Internal Letter(i`t

Rockwell Internationa l

Date . . March 4, 1981 No : MPR-81-0255

TO : (N.me . Olganizabon , ( nlelnal Address) FROM: (Name. O,genizanon. )nremai Address . Phone )

Rolf Schmued Norma Fujikawa

D/541, SS 12 D/539-169, SS 11165-5447

Subject : . IDENTIFICATION OF SOIL SITES SAMPLED FOR CHROMIUM CONTEN T

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 that

the 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 .

AC17 #6-127-79 APTF-1 220 ppm Cr Sampled near solvent pipe drai n

F .B.Lary

596,SS12 #6-128-79

J•H .Lieb

539,AC10#6-129-79

#6-130-79

#6-131-79

#6-132-79

#6-133-79

which was above the area where testing effluents flow into the

pond used to capture this waste water .

APTF-2 150 pplp Cr Sampled near the flagpole above the pond .

Nothing but rainwater goes over this ground .

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 :

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 .

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 f rom the sampled site .

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 .

Area I road at the hillside, on the right hand side, facing VTS II,

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

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

contains liquid hydrogen .Form 131 .5 Sr.. 3-7

BNA 57529

HDMSe00425112

Rolf Schmued

MPR-81-0255March 4, 1981

p 2

#6-134-79 CTL III Laser Facility- dirt from in the trench under the asphalt

that was being ripped up as part of the construction going on for

the buildup of the facility .

200 ppm Cr This sample was secured from an area

that had been covered by asphalt for

many years, thereby protecting it from

even rainwater leaching. It represents

indigenous SSFL soil .

#6-135-79 BOWL -Hillside next to LOX Tank # 41, across from the HTS ( a test

stand) by hundreds of yards .

410 ppm Cr Of the entire lot of 22 samples, this

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 doe s

not pass this site at all, and the sample

was from a very protected (from the elements)

area .

#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"andwell 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 Rocketdyne

property . 78 ppm Cr

#6-139-79 SPA-natural embankment at the right hand 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 ECL environs-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 .

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

pass 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 thedirect line of any rocket engine testing

effluent .

BNA 57530

HDMSe00425113

Rolf Schmued

MPR-81-0255

March 4, 1981

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 "skim" 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 ppm Cr over the hundreds of

acres that comprise the SSFL installation does not seem unreasonable consideringthe 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:ns f

Attachments

N . S. Fujikawa

ManagerSSFL Analytical Chemistry

Advanced Materials & Manuf .Tech .

MATERIALS & PRODUCIBILITY

BNA 57531

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MPR 81-0255 , Attachment II CHROMIUM RESULTS FROM PACIFIC SPECTROCREM ; LAB .

TO :

Rockctdyne6633 Canoga Avenue,anoga Park, California 91304

Attenti. n: Bruce Neal e

PURCHASE ORDER NO. 147246

Shipper 386628

(213) 838 5939 (213) 810374 9

Pacific Spetctfochemigal Laboratory, Inc .Chemical and. Spectrographic Analysis

2558 Overland Avenue

Los Angeles, California 90064

July 11, 197 9

SOIL SAMPLE S

pr,) A W I&- T M 0 (SrL) p -FRS B AS t S

SEHIQUANTITATIVE AMLYSIS6-127 6-126 - 6-129 6-130 6-131 6-132 6-133 6-134

6twc4Al A& .A O AR► -1 A PT /-i 7,1 .1 . -All . ••tsri y L#c AIN Vt _or.i~+-L

CUM

-10 cr- 0.022% 0 .015% 0.0087% 0.011% O.Oi1%__

0 .017L 0 .0086 0 .020%Si- 34 . 27 . 29 . 29 . 30. 25 .Al- 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 . 014- 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. uCR,At. AI.(A 0;r-

$...I -L .Tn4 1

0 .041%DCLTA

0 .0083%

ST&- *

0.011%

64 1 sL

0 .0078%

S ►A

0 .0207.

tCL

0 .00937.

R1 A

0 .00867

s11- 4

0 .011%Si- 25 . 31 . 29 . 33 . 28 . 30 . 31 . 27 ,Al- 11 . 7 .9 9 .0 6.1 9 .4 9 .2 8 .0 9 . 7

Fe- 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

Ca- 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 . 1K- 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 M *AUa11t ..Ts R-1 Pp fit.vut,KC Aaa, wut Avk" - Dt&+o p. ..- 1C.M

0 .0060% 0 .0070% 0 .029% 0 .0127;29. 28. 27. 29 .8 .8 10. 10. 8.42.2 1.7 3.6 2 .40.49 0.44 1.0 0.64

1.4 1.3 1.3 D.906.8 5.7 6.2 6 .94 .0 4.3 5.1 4 . 3

Cr- O.O1b% 0 .011%Si- 29. 26 .Al- C.4 11 .Fe- 3.4 1.8Hg- 0.83 0.43Ca- 1.1 . 0.91Na- 6.5 7.4K- 4.0 5 . 2

RAKG *E

6o-410 GtOVEZ A' EA r t AREA- 7CA -r 55F L _ .

Respectfully submitted, BNA 57533

PACIFIC SPECIROCIIEMICAL LA8ORA1ORY, INC.

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MPR81-0255

Attachment III

SSFL WATER CONTROL SYSTEM

including ,

Figure 1, SSFL Contamination Control Syste m

Figure 2, SSFL Reclaim Water Distribution Syste m

BNA 57534

HDMSe00425117

BSFL WATER CONTROL SYSTEM

Figure 1 represents the present contamination control system and Figure 2

he reclaim water flow schematic . All industrial water , including treated effluent

Crow two sewage plants at Rocketdyne and one at Atomics International, is either

raptured in local retention ponds where it may be contained over long periods o f

time, or flows to the Area II Reservoir (g2A, R2B) and the Area I Reservoir Ithen on to

the Perimeter Pond . Any water discharged from either perimeter pond will only be

accomplished after it has been analyzed and found to meet contamination standards

established by federal, state , and local agencies .

The over- all drainage pattern at SSFL and Al is dominated by the presence of

a steep northwest -southeast ridge located primarily in Area I . Natural drainage

channels 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 facilityat 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 leads

from the old SRE area northeastward to the property line . Both of these drainages

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 the

diagram, it can be seen that after these converge , they flow into Silvernale and

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

CTL 4 ponds, A .I ., as well as from Delta and Coca . Water collected in the Alta

and Bravo retention and skim ponds can be bypassed to prevent downstream

contamination, and current plans call for potential bypassing of water discharged

from A .I . from what was known as CrL-4 and is now called STL-4 .

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

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 enables Rocketdyne 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 is

possible 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 property, and aboutone and one -eighth miles from the Area I Reservoir . In fact , both drainage channels •

converge on the property line to form Bell Canyon which empties into the Los Angele sCounty Flood Control channels .

BNA 57535

HDMSe00425118

S S F L CONTAMINATION CONTROL SYSTE M

ECLC4-2-1C4- I

AREA U

ARP

ASP

DSP

Sampling Points T~ \-Facility 705(R2 and PP) /

B U F F E R Z 0 t E = 1100 acres

(No industrial installatttons in this are a

Figure 1 .

SILVERNALERE SERVQIR' SPA

ABSP

P.1".J4rc? COC A

WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMSSFL RECLAIM

EXISTIN G

N

RECLAIM PON D

CTt zPUMP 350 GPM