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To: "Hanford Watch
mailing list" Pumping and treating is still going on. It is generally agreed that as time goes on it isn't the greatest way to cleanup Hanford -- it has always been a stop-gap measure, not a final cleanup technology. However, the pump and treat operations in the 100 area (near the river) and the 200 area (central plateau) at the leading edge of plumes is to remove contaminants such at chromium in the 100-H area which continues to show progress. We did get a report on how Ralph Patt's pet project of slant-well drilling is going. So far it has been going on at Tank SX-108 and has been very effective. They have found that near this tank the soil is "baked" -- a a powder consistency and very hot close to the tank. The SX-108 tank is thought to be the worst of the most concentrated waste released into the subsurface environment at Hanford. The data from this borehole is meant to improve understanding of how moisture flows around the buried tanks and how contaminants move. It should also provide better data on the contaminant concentrations under the single shelled tanks that experienced major leaks. One of the justifications/drivers for this technology is to provide real data for the computers so that they can model risks and flow toward the river in realistic measure. I do know from over the years that if you input bad or inaccurate data into the computer you get garbage back. As to the potential increase in environmental and health risks using this method, one of the pieces of data being looked for is whether drilling would create too great a seismic load on the tank, thus risking rupture; and ensuring that workers are proficient in the techniques required. I certainly do not presume that I have answered fully the questions the Observer has posed. This is just my understanding so far. The web address for the semi-annual report on Groundwater/Vadose Zone Integration is www.bhi-erc.com/vadose. |