USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2013–5218: Assessment of the Quality of Groundwater and the Little Wind River in the Area of a Former Uranium Processing Facility on the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming, 1987 through 2010

Assessment of the Quality of Groundwater and the Little Wind River in the Area of a Former Uranium Processing Facility on the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming, 1987 through 2010

By Anthony J. Ranalli and David L. Naftz

Abstract

In 2010, the U.S Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Wind River Environmental Quality Commission (WREQC), began an assessment of the effectiveness of the existing monitoring network at the Riverton, Wyoming, Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) site. The USGS used existing data supplied by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The study was to determine (1) seasonal variations in the direction of groundwater flow in the area of the former uranium processing facility toward the Little Wind River, (2) the extent of contaminated groundwater among the aquifers and between the aquifers and the Little Wind River, (3) whether current monitoring is adequate to establish the effectiveness of natural attenuation for the contaminants of concern, and (4) the influence of groundwater discharged from the sulfuric-acid plant on water quality in the Little Wind River.

First posted April 24, 2014

Report PDF (8.02 MB)

For additional information contact:
Director, Colorado Water Science Center
U.S. Geological Survey
Box 25046, Mail Stop 415
Denver, CO 80225
http://co.water.usgs.gov

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Suggested citation:

Ranalli, A.J., and Naftz, D.L., 2014, Assessment of the quality of groundwater and the Little Wind River in the area of a former uranium processing facility on the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming, 1987 through 2010: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2013–5218, 104 p., http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20135218.

ISSN 2328-0328 (online)

Contents

Abstract

Introduction

Quality of Groundwater and the Little Wind River

Summary

References Cited

In cooperation with the Wind River Environmental Quality Commission

Assessment of the Quality of Groundwater and the Little Wind River in the Area of a Former Uranium Processing Facility on the Wind River Reservation, Wyoming, 1987 through 2010

By Anthony J. Ranalli and David L. Naftz

Abstract

Suggested citation:

Contents