Characteristics of Leach Solution in Sierrita Ponds
On a recnt trip to ADEQ in Phoenix, this report surfaced in one of the files. This sheds new light on a problem that it was suspected was caused by the mines "Hazaredous Waste Incidents" that seemed to show up in the aquifer. Everyone argued that the solution which is "only" a level of 3,000 mg/ltr Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) and almost 2,000 mg/ltr for Sulfate could not show up in the aquifer--even if it were a 5,000 gallon "spill." When you look at the figures below you will see the horrendous TDS and Sulfate levels of the "leach solution" which is listed as the spilled contaminant. See "Hazardous Materials Incidents". Then look at the Community Water Company water quality data for the time of the spills. See Data from Community Water Wells. Because Communtiy Water checks its water quality only quarterly, or every six months, or even annually (depending on how old the well is), it is difficult to get an exact reading--and we do not know the percentage of sulfuric acid in each spill, except in one case it reads 93% sulfuric acid, and sometimes it reads "leach solution." So now that we know what the leach solution is, and the sulfate levels, the indication is clear why there are spikes in Community water data. Worse still, we are not notified when the spills occur.
Facility/Sample Location |
Headwall No.1 |
Bailey Lake |
B-Pond (D-07) |
Headwall No. 3 |
Headwall No. 5 |
Duval Canal |
SX-3 Drain Pond |
SX-1 Drain Pond |
SX-1 Tank Farm Pond |
Reclaim |
D Pond |
Headwall #2 |
Date Sampled |
4/22/98 |
4/22/98 |
4/22/98 |
4/22/98 |
4/22/98 |
9/15/98 |
4/15/99 |
4/15/99 |
4/15/99 |
4/15/99 |
6/30/98 |
9/28/98 |
Conductance (umhos/cm) |
14,800 |
16,300 |
8,270 |
13,100 |
5,040 |
2,425 |
629 |
104,000 |
3450 |
2540 |
25,940 |
|
pH, field (su.) |
2 |
2 |
2.88 |
3 |
4.72 |
7.34 |
10.49 |
2.11 |
||||
pH, lab (su.) |
2.2 |
2.1 |
3 |
2.4 |
4.3 |
6.9 |
1.8 |
7 |
1.4 |
10.4 |
6.3 |
2.4 |
Total Dissolved Solids (mg/ltr) |
47,600 |
47,500 |
15,900 |
41,200 |
9.890 |
2140 |
3870 |
629 |
37,000 |
3270 |
2270 |
48,000 |
Sulfate (mg/ltr) |
15,300 |
23,000 |
9280 |
24,100 |
5600 |
1220 |
3310 |
190 |
35,600 |
1820 |
1240 |
31,100 |
Arsenic (mg/ltr) |
0.15 |
0.15 |
0.13 |
<0.1 |
0.08 |
ND |
0.03 |
0.06 |
ND |
0.052 |
0.049 |
ND |
Calcium (mg/ltr) |
526 |
522 |
667 |
570 |
518 |
541 |
125 |
68.3 |
141 |
645 |
432 |
533 |
Magnesium(mg/ltr) |
3740 |
3680 |
1380 |
3580 |
1070 |
82.9 |
95.1 |
9 |
176 |
0.5 |
32.4 |
3570 |
Sodium (mg/ltr) |
400 |
405 |
383 |
440 |
393 |
144 |
98.4 |
60.9 |
147 |
276 |
53.1 |
435 |
Potassium(mg/ltr) |
55 |
65 |
11 |
45 |
17 |
38.9 |
19.2 |
490 |
59.3 |
19.2 |
52 |
|
Chloride (mg/ltr) |
3340 |
3540 |
2050 |
3470 |
51 |
92 |
140 |
16 |
620 |
320 |
170 |
3090 |
Fluoride (mg/ltr) |
270 |
260 |
78 |
200 |
60 |
1.4 |
6 |
0.9 |
240 |
1.3 |
1.5 |
200 |
Nitrate (mg/ltr) |
5.5 |
6.8 |
0.03 |
9.4 |
250 |
1.58 |
2.38 |
3.6 |
2.23 |
0.33 |
11 |
|
Beryllium (mg/ltr) |
1.08 |
1.06 |
0.312 |
0.98 |
0.81 |
0.01 |
0.0008 |
0.0008 |
0.03 |
ND |
ND |
0.882 |
Cadmium (mg/ltr) |
1.05 |
1.17 |
0.522 |
1.02 |
0.133 |
0.015 |
0.0181 |
0.0022 |
0.0392 |
0.014 |
0.046 |
1.11 |
Chromium (mg/ltr) |
1.4 |
1.1 |
0.1 |
0.9 |
ND |
ND |
0.36 |
ND |
ND |
ND |
ND |
1 |
Cobalt (mg/ltr) |
10.5 |
10.7 |
3.6 |
9.5 |
1.47 |
0.06 |
0.21 |
ND |
15.3 |
ND |
ND |
10.1 |
Copper (mg/ltr) |
3.2 |
845 |
55.3 |
5700 |
0.51 |
|||||||
Iron (mg/ltr) |
743 |
710 |
282 |
411 |
0.13 |
49.9 |
49.5 |
2.72 |
342 |
ND |
0.23 |
612 |
Lead (mg/ltr) |
0.012 |
0.023 |
0.015 |
0.021 |
0.006 |
0.136 |
0.0627 |
0.041 |
0.298 |
ND |
0.002 |
ND |
Manganese(mg/ltr) |
486 |
501 |
227 |
465 |
60.6 |
6.65 |
9.27 |
0.35 |
23.1 |
ND |
2.53 |
476 |
Molybdenum(mg/ltr) |
1.2 |
1 |
>0.5 |
0.8 |
0.25 |
0.6 |
0.26 |
0.07 |
2 |
3.71 |
11.3 |
|