WIT Press


An Environmental Risk Assessment Using CalTOX

Price

Free (open access)

Volume

85

Pages

10

Published

2005

Size

482 kb

Paper DOI

10.2495/EEH050311

Copyright

WIT Press

Author(s)

M. Matlock, R. Morgan, K. White & R. Avery

Abstract

R & P Electroplating, Inc. (R & P) operated on the site at 2000 Pump Station Road, Fayetteville, Arkansas, from 1977 to 1997. Contaminants from the facility include an assortment of heavy metals, vinyl chlorides, and other solvents. These contaminant stressors potentially pose a risk to aquatic systems, wildlife and human life within the vicinity of the site, as well as humans in Northwest Arkansas who consume drinking water from Beaver Lake Reservoir. Using the CalTOX model, simulations were performed for the main contaminants of concern (COCs) to determine their potential contamination risk. CalTOX represents the environment using seven different compartments: air, surface water, plants, sediments, surface soil, root-zone soil, and vadose-zone soil. The chemicals of concern were 1,1,1 trichloroethane; 1,1 dichloroethene; vinyl chloride; methylene chloride; arsenic; chromium; and lead. The results of the CalTOX simulations provided concentrations leaving the site in groundwater and surface water for each COC as a distribution. All COCs were determined to be present at concentrations below the Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL) at the downstream drinking water supply. Keywords: electroplating, uncertainty, drinking water, MC, fish consumptionL. 1 Introduction R & P Electroplating, Inc. (R & P) operated from 1977 to 1997. Electroplating is a subset of the fabricated metal products industry (Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code 34) which is comprised of establishments that fabricate metal products and those that perform finishing operations such as electroplating,

Keywords

electroplating, uncertainty, drinking water, MC, fish consumptionL.