Table 7. Sites Potentially Impacted by Penniman Activities (based on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] document review conducted in 1999) |
| Site Name and Status
| Site Description
| Sampling Results
|
| Sub-areas of the Penniman Area of Concern (AOC) |
| TNT Graining House Sump |
The 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) graining house sump consists of a concrete-lined pit open at the top and is located 25 feet from Penniman Lake. According to the Navy, TNT was melted or steamed out of packed shells or casings at the TNT graining house. It would have been necessary to separate the TNT from other compounds, to reduce impurities, and that might have been facilitated by the sump and/or the TNT catch box, described below. |
TNT was detected at concentrations of 26 and 28 parts per million (ppm) in two soil samples collected by EPA in 1999. These concentrations exceed the ATSDR's comparison values (CVs). A breakdown product of TNT was also detected at a concentration below its CV. The following contaminants, shown with their maximum detected concentrations, were also detected at concentrations exceeding CVs in the two soil samples: arsenic (15.5 ppm), iron (101,000 ppm), lead (7,750 ppm) dieldrin (1.35 ppm), benzo(a)pyrene (55 ppm), chrysene (840 ppm), indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene (22.5 ppm), benzo(a)anthracene (126 ppm), benzo(b)fluoranthene (38 ppm), benzo(k)fluoranthene (37 ppm), and dibenz(a,h)anthracene (19 ppm).
Further study by the Navy is planned, but on hold. *
|
| TNT Catch Box Ruins |
The TNT catch box is an earthen, brick-lined depression next to the TNT graining house. It is thought to have been used to separate TNT particles from wastewater, which was then discharged to Penniman Lake. |
EPA collected one soil sample in 1999. Metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and some nitroaromatics were detected in the sample. TNT was detected in the sample at a concentration of 620 ppm. Two forms of dinitrotoluene were also detected. One-2,4-dinitrotoluene-was measured at concentration (112 ppm) exceeding its CV. The concentration of arsenic was 11 ppm and of lead was 813 ppm. The PAHs detected at levels exceeding CVs and the levels at which they were detected are: benzo(a)anthracene (22 ppm), benzo(b)fluoranthene (3.6 ppm), and benzo(k)fluoranthene (4.5 ppm). Two sediment samples from the location where the wastewater was thought to discharge contained low levels (below CVs) of TNT and its breakdown products, as well as arsenic (up to 2 ppm, exceeding its CV). A surface water sample from this location contained very few contaminants, but arsenic was detected at 4 parts per billion (ppb), which exceeds its drinking water CV.
Further study by the Navy is planned, but on hold. *
|
| Ammonia Settling Pits |
Wastewater from an ammonia finishing building was formerly discharged to these earthen pits and then to Penniman Lake, which is approximately 20 feet away. |
EPA analyzed a soil sample, collected within a pit, and a nearby sediment sample, collected where runoff from the pits was thought to discharge. Arsenic was present at levels exceeding its CV. It was found at a concentration of 6 ppm in soil and 4.8 ppm in sediment.
Further study by the Navy is planned, but on hold. *
|
| 1918 Drum Storage Area |
A historical photograph from 1918 showed that in approximately this area, wooden barrels and/or 55-gallon drums were stored. |
EPA collected two subsurface soil samples from this location. One sample was collected between 12 and 18 inches below ground surface (bgs), and the other was collected at 18 to 24 inches bgs. The levels of arsenic measured were 4.7 and 5.5 ppm. The deeper sample also contained 23,300 ppm iron. No other contaminants, including nitroaromatics, were detected at concentrations exceeding CVs. The Navy, EPA, and Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) are in the process of determining what future actions are warranted. |
| Waste Slag Material (also known as Slag Area) |
Metallic slag is located throughout the shell loading area, predominantly along the railroad tracks, as well as on National Park Service (NPS) property. A NPS employee speculated that the slag was broken out of boilers on locomotives during the time the Penniman plant operated. Currently, much of the slag is reportedly intact and so hard as to be rock-like. |
In 1999, EPA analyzed one soil sample. Metals present in the sample at levels exceeding CVs were arsenic (33.4 ppm), iron (256,000 ppm), and lead (2,600 ppm). Also present were antimony, chromium, and manganese. Several PAHs were also present. Those present at concentrations exceeding CVs were benzo(a)anthracene (7.2 ppm), benzo(b)fluoranthene (6.1 ppm), and indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene (7.6 ppm). The Navy, EPA, and VDEQ are in the process of determining what future actions are warranted. |
| Other sites within CAX identified by EPA as potentially affected by Penniman activities |
| Storm Drain Mixer Openings |
At this location, there are openings to an underground steel pipe that is 1 foot in diameter running between the TNT graining house and the ammonia evaporating building. |
A low level of arsenic (3.5 ppm, which exceeds the CV) was detected in soil at this location. |
| Underground Mixing Tank |
This underground steel tank with mixing paddles is located approximately one-quarter of a mile southwest of the Penniman buildings that are located adjacent to Penniman Lake. |
Several metals and PAHs were measured at concentrations exceeding their CVs. They are arsenic (18 ppm), lead (1,720 ppm), benzo(a)pyrene (6.4 ppm), and benzo(a)anthracene (6.5 ppm), benzo(b)flouranthene (12 ppm), dibenz(a,h)anthracece (7.9 ppm), and indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene (27 ppm). |
| Sites on National Park Service (NPS) property potentially affected by Penniman activities |
| FM Smoke Drum (also known as FM/FS Smoke Drum) |
A drum identified on NPS land, near locations where there had been ammunition magazines during the Penniman era, was suspected to contain or to have contained an agent known as FM that was apparently used by the military to create artificial smoke. Nearby vegetation was dead. |
A sample of soil beneath and around the drum contained levels of the following contaminants that were low, but above CVs: two pesticides (aldrin at 0.27 ppm and dieldrin at 0.39 ppm), two PAHs (benzo[a]pyrene at 2.6 ppm and benzo[b]fluoranthene at 3 ppm), and arsenic (3.5 ppm). |
| Large Blast Holes |
EPA identified approximately 100 holes up to six feet deep, with diameters ranging from 10 to 25 feet. The holes were not far from the FM/FS drum. It is speculated that these holes were created during quality control testing of packed shells during the time the Penniman plant operated. |
Two soil samples contained only arsenic (at 12 ppm) and iron (at 46,700 ppm) at concentrations exceeding CVs. |
| Nitro-Starch Dry House Sumps |
Eight brick-lined sump pits are present in eight of the 24 bunkers dating back to the Penniman era that are on NPS property. |
Samples from the sump, a nearby drainage way, and a nearby wetlands area did not contain any contaminants at concentrations exceeding CVs. |
