Integrated Risk Assessment at the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground. J. Butler, C. L. Tsao, I. Hlohowskyj, W. Vinikour, T. Patton, L. Martino, and C. Botdorf; Argonne National Laboratory and US Army Yuma Proving Ground
Located in the Sonoran Desert of southwestern Arizona, the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground (YPG) has been in military use since 1942. Currently, the site is regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and site characterization and restoration activities follow a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) format. Nineteen solid waste management units (SWMUs), organized into four operable units, are being evaluated in a remedial investigation (RI) to characterize the nature and extent of contamination and the potential risks to human health and ecological resources posed by contaminants at the sites. The results of this investigation will be used to support risk-based cleanup decisions, including development and evaluation of remedial options should cleanup be warranted. The RI follows a phased approach for data collection and evaluation, wherein existing data are used in a preliminary screening risk evaluation to develop an initial list of contaminants of concern and to identify data gaps requiring further site characterization. These results then serve as the basis for a decision on the need for additional SWMU-specific data collection and more detailed site-specific human health and ecological risk assessments. Alternately, the results may support a "no further action" or an "interim remedial action" management decision. This phased approach provides a cost-effective and timely approach for focusing Army resources not only on the data needs but also on human health and ecological issues of most importance to making risk-based decisions at YPG. This presentation will discuss the phased approach, the methodology for integrating human health and ecological risks, and the results obtained to date for this YPG effort.
Work supported under a military interdepartmental purchase request from the U.S. Army Developmental Test Command, through U.S. Department of Energy contract W-31-109-Eng-38.
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