nternal Lette r

Dat e

TO : (

March 4, 1981

me; O/pannzabon internal Ada, . .. )

D/541, SS 12

Rolf Schmued

Rockwell Internationa l

MPR-81-0255

FROM: (,blame. Ocgen,zsr,on. 1nremai Address . Phone)

Norma Fujikawa

D/539-169, SS 11165-5447

Subject . IDENTIFICATION OF SOIL SITES SAMPLED FOR CHROMIUM CONTENT

Reference MPR 79-0619, "Chromium Investigation '

You have mentioned that the State Water Quality Control Board officials

received the Rocketdyne data whereby laboratory findings revealed thatthe chromium content ranged from 60-410 ppm in the soil at the twenty-

two sites sampled. You have asked that we respond to their question

about the alignment of our effluent f rom testing vs . the sites sampled.

This internal letter is to document the details of the sampling . In brief ,

the sampling was performed by me, personally , as well as the regular Maintenance

samplers . Since the intent was to obtain background samples there was a

concerted effort on our part to obtain representative , non-polluted,

indigenous SSFL soil samples .

Attached is a copy of the SSFL Analytical Chemistry logbook where the normal

DIST .entry procedure is to print a description of the identification/ origin of

the sample . Since I made these entries , I can be more explicit about

..Fulton their orientations . The explanation follows .

1, AC17 #6-127-79 APTF- 1 220 ppm Cr Sampled near solvent pipe drain

which was above the area where testing effluents flow into theF .B .Lary pond used to capture this waste water .596,SS12 #6-128-79 APTF-2 150 pplp Cr Sampled near the flagpole above the pond .

J•H.Lieb Nothing but rainwater goes over this ground .

539,AC10 #6-129-79 In back of the Instrument Lab-natural embankment .

87 ppm Cr The testing areas are far away from this

sampling site . It has never been exposed

to any testing effluent runoff, even remote-

#6-130-79 LETF hillside in back of the pond .

110 ppm Cr This is a natural hillside area above the

testing environs and the other test sites

are far removed from it .

#6-131-79 COCA across from LOX Tank #108V at the hillside on the right hand side

of the road , next to Bldg . 451.

110 ppm Cr This area would see no test site effluents

since the flame bucket waste waters are

gushed down the spillway, vertically,

hundreds of yards from the sampled site .

#6-132-79 COCA pretest area in back of Bldg . 234 .

170 ppm Cr This sampling site is very similar to the

preceding one. The spillway is hundreds

of yards away and vertically downward from

the area sampled . No testing effluentswould have been near this site .

#6-133-79 Area I road at the hillside ; on the right hand side , facing V'TS II,

past the pond and before Black Ball 85-on the lefthand side .

86 ppm Cr This is isolated natural background withno test site above it . The Black Ball

contains liquid hydrogen .Fo.m 131 R P . '. . 3-76

BNA57529

HDMSe00408275

Rolf SchmuedMPR-81-0255

March 4, 1981

p 2

#6-134-79

200 ppm Cr This sample was secured from an areathat had been covered by asphalt for

many years, thereby protecting it from

#6-135-79 test

410 ppm Of the entire lot of 22 samples, thisCr

one would have the greatest possibility

of, at one time, being exposed to some

chemical treatment effluent because it

was right near the LOX tank and workmen

could have conceivably had some kind of

chromium solution while making repairs .#6-136-79 DELTA-under a boulder-- -cliff along side the road across from

Bldg 224 . 88ppm Cr The testing effluent direction does

notpass this site at all, and the sample

was from a very protected (from the elementsarea .

#6-137-79 STL- 4-natural embankment on the way to STL-4, which is like rural

countryside and does not experience testing effluent passage.

110 ppm Cr Sampled from "off the beaten path"and

well into the dirt matrix .#6-138-79 G & 17th Street- the embankment above the channel where effluents

drain from the Atomics International /ESG facility onto Rocke tdyne

property . 78 ppm Cr

#6-139-79 SPA-natural embankment at the righthand side of the road, below

SPA Stored Propellants Area .

200 ppm Cr Sampled well into the dirt matrix . Thisarea could have seen some rainwater washing :

from SPA, but the materials stored ther e

are propellants . It is not an area where

cleaning with chromate solutions is carried

out .

#6-140-79 ECLenvirons -from the entrance driveway , to the left , between the

polymer pad building and the Engineering Chem . Lab, at the hillside

where firemen had burned off the brush to keep the area safe from

lightning-caused fires , and about 300 yards from where ECL's effluents

go in the OPPOSITE direction, by gravity feed .

93ppm Cr Top of the hillside sample--no effluents

this spot .

#6-141-79 R2A area of the embankment at the right hand side of the road, about

100 feet across from the R2B pipe .

86 ppm Cr This is a collection spot of rainwaters

from all over SSFL , but not in the

direct line of any rocket engine testing

effluent .

BNA 57530

CTL III Laser Facility- dirt from in the trench under the asphal t

the buildup of the facility .that was being ripped up as part of the construction going on fo r

even rainwater leaching . It represent s

indigenous SSFL soil .

stand) by hundreds of yards .BOWL -Hillside next to LAX Tank # 41, across from the HTS

HDMSe00408276

Rolf Schmued

MPR-81-0255ue,..'h d 1 QR1

p 3

#6-142-79 STL-4 Deeper sample of embankment , and nearer the STL-4 pond . Sampled

by Maintenance Dep't .

110 ppm Cr The same area as #6-137-79, which = 110 ppm ,

#6-143-79 Area I Reservoir

160 ppm Cr

#6-144-79 Perimeter Pond

110 Cr

#6-145-79 Silvernale Reservoir

60 ppm Cr

#6-146-79 R2A Inlet Sample

70 ppm Cr

#6-147-79 ALPHA-BRAVO skim pond290 ppm Cr

#6-148-79 BOWL skim pond

120 ppm Cr

but deeper into the dirt.

Deeper sample of the embankment near the

reservoir which holds up to 3 million

gallons of water .This is the natural channel for rainwater

and therefore the sample was taken deeplyinto the embankment to secure the naturalbackground .

Deeper sample of the embankment near the

pond which is a sampling point prior

to the crossing of the buffer zone before

discharge from the property .

Deeper sample of the embankment .

Deeper sample of the embankmen t

Deeper sample of the embankment .This area has been used for testing engines

with propellants that were LOX/hydrocarbon

variety, so that any of the overflow

onto the embankment from this ground level,

would not have contained chromium as one

of the constituents . The I 'skimI' means that,in that era (early '60s), the residual

hydrocarbons (with a density less than water)

were on the surface and skimmed off .Deeper embankment sample .

In summa ry and conclusion , the range of 60 to 410 ppmCr over the hundreds ofacres that comprise the SSFL installation does not seem unreasonable considering

the general geological terrain and the vegetation common to the area . A more

narrow limit of the values might be obtained from statistically sampling one

particular grid with rigorously defined parameters, but that was not the inten t

or purpose of the investigation. Clearly, there is a real, perceptible , verifiable

chromium content to the SSFL soil . When, during the rainy season, a high solids

content is included as part of the correct sampling procedure , because of the

analytical chemistry protocol , a higher chromium content will be found . This

higher value is truly representative of the soil and not some industria l

effluent intrusion .

NSF:nsf

Attachments

N . S. FujikawaManagerSSFL Analytical Chemistry

AdvancedMaterials & Manuf .Tech .

MATERIALS & PRODUCIBILITY

BNA 57531

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MPR 81-0255 , Attachment I CHROMIUM RESULTS FROM PACIFIC SPECTROCFiEM; LAB.

(213) 1138 5939 (213) 6104149TO :

k_ dRoc et yne6633 Canoga Avenue Pacific S P etctrochemr aI laborato ry , Inc .~+srnoga Park, California 91304 Chemicil and. Spectrographic Analysis

Attenti . n: Bruce Neale2558 Overland Avenue

Los Angeles, California 90064

PURCHASE ORDER NO. 147246 July 11, 1979

Shipper 386628

6-1276Ewt .*_. A&ta APn- s

-W77 Cr- 0.0227

SOIL SAMPLE SprJ A W I&- T% J M 0 (S-FL) 1~-P- - F ~

SEPHIQUANIITATIVE ANkLYSIS

BASI S

6-126- 6- 129 6-130 6-131 6-132 6-133 6- 134A ►Tr -L rtt . .A. Liii + ia7j1 • ii+ -TL =

0 .015% 0.0087% 0.011% 0.0117. 0. 1174 0 .00867 0 .020%Si- 34 . 27 . 29 . 29 . 30. 27 . 31 . .-2 5Al- 5 .3 9 .7 10 . 8 .8 7 .9 9 . 7 8 .6 10 .

Fe- 3 .2 2 .4 1 .9 2 .7 2 .4 2 . 5 1 .8 3 . 2Hg- 0.41 0 .73 0 . 62 0.59 0 .67 0 .67 0 .54 0 .7 7Ca- 1.2 1 .2 1 .1 0.64 0 .98 1 .4 0 .92 0.9 4Na- 3 .9 7 .9 5 .7 6 .1 7 .6 7.0 4 .2 8 . 0)it 1 .8 5.6 3 .9 5 . 7 3 .9 5 . 6 2 .8 6 . 2

6-135 6-136 6-137 6-138 6 -139 6-140 6-141 6-142

. N« t. Atkar-

$.wil- Law n A t

0 .041%DiLTA

0 .00837STL- 4

0.01 1%G .411 ~f

0.0078%

S ►A

0 .0207.

tCL

0 .00937.

R2 A

0 .0086731L- 4

0 .0117S4- 25 . 31 . 29 . 33 . 28 . 30 . 31 . 27 ,Al- 11 . 7 . 9 9 .0 6.1 9 .4 9 .2 8 .0 9 . 7Fe- 2 .6 1.8 2 .7 2.6 2 .3 1 .9 1.7 2 . 6

Hg- 0.56 0 .50 0.74 0.51 0 .77 0.54 0.50 0.42

1 .5 0 .32 1 .4 1 .0 1 .2 1 .3 1 .3 1 . 2Na- 8 .4 7 .0 5 .0 6 .0 6 .7 6 .0 5 .4 8 . 1

5 .0 3 .7 3 .3 3 .1 4 .5 3 .9 2 .9 4 . 1

6-143 6-144 6 -145 6-146 6-147 6-143C"*Aua r.t .+Ty a- 1 fit' SU.VI&J .Lt AIAwuT A ktt-AtAro pr'.w. sm q

Cr- 0 .016 4 0 .011% 0 .0060% 0 .00707 0 . 0297 0 .012;,

Si- 29 . 26 . 29 . 28 . 27 . 29 .Al- C.4 11 . 8 .8 10 . 10 . 8. 4

Fe- 3 .4 1 . 8 2 .2 1 . 7 3 .6 2 . 4

Hg- 0 .83 0 . 43 0.49 0 .44 1 .0 0 .64

Ca- 1 .1 0.91 1 . 4 1 .3 1 .3 D.90Na 6 .5 7 .4 6 .8 5 .7 6 .2 6 . 9

4 .0 5 .2 4 .0 4 .3 5 .1 4 . 3

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Respecl (ylly submitted

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BNA 57533

PACIFIC SPECTROCIIEMICAL LADORAICRY, INC.

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HDMSe00408279

MPR81-0255

Attachment III

SSFL WATER CONTROL SYSTEM

Figure 1 represents the present contamination control system and Figure 2

he reclaim water flow schematic . All industrial water , including treated effluentfrom two sewage plants at Rocketdyne and one at Atomics International , is either_aptured in local retention ponds where it may be contained over long periods o ftime, or flows to the Area II Reservoir (R2A, R2B) and the Area I Reservoir I then

the Perimeter Pond . Any water discharged from either perimeter pond viii only b e

accomplished after it has been analyzed and found to meet contamination standard s

established by federal, state , and local agencies .

The over-all drainage pattern at SSFL and AI is dominated by the presence o

a steep northwest -southeast ridge located primarily in Area I . Natural drainagechannels to the north of the ridge that flow into the Simi Valley exist in two

areas . The source of one is in the vicinity of the Los Angeles Division facility

at the northeast section of SSFL where it flows in a westerly direction to past

the LOX plant from where it flows off the hill . Another smaller channel lead sfrom the old SRE area northeastward to the property line . Both of these drainage s

carry only runoff from storms , but no industrial water .

Area II water flow has two sources - one starting at the sewage treatment

plant and the other from the Alfa-Bravo test sites . Following the arrows on thediagram, it can be seen that after these converge, they flow into Silvernale an d

from there to the Area II Reservoir . Additional water arrives here from the

CrL 4 ponds, A .I ., as well as from Delta and Coca . Water collected in the Alfaand Bravo retention and skim ponds can be bypassed to prevent downstrea mcontamination , and current plans call for potential bypassing of water discharge (from A .I . from what was known as CTL-4 and is now called STL-4 .

The Area II Reservoir , when full , holds approximately 2 .5 million gallons ofAter which can be pumped up to the reclamation water tanks located on the ridg e

behind Coca (lower center portion of diagram ), but at a relatively slow rate of

800 gallons per minute . This water in turn can be fed to a sprinkler system

located on the eastern face of the ridge across from the Bowl Area in Area I

where it both waters the hillside and enablesRockstdyne to dispose of some ofthe excess water in a fairly safe manner .

All water in Area I drains along the main road to its final destination, the

Area I reservoir . Every testing facility in Area I drains into this channel, but

they not only can contain their water in individual retention ponds , but it ispossible to bypass the testing areas during the rainy season . A 350 gallon perminute pump is located in this main reservoir to enable Rocketdyne to dispose of

surplus water existing here . However , since it can hold 1 .2 million gallons ofwater , its removal is performed at a rather slow rate .

The recent purchase by Rocketdyne of an additional 1,100 acres of land along

the southern border of the site has giving us some living space . Overflow fromArea II Reservoir now travels about one mile before leaving our prc ;,party, and aboutone and one-eighth miles from the Area I Reservoir . In fact , both drainage channelsconverge on the property line to form Bell Canyon which empties into the Los AngelesCounty Flood Control channels .

BNA 57535

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HDMSe00408281

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BNA 57537