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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDRC-2015-002483 - 0901a0688052e3c9Energy Fuels Resources (USA) Inc. 225 Union Blvd. Suite 600 Lakewood, CO, US, 80228 ENERGY FUELS 303 974 2140 DRC-201 5-002483 www.energYfuels.com OF May 13, 2015 VIA PDF AND EXPRESS DELIVERY Mr. Rusty Lundberg Division of Radiation Control Utah Department of Rnvironmental Quality 195 North 1950 West P.O. Box 144850 Salt Lake City, UT 84114-4820 Dear Mr. Lundberg: Re: State of Utah Ground Water Discharge Permit ("the Permit") No. UGW370004 White Mesa Uranium Mill - As-Built Report Pursuant to Part I.F.6 of the Permit This letter transmits the As-Built Report for Energy Fuels Resources (USA) Inc.'s ("BLRI's") perched groundwater monitoring well TW4-37. TW4-37 was installed during the week of March 23, 2015. TW4-37 was installed to enhance the rate of extraction of chloroform-bearing perched water within that portion of the chloroform plume historically containing the highest chloroform concentrations. The enclosed As-Built Report includes the items required for As-Built Reports in the Permit Part I.F.6, and is being submitted for TW4-37. Please contact the undersigned if you have any questions or require any further information. Yours very truly, ENERGY FUELS RESOURCES (USA) INC. Kathy Weinel Quality Assurance Manager cc: David C. Frydcrthind Harold R. Roberts David E. Turk Dan Hillsten Scott Bakkcn Logan Shumway HYDRO GEO CHEM, INC. Environmental Science & Technology INSTALLATION AND HYDRAULIC TESTING OF PERCHED WELL TW4-37 WHITE MESA URANIUM MILL NEAR BLANDING, UTAH (AS-BUILT REPORT) May 12, 2015 Prepared for: ENERGY FUELS RESOURCES (USA) INC 225 Union Blvd., Suite 600 Lakewood, Colorado 80228 Prepared by: HYDRO GEO CHEM, INC. 51 West Wetmore Road, Suite 101 Tucson, Arizona 85705 (520) 293-1500 Project Number 7180000.00-01.0 Installation and Hydraulic Testing of Perched Well TW4-37 White Mesa Uranium Mill (As-Built Report) H:\718000\tw37\report\TW37_installation.doc May12, 2015 i TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 1 2. DRILLING AND CONSTRUCTION ................................................................................ 3 2.1 Drilling and Logging Procedures ............................................................................ 3 2.2 Construction ............................................................................................................ 3 2.3 Development ........................................................................................................... 3 3. HYDRAULIC TESTING ................................................................................................... 5 3.1 Testing Procedures .................................................................................................. 5 3.2 Hydraulic Test Data Analysis ................................................................................. 5 4. CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................................. 9 5. REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 11 6. LIMITATIONS ................................................................................................................. 13 TABLES 1 Well Survey Data 2 Slug Test Parameters 3 Slug Test Results FIGURES 1 Location of TW4-37 and Kriged 1st Quarter 2015 Water Levels, White Mesa Site 2 TW4-37 As-Built Well Construction Schematic APPENDICES A Lithologic Log B Well Development Field Sheets C Slug Test Plots D Slug Test Data Installation and Hydraulic Testing of Perched Well TW4-37 White Mesa Uranium Mill (As-Built Report) H:\718000\tw37\report\TW37_installation.doc May12, 2015 ii Installation and Hydraulic Testing of Perched Well TW4-37 White Mesa Uranium Mill (As-Built Report) H:\718000\tw37\report\TW37_installation.doc May12, 2015 1 1. INTRODUCTION This report describes the installation, development, and hydraulic testing of perched well TW4- 37 at the White Mesa Uranium Mill (the “Mill” or the “site”) near Blanding, Utah. TW4-37 is located between existing chloroform pumping wells TW4-20 and TW4-22 as shown on Figure 1. TW4-37 was installed with the approval of the State of Utah Division of Radiation Control (DRC) to enhance the rate of extraction of chloroform-bearing perched water within that portion of the chloroform plume historically containing the highest chloroform concentrations. TW4-37 was installed during the week of March 23, 2015. Development consisted of surging and bailing on March 25, followed by overpumping on April 1, 2015. Hydraulic testing consisted of a slug test conducted on April 15, 2015. Installation and Hydraulic Testing of Perched Well TW4-37 White Mesa Uranium Mill (As-Built Report) H:\718000\tw37\report\TW37_installation.doc May12, 2015 2 Installation and Hydraulic Testing of Perched Well TW4-37 White Mesa Uranium Mill (As-Built Report) H:\718000\tw37\report\TW37_installation.doc May12, 2015 3 2. DRILLING AND CONSTRUCTION Well installation procedures were similar to those used previously at the site for the construction of other perched zone wells (Hydro Geo Chem, Inc. [HGC], 2005). Drilling and construction were performed by Bayles Exploration, Inc., and the boring logged by Mr. Lawrence Casebolt under contract to Energy Fuels (USA) Corporation (EFRI). An as-built diagram for the well construction, based primarily on information provided by Mr. Casebolt, is shown in Figure 2. The depth to water shown in the as-built diagram was based on water level measurement just prior to development. TW4-37 was surveyed by a State of Utah licensed surveyor and the location and elevation data are provided in Table 1. 2.1 Drilling and Logging Procedures A 12¼ -inch diameter tricone bit was used to drill a boring of sufficient diameter to install an 8-inch-diameter, Schedule 80 poly vinyl chloride (PVC) surface (conductor) casing. The surface casing extended to a depth of approximately 6 feet below land surface. Once the surface casing was in place, the borehole was drilled by air rotary using a 6¾ inch diameter tricone bit. The borehole penetrated the Dakota Sandstone and the Burro Canyon Formation and terminated in the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation. Drill cuttings samples used for lithologic logging were collected at 2½-foot depth intervals and placed in labeled, zip-sealed plastic bags and labeled plastic cuttings storage boxes. A copy of the lithologic log submitted by Mr. Casebolt is provided in Appendix A. 2.2 Construction TW4-37 was constructed using 4-inch diameter, Schedule 40, flush-threaded PVC casing and 0.02-slot, factory-slotted PVC screen. Colorado Silica Sand was used as a filter pack and installed to a depth of approximately 5 ½ feet above the screened interval. The annular space above the filter pack was sealed with hydrated bentonite chips. The well casing was fitted with a 4-inch PVC cap to keep foreign objects out of the well and a lockable steel security casing was installed to protect the well. 2.3 Development TW4-37 was developed by surging and bailing followed by overpumping. Development records are provided in Appendix B. Installation and Hydraulic Testing of Perched Well TW4-37 White Mesa Uranium Mill (As-Built Report) H:\718000\tw37\report\TW37_installation.doc May12, 2015 4 Installation and Hydraulic Testing of Perched Well TW4-37 White Mesa Uranium Mill (As-Built Report) H:\718000\tw37\report\TW37_installation.doc May12, 2015 5 3. HYDRAULIC TESTING Hydraulic testing consisted of a slug test conducted by HGC personnel using a methodology similar to that described in HGC (2005). 3.1 Testing Procedures The slug used for the test consisted of a sealed, pea-gravel-filled, schedule 80 PVC pipe approximately three feet long that displaced approximately 3/4 gallons of water as described in HGC (2002). A Level TrollJ 0-30 pounds per square inch absolute (psia) data logger was deployed below the static water column in the well and used to measure the change in water level during the test. A Baro-Troll was used to measure barometric pressure and was placed in a protected environment near the well for the duration of the testing. Automatically logged water level data were collected at 3-second intervals and barometric data at 5-minute intervals. Prior to the test, the static water level was measured by hand using an electric water level meter and recorded in the field notebook. The data logger was then lowered to a depth of approximately ten feet below the static water level in the well and background pressure readings were collected for approximately 95 minutes prior to beginning the test. The purpose of collecting the background data was to allow correction for any detected water level trend. Once background data were collected, the slug and electric water level meter sensor were suspended in the well just above the static water level. The test commenced by lowering the slug to a depth of approximately two feet below the static water level over a period of a few seconds and taking water level readings by hand as soon as possible afterwards. Hand-collected data recorded in the field notebook were obtained more frequently in the first few minutes when water levels were changing more rapidly, then less frequently as the rate of water level change diminished. Upon completion of the test, automatically logged data were checked and backed up on the hard drive of a laptop computer. 3.2 Hydraulic Test Data Analysis Data from the test were analyzed using AQTESOLVETM (HydroSOLVE, 2000), a computer program developed and marketed by HydroSOLVE, Inc. In preparing the automatically logged data for analysis, the total number of records was reduced. All data collected in the first 30 seconds were retained, then every 2nd, then 3rd, then 4th, etc. record was retained for analysis. For example, if the first 10 records were retained (30 seconds of data at 3-second intervals), the next records to be retained would be the 12th, the 15th, the 19th, the 24th, etc. Installation and Hydraulic Testing of Perched Well TW4-37 White Mesa Uranium Mill (As-Built Report) H:\718000\tw37\report\TW37_installation.doc May12, 2015 6 Data were analyzed using two solution methods: the KGS unconfined method (Hyder et al., 1994) and the Bouwer-Rice unconfined method (Bouwer and Rice, 1976). When filter pack porosities were required by the analytical method, a value of 30 percent was used. The saturated thickness was taken to be the difference between the depth of the static water level measured just prior to the test and the depth to the Brushy Basin Member contact as defined in the drilling log (Appendix A). The static water level was below the top of the screened interval and the saturated thickness was taken to be the effective screen length. Background (pre-test) automatically logged water level data were relatively constant during the hour prior to testing. Data were corrected for barometric pressure changes although changes were small due primarily to the brevity of the test. The KGS solution allows estimation of both specific storage and hydraulic conductivity, while the Bouwer-Rice solution allows estimation of only the hydraulic conductivity. The Bouwer- Rice solution is valid only when a straight line is identifiable on a plot of the log of displacement versus time (indicating that flow is nearly steady), and is insensitive to both storage and the specified initial water level rise. Typically, only the later-time data are interpretable using Bouwer-Rice. The KGS solution accounts for non-steady flow and storage, is sensitive to the specified initial water level rise, and generally allows a fit to both early- and late-time data. Both solutions were used for comparison. Automatically logged and hand-collected data were analyzed separately using both solution methods. The hand-collected data therefore served as an independent data set and a check on the accuracy of the automatically logged data. Table 2 summarizes test parameters and Table 3 and Appendix C provide the results of the analyses. Appendix C contains plots generated by AQTESOLVEJ that show the quality of fit between measured and simulated displacements, and reproduce the parameters used in each analysis. Appendix D provides displacement data. Estimates of hydraulic conductivity range from approximately 1.4 x 10-4 centimeters per second (cm/s) to 2.2 x 10-4 cm/s using automatically logged data, and from approximately 1.9 x 10-4 cm/s to 2.3 x 10-4 cm/s using hand- collected data. Estimates are within the range previously measured at the site (approximately 2 x 10-8 cm/s to 0.01 cm/s) and are similar to estimates obtained for nearby well TW4-22, which ranged from 1.1 x 10-4 cm/s to 1.3 x 10-4 cm/s (HGC, 2014). In general, the agreement between solution methods and between estimates obtained from automatically logged and hand-collected data is good, and within a factor of 2 Although there was generally good agreement between the KGS and Bouwer-Rice results, because the KGS Installation and Hydraulic Testing of Perched Well TW4-37 White Mesa Uranium Mill (As-Built Report) H:\718000\tw37\report\TW37_installation.doc May12, 2015 7 solution accounts for non-steady flow and aquifer storage, the results obtained using KGS are considered more representative than those obtained using Bouwer-Rice. Installation and Hydraulic Testing of Perched Well TW4-37 White Mesa Uranium Mill (As-Built Report) H:\718000\tw37\report\TW37_installation.doc May12, 2015 8 Installation and Hydraulic Testing of Perched Well TW4-37 White Mesa Uranium Mill (As-Built Report) H:\718000\tw37\report\TW37_installation.doc May12, 2015 9 4. CONCLUSIONS Procedures for the installation, hydraulic testing, and development at new perched well TW4-37 are similar to those used previously at the site for the construction, testing, and development of other perched zone wells. Automatically logged and hand-collected slug test data from TW4-37 were analyzed using KGS and Bouwer-Rice analytical solutions. Estimates of hydraulic conductivity range from approximately 1.4 x 10-4 centimeters per second (cm/s) to 2.2 x 10-4 cm/s using automatically logged data, and from approximately 1.9 x 10-4 cm/s to 2.3 x 10-4 cm/s using hand-collected data. Estimates are within the range previously measured at the site (approximately 2 x 10-8 cm/s to 0.01 cm/s) and are similar to estimates obtained for nearby well TW4-22, which ranged from 1.1 x 10-4 cm/s to 1.3 x 10-4 cm/s (HGC, 2014). In general, the agreement between solution methods and between estimates obtained from automatically logged and hand-collected data is good, and within a factor of 2 Although there was generally good agreement between the KGS and Bouwer-Rice results, because the KGS solution accounts for non-steady flow and aquifer storage, the results obtained using KGS are considered more representative than those obtained using Bouwer-Rice. Installation and Hydraulic Testing of Perched Well TW4-37 White Mesa Uranium Mill (As-Built Report) H:\718000\tw37\report\TW37_installation.doc May12, 2015 10 Installation and Hydraulic Testing of Perched Well TW4-37 White Mesa Uranium Mill (As-Built Report) H:\718000\tw37\report\TW37_installation.doc May12, 2015 11 5. REFERENCES Bouwer, H. and R.C. Rice. 1976. A Slug-Test method for Determining Hydraulic Conductivity of Unconfined Aquifers with Completely or Partially Penetrating Wells. Water Resources Research, Vol. 12, No. 3, Pp. 423-428. Hyder, Z, J.J. Butler, Jr. C.D. McElwee, and W. Liu. 1994. Slug Tests in Partially Penetrating Wells. Water Resources Research, Vol. 30, No. 11, Pp. 2945-2957. Hydro Geo Chem, Inc. (HGC). 2002. Hydraulic Testing at the White Mesa Uranium Mill Near Blanding, Utah During July 2002. Submitted to International Uranium Corporation. August 22, 2002. HGC. 2005. Perched Monitoring Well Installation and Testing at the White Mesa Uranium Mill, April through June 2005. Submitted to International Uranium Corporation. August 3, 2005. HGC, 2014. Hydrogeology of the White Mesa Uranium Mill, Blanding, Utah. Submitted to Energy Fuels Resources (USA) Inc, June 6, 2014. HydroSOLVE, Inc. 2000. AQTESOLV for Windows. User=s Guide. Installation and Hydraulic Testing of Perched Well TW4-37 White Mesa Uranium Mill (As-Built Report) H:\718000\tw37\report\TW37_installation.doc May12, 2015 12 Installation and Hydraulic Testing of Perched Well TW4-37 White Mesa Uranium Mill (As-Built Report) H:\718000\tw37\report\TW37_installation.doc May12, 2015 13 6. LIMITATIONS The information and conclusions presented in this report are based upon the scope of services and information obtained through the performance of the services, as agreed upon by HGC and the party for whom this report was originally prepared. Results of any investigations, tests, or findings presented in this report apply solely to conditions existing at the time HGC’s investigative work was performed and are inherently based on and limited to the available data and the extent of the investigation activities. No representation, warranty, or guarantee, express or implied, is intended or given. HGC makes no representation as to the accuracy or completeness of any information provided by other parties not under contract to HGC to the extent that HGC relied upon that information. This report is expressly for the sole and exclusive use of the party for whom this report was originally prepared and for the particular purpose that it was intended. Reuse of this report, or any portion thereof, for other than its intended purpose, or if modified, or if used by third parties, shall be at the sole risk of the user. Installation and Hydraulic Testing of Perched Well TW4-37 White Mesa Uranium Mill (As-Built Report) H:\718000\tw37\report\TW37_installation.doc May12, 2015 14 TABLES TABLE 1 Well Survey Data Northing *Easting *Top of Casing Ground (feet) (feet) (feet amsl) (feet amsl) TW4-37 10164486.36 2219415.73 5631.85 5630.13 Notes: amsl = above mean sea level * = state plane coordinates Well H:\718000\tw37\TW37_tables.xls: T1 TABLE 2 Slug Test Parameters Depth to Depth to Depth to Top Depth to Base Saturated Thickness Well Brushy Basin Water of Screen of Screen Above Brushy Basin (feet) (feet) (feet) (feet) (feet) TW4-37 109.0 57.4 52.0 112.0 51.6 Note: All depths are in feet below land surface H:\718000\tw37\TW37_tables.xls: T2 TABLE 3 Slug Test Results Bouwer-Rice Bouwer-Rice Test Saturated Thickness K (cm/s) Ss (1/ft) K (cm/s) K (cm/s) Ss (1/ft) K (cm/s) TW4-37 51.6 1.43E-04 2.14E-04 2.17E-04 1.93E-04 8.60E-05 2.33E-04 Notes: Bouwer-Rice = Unconfined Bouwer-Rice solution method in Aqtesolve™ cm/s = centimeters per second ft = feet K = hydraulic conductivity KGS = Unconfined KGS solution method in Aqtesolve™ Ss= specific storage Automatically Logged Data Hand Collected Data KGS KGS H:\718000\tw37\TW37_tables.xls: T3 FIGURES HYDRO GEO CHEM, INC.APPROVED DATE REFERENCE FIGURE 1000 feet MW-25 MW-27 MW-31 TW4-01 TW4-02 TW4-03 TW4-04 TW4-05 TW4-06 TW4-09 TW4-10 TW4-11 TW4-12 TW4-13 TW4-14 MW-26 TW4-16 MW-32 TW4-18TW4-19 TW4-20 TW4-21 TW4-22 TW4-23 TW4-24 TW4-25 TW4-26 PIEZ-02 PIEZ-03 PIEZ-04 TWN-01 TWN-02 TWN-03 TWN-04 TW4-07 TW4-08 MW-04 TW4-27 TW4-29 TW4-32 TW4-33 TW4-34 TW4-28 TW4-30 TW4-31 5537 5574 5548 5547 5550 5577 5541 5577 5538 5576 5573 5533 5579 5569 5531 5558 5559 5548 55775568 5566 5578 5557 5539 5560 5587 5536 5592 5590 5535 5587 5597 5596 5589 5549 5547 5551 5528 5533 5561 5535 5532 5578 5526 5523 5572 TW4-35 TW4-36 5526 5560 TW4-37 EXPLANATION perched monitoring well showing elevation in feet amsl temporary perched monitoring well showing elevation in feet amsl perched piezometer showing elevation in feet amsl temporary perched monitoring well installed May, 2014 showing elevation in feet amsl MW-4 TW4-7 PIEZ-2 TW4-35 LOCATION OF TW4-37 AND KRIGED 1st QUARTER, 2015 WATER LEVELS WHITE MESA SITE 5551 5549 5592 5526 NOTE: MW-4, MW-26, TW4-1, TW4-2, TW4-4, TW4-11, TW4-19, and TW4-20 are chloroform pumping wells; TW4-22, TW4-24, TW4-25, and TWN-2 are nitrate pumping wells TW4-37 temporary perched monitoring well installed March, 2015 showing elevation in feet amsl 1H:/718000/tw37/Utw37loc.srfSJS5/12/2015 5572 APPENDIX A LITHOLOGIC LOGS APPENDIX B WELL DEVELOPMENT FIELD SHEETS APPENIDX C SLUG TEST PLOTS 0.01 0.1 1. 10. 100. 0. 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 Time (min) Di s p l a c e m e n t ( f t ) WELL TEST ANALYSIS Data Set: H:\718000\tw37\aqtesolve\tw37.aqt Date: 04/30/15 Time: 12:24:30 PROJECT INFORMATION Client: EFRI Test Well: tw4-37 AQUIFER DATA Saturated Thickness: 51.57 ft WELL DATA (tw4-37) Initial Displacement: 0.61 ft Static Water Column Height: 51.57 ft Total Well Penetration Depth: 51.57 ft Screen Length: 51.57 ft Casing Radius: 0.167 ft Well Radius: 0.281 ft Gravel Pack Porosity: 0.3 SOLUTION Aquifer Model: Unconfined Solution Method: KGS Model Kr = 0.0001427 cm/sec Ss = 0.0002139 ft-1 Kz/Kr = 0.1 0. 4. 8. 12. 16. 20. 0.01 0.1 1. Time (min) Di s p l a c e m e n t ( f t ) WELL TEST ANALYSIS Data Set: H:\718000\tw37\aqtesolve\tw37br.aqt Date: 04/30/15 Time: 12:26:53 PROJECT INFORMATION Client: EFRI Test Well: tw4-37 AQUIFER DATA Saturated Thickness: 51.57 ft Anisotropy Ratio (Kz/Kr): 0.1 WELL DATA (tw4-37) Initial Displacement: 0.61 ft Static Water Column Height: 51.57 ft Total Well Penetration Depth: 51.57 ft Screen Length: 51.57 ft Casing Radius: 0.167 ft Well Radius: 0.281 ft Gravel Pack Porosity: 0.3 SOLUTION Aquifer Model: Unconfined Solution Method: Bouwer-Rice K = 0.0002171 cm/sec y0 = 0.3288 ft 0.01 0.1 1. 10. 100. 0. 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 Time (min) Di s p l a c e m e n t ( f t ) WELL TEST ANALYSIS Data Set: H:\718000\tw37\aqtesolve\tw37h.aqt Date: 04/30/15 Time: 12:27:16 PROJECT INFORMATION Client: EFRI Test Well: tw4-37 AQUIFER DATA Saturated Thickness: 51.57 ft WELL DATA (tw4-37) Initial Displacement: 0.61 ft Static Water Column Height: 51.57 ft Total Well Penetration Depth: 51.57 ft Screen Length: 51.57 ft Casing Radius: 0.167 ft Well Radius: 0.281 ft Gravel Pack Porosity: 0.3 SOLUTION Aquifer Model: Unconfined Solution Method: KGS Model Kr = 0.0001931 cm/sec Ss = 8.597E-5 ft-1 Kz/Kr = 0.1 0. 4. 8. 12. 16. 20. 0.01 0.1 1. Time (min) Di s p l a c e m e n t ( f t ) WELL TEST ANALYSIS Data Set: H:\718000\tw37\aqtesolve\tw37hbr.aqt Date: 04/30/15 Time: 12:27:38 PROJECT INFORMATION Client: EFRI Test Well: tw4-37 AQUIFER DATA Saturated Thickness: 51.57 ft Anisotropy Ratio (Kz/Kr): 0.1 WELL DATA (tw4-37) Initial Displacement: 0.61 ft Static Water Column Height: 51.57 ft Total Well Penetration Depth: 51.57 ft Screen Length: 51.57 ft Casing Radius: 0.167 ft Well Radius: 0.281 ft Gravel Pack Porosity: 0.3 SOLUTION Aquifer Model: Unconfined Solution Method: Bouwer-Rice K = 0.0002331 cm/sec y0 = 0.3442 ft APPENDIX D SLUG TEST DATA TW37DSP.TXT TW4-37 elapsed time displacement (min) (ft) 1.67E-05 0.606537 0.050017 0.496881 0.100017 0.517872 0.150017 0.510867 0.200017 0.496863 0.250017 0.487525 0.300017 0.471188 0.350017 0.466516 0.400017 0.452512 0.450017 0.445507 0.550017 0.417499 0.700017 0.389485 0.900017 0.3568 1.150017 0.321775 1.450017 0.282079 1.800017 0.235377 2.200017 0.209667 2.650017 0.172285 3.150017 0.151229 3.700017 0.134833 4.300017 0.109099 4.950017 0.097357 5.650017 0.080943 6.400017 0.071522 7.200017 0.07376 8.050017 0.064327 8.950017 0.057221 9.900017 0.047777 10.90002 0.045325 11.95002 0.042868 13.05002 0.040404 14.20002 0.042601 15.40002 0.037793 16.65002 0.039977 17.95002 0.053821 19.30002 0.048995  Page 1 TW37HDSP.TXT TW4-37 elapsed time displacement (min) (ft, hand collected) 0.17 0.6 0.333 0.45 0.55 0.39 0.75 0.35 1 0.31 1.33 0.3 1.75 0.23 2 0.2 2.53 0.17 3.58 0.13 4.5 0.1 5.83 0.09 8.08 0.06 10.92 0.05 12.66 0.04 21.8 0.04 30.25 0.03 37.25 0.03  Page 1