Monitoring of a RCRA Mixed Waste Management Facility

Since startup of the Savannah River Site (SRS) in 1953, solid radioactive waste materials have been disposed of in a centrally located facility known as the Radioactive Waste Burial Grounds. These burial grounds comprise three distinct disposal sites which include the original set of burial trenches for solid low level radioactive wastes (643-G), the currently operating Low Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility (643-7G), and the Mixed Waste Management Facility (643-28G) located within 643-7G. The Mixed Waste Management Facility (MWMF) has been used to dispose of various low level radioactive waste materials just as the other portions of the Radioactive Waste Burial Grounds. Some of the waste materials in the MWMF have been classified as mixed waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Because the MWMF contains mixed wastes, a closure plan for the facility was developed and submitted to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC) to comply with RCRA requirements. This paper discusses the various aspects of the groundwater monitoring program developed to satisfy regulatory requirements for post-closure care and provides some initial results on groundwater quality.