ML20215E480

Discusses 860818 Visit to Sheffield Low Level Waste Disposal Site.Appreciation Expressed for Cooperation & Assistance. Detailed Notes Encl

ML20215E480
Person / Time
Site:	02700039
Issue date:	08/18/1986
From:	Dale Goode NRC
To:	Bowen M U.S. ECOLOGY, INC. (FORMERLY NUCLEAR ENGINEERING
Shared Package
ML20215E475	List: ML20215E472 ML20215E480
References
NUDOCS 8610150329
Download: ML20215E480 (4)

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DANG SHEFFIELD NOTES DETAILED NOTES FROM A TRIP TO THE SHEFFIELD LLW SITE 18 AUGUST 1986 Dan Goode, WMGT I visited the Sheffield Low-level Radioactive Waste Disposal Site on 18 Aug 86.

The purpose of this visit was to tour the site and to review monitoring data in

. preparation for a pre-hearing conference (held 19 Aug 86) and for future licensing activities. I was assisted in this effort by Mr. Mark Bowen, Site

' Manager, U.S. Ecology Inc.

Review of Monitorino Data Summary of trench ~ inspection reports, 1986; noted are areas of subsidence from USE trench inspection reports. The reports are usually filled in by Doug Long and also signed by Mark Bowen. Occasionally Mark Bowen completes the inspection report. Apparently repairs are made immediately.

Date USE comments (dimensions are in feet) 1/3 USGS drainage tube, large area on Trench 7 (T7) 1/20 some previously repaired areas need work on T4, T11, T23 (2 areas),

and T24 1/31 OK, gully erosion on S of Til?

2/19 OK, standing water between trenches 2/27 OK 3/5 Til (3x3x8'), used some sand to fill, T14 (4x4x3) 3/14T23 ort 247(3x3x1) 3/17 refilling holes 3/18? 3 near T11, 2 en T23 3/25 T14 (4x3x1), T24 3/28 2 on T23, T6, T18, T24 4/4 OK 4/8 2 on T23, T18 4/28 OK 5/9 OK 5/14 USGS culvert (3x3xi) 5/16 OK 5/19 T14 (3x3x1), rained 2.25 inches on 5/17

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DANG SHEFFIELD NOTES 5/30 3 on T23 6/4 OK 6/11 OK 6/27 OK 7/9 between T5 and 6 (3x3x3) 7/17 USGS culvert, T24 8/7 OK The trench inspection reports also usually indicate the amount of soil used to fill depressions and the amount of work (man-hours) involved. Erosion and settlement have occurred at the culvert constructed by the USGS near the ends of T23 and T24 The last trench to be filled, T23, had the highest rate of subsidence occurrence this year. USE has used about 7 cubic yards of soil to fill holes appearing in the trench covers. In addition, about 200 cubic yards were used to raise the elevation of an area which had settled over a long period. This has been a very good year as far as surface stability, probably due to low precipitation according to site personnel. The site was never really covered by snow this year according to site personnel.

The water level in the Trench 18 sump rose fairly high this spring following some heavy rain according to site personnel. Tritium, gross beta are high in samples from the sump. The sump took 10 days to fill after being bailed dry during sampling.

A deep well (#35) was installed in the spring of 1985 for water supply at the facility. This well taps units below the shallow glacial units.

I reviewed 85 and 86 monitoring data maintained in notebooks onsite. Samples are taken quarterly as required by the license. The letter series specified in the' license are sampled, but not the more recently installed USGS wells. USE is no longer taking splits of the sampling done by IDNS. Tritium is below detection (800 pCi/l or less) in all wells sampled by USE. Gross alpha and beta are sometimes high in suspended samples, but after filtering levels are below 10 pCi/l, The action levels for gross alpha and gross beta are 30 pCf/1 and 60 pCi/l respectively. The action level for tritium is 2000 pCi/1.

the Concentrations suspended alpha generally) and betaappear to be detection

. The tritium near backgrourd levelslimit (or reporting) (excluding (800 pCi/1) is close to the action level (2000 pCi/1). Offsite wells, including public and private water supply, are also sampled.

Station W, for air tritium, indicatas no increase in background. This sampler is located in the center of the site. Recently the soil action level for gross beta was exceeded at well "0".

3 DANG SHEFFIELD NOTES Site Tour I toured the site for about 3 hours3.472222e-5 days <br />8.333333e-4 hours <br />4.960317e-6 weeks <br />1.1415e-6 months <br />. A culvert at the west boundary of the

- site feeds runoff from the adjacent IEPA licensed hazardous waste landfill across the LLW site. This channel is about 4 ft deep and runs across the site Letween T18 and T23. Both of these trenches are very low compared to the other trenches at the site. The drainate channel had standing water in it below the culvert at the site access road.

Gully erosion was noticed on several of the steeper slopes at the site including areas on the north of T14A and to the south of T11. Near T11, the gully erosion is in an area of concentrated flow due to the surface contours on the trench covers. The gully erosion on T14A is not related to an area of concentrated flow. This trench was constructed by building a dike of local soils above the natural grade. These gullies are up to 3 ft deep, although they are narrow (less than 5 ft wide). The geotextile (Enkmat? brand) placed on the south of Til to reduce erosion has been cut through by gully erosion.

Hay bales were also used to attempt to stabilize the soil in this area.

Neither of these approaches worked according to site personnel, and USE is waiting.for the final cover to address this gully erosion area.

Generally, the surface has a good vegetative cover. Clover and alfalfa are growing along with the typical grasses on the covers. USE is bringing in topsoil from drains at farms in the area. This soil is very fertile. The fence looks good. It takes 1 week to mow the site.

Most of the instrumentation has been removed from the USGS infiltraticn study area, and the grass is not being cut. USE is also having to repair.the surface at the culvert along the ends of T23 and T24 due to erosion and subsidence.

Subsidence can be noted along the surface where the culvert is buried. Erosion has occurred at both ends of the culvert.

USE is no longer maintaining the dirt road leading to the facility. The county recently sprayed oil on the road directly in front of the USE buildings. An oil stain was also noted on the ground near the truck maintenance buildings.

USE has moved all shipping operations into Sheffield.