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Identifying natural and anthropogenic variability of uranium at the well scale, Homestake Superfund site, near Milan, New Mexico, USA

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Abstract

The San Mateo Creek Basin in New Mexico, USA is located within the Grants Mineral Belt-an area with numerous uranium (U) ore deposits, mines, and milling operations. Six monitoring wells set in an alluvial aquifer near the Homestake Mining Co. Superfund site in the lower San Mateo Creek Basin were logged with a suite of borehole geophysical tools including spectral gamma-ray (SGR), vertically profiled with passive samplers for U and selenium (Se) concentrations, and purged sampled for same constituents. The integrated approach allowed for an assessment on the role of heterogeneity (both physical and chemical) in determining U concentrations in groundwater. Uranium, as measured with SGR logging, is ubiquitous in the alluvial aquifer and the underlying Chinle Group. Aqueous U concentrations appear to be inversely related to thorium (Th) concentrations, as measured by the SGR log, indicating the possibility that U is bound in or adsorbed to clays in the aquifer. The stratigraphy of the alluvium likely plays a role in elevated concentrations of aqueous U. Interbedded clay and sand layers allow for the mobilization of U in oxic sandy layers from U adsorbed in sediments in reduced clay layers. The stratigraphy also plays a role in the degree of mixing of groundwater in the formation and well. Mixing can obscure the ability to identify U sources. Mixing is exacerbated by the relatively long screens (> 20 ft long or > 6.1 m) of the monitoring wells.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Sai Appaji, former Remedial Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, for his assistance as he oversaw project management of the Homestake Superfund site. Mr. Appaji facilitated site access to wells and helped coordinate our field activities. Mark Purcell, current Remedial Project Manager, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6, provided information on site conditions that helped our work. Pat Longmire of the New Mexico Environment Department provided input on several aspects of the study design with the help of Kurt Vollbrecht, Program Manager for the New Mexico Environment Department. Site employees for the Homestake Mining Company also were very helpful in providing access to wells on company land. Landowners adjacent to the site supported our work before and during the data collection process. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Geological Survey, 720 Gracern Rd, Columbia, SC, 29210, USA

    Philip T. Harte

  2. U.S. Geological Survey, 6700 Edith Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM, 87113, USA

    Johanna M. Blake

  3. U.S. Geological Survey, 501 W. Felix Street Bldg 24, Fort Worth, TX, 76133, USA

    Jonathan Thomas & Kent Becher

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  1. Philip T. Harte
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Correspondence to Philip T. Harte.

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Harte, P.T., Blake, J.M., Thomas, J. et al. Identifying natural and anthropogenic variability of uranium at the well scale, Homestake Superfund site, near Milan, New Mexico, USA. Environ Earth Sci 78, 95 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-019-8049-y

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