The D Area Groundwater Treatability Study project team assesses artesian flow into injection well at the Savannah River Site. (Photo: SRNS)
Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS), the management and operations contractor for the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site, announced that it has injected more than 100 million gallons of clean artesian well water to neutralize shallow groundwater contamination underneath 33 acres of a former coal storage yard and the associated runoff basin at the site in South Carolina. According to Ashley Shull, senior scientist for the project, “100 million gallons is nine times more water than [is] contained in the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.”
SRNS’s Environmental Compliance and Area Completion Projects (EC&ACP) group constructed and operated the groundwater remediation system, which is saving millions of dollars compared with traditional technologies that are not as sustainable, passive, or cost effective, according to SRNS, a joint venture of Fluor and Huntington Ingalls Industries subsidiary Newport News Nuclear.
Background: Over 60 years of power plant operation, which generated acidic materials and metals associated with coal, has made an impact on the groundwater in SRS’s D Area. The coal-powered plant, which began operations in 1952, produced electricity for the D Area and other parts of SRS until 2012. Even though the coal was removed in 2012–2013, decades of rainwater passing through the coal on the ground left the soils underneath acidic. Metals leached from the coal and natural soil minerals in the underlying vadose zone, causing shallow groundwater contamination. It is common in the United States for contamination such as this to exist where coal was used for power production.
A passive solution: The solution developed by SRNS takes advantage of the existing conditions of the groundwater and the natural flow of the two nearby deep artesian wells, which offer a groundwater remedy that does not involve electricity or pumps.
“This system passively ensures a neutral buffering to groundwater to help correct the currently overly acidic conditions in groundwater caused by the decades storage of coal in the area,” said Shull.
Working with regulators from the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services and the Environmental Protection Agency, EC&ACP began injecting the artesian well water to neutralize the groundwater in March 2022.
Next steps: While the project is adjusting the balance of the groundwater below the coal storage and runoff basin areas, SRNS said it will take time to see the groundwater restored to pristine conditions. SRS operators track the cleanup regularly by monitoring the groundwater surrounding the treatment system.
“Tapping into the natural benefits, artesian well water equipped our team with a sustainable alternative to address groundwater quality to levels that will enhance the environment,” said DOE–Savannah River manager Michael D. Budney. “DOE and SRS have a longstanding approach to remediation that identifies opportunities to craft solutions to lower costs through less labor- and equipment-centered methods, opting for passive technology when practicable.”
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