Evaluation of background concentrations of selected chemical and radiochemical constituents in water from the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at and near the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho

Abstract

For more information on the USGS-the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment-visit http://www.usgs.gov or call 1-888-ASK-USGS.For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit http://store.usgs.gov.Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. Horizontal coordinate information is referenced to the North American Datum of 1927 (NAD 27).Altitude, as used in this report, refers to distance above the vertical datum. strontium-90, chlorine-36, iodine-129, plutonium-238, plutonium-239, -240 (undivided), americium-241, technetium-99, uranium-234, uranium-235, and uranium-238 were selected for the background study because they were either not analyzed in earlier studies or new data became available to give a more recent determination of background concentrations. Samples of water collected from wells and springs at and near the INL that were not believed to be influenced by wastewater disposal were used to identify background concentrations. Groundwater in the eastern Snake River Plain aquifer at and near the INL was divided into two major water types (western tributary and eastern regional) based on concentrations of lithium less than and greater than 5 micrograms per liter (µg/L). Median concentrations for each constituent were used to define the upper limit of background. Supplemental InformationThe upper limit of background concentrations for inorganic chemicals for western tributary water was 40.7 milligrams per liter (mg/L) for calcium, 15.3 mg/L for magnesium, 8.30 mg/L for sodium, 2.32 mg/L for potassium, 23.1 mg/L for silica, 11.8 mg/L for chloride, 21.4 mg/L for sulfate, 0.20 mg/L for fluoride, 176 mg/L for bicarbonate, 4.00 µg/L for chromium, and 0.655 mg/L for nitrate.The upper limit of background concentrations for inorganic chemicals for eastern regional water was 34.05 mg/L for calcium, 13.85 mg/L for magnesium, 14.85 mg/L for sodium, 3.22 mg/L for potassium, 31.0 mg/L for silica, 14.15 mg/L for chloride, 20.2 mg/L for sulfate, 0.4675 mg/L for fluoride, 165 mg/L for bicarbonate, 3.00 µg/L for chromium, and 0.995 mg/L for nitrate.The upper limit of background concentrations for radiochemical constituents for western tributary water was 34.15 ±2.35 picocuries per liter (pCi/L) for tritium, 0.00098 ±0.00006 pCi/L for chlorine-36, 0.000011 ±0.000005 pCi/L for iodine-129, <0.0000054 pCi/L for technetium-99, 0 pCi/L for strontium-90, plutonium-238, plutonium-239, -240 (undivided), and americium-241, 1.36 pCi/L with undetermined uncertainty for uranium-234, 0.025 ±0.001 pCi/L for uranium-235, and 0.541 ±0.001 pCi/L for uranium-238.The upper limit of background concentrations for radio...

Correlation between basalt flows and radiochemical and chemical constituents in selected wells in the southwestern part of the Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho

“…The subsurface stratigraphy proposed by Anderson and his co-workers, has been largely confirmed by recent paleomagnetic stratigraphy studies others, 2011, 2013;. This report presents a more detailed comparison of the stratigraphy through the southwestern part of the site with the location of groundwater contamination that was evaluated in several recent studies others, 2015, 2017;Davis and others, 2015;Bartholomay and Hall, 2016). …”

“…The probability is about 67 percent that the true radionuclide concentration is in a range of the reported concentrations plus or minus the uncertainty. Tritium data are compared to the estimated lower level of background (75 pCi/L) determined by Orr and others (1991) even though a more recent background level as reported by Bartholomay and Hall (2016) is about 35 pCi/L for groundwater in the southwestern part of the INL. The larger background is used to account for older water that would not have gone through as many half-life decay series as water samples collected more recently, because the data used for wastewater determination were collected between 1991 and 2016 (table 3).…”

Completion summary for borehole TAN-2312 at Test Area North, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho

“…Sample data collected from well TAN-2312 indicate: calcium concentrations were 34.1 mg/L, potassium concentrations were 3.67 mg/L, silica concentrations were 30.2 mg/L, chloride concentrations were 11.3 mg/L, fluoride concentrations were 0.32, and sulfate concentrations were 27.9 mg/L (table 5). Nitrate plus nitrite as N concentrations were lower than background water in the ESRP aquifer at the INL (Bartholomay and Hall, 2016). The water chemistry of this well is mostly representative of eastern regional background water for the ESRP at the INL (Bartholomay and Hall, 2016), except for the small lithium concentration (2.4 µg/L) and the small nitrate concentration (0.56 mg/L) which are more representative of western tributary water.…”

“…Nitrate plus nitrite as N concentrations were lower than background water in the ESRP aquifer at the INL (Bartholomay and Hall, 2016). The water chemistry of this well is mostly representative of eastern regional background water for the ESRP at the INL (Bartholomay and Hall, 2016), except for the small lithium concentration (2.4 µg/L) and the small nitrate concentration (0.56 mg/L) which are more representative of western tributary water. This well is near the mixing line of water types as described in Fisher and others (2012) and its chemistry supports a mixture of western tributary water and eastern regional water.…”

An update of hydrologic conditions and distribution of selected constituents in water, Eastern Snake River Plain aquifer and perched groundwater zones, Idaho National Laboratory, Idaho, emphasis 2016–18

“…Concentrations are given in table 7. Tritium data from CPP 1, ICPP-MON-A-166, Highway-3, and USGS 127 indicate that they have concentrations greater than the upper background concentration of western tributary water of 34 pCi/L ( Bartholomay and Hall, 2016), so their water probably is slightly influenced by wastewater disposal (table 7). The other wells have either all or mostly all old water not influenced by wastewater disposal (table 7).…”