UNITED
STATES
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY
REGION
5
230
SOUTH
DEARBORN
ST.
CHICAGO,
ILLINOIS
60604
EPA
Region
5
Records Ctr.
200386
1 8 DEC
1990
Honorable
John
Glenn
United
States
Senate
Washington,
D.C.
20510
REPLY
TO
ATTENTION
OF:
5RA-14
Dear
Senator Glenn:
Thank
you for
your
staff's
participation
in the
November
28,
1990, conference call regarding
the
design investigations
proposed
for the
Industrial Excess Landfill Site (IEL)
in
Uniontown,
Ohio.
The
United States Environmental Protection
Agency
(U.S. EPA) understands
and
shares your concern regarding
the IEL
site's
actual
and
potential impact
on
public health
and
the
environment. U.S.
EPA is
committed
to
properly designing
and
implementing
the IEL
remedy,
and it is our
intention
to
collect
the
necessary information
to
meet that
commitment.
As you are
aware,
U.S.
EPA
established
the IEL
Technical Information
Committee
(TIC)
in
order
to
solicit
as
much
technical expertise
as
possible.
We are
pleased
to
report that
the IEL TIC has
been
very
useful
as a
forum
for the
exchange
of
technical information,
and
TIC
comments have resulted
in
positive changes
to the
design
investigation.
We
welcome
the
continued participation
of the
community,
government
agencies,
and
elected officials
in the IEL
TIC.
During
the
conference
call,
Bob
Alvarez
of
your staff asked
several
questions regarding U.S.
EPA's
sampling strategy
for
radiochemical
analyses.
Mr.
Alvarez expressed concern with
respect
to the
adequacy
of
U.S.
EPA's
approach
to the
radiation
testing
and
requested additional rationale supporting
our
approach.
In the
attachments
to
this letter,
we
have provided
detailed
responses
to
these
requests.
For
the
radiation survey
of
IEL,
U.S.
EPA has
chosen
to
rely
on
the
method
of
sampling groundwater
and
landfill
leachate,
with
comprehensive radionuclide analysis.
Mr.
Alvarez requested
justification
of
EPA's reasoning
for not
characterizing
the
waste
material
by
soil
core
sampling with analysis
for
radionuclides.
Attachment
1
illustrates
the
statistical probabilities
for
locating
radioactive
wastes
based
on the
number
of
boreholes
and
samples
to be
taken.
EPA is
proposing
to
perform
six
intrusive
boreholes into
the
landfill.
The
intent
of
this
is not for
waste
characterization
but
rather
to
determine
the
depth
of the
waste
within
the
landfill,
the
depth
of the
water
table,
to
characterize
the
hydrogeology
of the
unconsolidated
sediments,
and
to
determine
the
concentration
of any
contaminants found
Printed
on
Bocyded
Paper