A protective, asphalt surface barrier will be installed at the U Farm on the Hanford Site, the decommissioned nuclear production complex in Benton County in Washington state.
Crews with the Environmental Management Office of River Protection will install the interim barrier to protect groundwater from contaminants by diverting water runoff, according to a Nov. 22 U.S. Department of Energy news release.
“These barriers are a critical part of the strategy to help protect groundwater at the Hanford Site,” Becky Blackwell, Office of River Protection program manager, said in the release. “The barriers help prevent rain and snowmelt from potentially mobilizing existing contaminants in the soil toward the water table deep below the surface.”
The asphalt barrier will divert rain and snowmelt into a nearby basin to hold the runoff while it evaporates, the release said. The U Farm is one of the groups of underground waste-storage tanks at the site.
"U Farm will be the fifth tank farm to have a surface barrier installed,” according to the release.
In the next few months, tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions will award a subcontract for the construction of the barrier, the release said.
At least eight types of native grasses and plants were spread on the water runoff basin’s top at the U Farm, the release reported. More than 60 pounds of native plant seed was spread on the basin’s top. Plants and soil encourage water evaporation.
“Waiting to put down seed until the weather starts to cool is a lesson learned from previous basin projects,” Tom Sackett, Washington River Protection Solutions Tank Farms Projects manager, said in the release. “This seed will begin to germinate in the spring as the weather warms, which is more consistent with natural seeding.”
