Background concentrations for selected metals and radionuclides in the soil and groundwater

The background data and associated references presented here are for different bedrock formations at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS). The tables include samples from surface soil (0-1 ft), Minford clay and silt (1-30 ft), Gallia sand and gravel (30-35 ft), and groundwater from Berea sandstone (35-70 ft). Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram showing the geological relationships at PORTS (found in Final Soil Background Report for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Piketon, Ohio).

Figure 1. PORTS Geological Formations (click to display)

Table 1 is synthesized from the Final Soil Background Report for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Piketon, Ohio, completed by DOE in 2015. This document provides background levels sampled from PORTS in 1996, ranges in Ohio soils, and a 1993 reference soil from Fernald, OH.

Metal	Table 1: Soil Background Value (mg/kg)
	1993 Ohio Soils	1996 Minford	2015 Surface Soil (0-1 ft)	2015 Unsaturated Minford (1-16 ft)	2015 Saturated Minford (16-30 ft)	2015 Gallia (30-35 ft)	Range in Ohio Soils Data
Aluminum	11,880 (0-6'')	15,314	24,500	20,700	12,700	13,400	8,180 - 16,100
	14,742 (48-54'')
Antimony	7.7 (0-6'')	---	2.05	1.83	3.51	8.43	6.7 - 7.7
	6.7 (48-54'')
Arsenic	8.45 (0-6'')	31	30.8	29	85.6	129	5.72 - 56
	8.82 (48-54'')
Barium	126.09 (0-6'')	181	114	136	72.1	99.9	63.4 - 323
	98.72 (48-54'')
Beryllium	0.60 (0-6'')	1.40	1.25	1.60	1.17	1.51	0.377 - 3.15
	0.63 (48-54'')
Cadmium	0.64 (0-6'')	2.00	0.241	0.282	0.688	2.00	0.2 - 4.40
	0.59 (48-54'')
Chromium	15.5 (0-6'')	28.6	32.4	29.4	24.6	28.9	12 - 80.5
	18.87 (48-54'')
Cobalt	15.17 (0-6'')	28.2	28.5	37.4	18.6	26.5	6.42 - 53.6
	15.68 (48-54'')
Copper	16.43 (0-6'')	32.6	18.5	26.2	23.1	27.5	11.8 - 58
	18.55 (48-54'')
Iron	22,323 (0-6'')	51,180	86,100	62,800	56,400	27.5	18,400 - 100,000
	27,853 (48-54'')
Lead	25.57 (0-6'')	32	33	22.6	12.7	37.5	13.35 - 147
	13.35 (48-54'')
Lithium	---	35	113	123	120	97.3	35
Manganese	1,772 (0-6'')	2,012	1,860	1,490	465	2,560	459 - 2,012
	940 (48-54'')
Mercury	0.30 (0-6'')	0.048	0.0600	0.0520	0.0410	0.0674	0.081 - 1.60
	0.29 (48-54'')
Nickel	20.87 (0-6'')	34	22.6	50.3	52.7	78.2	14.4 - 110
	28.37 (48-54'')
Selenium	0.72 (0-6'')	3	1.79	0.639	0.637	0.564	0.61 - 3
	0.61 (48-54'')
Silver	2.6 (0-6'')	2.5	11.0	7.48	3.66	14.1	2.2 - 2.6
	2.2 (48-54'')
Thallium	0.58 (0-6'')	2.5	0.327	0.359	0.821	0.501	0.43 - 2.5
	0.43 (48-54'')
Uranium	3.706 (0-6'')	4.8	4.05	4.73	7.19	7.3	3.683 - 4.8
	3.683 (48-54'')
Vanadium	30.37 (0-6'')	50.2	78.0	58.0	65.1	87.6	17.4 - 71
	34.97 (48-54'')
Zinc	59.61 (0-6'')	101	93.1	117	148	244	42.7 - 190
	59.19 (48-54'')
Radionuclide	Background Value (pCi/g)
Thorium-228	1.560 (0-6'')	---	1.64	1.88	1.56	1.73	1.5 - 1.6
	1.475 (48-54'')
Thorium-230	2.175 (0-6'')	---	1.59	1.74	2.42	2.52	2.15 - 2.17
	2.153 (48-54'')
Thorium-232	1.362 (0-6'')	---	1.56	1.91	1.63	1.73	1.4 - 1.6
	1.458 (48-54'')
Uranium-233/234	1.244 (0-6'')	---	1.30	1.57	2.36	2.34	1.1 - 1.2
	1.061 (48-54'')
Uranium-235/236	0.148 (0-6'')	---	0.0987	0.119	0.170	0.171	0.13 - 0.15
	0.125 (48-54'')
Uranium-238	1.222 (0-6'')	---	1.36	1.59	2.41	2.45	1.2
	1.218 (48-54'')

The values presented in Table 2 can be found in the revised Deferred Units Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Facility Investigation/Corrective Measures Study Report for the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Piketon, Ohio (DU RFI/CMS Report), DOE/PPPO/03-0772&D3, February 3, 2022.

Analyte	Table 2: Groundwater Background Value
	Gallia background (ug/l)	Berea background (ug/l)
Antimony	36.5	39.5
Arsenic	92	12
Barium	151	4,011
Beryllium	6.5	7
Cadmium	6.5	7
Chromium	21	17.5
Cobalt	13	91
Copper	21	22.5
Cyanide, total	10.5	10.5
Fluoride	410	4,212
Hexavalent Chromium	20.5	37.5
Lead	16	10
Mercury	1.5	1.5
Nickel	30.5	840
Selenium	10.5	10.5
Silver	10.5	11
Thallium	10.5	21.5
Tin	36.5	39.5
Uranium, total	1	1
Vanadium	41	12.5
Zinc	106	115

The values presented in Table 3 can be found in Final Human Health Risk Assessment. Pike County Community, Piketon, Ohio, Auxier & Associates, Inc. May 2023.

Radionuclide	Table 3: Background Area Radionuclide Concentrations
Media: Soil	# of Samples	Range (pCi/g)	Median (pCi/g)	Average (pCi/g)	St. Dev. (pCi/g)
Am-241	51	-0.0054 - 0.015	0.004	0.004	0.004
Np-237	51	-0.0035 - 0.0077	0	0.001	0.002
Pu-238	51	-0.0037 - 0.011	0.0019	0.002	0.003
Pu-240	51	0 - 0.025	0.0086	0.009	0.006
Tc-99	51	-0.15 - 0.89	0.015	0.11	0.23
U-233/234	51	0.67 - 10.3	1.41	1.9	1.6
U-235/236	51	0.013 - 0.359	0.07	0.085	0.06
U-238	51	0.65 - 8.4	1.44	1.9	1.4
Media: Sediment	# of Samples	Range (pCi/g)	Median (pCi/g)	Average (pCi/g)	St. Dev. (pCi/g)
Am-241	11	0 - 0.0074	0.0039	0.004	0.003
Np-237	11	-0.0017 - 0.005	0	0.001	0.002
Pu-238	11	-0.0018 - 0.0037	0.0017	0.001	0.002
Pu-240	11	0 - 0.018	0.0069	0.007	0.006
Tc-99	11	-0.16 - 0.26	-0.045	0.011	0.14
U-233/234	11	1.1 - 5.3	2.17	2.4	1.3
U-235/236	11	0.041 - 0.20	0.087	0.093	0.047
U-238	11	1.1 - 5.0	2.09	2.3	1.2
Media: Surface Water	# of Samples	Range (pCi/L)	Median (pCi/L)	Average (pCi/L)	St. Dev. (pCi/L)
Am-241	13	-0.021 - 0.1	0.057	0.043	0.039
Np-237	13	-0.02 - 0.039	0	-0.001	0.02
Pu-238	13	-0.0019 - 0.077	0.019	0.026	0.025
Pu-240	13	0 - 0.095	0.037	0.043	0.025
Tc-99	13	-4.6 - 1.9	-0.41	-0.74	1
U-233/234	13	0.019 - 0.88	0.33	0.38	0.30
U-235/236	13	0 - 0.09	0.024	0.032	0.029
U-238	13	0.057 - 0.89	0.24	0.312	0.26
Media: Dust, Interior Surfaces	# of Samples	Range (pCi/cm²)	Median (pCi/cm²)	Average (pCi/cm²)	St. Dev. (pCi/cm²)
Am-241	32	0 - 0.0001	0.000024	0	0
Np-237	32	0 - 0.0001	0	0	0
Pu-238	32	-0.0001 - 0.0001	0.00001	0	0
Pu-240	32	0 - 0.0001	0.000053	0	0
Tc-99	32	-0.0081 - 0.0021	-0.00205	-0.003	0.003
U-233/234	32	0 - 0.0281	0.000175	0.001	0.005
U-235/236	32	0 - 0.0009	0.000014	0	0
U-238	32	0 - 0.0043	0.00016	0	0.001

The values presented in Table 4 can be found in Final Human Health Risk Assessment. Pike County Community, Piketon, Ohio, Auxier & Associates, Inc. May 2023.

Radionuclide	Table 4: Detected Concentrations Only: Background Area Radionuclides
Media: Soil	# of Samples	Range (pCi/g)	Median (pCi/g)	Average (pCi/g)	St. Dev. (pCi/g)
Am-241	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Np-237	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pu-238	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pu-240	27	0.007 - 0.025	0.012	0.013	0.005
Tc-99	17	0.034 - 0.89	0.27	0.35	0.51
U-233/234	51	0.67 - 10.3	1.4	2.0	1.6
U-235/236	51	0.013 - 0.36	0.07	0.085	0.06
U-238	51	0.65 - 8.37	1.4	1.9	1.4
Media: Sediment	# of Samples	Range (pCi/g)	Median (pCi/g)	Average (pCi/g)	St. Dev. (pCi/g)
Am-241	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Np-237	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pu-238	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pu-240	4	0.009 - 0.018	0.014	0.014	0.004
Tc-99	2	0.20 - 0.26	0.23	0.23	0.044
U-233/234	11	1.1 - 5.3	2.17	2.3	1.3
U-235/236	11	0.041 - 0.204	0.087	0.093	0.047
U-238	11	1.1 - 5.0	2.09	2.3	1.2
Media: Surface Water	# of Samples	Range (pCi/L)	Median (pCi/L)	Average (pCi/L)	St. Dev. (pCi/L)
Am-241	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Np-237	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pu-238	1	0.077 - 0.077	0.077	0.077	N/A
Pu-240	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Tc-99	1	1.9 - 1.9	1.88	1.9	N/A
U-233/234	11	0.1 - 0.88	0.34	0.44	0.29
U-235/236	1	0.09 - 0.09	0.09	0.09	N/A
U-238	9	0.08 - 0.89	0.25	0.37	0.28
Media: Dust, Interior Surfaces	# of Samples	Range (pCi/cm²)	Median (pCi/cm²)	Average (pCi/cm²)	St. Dev. (pCi/cm²)
Am-241	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Np-237	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pu-238	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Pu-240	0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Tc-99	2	0.001 - 0.002	0.001	0.001	0.001
U-233/234	16	0 - 0.028	0	0.002	0.007
U-235/236	3	0 - 0.001	0	0	0
U-238	26	0 - 0.004	0	0	0.001

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