Surveillance of Site A and Plot M, Report for 2008.

The results of the environmental surveillance program conducted at Site A/Plot M in the Palos Forest Preserve area for Calendar Year 2008 are presented. Based on the results of the 1976-1978 radiological characterization of the site, a determination was made that a surveillance program be established. The characterization study determined that very low levels of hydrogen-3 (as tritiated water) had migrated from the burial ground and were present in two nearby hand pumped picnic wells. The current surveillance program began in 1980 and consists of sample collection and analysis of surface and subsurface water. The results of the analyses are used to (1) monitor the migration pathway of hydrogen-3 contaminated water from the burial ground (Plot M) to the hand-pumped picnic wells, (2) establish if other buried radionuclides have migrated, and (3) monitor for the presence of radioactive materials in the environment of the area. Hydrogen-3 in the Red Gate Woods picnic wells was still detected this year, but the average and maximum concentrations were significantly less than found earlier. Hydrogen-3 continues to be detected in a number of wells, boreholes, dolomite holes, and a surface stream. Analyses since 1984 have indicated the presence of low levels of strontium-90 in water from a number of boreholes next to Plot M. The results of the surveillance program continue to indicate that the radioactivity remaining at Site A/Plot M does not endanger the health or safety of the public visiting the site, using the picnic area, or living in the vicinity