Livermore Big Trees Park Soil Survey

Abstract

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) will sample and analyze soil in the Big Trees Park area in Livermore, California, to determine if the initial level of plutonium (Pu) in a soil sample taken by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in September 1993 can be confirmed. Nineteen samples will be collected and analyzed: 4 in the area where the initial EPA sample was taken, 2 in the nearby Arroyo Seco, 12 in scattered uncovered soil areas in the park and nearby school, and 1 from the sandbox of a nearby apartment complex. Two quality control (QC) samples (field duplicates of the preceding samples) will also be collected and analyzed. This document briefly describes the purpose behind the sampling, the sampling rationale, and the methodology.

Livermore Big Trees Park 1998 soil sampling plan

“…LLNL developed a sampling plan with input from the LARPD, local government officials, home owners, local school district officials, the EPA, and the CDHS-RHB. The follow-up sampling was conducted in January 1995 with oversight by the EPA and the State of California (McConachie and Failor, 1995;MacQueen, 1995). This sampling effort also included samples from the Arroyo Seco Elementary School, the bottom of Arroyo Seco, and one sample from a nearby apartment complex.…”

“…Location 7 was slightly above background (~0.05 pCi/g), but not as high as Location 1, and Location 8 was near the upper range of background concentrations (0.0215 pCi/g). LLNL issued a report summarizing the results (McConachie and Failor, 1995), and the EPA and CDHS-RHB concluded that no further action was necessary based on a risk assessment (EPA, 1995).…”