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REPORT ON WATER AND SOIL SAMPLING -LINE CAMP PIT DRAFT PAGE 3 <br />CONCLUSIONS <br />As expected, the water both in the pond and in the river has high dissolved solids, making the <br />water very hard (see also calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium levels); both river and <br />pond water are above EPA recommended consumption levels. <br />TCLP indicates that the potential for release of two metals (Manganese and Barium) is greater <br />than EPA recommended HHCW levels, and Cadmium is greater than EPA recommended F CCC <br />levels. <br />MANGANESE <br />Comparing manganese levels in water and in the fines shows that water concentrations are only <br />about 0.1 % of solids concentrations; and significantly under the EPA recommended level for <br />HHCW. Manganese is not an EPA priority pollutant, and has no recommended level for aquatic <br />life water quality. Therefore, manganese is not a constituent of concern for the Line Camp Pit. <br />Further sampling and analysis is not recommended. <br />BARIUM <br />EPA drinking water standards have a limit of 2 ppm (mg/L) on barium. Barium is not an EPA <br />priority pollutant and has no recommended level for aquatic life water quality (probably because it <br />has a low tendency to migrate to aquatic life. Assuming that all TCLP barium present in the fines <br />was also present in solution in river water, the barium levels would be only about 40% over <br />drinking water quality standards (2410 ppb vs. 2000 ppb), and about 1/3 of the level (7000 ppb <br />vs. 2410 ppb) at which identifiable health effects were detected in the EPA studies'. However, <br />based on other analysis, most or all barium present is barium sulfate, which is not water soluble, <br />or other insoluble barium salts. The excavation and processing of sand and gravel provides no <br />mechanism for the release of barium into ground water beyond what takes place in situ. In <br />addition, since one of the EPA-approved methods of removing barium from drinking water is <br />softening, and softening is required because of the high hardness of the river water (upstream of <br />the Line Camp Pit), barium levels would likely be further reduced, even for residential, single- <br />family water users. Therefore, barium is not a concern for the Line Camp Pit. Further sampling <br />and analysis is not recommended. Attached is additional information on barium" <br />CADMIUM <br />Although cadmium is TCLP leachable to levels approximately 25 times EPA recommended F <br />CCC levels"', the limit is very low (0.5 ppb) and far below the concentrations in soil considered to <br />represent a hazard. Current EPA Universal Treatment Standards for cadmium-contaminated <br />soils (that is, the upper limit allowed for leachable cadmium in soils which have been <br />contaminated with heavy metals, after being treated), are 110 ppb (0.11 mg/L) for TCLP. Since <br />cadmium is significantly mobile on when pH levels are significantly reduced, this means that in- <br />situ concentrations of cadmium are approximately 1/44 allowable levels. Because the cadmium <br />present in the fines (and other materials) of Line Camp Pit have been in ground water for a long <br />period of time, most readily-soluble forms have probably long ago been dissolved and flushed <br />out, so there is little likelihood that significant additional amounts of cadmium are being released <br />by mining and processing. Cadmium'" is therefore not a constituent of concern for the Line Camp <br />Pit. Further sampling and analysis is not recommended. <br />' Summary of EPA Report 600179003, January 1979, Health Effects of Human Exposure to <br />Barium in Drinking Water <br />The overall objective of this study was to examine by epidemiologic and supportive <br />laboratory studies, the human health effects associated with ingestion of barium in <br />