Work Plan for Leachfield Corrective Action Units: Nevada Test Site and Tonopah Test Range, Nevada Revision 1

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Work Plan for Leachfield Corrective Action Units: Nevada Test Site and Tonopah Test Range, Nevada Controlled Copy No.: Approved for public release; further dissemination unlimited. U.S. Department of Energy Nevada Operations Officey

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Available to the public from - U.S. Department of Commerce National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road U.S. Department of Energy and its contractors in paper from - U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof or its contractors or

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WORK PLAN FOR LEACHFIELD CORRECTIVE ACTION UNITS: NEVADA TEST SITE AND TONOPAH TEST RANGE, NEVADA DOE Nevada Operations Office Las Vegas, Nevada Controflfid Copy Nou: V Approved for public release; further dissemination unlimited.

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WORK PLAN FOR LEACHFIELD CORRECTIVE ACTION UNITS: NEVADA TEST SITE AND TONOPAH TEST RANGE, NEVADA Janet Appenzeller-Wing, Project Manager Industrial Sites Project Runore C. Wycoff, Division Director Environmental Restoration Division

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Page i of vii Table of Contents List of Figures................................................................. m List of Tables..................................................................................................................................................... *v List of Acronyms and Abbreviations............................................................................................................ v 1.3 Work Plan Contents................................................................................................................ 3 1.4 Work Plan Implementation.................................................................................................... 4 3.1 Conceptual Site Models for Leachfield CAUs................................................................ 6 3.2 Contaminants of Potential Concern................................................... 10 4.1.1 Field Inspections and Surveys............................................................................20 4.1.4.2 Decontamination and Sample Collection Techniques..................27

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Table of Contents (Continued) Leachfield Work Plan Page ii of vii 5.3.2 Hydrocarbon Waste Management..................................................................... 32 5.3.3 Hazardous Waste Management.......................................................................... 32 6.0 Duration and Records Availability..................................................................................................35 Appendix A - Area 25 Leachfields Facility Description A. 1.0 Area 25 Leachfield Facility Description.................................................................................... A-l Document Review Sheet........................................................................................................................... C-l

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Leachfield Work Plan Page iii of vii List of Figures Number Title Page 1 -1 Nevada Test Site and the Tonopah Test Range...................................................................... 2 3-1 Leachfield System General Conceptual Site Modeland Terminology............................. 7 4-1 Generic Sampling Strategy for Leachfield Systems.......................................................... 23

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Leachffeld Work Plan Page iv of vii List of Tables Number Title Page 3-1 General Analytical Requirements for Leachfield CAUs.................................................... 11 3-2 General Geotechnical and Hydrological Analyses for Leachfield CAUs..................... 15

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leacnfiew Wort Plan Page v of vii List of Acronyms and Abbreviations ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials CADD Corrective Action Decision Document CAIP Corrective Action Investigation Plan(s) CAU Corrective Action Unit(s) CAS Corrective Action Site(s) COPC Contaminant(s) of Potential Concern CSA Central Support Area DOE U.S. Department of Energy DOE/NV U.S. Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office DOT U.S. Department of Transportation DQO Data Quality Objective(s) E-MAD Engine Maintenance, Assembly, and Disassembly Building EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ERD Environmental Restoration Division FFACO Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order HASP Health and Safety Plan

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Leachfield Work Plan Page vi of vii List of Acronyms and Abbreviations (Continued) NAC Nevada Administrative Code NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NDEP Nevada Division of Environmental Protection NERVA Nuclear Engine for Rocket Vehicle Application NRDS Nuclear Rocket Development Station NTS Nevada Test Site NTSWAC Nevada Test Site Waste Acceptance Criteria PAL Preliminary Action Level PPE Personal protective equipment PRG Preliminary Remediation Goals QA Quality Assurance QAPP Quality Assurance Project Plan QA/QC Quality Assurance and Quality Control RCP Reactor Control Point RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act REECo Reynolds Electrical & Engineering Co., Inc. RMA Radioactive Materials Area R-MAD Reactor Maintenance, Assembly and Disassembly Building

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Leachfield Work Plan Page vii of vii List of Acronyms and Abbreviations (Continued) SSHASP Site-Specific Health and Safety Plan SVOC Semivolatile Organic Compound(s) TTR Tonopah Test Range USAGE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers UTM Universal Transverse Mercator voc Volatile Organic Compound(s)

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Leachfield Wort Plan The Leachfield Corrective Action Units Work Plan has been developed in accordance with the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order that was agreed to by the U.S. Department of Energy. Nevada Operations Office; the State of Nevada Division of Environmental Protection; and the U.S. Department of Defense (FFACO, 1996). Under the consent order, a work plan is an optional planning document that provides information for a Corrective Action Unit or group of Corrective Action Units where significant commonality exists to eliminate redundant documentation. This Work Plan contains management, technical, quality assurance, health and safety, public involvement, field sampling, and waste management information applicable to a set of Corrective Action Units with similar site histories and characteristics, namely the leachfield systems at the Nevada Test Site and the Tonopah Test Range. For each Corrective Action Unit, a Corrective Action Investigation Plan will be prepared to present detailed, site-specific information regarding contaminants of potential concern, sampling locations, and investigation methods particular to the individual Corrective Action Unit. ■’ In general, the source of potential contamination at each leachfield and associated collection system is wastewater effluent that was channeled from building drains through underground lines, into septic tanks, and released into leachfields. The physical setting, operational history, waste inventory, release information, and investigative background of the individual leachfield Corrective Action Units are site-specific and will be discussed in the Corrective Action Investigation Plans. A general leachfield model has been developed in the Leachfield Work Plan as a basis for the Corrective Action Investigation Plans. Available data for each leachfield Corrective Action Unit will be reviewed to determine if the work plan is applicable (i.e., similar site elements, similar site characteristics, similar investigation strategy). If the Corrective Action Unit fits the model, then a site-specific Data Quality Objectives meeting will be conducted for the unit, and a Corrective Action Investigation Plan will be prepared covering those site-specific elements not addressed in the Leachfield Work Plan. The Leachfield Work Plan presents the basic technical approach for conducting investigation activities at the leachfield Corrective Action Units. Specific technical approaches tailored to site

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Leachfield Work Plan conditions and parameters are reflected in the Corrective Action Investigation Plans. The following activities may be used to investigate the leachfield Corrective Action Units: • Radiological walkover surveys and mapping • Video surveys of piping with optional radiation detector • Soil sampling in the vicinity of the collection system and at identified breaches along the • Soil sampling within the leachfield • Soil sampling from borings or exploratory trenches • Soil sampling at the distribution box and in the immediate vicinity of both ends of the septic • Field screening of soils to guide sampling activities and assist with waste management • Sample analysis to identify the concentrations and lateral and vertical extent of contaminants of potential concern • Sample analysis for geotechnical and hydrological parameters from native soils underlying the distribution system Details of the waste management strategy for the leachfield Corrective Action Units are included in Section 5.0 of the Leachfield Work Plan. Under the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order, the Corrective Action Investigation Plans will be submitted to the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection for approval. Field work will be conducted following approval of the Corrective Action Unit-specific investigation plan. The results of the field investigation will support a defensible evaluation of corrective action alternatives in the Corrective Action Decision Document for each Corrective Action Unit.

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Leacnfiew Work Plan This Leachfield Corrective Action Units (CAUs) Work Plan has been developed in accordance with the Federal Facility Agreement and Consent Order (FFACO) that was agreed to by the U.S. Department of Energy, Nevada Operations Office (DOE/NV); the State of Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP); and the U.S. Department of Defense (FFACO, 1996). Under the FFACO, a work plan is an optional planning document that provides information for a CAU or group of CAUs where significant commonality exists. A work plan may be developed that can be referenced by leachfield Corrective Action Investigation Plans (CAIPs) to eliminate redundant CAU documentation. This Work Plan includes FFACO-required management, technical, quality assurance (QA), health and safety, public involvement, field sampling, and waste management documentation common to several CAUs with similar site histories and characteristics, namely the leachfield systems at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) and the Tonopah Test Range (TTR) (Figure 1-1). For each CAU, a CAIP will be prepared to present detailed, site-specific information regarding contaminants of potential concern (COPCs), sampling locations, and investigation methods. This document presents a general plan to investigate the nature and extent of COPCs at CAUs composed of collection systems and distribution systems (i.e., leachfields) used to dispose of various effluents. All of the features related to the effluent disposal are collectively referred to as “leachfield systems” in this Work Plan. The purpose of the corrective action investigation(s) is to: • Identify the presence, distribution, and nature of COPCs at leachfield systems including septic tanks, leachfields. and associated wastewater collection systems.• • Provide sufficient information and data to develop and evaluate appropriate corrective actions This Work Plan was developed using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Data Quality Objectives (DQOs) (EPA, 1994c) process to clearly define the goals for collecting and using environmental data and to design a data collection program that will satisfy these goals. General DQOs applicable to the leachfield CAUs were identified in a scoping meeting between the DOE/NV

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Leachfiekj Work Plan and the NDEP as described in Section 3.0. Corrective Action Unit-specific DQO scoping meetings will be held prior to the preparation of the CAIPs. The scope of this Work Plan is to provide general information concerning the investigation of the leachfield CAUs, thereby eliminating redundant documentation and streamlining the corrective action investigation process. The scope of the CAIPs is the resolution of problem statement(s) identified in the DQO process. The general problem identified for the leachfield CAUs is that various potentially hazardous or radioactive effluents may have been released at the CAUs and that existing data are insufficient to support the development and evaluation of potential corrective actions and selection of a preferred corrective action for the CAUs. 1.3 Work Plan Contents Section 1.0 of this Work Plan provides an introduction to the associated projects, including document purpose for this Work Plan and scope for the associated corrective action investigations. The FFACO (FFACO, 1996) requires that CAIPs address the following elements: • Health and safety These elements are discussed in this Work Plan. Additional documentation of these elements will include CAU-specific information in the individual CAIPs. The managerial aspects of the projects addressed by this Work Plan are discussed in the DOE/NV Project Management Plan, (DOE/NV, 1994) and site-specific Field Management Plans that will be developed prior to field activities at the CAUs. A general facility description is presented in Section 2.0. The technical aspects of this Work Plan are contained in Sections 3.0 and 4.0 of this document. Investigation strategies generically applicable to leachfield CAUs are also discussed in Section 4.0. General field and laboratory quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) issues.

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. Leachfield Work Plan including collection of quality control (QC) samples, are presented in the Industrial Sites Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) (DOE/NV, 1996c). The generic health and safety aspects of the projects addressed by this Work Plan are discussed in the Environmental Restoration Project Health and Safety Plan (HASP) (DOE/NV, 1998a) and will be supplemented with a site-specific HASP (SSHASP) written prior to the start of field work. No CAU-specific public involvement activities are planned for the projects addressed by this Work Plan at this time; however, an overview of public involvement is documented in the “Public Involvement Plan” in Appendix V of the FFACO (1996). General waste management strategies are discussed in Section 5.0 of this Work Plan. Project schedules and records availability information for the projects addressed by this Work Plan are discussed in Section 6.0, and Section 7.0 provides a list of Work Plan references. 1.4 Work Plan Implementation . This Work Plan will be used in conjunction with CAIPs for each leachfield CAU located at the NTS and TTR that fits the conceptual model discussed in Section 3.0. Available data for each leachfield CAU will be reviewed to determine if this Work Plan is applicable (i.e., similar site elements, site characteristics, and potential investigation strategies). If the site fits the model, then a DQO meeting will be conducted for the CAU and a CAIP will be prepared to address the elements not discussed in the Work Plan. If a leachfield CAU does not adequately fit the model, the CAIP will not necessarily reference this Work Plan. Several leachfield CAUs in the NTS Area 25 are suitable for the combination of this Work Plan and a CAIP. Additional qualified CAUs located at both the NTS and TTR will be identified in the future. A facility description applicable to specific CAUs at Area 25 of the NTS is provided in Appendix A.

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Leachfield Work Plan The source of potential contamination at each leachfield and associated collection system is wastewater effluent channeled from building drains through underground collection system lines and septic tanks and released into leachfields. In some cases, the collection system lines released effluent to the ground surface via outfalls or to the subsurface via leaching pits or disposal wells. In some cases, these systems were modified by extending drain lines to leachfields. The leachfields were designed to disperse effluent within the base of installed leachfield materials (the leachfield base) and allow liquid to percolate down into the underlying native soil. The driving force for potential downward migration of the contamination was effluent discharge to the leachfields via septic tanks. All of the leachfield systems considered under this Work Plan are inactive. The physical setting, operational history, waste inventory, release information, and investigative background particular leachfield CAUs are site-specific and will be discussed in the CAIPs. Information for leachfield CAUs located in NTS Area 25 is included as Appendix A of this Site investigation activities associated with leachfield CAUs have been identified and documented in the Final Environmental Impact Statementfor the Nevada Test Site and Off-Site Locations in the

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Leachfield Work Plan General objectives for leachfield CAUs addressed by this Work Plan were determined using the DQO process outlined in the EPA’s Guidancefor the Data Quality Objectives Process (EPA, 1994c). The DQOs are qualitative and quantitative statements that specify the quality of the data required to support potential corrective action at the CAUs. The DQOs were developed to clearly define the uses for the environmental data and to design a data collection program appropriate to these uses. The formulation of a conceptual site model is an aid to facilitate the DQO process and help with the decision making concerning data quality. 3.1 Conceptual Site Models for Leachfield CA Us A general conceptual site model has been developed as a basis for the leachfield CAUs and is discussed in this Work Plan. The leachfields and associated collection systems are divided into areas based on the function of the system elements and the varying potential for contamination. Components of the general conceptual site model include leachfield piping, leachfields, and other disposal features associated with designed effluent release; and collection system features associated with potential accidental release including drains, discharge lines, septic tanks, outfall lines, and distribution structures. This model is depicted graphically in Figure 3-1. Additional components of the model include the estimated vertical and horizontal extent of potential contamination …