DTIC ADA442234: Volatile Organic Compounds Detected in Vapor-Diffusion Samplers Placed in Sediments Along and Near the Shoreline at Allen Harbor Landfill and Calf Pasture Point, Davisville, Rhode Island, March-April 1998

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U.S.DepartmentoftheInterior
U.S.Geological Survey
Volatile Organic Compounds Detected in
Vapor-Diffusion Samplers Placed in
Sediments Along and Near the Shoreline at
Allen Harbor Landfill and Calf Pasture
Point, Davisville, Rhode Island,
March-April 1998
Open-FileReport99-74

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1999 N/A -
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER
Volatile Organic Compounds Detected in Vapor-Diffusion Samplers
Placed in Sediments Along and Near the Shoreline at Allen Harbor 5b. GRANT NUMBER
Landfill and Calf Pasture Point, Davisville, Rhode Island, March-April
1998 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER
6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER
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U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey
Volatile Organic Compounds Detected in
Vapor-Diffusion Samplers Placed in
Sediments Along and Near the Shoreline at
Allen Harbor Landfill and Calf Pasture
Point, Davisville, Rhode Island,
March-April 1998
By FOREST P. LYFORD,JOHN D. KLIEVER, U.S. Geological Survey, and
SCOTT CLIFFORD, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Open-FileReport99-74
Prepared in cooperation with the
U.S. ENVIRONMENTALPROTECTION AGENCY
Marlborough, Massachusetts
1999
TNEMTRASUP.E.D ROFIEORHETTNI
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U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

Charles G. Groat, Director
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U.S.Geological Survey.
For additional information write to : Copies of this report can be purchased from :
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CONTENTS
Abstract ... .. .. .. .................. .. .. .. ...... ............ ......................... ...... .. ............................. .... ...... .. ................... .. .... ....................... .. .. 1

Introduction . .. ...... ............ .. .. .. .. .... .. .......... .. .......... ................... .. ................................. ........ ................... .. .... ....................... .. .. 2

StudyArea .... ...... ............ .. .... .. .... .. .. .. ...... .. .. .. ...... .. ................... .. ...... .. ............................... ..................... .... .. ..................... .. .. 2

AllenHarborLandfill .... .... .. .. .. .. .... .. .. .. ...... .. ................... .. ...... .. .. ............................. ..................... .... .. ..................... .. .. 2

CalfPasturePoint.................. .. .. ...... .... ........ .. ................. .. .. .... .. .. .. ........................... .. ................. .. .... .. ..................... .. .. 3

StudyMethods. ...... .. .. .. ...................... .. ............ ...... .. ........ ........... .. ........ .. ...... ..................... .. .. .... ............. .... .. .. ........ ........... .. .. 4

VolatileOrganic Compounds Detected inVapor-Diffusion Samplers... .. .... .. .. ................... .. .... .. .. ............... .. .. ...... .. ............. 4

AllenHarborLandfill ............................ .......... ...... ....................... ...... .. ..................... .. .... .. ........... .... .. .. .. ...... ........... .. .. 5

CalfPasturePoint ............................................ .. ...... .. ................... .. .... .. ....................... ...... .. ......... ...... .. .. ...... ............... 5

References.............................. ..................................... ...... .. ........................... .. ........................... .. ................. .. ...... .. ............. 5

FIGURES
1-3. Maps showing:
1 . Location ofAllenHarbor Landfill and CalfPasturePointstudy areas, Davisville,

RhodeIsland ............ .. ........ .... ...... .. ..................... ...... .. .. ...... ....................... ...... ..................... ................... .. ...... . 6

2. Locations ofvapor-diffusion samplers, samplers thatdetectedorganic vapors,
and selectedmonitoringwells,AllenHarbor Landfill..... ................................... .. .. ...... ........... .. .... .. .....
3. Locations of vapor-diffusion samplers, samplers that detected organic vapors,

and selectedmonitoringwells, CalfPasturePoint ............................ ..................... ...... .. ......... .. ........ ........ ........ 8

TABLES
1 . Reporting limits fortargetvolatileorganic compoundsatAllenHarbor Landfill and

CalfPasture Point, Davisville, RhodeIsland, March-April 1998 ...................... ........................... ......................... 9

2. Concentrations ofvolatile organiccompounds invapor-diffusion samplers at

AllenHarbor Landfill,April1998 .. .......... ..................... .. ...... .. .. ...... ....................... ...... ..................... .. ...... .. ........... 9

3. Concentrations ofvolatile organiccompounds invapor-diffusion samplers at

CalfPasture Point, April 1998.................... ................................. .... .. ....................... ........ .. ...... ..................... .. .. ..... 9
(cid:9)(cid:9)(cid:9)
CONVERSION FACTORS,VERTICAL DATUM, ANDABBREVIATIONS€
CONVERSION FACTORS
Multiply By To obtain
feet (ft) 0.3048 meters
inches (in.) 25.40 millimeter
miles (mi) 1.609 kilometers
VERTICALDATUM
Sealevel: In this report,"sealevel" referstotheNational GeodeticVertical Datumof1929 (NGVD
of 1929)--a geodetic datum derived from a general adjustment of the first-order level nets of the
United States andCanada,formerlycalledSeaLevelDatumof 1929.
ABBREVIATIONS
mL milliliters
ppb partsper billion
Rg/L micrograms per liter
IV Contents
Volatile Organic Compounds Detected in
Vapor-Diffusion Samplers Placed in Sediments
Along and Near the Shoreline at Allen Harbor
Landfill and Calf Pasture Point, Davisville,
Rhode Island, March-April 1998
By Forest P Lyford, John D. Kliever, andScottClifford
Abstract per billion by volumein an area where TCE was
detected inground water from nearby monitoring
Volatile organic compounds are present in
wells. Other chemicals detected in vapor-diffusion
ground water at the Allen Harbor Landfill and the
samplers included tetrachloroethylene, toluene,
Calf Pasture Point sites on the former Naval
andbenzene. Concentrations ofindividualvolatile
Construction Battalion Center inDavisville, R.I .
organic compounds were less than 100 parts per
Vapor-diffusion samplers were used at the two
billion by volume in most samplers.
sitesduring March-April 1998to identifypossible
Volatile organic compounds, principally
discharge points for contaminants along the shore
trichloroethylene, were detected in 7 of 30 sam­
ofAllen Harbor and in two wetland areas near the
shore. Results from vapor-diffusion samplers will plers placed alongthe shoreline at CalfPasture
be used in conjunction with other site information Point; the highest trichloroethylene concentration
to evaluate proposed ground-water monitoring was 1,900 parts per billion by volume. A trace
programs. concentration oftetrachloroethylene was detected
in one of the samplers. One of 24 samplers placed
Volatile organic compounds were detected
in 41 of 115 samplers placed along the shoreline at in two wetland areas near the shore (suspected dis­
the Allen Harbor Landfill. Trichloroethylene was charge areas for ground-water containing volatile
the principal volatile organic compound detected organic compounds) detected trichloroethylene at
of eight targetcompounds. The highest vapor avapor concentration of 14 parts per billion by
concentration measured exceeded 300,000 parts volume.
Abstract 1
�
INTRODUCTION STUDY AREA
Remedial investigations bytheU.S.Navy at the TheAllenHarborLandfill andCalfPasturePoint
former Naval Construction Battalion Center in areas are part oftheformer NavalConstruction
Davisville,RhodeIsland,have detected volatile BattalionCenter (NCBC) in Davisville,R.I . NCBC
organic compounds(VOCs) in ground water at Allen wasdecommissioned andclosed in 1994 (EA
Harbor Landfill and Calf Pasture Point (EA Engineering, Science, and Technology, 1998a).
Engineering, Science, and Technology, 1996; 1998a). Investigations of thetwoareashave identified
Thesetwo areas are adjacent toAllenHarboron
contaminants in ground water, principally VOCs.Both
Narragansett Bay(fig. 1, in back ofreport).
areasare on the shoreofAllenHarbor,which is
Information about dischargeareasforgroundwater
connectedto Narragansett Baybyan entrance channel
containing VOCs wouldbe useful to the U.S.
(fig. 1). Tidal fluctuations in the harbor are generally
EnvironmentalProtectionAgency (USEPA), in
about 5 ft (EAEngineering, Science, andTechnology,
conjunction with other site information, to assess
1996).
ground-water risks to human health and the
environmentanddesign monitoring programs for
contaminants in ground water.Asurvey using vapor
Allen Harbor Landfill
diffusionsamplers wasrequestedby USEPAbecause
priorexperience hadshownthesamplersto be auseful
Allen Harbor Landfill occupies most of an area
and inexpensive reconnaissance tool for identifying
betweenSanfordRoad andAllenHarbor (fig . 1).
discharge points for ground water contaminated by
Landfill materials are about 20 ft thick or less.
VOCs (Vroblesky and others, 1996; Lyford and others,
Geologic materials beneath the landfill and shoreline
1998;J.R Mulanney, U.S.Geological Survey,oral
commun., 1997).Themethodhadnotbeen used includeadiscontinuous layeroffine to very fine sand,
previously in acoastalsetting, so asecondary goal of generallyless than 15 ft thick,over alayerofsilt that is
thestudywasto determine ifvapor-diffusion samplers 20 to 50 ft thick. Peat layers are present in some
can yield useful information about discharge points for locations at the top of the sand layer. The silt layer
VOCs in groundwateralonga coastalshoreline. overlies till,wherepresent, or bedrock.Thedepthto
Although the data presented in this report indicate that thebottom ofthe silt layerbelow sealevelranges from
vapor-diffusion samplers will detectVOCs in 30 to 50 ft (EA Engineering, Science, and Technology,
sediments within the zone of tidal fluctuations, the 1996, figs. 3-3 to 3-5). Ground water in landfill
study did not examine possible effects of tidal cycling materials and the sand layer flows from a water-table
on concentrations ofVOCs in thevaporsamples, nor mound centered near well MW09-181 (EA
didthestudydetermineactual concentrations ofVOCs Engineering, Science, andTechnology, 1996,fig.3-10)
in ground water where detected in vapor. Also, the eastward to the shore and southward to a mud-flat area
study did not attempt to identify discharge points for (fig.2, in back of report).Groundwateralso flows
VOCs in ground water offshore beyond the tidal zone.
westward toward awetlandon thewestside ofSanford
The purpose of this report is to present data on Road (fig. 1) during wetseasons(EAEngineering,
vapor concentrations detected in vapor-diffusion Science, andTechnology, 1996,chap.3, p. 10).The
samplers installed and retrieved during March-April
mound is not apparent in water levels measured in
1998 at the Allen Harbor Landfill and Calf Pasture
wells screened nearthe bottom ofthe silt layerandin
Pointsitesin Davisville,RhodeIsland. It is beyond the
deeper geologic units.Ground-water flow at depth is
scope of this report to explain the distribution and
predominantly eastward and southeastward toward
concentrations ofVOCs detected in thesamplers.The
Allen Harbor; flow directions change somewhat with
vaporsamplers were installedandretrievedbyUSGS
personnel assisted by Christine Williams and William tidal fluctuations (EA Engineering, Science, and
Brandon, USEPA, andbyJohn Zimmerman, Dynamac, Technology, 1996,figs.3-10 to 3-18).Vertical
Inc., acontractor forUSEPA.Vaporanalyses were hydraulicgradientsaredownward in thearea of the
done on-sitebyScottClifford,USEPA, usinga water-table moundand upward nearthe shore(EA
portable gas chromatograph. Engineering, Science, and Technology, 1996, figs. 3-3
2 VOCs Detected inSamplers Placed inSedimentsNeartheShoreline atAllenHarbor Landfilland Calf PasturePoint, Davisvilie, R.I.
(cid:9)
to 3-5 and table 3-3). Gradients reverse in some wells Calf Pasture Point
near the shore during high tide, but the reversal is not
The stratigraphy at CalfPasturePointis similar
consistently observed for all tidal cycles.
to that at Allen Harbor Landfill. Fine to very fine sand
The landfill received avariety ofwastes
overlies a layer of silt, which, in turn, overlies till or
generatedat the NCBC from 1946 until 1974,when
bedrock(EAEngineering, Science, andTechnology,
disposal activitiesceased.AvarietyofVOCs,including
1998a, figs.3-3 to 3-9).Thesilt layeris absent alonga
petroleum-based compounds(benzene,toluene, north-south-trending till ridgebetweenwellsMW07-
ethylbenzene, and the xylenes) and chlorinated 26S andMW07-21S (fig.3, in back of report).
compounds, have been detected in several monitoring Potentiometric maps indicate that ground water flows
wellsplaced within thelandfill area.Thehighest in an arcuate patternfrom thearea near well MW07-
concentrations ofVOCs were observed at monitoring 14D southeastward toward Allen Harbor, southward
well MW09-20I (380,500 [Lg/Ltotal chlorinated toward theentrance channeltoAllenHarbor,and
southeastwardtoward Narragansett Bay(EA
VOCs), completed in the sand layer near the shore
Engineering, Science, and Technology, 1998a, figs. 3-
(fig. 2) (EA Engineering, Science, and Technology,
12 to 3-20).Flowpatterns appear to be similarforthe
1996, figs. 4-18 and 4-20). Compounds detected at
sand, till, and bedrock units. Vertical hydraulic
MW09-201 include 1,2-dichloroethylene,
gradients generally are downward, but near well
trichloroethylene (TCE), 1,1,2-trichloroethane, and MW07-21S the gradient is upward, except during
tetrachlorethane . Otherwellswhereconcentrations of periodsofhigh tide when thegradient is zero or
totalVOCs exceed 2,000 pg/L includeMW09-07D, downward (EA Engineering, Science, and Technology,
MW09-09D, and MW09-14D (EAEngineering, 1998a, table 3-3).
Science, and Technology, 1996, fig. 4-22), which are Thesource ofVOCs in ground waterat Calf
screened near thebottom ofthe siltlayer.VOCs also Pasture Point is not well documented but is believed to
have been detected inwaterfrom borings installed in be containers of chemicals disposed of in pits in the
sediments offshore in the harbor (EA Engineering, general area of well MW07-14D (fig.3) (EA
Engineering,Science, andTechnology,1998a, fig.l-2).
Science, and Technology, 1998b).
VOCs, principally chlorinated compounds, in ground
Thesubstratein thetidalzone atthesouthendof
water are found in fractured crystalline bedrock and
thelandfill consists offine-grained estuarine deposits
surficial material across an area that extends
on atidalmud flat that is exposedduring lowtide southwestward toAllenHarbor,southwardtoward the
(fig. 2). Channels carry water through the area during entrance to Allen Harbor, and eastward about one-half
lowtide.Achannelalongtheshoreonthesouthside of totwo-thirds ofthedistance betweenAllenHarbor and
thelandfill drains the wetlandarea west ofthelandfill Narragansett Bay (EA Engineering, Science, and
(fig. 1).Thesubstratein thetidalzone alongthe east Technology, 1998a, figs. 4-17 to4-19). In general,
side ofthelandfill from themud-flat area northto a highestconcentrations ofVOCs in ground waterarein
small jetty (fig. 2) consist mainly of landfill debris and wells completedbelowthe siltlayerat depths of30 ft
or more, except in the area ofthe till ridgewherethe
sand. Northofthejetty, thetidalzone substrate
silt layer is absent andVOCs arepresent at shallow
consists mainly of sand. Seeps are apparent in several
depths of25 ft or less.Severalcompounds have been
locations in the tidal zone during low tide. Along the
detected in theVOCplumeincludingvinylchloride,
east side ofthe landfill northto thejetty, the surface 1,2-dichloroethene, tetrachloroethylene (PCE), TCE,
slopes steeply into the harbor and the tidal zone is and 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane.
generally5to 10 ft wide.Northofthejetty, theslopeof The substrate in the tidal zone at Calf Pasture
the surface is gentlerthan to the southandthewidthof Pointconsists mainly of fine to medium sand.The
the tidalzone is generallygreaterthan 10 ft.Asmall slopeoftheland surface in the tidal zone is gentle at
escarpment stabilizedbyvegetationmarksthehigh tide the southendin theentrance channel toAllen Harbor
position northof thejetty. andonthenorthwestside ofthestudy area. In these
Study Area 3
(cid:9)
areas, thetidalzone ranges from 20 to 70 ft.Alongthe spacingwasgreateronthesoutheast side of the study
western shore, slopes are steeper and the width of the area. Samplers were placed at the high tide level at
tidal zone is generally less than 10 ft . sevenlocations(Hl-H7)forcomparison toresultsfrom
low-tide locations.Additionally, 24 samplers (W1 to
W24) were placed in 2wetlandareasinland from the
STUDY METHODS
entrance channel toAllen Harbor andin 4seepage
areas (S1 to S4) near the shore (fig. 3). Duplicate
Vapor-diffusion samplers were constructed as
described inVroblesky andothers (1996).The samplers were placed at three low-tide locations
samplers consist of a 40-mL, air-filled glass bottle (locations 10,20,and30), twowetlandlocations(W5
wrapped in two polyethylene bags held in place with andW16),andonehigh-tidelocation (H1).
cable ties. Duplicate samples for quality control are Vaporsamplers were analyzed onsite forVOCs
constructedbyplacingtwopolyethylene-wrapped usingtheUSEPARegion Istandard airscreening
bottlesin the outerbag.Thesampler is attached to a method (U.S.EnvironmentalProtectionAgency,1998).
survey flag formarkingand retrieval.When the Vaporsampleswere analyzed using Photovac gas
sampler is placed in waterorsaturatedsediments chromatograph equipped with a 4-foot by 1/8-inch SE-
containing VOCs, organic vapors diffuse through the
30 column and photoionization detector. Samples were
twolayers ofpolyethylene andequilibratewith airin
analyzedwithin 24hoursofsample collection. Target
the bottle.Thetime required forequilibration is 24
compoundsforanalysis were benzene, TCE,toluene,
hours or less in a controlled setting (Vroblesky and
PCE, chlorobenzene, ethylbenzene, meta/para-xylene,
others, 1996).Additional time maybe required after
placement of the samplers to allow concentrations of andortho-xylene.The reportinglimits fortarget
VOCs in groundwaterto re-equilibrate in disturbed compounds from the two areas are given in table 1 (in
materials; a period of2weeks is recommended (D.A. back ofreport).
Vroblesky, U.S. Geological Survey,oral commun. Locations of samples at both sites were
1997).Afterretrieving the sampler, the outerbag is determined usingaglobal positioningsystem (GPS).
removedto shed attached sediment, andacap is Operationofthe GPSwas checkedby comparing
immediatelyscrewedonto thebottle overtheinnerbag. surveyed locations with the locations of several
In this study, thesamplerswere placed at depths of 6to monitoring wellsdetermined byGPS.
10 in.bymanual insertionbehind ashovel bladedriven
into the sediments or by placement in a hole formed by
the pointed end of a pickax. VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
Samplers at theAllenHarbor Landfill were DETECTED IN VAPOR-DIFFUSION
installed during March 16-20, 1998, at locations SAMPLERS
shown in figure 2 and retrieved during low tide on
April 1-2,1998. Most samplers (1 to 79) were installed Volatile organiccompoundswere detected in
during lowtide at intervalsofabout25 ft along a numerousvaporsamplers placed at theAllenHarbor
1,700-ft length ofthe shoreline . Samplers also were Landfill andin afewsamplers placed at the Calf
placed at 20 selected high-tide locations (H1 to H20) PasturePointsite.Theconcentrationsin air, reported in
(for comparison to results from the low-tide locations), partsperbillionbyvolume,aretypicallyseveraltimes
at 12 locationswhereground-waterwasdischargingin higher than concentrations in water reported in
seeps (S1 to S12), and at four locations on mud flats
micrograms perliter (D.A.Vroblesky, oral commun.,
southofthelandfill area (Ml to M4). Duplicate
1998).Theexchange of waterbetweensurfacewater
samplerswereplaced at six low-tide locations
andgroundwaterduring tidal cyclingcouldaffect the
(locations 20, 30,40, 50, 60, and70).
apparent concentrations ofVOCs detected in vapor
Samplers at Calf Pasture Point were installed
duringApril7-9, 1998, at locationsshownin figure 3 samplers, but the effects of tides were not investigated
andretrievedduringApril28-29, 1998. Mostsamplers in this study.Resultsofvapor analyses forsamplers
were placed during low tide (samplers 1 to 30) at that containeddetectable concentrations ofVOCs are
intervals of50 ft alongabout 1,300ft ofshoreline.The reported in tables 2and3 (inback ofreport).
4 VOCs Detected in Samplers Placed in Sediments Near the Shoreline at Allen Harbor Landfill and Calf Pasture Point, Davisville, R.I.