Open AccessDual wall reverse circulation drilling with multi-level groundwater sampling for groundwater contaminant plume delineation at Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Paducah, Kentucky
Author(s) -
D.R. Smuin,
E.E. Morti,
J.L. Zutman,
D. Pickering
Publication year - 1995
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/104412
Subject(s) - drill cuttings , drilling , groundwater , aquifer , borehole , plume , drilling fluid , lithology , petroleum engineering , geology , vadose zone , environmental science , sampling (signal processing) , contamination , water well , hydrology (agriculture) , soil science , geotechnical engineering , engineering , petrology , mechanical engineering , physics , electrical engineering , filter (signal processing) , thermodynamics , ecology , biology
This paper describes the drilling and sampling methods used to delineate a groundwater contaminant plume at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP) during the Groundwater Monitoring IV characterization. The project was unique in that it relied upon dual wall reverse circulation drilling instead of the traditional hollow stem auger method. The Groundwater Monitoring program sought to characterize the boundaries, both vertically and horizontally, of the northeast plume which contains both {sup 99}Tc and trichloroethene. This paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the drilling method used by investigators