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December 1999 On-Post Quarterly Groundwater Monitoring Report

1.0 - Introduction

Groundwater monitoring was performed the week of 13 December 1999 at Camp Stanley Storage Activity (CSSA), and is the fifth of five monitoring events scoped under the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence (AFCEE) Contract F41624-94-D-8136, Delivery Order 0023 (DO23). A total of five future groundwater monitoring will be conducted under the Air Mobility Command (AMC) Contract F11623-94-D0024 Delivery Order RL74, with yet-to-be-installed wells to be monitored under AMC Order RL83. AFCEE/ERD and AFCEE/ERC provide technical oversight for the CSSA environmental projects.

After the Texas Department of Health (TDH) detected groundwater contamination in CSSA Well 16 in 1991, TDH sampled this well on 8-9 August 1991, followed by resampling on 23 August 1991. The Texas Water Commission (now the Texas Resource Conservation Commission, TNRCC) sampled Well 16 on 4 December 1991. All CSSA wells were sampled in 1992. Based on these sampling events and results, a monitoring program was initiated in May 1994. All work pertaining to the groundwater investigation up through June 1996 is summarized in the �Groundwater Investigation and Associated Source Characterizations� Report (Parsons ES, June 1996). Groundwater monitoring under AFCEE Order DO23 was initiated in January 1997.

The January 1997 quarterly monitoring event is considered the first event of five under AFCEE Order DO23. Results from the January-March 1997 sampling event are in the �January 1997 Quarterly Groundwater Monitoring Report� (Parsons ES, 1997) which can be found in the CSSA Environmental Encyclopedia (Encyclopedia) Volume 5, Groundwater Monitoring. The intention of the project was to conduct groundwater sampling every quarter, or approximately every three months. However, since January 1997, samples were not collected on a quarterly basis due to several technical difficulties, which are described below.

The second monitoring event was conducted in October 1997. The nine months separating these sampling events reflects the time required to receive approval, and purchase, low-flow sampling systems for the wells. Previously, samples had been collected with a Teflon^� bailer but it was thought that samples collected with low-flow pumps might yield samples more representative of the groundwater chemistry. Five QED slow purge/low flow sampling systems were installed as dedicated pumps on October 21-22, 1997. In January 1998, as the report documenting the results of the October 1997 monitoring event was being prepared, it was reported that ITS Laboratory (ITS), who had conducted the CSSA groundwater analyses, had been accused of fraudulent work. Therefore, analytical results from the October 1997 monitoring event were not reported at that time due to the questionable quality of the data.

The third monitoring event was conducted in November 1998. The delay between the second and third events was caused by the January 1998 ITS disclosure of fraudulent laboratory work. The search for a laboratory capable of meeting the project data quality objectives (DQOs) initiated in summer 1998. In November 1998, a qualified laboratory had not been selected; however, collection of samples was considered imperative due to the extremely high precipitation levels in the San Antonio area in October 1998. At that time, groundwater levels at CSSA reached high elevations due to a large amount of rainfall and rapid recharge. These groundwater elevations represent the highest recorded water table level at CSSA since 1991. An AFCEE-approved laboratory was not yet subcontracted for CSSA work; however, CSSA requested a groundwater sampling event during the high groundwater table period. Therefore, the third groundwater quarterly monitoring event was conducted on November 6, 1998. DHL Laboratories (DHL) in Round Rock, Texas analyzed the November 1998 groundwater samples in accordance with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) SW-846 procedures. However, since the laboratory did not meet project DQOs specified in the AFCEE Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP), version 3.0, the data are considered to be screening data only, as agreed by AFCEE and CSSA. Results from the third monitoring event for October 1997 through November 1998 are reported in the �November 1998 Quarterly Groundwater Monitoring Report� (Parsons ES, 1999) (Encyclopedia Volume 5, Groundwater Monitoring).

In the fall of 1999, a laboratory capable of meeting the project DQOs was identified. This laboratory, O�Brien & Gere Laboratory (O�B&G) of Syracuse, New York, passed an on-site audit and conducted corrective actions to the satisfaction of Parsons ES chemists. O�B&G�s variances from the AFCEE QAPP, version 3.0, were submitted to the TNRCC in July 1999, and TNRCC approved the variances in October 1999. In September 1999, soon after O�B&G was formally procured for analytical services, Parsons ES conducted the fourth monitoring event under AFCEE Order DO23. The September 1999 groundwater monitoring report provides the data and evaluation resulting from that monitoring event, including both CSSA and offsite well samples. The results are reported in the �September 1999 Quarterly Groundwater Monitoring Report and Quarterly Informal Technical Data Information Report (ITIR)� (Encyclopedia Volume 5, Groundwater Monitoring).

The table below is intended to correlate old offsite well IDs used during various sampling events with the current owner�s name and with new offsite well IDs that will be used for future sampling events to avoid confusion when comparing QA/QC data or analytical data from different sampling events.

Table 1 - Offsite Well Identifications