As part of its Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Corrective Action Program (CAP), the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) Environmental Restoration Program conducted an evaluation of naturally occurring metals in soils at the facility. The purpose of the evaluation was to provide a basis for determining if soils at specific locations contained elevated concentrations of metals relative to ambient conditions. Ambient conditions (sometimes referred to as 'local background') are defined as concentrations of metals in the vicinity of a site, but which are unaffected by site-related activities (Cal-EPA 1997). Local background concentrations of 17 metals were initially estimated by LBNL using data from 498 soil samples collected from borings made during the construction of 71 groundwater monitoring wells (LBNL 1995). These concentration values were estimated using the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (USEPA's) guidance that was available at that time (USEPA 1989). Since that time, many more soil samples were collected and analyzed for metals by the Environmental Restoration Program. In addition, the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal-EPA) subsequently published a recommended approach for calculating background concentrations of metals at hazardous waste sites and permitted facilities (Cal-EPA 1997). This more recent approach differs from that recommended by the USEPA …

The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) initiated remediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils and groundwater associated with gasoline release at the Farmers Union Oil station in Garrison, North Dakota. The remedial strategy implemented is based on application of two innovative concepts: (1) simultaneous operation of soil vapor and multiphase extraction systems allowing for water table control in challenging geotechnical conditions and (2) controlled hot-air circulation between injection and extraction wells to accelerated in situ volatilization and stripping of contaminants of concern (COC) alternatively using the same wells as either extraction or injection points. A proactive remedial approach is required to reduce high COC levels in the source and impacted areas and to eliminate long-term health risks associated with contaminant migration to water-bearing zones used as a regional water supply source. This report compiles results of Phase I focused on design, construction, and start-up of remediation systems.

The Hanford Seismic Assessment Program (HSAP) provides an uninterrupted collection of high-quality raw and processed seismic data from the Hanford Seismic Network for the U.S. Department of Energy and its contractors. The HSAP is responsible for locating and identifying sources of seismic activity and monitoring changes in the historical pattern of seismic activity at the Hanford Site. The data are compiled, archived, and published for use by the Hanford Site for waste management, natural phenomena hazards assessments, and engineering design and construction. In addition, the HSAP works with the Hanford Site Emergency Services Organization to provide assistance in the event of a significant earthquake on the Hanford Site. The Hanford Seismic Network and the Eastern Washington Regional Network consist of 44 individual sensor sites and 15 radio relay sites maintained by the Hanford Seismic Assessment Team. This includes three recently acquired Transportable Array stations located at Cold Creek, Didier Farms, and Phinney Hill. For the Hanford Seismic Network, ten local earthquakes were recorded during the first quarter of fiscal year 2009. All earthquakes were considered as “minor” with magnitudes (Mc) less than 1.0. Two earthquakes were located at shallow depths (less than 4 km), most likely in the Columbia River …

The purpose of this report is to provide a concise but comprehensive overview of Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Climate Research Facility instrumentation status. The report is divided into the following five sections: (1) new instrumentation in the process of being acquired and deployed, (2) field campaigns, (3) existing instrumentation and progress on improvements or upgrades, (4) proposed future instrumentation, and (5) Small Business Innovation Research instrument development.

Impact on water quality and the beneficial use of the coal bed methane (CBM) produced water are imminent questions to be answered due to the rapidly growing CBM exploration in the Powder River Basin (PRB). The practice of discharging large volumes of water into drainage channels or using it to irrigate rangeland areas has the potential of causing serious problems. The elevated salinity and sodicity in the CBM water may be detrimental to soils, plants and the associated microbial communities. There are limited studies on CBM water characterization; however, a comprehensive understanding of CBM water influence on the local ecosystem is lacking. It is very important that the water applied to soils meets the favorable combination of salinity and sodicity that will allow the plants to grow at good production levels and that will maintain the structure of the soils. The purpose of this study was to access various CBM water treatment technologies and the influence of the treated water on local biogeochemical settings in order to evaluate and identify the proper technologies to treat the CBM produced water from CBM operations, and use it in an environmentally safe manner. Unfortunately, a suitable field site was not identified and the …

This project will add the capability for the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) to conduct Fischer-Tropsch (FT) catalyst testing at a scale consistent with the benchscale continuous fluid-bed reactor. This capability will enable various vendors to test their FT catalysts on actual coal-derived syngas. The project goals were to also develop some EERC expertise with issues associated with FT liquid production. A study by Dr. Calvin Bartholmew at Brigham Young University (BYU) is further apparent that it is possible to build a single reactor (rather than multiple reactors of different sizes) consisting of three 1-inch-diameter, 10 foot-long tubes to accommodate the anticipated range of catalytic activities and process conditions. However, this single reactor should ideally be designed to operate over a significant range of recycle ratio (e.g., 1-10), temperature (25-400 C), pressure (10-25 bar), flow rate (1-6 scfm), and cooling duty (0.2-1.5 kW). It should have the flexibility of flowing gas to one, two, or three tubes. Based on the recommended design specifications provided by BYU while staying within the approved budget, the EERC decided to build a two fixed-bed reactor system with the capability to add a third reactor at a later time. This system was constructed to …