which Duke Energy has responded to the incident.

In conclusion, the incidenlt appeaLs to have resuIlied in illinlinial, if ally, illpacIs to soir'icc watte1r qltiali ty in Lake Norman and Nloun lhail Islandd LAke. Surface watCr sani:lin esulIts idicatc that ifimpacts have occuTrrd fromtih te TritiuLm1 release they are well below thle di nking watcr standard and thus r no. hcalth risk to the putblic.as initially indicatcd by Duke E Inergy. In addition, it is impoirtant to ilote tha thil MCGuire Nuclear I1"acilily is allowed 10 d ischlarCe Trtilin *i to Lake Nornman and M~outntain Island Lake *it the dIinkhkin water standard of 20,000 pCi/L. liew highCst Trili eve:lC.

Ivdciccted in the monitoring peu Ii mlled by LLVESA on Fcbil-Lary 7. 2008 was less than halIf thils allowed discharge coricenltration.

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"YO better undcrsrtand the surface water quality impacts from the operation of the McGuire Nuclear Facility, the LUESA Water Quality Program will begin regular radiological monitorintg at select locations on Lake Norman and Mountain Island Lake effective March 2008.

FigLure 1. Radiological Monitoring Sites; Lake Norman and Mt. Island Lake PE'LFO'l -jPRiDIE - PROGRELSS

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Table I Radioloeical MNonitoring. Results.

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DI1 Water Blank 2/7/08 8:30 1,:ý381 700 UpstrCam MCinirc, North o[ the Peninsula 2/7108 12:2 (0 10 39 700 4 UI..akc Norman Iiir Wutcr Intake 217/08 11:43 12301 411 700

'4 Upsts-cam McGuih'e, Smilh of Lake Norman Dam 2/7/08 110:35 SXi 1 3.1 700 6 NhM.IWand Lake J; M id-Channel 2/7/08 10: 1. ____ 7000 M.Isnd Lake.2; Mlid-Channel 2/7/08 110:00 91) 396,:(i 700 t8 M..i. Island Lake Drinkinte Water [nmake 2/7/08I 9:50 _8(i6' 372) 700 9 N-11. Island Lake at the Damn27(8 93 90 1389 700 Atitachllnents: Doulble,.Click cover letter to view entire halb report.

P--'reparedC BV: RuIsty Rozzlilc, R.S.

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