Recent Site-Wide Transport Modeling Related to the Carbon Tetrachloride Plume at the Hanford Site

Carbon tetrachloride transport in the unconfined aquifer system at the Hanford Site has been the subject of follow-on studies since the Carbon Tetrachloride Innovative Treatment Remediation Demonstration (ITRD) Program was completed in FY 2002. These scoping analyses were undertaken to provide support for strategic planning and guidance for the more robust modeling needed to obtain a final record of decision (ROD) for the carbon tetrachloride plume in the 200 West Area. This report documents the technical approach and the results of these follow-on, site-wide scale-modeling efforts. The existing site-wide groundwater model was used in this effort. The work extended that performed as part of the ITRD modeling study in which a 200 West Area scale submodel was developed to examine arrival concentrations at an arbitrary boundary between the 200 E and 200 W areas. These scoping analyses extended the analysis to predict the arrival of the carbon tetrachloride plume at the Columbia River. The results of these analyses illustrate the importance of developing field-scale estimates of natural attenuation parameters, abiotic degradation rate and soil/water equilibrium sorption coefficient, for carbon tetrachloride. With these parameters set to zero, carbon tetrachloride concentrations will exceed the compliance limit of 5 ?g/L outside the 200 Area Plateau Waste Management Area, and the aquifer source loading and area of the aquifer affected will continue to grow until arrival rates of carbon tetrachloride equal source release rates, estimated at 33 kg/yr. Results of this scoping analysis show that the natural attenuation parameters are critical in predicting the future movement of carbon tetrachloride from the 200 West Area. Results also show the significant change in predictions between continual source release from the vadose zone and complete source removal