[ RadSafe ] Looking for guidance on when to post a"Soil Contamination Area"

Tue Apr 4 08:12:56 CDT 2006

Issue the RWP in advance. Post the area for potential. Set up a
contingency plan. Treat all tools/instruments used in the process area
as contaminated until surveyed and then disposition accordingly. If
contamination is unearthed, determine whether it is 'readily
transferable' to personnel or equipment and, again, proceed according to
these findings. ALWAYS plan for worst case scenario and have a
contingency plan in place for recovery. Make sure your available
resources are set for the halfway point between conditions normal and
worst case so that you have a minimum of crew cycling should the
postulated worst case occur. Monitor moisture content of samples deemed
contaminated to avoid airborne issues. Containerize and label them
accordingly for future disposition. 

Floyd W. Flanigan B.S.Nuc.H.P. 

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] On
Behalf Of cobdw at tds.net
Sent: Monday, April 03, 2006 7:59 PM
To: Evers, William C.; (radsafe at radlab.nl)
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Looking for guidance on when to post a"Soil
Contamination Area"

Mr. Evers,
I have worked this situation both ways. First, you must look at the
historical data if available and determine if there is high probability
of exceeding the limits.  The samples are not the concern, it is the
tools used to obtain the sample and the personnel collecting the
samples.  If the tools are surveyed post sample collection and found to
exceed the limits at your site you will have a work stoppage.  Depending
on the area to be sampled and the depth that you must obtain and the
method to collect the sample will determine if the prudent thing to do
is to issue an RWP for contamination control.  Geoprobe sampling methods
may not exceed the limits until you hit bedrock and that depends on the
flow of subsurface water that can carry contaminants some considerable
distance from the source.  I covered a similar activity as a RCT a
couple of years ago.  We basically had to do a pre-job survey of the
area, uppost to a CA, pull the samples, decon the the tools, perform a
post jo!
 b survey and then down post the area.  Tyvek was required for all
personnel handling the sampling tools and samples.  Some areas we fond
nothing in the sample and then some samples were in the range of 60
mR/hr beta and gamma.  So, the prudent thing would be to issue an RWP,
control the area and perform a post sample survey of the tools and
equipment at each location.  I used an excel spread sheet to document
the survey and found it to be very helpful in saving time.  If the
samples are surface samples eg(within the first 15 cm of the surface)
then I would recommend minimal PPE eg(gloves shoe covers maybe) perform
a direct scan of the sample area and if the gross cpm of the sample area
is above the BKG then consider the RWP Route and have a tech to control
the area either by upposting or through continuous coverage.  I
personally perfer to use a little common sense but the problem is the
post decon of the tools and what is the suspect nuclide of concern.
Some nuclides will!
  be entrained in the soil and are hard to detect with a smear.  Others
 will seperate easily.  Another concern are environmental conditions eg
(dry and loose or wet, muddy, and sticky) what is not transferable on a
dry day will easily adhere to your clothes and shoes when wet.
Additionally, the skill of the samplers is an issue.  I have worked with
some who were very neat and conciencous about getting the sample and not
cross contaminating it. These types of guys could pull a sample in a
tuxedo and not get a speck of dirt on them while others really get into
their job and look like the dusty cloudy guy on the "Peanuts Gang" at
the end of the day.
With all that said, I recommend coveralls as part of the PPE at a
minimum for the samplers and due to the low administrative limits that
are imposed on your site I highly recommend an RWP for contamination
control with stop work statements when RA limits are reached or
exceeded.
Good Luck,
Douglas W. Coble
Project Manager
Chase Environmental Group

> 
> From: "Evers, William C." <WILLIAM.C.EVERS at saic.com>
> Date: 2006/04/03 Mon PM 04:17:44 EDT
> To: " (radsafe at radlab.nl)" <radsafe at radlab.nl>
> Subject: [ RadSafe ] Looking for guidance on when to post a "Soil
> 	Contamination Area"
> 
> I work for a company that routinely does work sampling in soil
excavations.
> I am working on a RWP for soil sampling in potentially contaminated
areas.
> I have some historical data showing elevated soil concentrations in
certain
> areas (Ra-226, Th-230, and U-238).  Our site limits on surface
contamination
> are 20 dpm alpha, and 100 dpm beta.  My concern is that while sampling
we
> may encounter areas where the elevated soil concentrations may lead to
> surface contamination in excess of our site limits.  I would like to
know if
> this could happen prior to sampling so I could have the area posted as
a
> "Contamination Area".
> 
> So my question is this: Is there an industry standard action level for
soil
> contamination that can/will lead to surface contamination?  Is there
an
> industry standard level where posting a "Contamination Area" becomes
> necessary?
> 
> Has anyone with a similar program ever encountered a situation like
this
> before?  If so, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.  I would
like to
> compare our procedures to other programs.  Thank you.
> 
>  
> 
> W. Clark Evers-
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
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