Attachment 17 - Installation Restoration Program (IRP) Background Chem Data.pdf

1 ST FIGHTER WING

10F-5-525

INSTALLATION RESTORATION PROGRAM (/RP)

BACKGROUND CHEMICAL DATA DOCUMENT

t FINAL USAF PROJECT NOs. MUHJ-92-7001, 7002, 7003, 7004, 7006, AND 7009

LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE

VIRGINIA

PerrotS 02 QC Review Comment COMH, Amendment 14 Dec 21 Attachment to Specification Section 01 57 19 TEMPORARY ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROLS

RCN: 269-069-19-14

21 October 1997

Technical Manager U.S. Army Corps of Engineers 215 North 17th Street CENWO-ED-EB/Cieslik Omaha, NE 68102

IRNTAE RDNATIIAONNALI ------

(Mailing) P.O. Box 201088

Austin, TX 78720-1088·

(Shipping) 8501 N. Mopac Blvd.

Austin, TX 78759

(512) 454-4797

Subject: Final Background Chemical Data Document USAF Project No: MUHJ92-7001, 7002, 7003, 7004, 7006, and 7009 Contract Number DACW45-91-D-0018, Delivery Order No. 0011

Dear Mr. Cieslik:

Please find enclosed four copies of the final Background Chemical Data Document for Langley AFB. The comments on the draft document and associated responses are attached. Additional copies of this document have been sent to the Langley Tier I Partnership (see attached distribution list). If you any questions or comments, please call me at (210) 321-4981.

Sincerely, ·· W. Larry Jeffers~ P.O.

Project Manager

Distribution:

ACC/CES/ESVE

ATIN: Ms. JoAnn Hubbard Building No. 664, RM 317 Langley AFB, VA 23665-2769

1 CES/CEV

A TIN: Vern Bartels 209 Thornell St Langley AFB, VA 23665-2775

Virginia Department of Environmental Quality ATIN: Mr. Robert Weld Federal Facilities Program Manager 629 East Main Street Richmond, VA 23219

EPA Region 3 (mail code 3HW50) A TIN: Stacie Morekas Driscoll 841 Chesnut Building Philadelphia, PA 19107

International Technology Corporation A TIN: Mike Sturdevant 312 Directors Drive Knoxville, TN 37923-4799

Copies:

Responses to USACE Review Comments (RFS #97-0158) on the IRP Background Chemical Data Document [draft] Langley AFB, Virginia

Section 3.3, Page 3-1

Section 4.3, Page 4-1

Section 4.4, Page 4-3

Section 5.1, Page 5-1

General

Section 5.4, Page 5-4

Section 6.1, Page 6-1

Rick Grabowski (CEMRO-ED-GG) (August I, 1997)

Please provide additional text describing why data from locations BG-5 and BG-11 were not used. Why is this data considered not representative of background concentrations?

See comment number 1 above with regards to sampling point BG~S.

The last paragraph on this page has several typographical errors and is repetitive. Please edit as appropriate.

The reference report by Radian is not listed in the reference section, and the date of the reference should be changed to 1997.

It would make more sense to present the material in Section 5.3 before the material in Section 5.2.

The last paragraph on this page is a duplication of a previous paragraph and can be deleted.

It would be helpful to see the spatial relationship between Brick Kiln Creek (referenced in the text) and Langley AFB on Figure 6-1.

Concur, additional text addressing this topic will be added.

. Concur, additional text addressing this topic will be added.

Concur, edits will be made as appropriate.

Concur, the reference will be added to the reference section and correct date will be used.

Concur, editorial changes will be made.

Concur, paragraph will be deleted.

Concur, identification of Brick Kiln Creek will be added to Figure 6-1.

c:\lang-eco\backgrnd\comments

Responses to USACE Review Comments (RFS #97-0158) on the IRP Background Chemical Data Document [draft] Langley AFB, Virginia (continued)

Section 6.2, Page 6-2

Section 6.3, Page 6-6

Section 2.1, Page 2-1

Section 3.3, Page 3-1

Please edit the following sentence by taking out "and surface water": "An evaluation of this existing sediment and surface water data indicated that 12 background sites were adequately representative of the chemical concentrations in sediments ..... " The topic of the sentence is sediment data, and second of all, there are only 8 surface water data points. Please define what you mean by up current. It appears that your locations are actually down current of Langley AFB (assuming flow to the Atlantic Ocean). Also, can tidal fluctuations reverse flow directions at all in the Back River? Finally, why is the existing sediment/surface water data only considered to be acceptable for qualitative evaluations only?

Map location 2 is not a USFWS data point according to Table 6-2. Perhaps you meant to reference map location 3? Also, the two locations near the mouth of the York River are not located on Figure 6-1.

This paragraph will be edited to clarify which media are being discussed and the possible tidal influences. Discussions with EPA (5/30/97) finalized the qualitative evaluation data use. Since there are questionable quality assurance data associated with the surface water and sediment data, the analyses were not consistent methods between the data set for background and site, so only qualitative evaluations were conducted.

Concur, these data points and map locations will be further discussed to clarify this topic.

Dennis Day (CEMRO-ED-EH) (August 8, 1997)

Change last sentence to read: "Because surface water and I Concur, sentence will be changed.

sediment values are based on a literature ..... "

Describe the criteria used to determine if a sample I Concur, discussion will be added.

location was representative of background concentrations.

c:\lang-eco\backgrnd\comrnents 2

Responses to USACE Review Comments (RFS #97-0158) on the IRP Background Chemical Data Document [draft] Langley AFB, Virginia (continued)

General Discuss how results will be used in the comparison of site to background data. Appendix C in the Baseline Human Health Risk Assessment for OT-06 would provide a good discussion of how the Background Data will be used.

This document presents only the background data and associated statistics. How the data were to be used is presented in specific reports (OT-06, 7 Site, etc.).

c:\lang-eco\backgmd\comments 3

• INSTALLATION RESTORATION PROGRAM (IRP) BACKGROUND

CHEMICAL DATA DOCUMENT

FINAL

Prepared for:

Langley Air Force Base

Langley AFB, Virginia 23665

Headquarters Air Combat Command

HQACC/CEVR

Langley AFB, Virginia 23665

Prepared by:

Radian International LLC 8501 North Mopac Blvd.

Austin, Texas 78759

USAF Project Nos. MUHJ92-7001, 7002, 7003, 7004, 7006, and 7009 USACE Contract Nos. DACW45-91-D-0018, Delivery Order No. 0011

• APPROVED: ------

Date

EPA Region III Ms. Stacie Driscoll

Virginia DEQ, Federal Facilities Program Mr. Robert J. Weld

U.S. Air Force, Air Combat Command Ms. Jo Ann Hubbard

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mr. Robert Cieslik

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mr. Don Richard

International Technology Corporation Mr. Mike Sturdevant

Langley Air Force Base Mr. Vern Bartels

Radian International LLC Mr. Larry Jeffers

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.0 INTRODUCTION .................................................... 1-1

1.1 Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1

1.2 Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1

2.0 STATISTICS ........................................................ 2-1

2.1 Characterization of Background Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1

2.2 Calculating Background UTLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1

3.0 SURF ACE SOILS .................................................... 3-1

3 .1 Surface Soil Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1

3.2 Sampling Criteria and Data Quality .................................. 3-1

3.3 Locations ...................................................... 3-1

3.4 Sampling Summary .............................................. 3-3

4.0 SUBSURFACE SOILS ................................................ 4-1

· 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4

Subsurface Soil Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1 Sampling Criteria and Data Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1 Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1 Sampling Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1

5.0 GROUNDWATER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1

5 .1 Aquifer Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1 5 .2 Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1

5.3 Sampling Criteria and Data Quality .................................. 5-1

5.4 Sampling Summary .............................................. 5-1

6.0 SURFACE WATER AND SEDIMENT ................................... 6-1

6.1 Surface Water and Sediment Characteristics ........................... 6-1

6.2 Sampling Criteria and Data Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-1

6.3 ·Locations ...................................................... 6-2

6.4 Sampling Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6-3

7.0 UTL SUMMARY ..................................................... 7-1

8.0 REFERENCES . ...................................................... 8-1

APPENDIX A:

APPENDIXB:

Raw Data Used to Determine Background Statistics for Langley AFB

Consensus Agreements, Issue Briefs, and a Memorandum that Pertain to Background Issues at Langley AFB

• LIST OF FIGURES

1-1 Location Map, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2

2-1 Determining Distribution of Data when Calculating the 95/95 UTL ........ 2-3

3-1 Background Surface Soil Sample Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2

4-1 Background Subsurface Soil Sample Locations ........................ 4-2

5-1 Background Groundwater Sampling Locations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3

6-1 Background Surface Water and Sediment Sample Locations .............. 6-6 iii

3-1

4-1

5-1

5-2

6-1

6-2

6-3

7-1

A-1

A-2

A-3

A-4

LIST OF TABLES

Langley Background UTLs for Surface Soils (0 - 6 inches) ............... 3-4

Summary Statistics for Langley Subsurface Soil Background Data for Baseline Risk Assessments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4

Descriptions and Nomenclature for Aquifer ........................... 5-2

Langley Background UTLs for Groundwater . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-5

Surface Water Sample Locations Within a 3-Mile Radius of Langley AFB' ... 6-4

Sediment Sample Locations Within a 3-Mile Radius of Langley AFB ..•.... 6-5

Langley Background UTLs for Sediment and Surface Water ............. 6-7

UTL Summary Table ............................................. 7-1

Raw Data - Langley AFB Groundwater

Raw Data - Langley AFB Surface Soils

A-1

A-9

Raw Data- Langley AFB Subsurface Soils .......................... A-19

Raw Data- Langley AFB Surface Water and Sediment ................ A-23 iv

• ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

AFB Air Force Base

CBP Chesapeake Bay Program

DL Detection Limit

EPA U. S. Environmental Protection Agency gpm gallon(s) per minute

IRP Installation Restoration Program

MW Monitoring Well

NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration

ND Non-detected

NP Non-parametric

PAH Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon

PCB Polychlorinated Biphenyl

STORET Storage and Retrieval of U.S. Waterways Parametric Data

• TAL/TCL Total Analyte List/Total Compound List

UCL Upper Confidence Limit

USACE U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

USFWS U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

USGS U.S. Geological Survey

UTL Upper Tolerance Limit

V

1.0 Introduction

1 .0 Introduction

This section describes the purpose, objective, and organization of this document and provides background information on Langley Air Force Base (AFB), Virginia.

1.1 Purpose

This Background Chemical Data Document was prepared in response to U.S. Army

Corps of Engineers (USACE) Contract DACW45-91-D-0018, Delivery Order 0011. Radian

International LLC is the primary contractor for this delivery order.

The objective of this document is to present the processes and procedures used to determine the basewide background levels for surface soil, subsurface soil, groundwater, sediment, and surface water.

Section 2.0 of this document summarizes the statistical approach used to determine the background levels. Section 3.0 describes the surface soil sampling and results. Section 4.0 describes the subsurface soil sampling and results. Section 5.0 describes the groundwater sampling and results. Section 6.0 describes the surface water and sediment sampling and results.

Section 7.0 presents a list of references that were used to prepare the document.

1.2 Background

Langley AFB is located approximately 100 miles south of Washington, D.C., near

Hampton, Virginia (Figure 1-1). It is part of the Norfolk metropolitan area. Langley AFB, which now covers 3,152 acres, was established in 1917 and is the oldest continuously active Air Force

Base in the United States (CH2M Hill, 1981). Currently, the host unit at Langley AFB is the

1st Fighter Wing. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research

Center is situated adjacent to Langley AFB to the west .

1-1

N

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13,'1"1'>

IJ

N O R T H

CHESAPEAKE BAY

....._r L ~ARYLANO

WEST VIRGINIA r J... ·-/ LANGLEY

( AFB

~ ''-~ NtwPORT ~ VIRGINIA NEWS -~ 7-- ~M~N - -~~~-r, NORTH CAROLINA

-L__, Figure 1-1. Location Map, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia r-- 0> D

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2.0 Statistics

2.0 Statistics

2.1 Characterization of Background Data

Background concentrations for inorganics represent naturally occurring levels that are typically found in environmental media. Background concentrations for pesticides, herbicides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) represent anthropogenic levels of these chemicals around the Installation Restoration Program (IRP) sites under investigation at Langley AFB.

These data were collected from areas of Langley AFB believed not to be affected by activities at

IRP sites. Thus, the background values presented here are appropriate for the entire facility, not simply any one specific IRP site. Background data for surface soil (0 to 6 inches), subsurface soil

(> 6 inches), and groundwater have been collected. A recent memorandum (Radian, 1996b) to the Langley Partnership has proposed values for surface water and sediment. Because surface water and sediment values are based on a literature search only, the Partnership has agreed that they will be used qualitatively, not quantitatively.

2.2 Calculating Background UTLs

Upper tolerance limits (UTLs) for nonnally distributed background results, as determined by the Shapiro-Wilks test (Gilbert, 1987), were calculated using the following equation: ·

UTL = i + (K x s) where i is the estimated sample mean, K is the tolerance factor (see Gilbert, 1987), ands is the estimated sample standard deviation. Nonnal U1Ls were calculated for a coverage of95% (i.e., the 95th percentile) with 95% confidence (Figure 2-1 ). For non-detected results, proxy concentrations were calculated using one-half the detection limit.

For background data sets that are not normally distributed, but are log-nonnally distributed, a log-normal UTL was calculated using the following equation:

UTL = e i + CK " s>

2-1

• where i is the estimated mean of the log-transformed sample data, K is the tolerance factor (see

Gilbert, 1987), and s is the estimated standard deviation of the log-transformed sample data.

Log-normal UTLs were calculated for a coverage of95% with 95% confidence.

For background data sets that are neither normally nor log-normally distributed, non parametric UTLs were calculated. A non-parametric UTL is the maximum reported value when the sample size is less than 60 .

2-2

Test the Data for Normality Using the Shapiro-Wilks w-Test, with a Significance Level of 0.05

Yes

Test the Data for Log-Normality Using the Shapiro-Wilks w-Test and the Log-Transformed Data, with a Significance

Level of 0.05

No

Yes calculate Non-parametric

(NP) 95/95 UTL

Calculate Normal

95/95 UTL

No

Yes calculate Log-Normal

95195 UTL

• Figure 2-1. Determining Distribution of Data when Calculating the 95/95 UTL

2-3

3.0 Surface Soils

3.0 Surface Soils

3.1 Surface Soil Characteristics

Surficial deposits (typically within the upper 5 feet) at Langley AFB consist mainly of

Holocene alluvial deposits. These are primarily sandy, silty clays or silty, clayey sands. These sediments were deposited within the flood plains of the James, York, and Back Rivers during a period of higher sea level stands. There are also localized deposits of organic-rich soil, which were deposited in an estuarine or lagoonal environment. Fill material exists in several areas of the base, especially in the areas adjacent to the southwest branch of the Back River, where fill was used to stabilize the shoreline. This fill material is often similar to the native materials (it was derived from nearby borrow sources) and may contain gravel, rubble, and other construction debris.

3.2 Sampling Criteria and Data Quality

In order to design a statistically valid approach that yielded representative samples from

Langley AFB background areas, a statistician was consulted to select the appropriate sampling design. All sample collection, preservation, preparation, handling, and analytical methods followed standard methods in Test Methods/or Evaluating Solid Waste, Physical/Chemical

Methods (EPA, 1986).

3.3 Locations

Soil sample background locations were selected on the basis of prior knowledge of

Langley AFB activities, review of data, and discussions with the Langley Partnership. Samples were collected from locations believed not to be affected by Langley AFB activities. During this review, the results from four of the locations indicated that those samples contained higher than expected concentrations of one or more target analytes. Location BG-9 was removed from the background data set because it is located on the golf course, where chemicals are applied to fertilize the soils and to control pests. Sample location BG-8 was removed because the results showed elevated P AHs and metals (probably due to BG-8 being located along the shoulder of a heavily utilized roadway) (Radian, 1996a). Chemical results from soil sample locations BG-5 and BG-11 were not representative of surface soil background concentrations due to the possibility of elevated pesticide concentrations in addition to the possibility of these locations having a tendency to accumulate runoff (Radian, 1996c). Background surface soil sample

• locations are provided in Figure 3-1.

3-1