Micro-Purge Low-Flow Sampling of Uranium-Contaminated Ground Water at the Fernald Environmental Management Project |
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| Authors: | DE Shanklin WC Sidle ME Ferguson |
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| Institution: | Dean E. Shanklin;earned his B.S. in geological engineering in 1984 at the Colorado School of Mines and is currently an environmental scientist for the Fernald Environmental Restoration Management Corp. (7400 Willey Rd., Fernald, OH 45030), where he is involved in the management of the facility's monitoring well network. William C. Sidle;earned a B.S. in geological engineering and civil engineering in 1973 at the University of Idaho, an M.S. in geology in 1979 at the University of Oregon, and a Ph.D. in geochemistry in 1990 at Ohio State University. He is a hydrologist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA, Office of Research and Development, MS 163, 26 W. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45268). His current research involves the fate and transport of ground water contaminants at the Fernald site. Michelle E. Ferguson;earned her B.A. in biology at Hanover College. Currently, she is an engineer graduate assistant at the Fernald Environmental Management Project where she is completing work towards an M.S. in environmental science at Miami University (Miami University, Institute of Environmental Sciences, 102 Boyd Hall, Oxford, OH 45056). |
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| Abstract: | Efforts to sample representative, undisturbed distributions of uranium in ground water beneath the Fernald Environmemal Management Project (FEMP) prompted the application of a novel technique that is less invasive in the monitoring well. Recent studies (Kearl et al. 1992; Barcelona et al. 1994) indicate that representative samples can and should be collected without prior well volume exchange purging or borehole evacuation. Field experiments conducted at the FMMP demonstrate that under specific sampling conditions in a welldefined hydrogeologic system, representative ground water samples for a monitoring program can be obtained without removing the conventional three well volumes from the well. The assumption is made that indicator parameter equilibration may not be necessary to determine when to collect representative samples at the P'liMP. Preliminary results obtained from the field experiment suggest that this may be true. The technique employs low purge rates (< 1 L/min) with dedicated bladder pumps with inlets located in the screened interval of the well, while not disturbing the stagnant water column above the screened interval. If adopted, this technique, termed micro-purge low-flow sampling, will produce representative ground water samples, significantly reduce sampling costs, and minimize; waste water over the monitoring life cycle at the FEMP. This technique is well suited for sites that have been fully characterized and are undergoing long-term monitoring. |
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