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U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Open-File Report 2007-1430

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Introduction

Chlorinated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have migrated to ground water beneath the 9-acre former landfill at Operable Unit 1 (OU 1) at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), Division Keyport. The NUWC is on a small peninsula in Kitsap County, Washington, in an extension of Puget Sound called Liberty Bay (fig. 1). The 9-acre former landfill at OU 1 is on the narrow strip of land connecting the peninsula to the mainland and is adjacent to tidal flats that are an extension of Dogfish and Liberty Bays. The OU 1 landfill is unlined at the bottom and was constructed in a former marshland. The landfill was the primary disposal area for domestic and industrial wastes generated by NUWC Keyport from the 1930s through 1973. Paints, thinners, solvents, acids, dried sludge from a wastewater-treatment plant, and other industrial wastes were disposed of in the landfill. The most concentrated disposal area for waste paints and solvents was at the southern end of the landfill.

Chlorinated VOCs are present in the upper and intermediate aquifers and in surface water at OU 1. Ground water beneath OU 1 occurs within a series of aquifers that are composed of permeable sand, gravel, or fill materials separated by finer grained silt or clay layers. Contamination at OU 1 is known to occur only in about the top 60 ft of the unconsolidated deposits in the four hydrogeologic units referred to as the unsaturated zone, the upper aquifer, the middle aquitard, and the intermediate aquifer. Ground water in the unconfined upper aquifer generally flows from the east to the west toward Dogfish Bay. Ground water in the predominately confined intermediate aquifer flows toward the landfill from the south and from the west, and then flows northwest beneath the landfill toward Dogfish Bay (Dinicola and others, 2002). Two perennial freshwater creeks drain the marsh adjacent to the landfill and discharge into the tideflats of Dogfish Bay.

The predominant contaminants in ground water beneath OU 1 are trichloroethene (TCE) and its degradation byproducts cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cis-DCE) and vinyl chloride (VC). The compound 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA) and its degradation byproducts 1,1-dichloroethane (1,1-DCA), 1,1-dichloroethene (1,1-DCE), and chloroethane (CA) have been detected at concentrations of concern at a few locations at OU 1. A need for remedial action was identified because these hazardous compounds present a potential risk to humans (URS Consultants, Inc., 1998). Phytoremediation combined with on-going natural attenuation processes were chosen by the Navy as the preferred remedy (URS Consultants, Inc., 1998). The Navy planted two hybrid poplar plantations on the landfill (fig. 2) in the spring of 1999 to remove and control the migration of chlorinated VOCs in shallow ground water (URS Greiner, Inc., 1999). The landfill between the plantations is covered with pavement, although the area north of the northern plantation is permeable.

Purpose and Scope

The Navy began a cooperative effort with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in 1995 to investigate various natural attenuation mechanisms at OU 1. Field and laboratory studies conducted from 1996 through 2000 showed that natural attenuation and biodegradation of chlorinated VOCs in shallow ground water at OU 1 were substantial (URS Consultants, Inc., 1997; Bradley and others, 1998; Dinicola and others, 2002). The USGS has continued to monitor the geochemistry of ground water to assure that conditions remain favorable for contaminant biodegradation, and annual monitoring from 2001 through 2005 confirmed that biodegradation was continuing (Dinicola, 2006; Dinicola and Huffman, 2006).

This report presents ground-water chemical and selected VOC data collected by the USGS at OU 1 during June 12–14, 2006, in support of the long-term monitoring for natural attenuation. USGS data collected from 1996 through 2005 were presented in Dinicola and others (2002), Dinicola (2003, 2004, 2006), and Dinicola and Huffman (2004, 2006). In June 2006, the USGS collected ground-water samples from 13 wells and 9 piezometers (table 1 and fig. 2). Concentrations of various geochemical constituents used to evaluate ground-water redox conditions were determined in all samples from wells and piezometers. Concentrations of VOCs also were determined by the USGS in samples from all piezometers. The Navy determined VOC concentrations in samples they collected from other OU 1 monitoring wells during 2006, but those data are not presented in this report.

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