Current Projects
Environmental Sampling Activities in Oak Ridge, TN
The Environmental Sampling Activities (ESA) contract includes collecting several thousand samples per year of primarily surface water, groundwater and storm water at all three sites on the DOE Oak Ridge Reservation in East Tennessee. Commodore is currently performing and managing this scope of work for Bechtel Jacobs Company, LLC, a prime contractor to the Department of Energy.
The Oak Ridge Reservation consists of three large industrial areas (Oak Ridge National Laboratory; East Tennesssee Technology Park, and Y–12 National Security Complex) and covers 37,000 acres including 294 on-site contaminated areas and off-site surface waters. Site operations generated a variety of radioactive, non-radioactive, and mixed hazardous wastes, most of which were containerized and buried below ground or stored in buildings on site. Leakage from buried waste areas and former-processing facilities has contaminated on-site and off-site soils, surface water, sediments, and groundwater.
Commodore performs sample collection; sample management; data management; and regulatory compliance monitoring services.
Sample preparation includes identifying areas to be sampled, reviewing existing data, locating sampling sites with Global Positioning System (GPS), and ensuring that all instrumentation is properly calibrated and operating.
Sampling activities include the collection of multiple sample types from hundreds of monitoring locations; maintaining sample logbook and equipment calibration/maintenance documentation; measurement and recording of field parameters; identifying and performing the most cost-effective and compliant sampling method; and packaging and shipping of those samples to appropriate analytical laboratories for analysis.
The diversity of sampling tasks on this project includes soil characterization, collection of groundwater and surface water samples, flow-composite samples, stream gauging and stream flow measurements including flume calibration. Soil characterization is performed by using direct push technology including Geoprobe® for surface and subsurface soil sampling, peizometer, small monitoring well installation, soil coring, and soil gas sampling. Groundwater samples are collected from monitoring wells equipped with dedicated pumps, portable mechanical pumps, and multiple port Westbay monitoring equipment, and bailers. Surface water samples are collected from streams, springs, outfalls, manholes, and utility drainages, or other surface water sources. Commodore currently uses meteorological rain stations located around the reservation, as well as, National Oceanic Atmospheric Association and National Weather Service outlets to record precipitation events to help in determining sample monitoring schedules.
University of Tennessee – Battelle
The benthic macroinvertebrate communities in the streams on the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Oak Ridge Reservation (ORR) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee have been monitored since the mid-1980's to help meet requirements mandated by National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits.
Since January 2007, Commodore personnel have processed these samples at our benthic laboratory in Oak Ridge, TN. Processing includes sorting and removal of organisms from the sediment and detritus, and identification and enumeration of the organisms per ESD/ORNL or Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) protocols.
Our laboratory staff has processed single habitat semi-quantitative samples, collected as part of the BMAP for the DOE’s Oak Ridge plants, according to TDEC protocols. In 2008 the Commodore benthic laboratory processed approximately 150 samples, of which approximately 65% were contaminated and 35% were uncontaminated.
SET Projects
The commercial abilities of SET™ have been demonstrated to EPA, DOE, DOD and private sector clients in commercial operations as well as in dozens of successful treatability studies.
- Treated over 300 tons of PCB-contaminated soils excavated from an oil-spill site at the Pennsylvania Air National Guard base, located at the Harrisburg International Airport, utilizing the full-scale S-10 system to reduce PCB levels to <1ppm. During the treatment process, Commodore successfully performed an EPA demonstration of the commercial system.
- Treated 20,500 lbs. of mixed radioactive and hazardous solvent wastes under a contract with American Ecology Recycle Center, Inc. (AERC), at facilities in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The SL-2 SET system treated hazardous residues generated during the cleanup of radioactively contaminated tools, equipment, and other metallic materials.
- Treated 10,000 pounds of mixed wastes, everything from sorbent materials to shredded capacitors, at DOE Weldon Spring Site Remedial Action Project removing RCRA and TSCA- regulated materials leaving low-level radioactive wastes acceptable for on-site disposal.