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A Guide for Site and Soil Description in Hazardous Waste Site Characterization

This guide is intended to assist field personnel who must identify, describe, and interpret the site and soil characteristics of hazardous waste sites where metals contamination is suspected or known. The guide is directed to regional project managers, on-scene coordinators and others who may need to apply the basic principles of soil science to a waste site environment but may not have a thorough knowledge of basic information and protocols for describing and characterizing contaminated soils, particularly those contaminated with metal species. The approach presented, including the knowledge frames of an expert system, will be unfamiliar to most site investigators. These frames are also the basis for components of the Environmental Sampling Expert System (ESES). Site and soil characterization data are important components in developing the sampling plan for both field and laboratory, in preparing for field reconnaissance, and in conducting sampling and analysis activities. Consequently, it is important to consider and synthesize data from all available sources in developing site and soil descriptions. It is also important to design the site and soil characterization process to complement the intended use of the data (e.g., site characterization, health and safety, risk assessment, evaluation of remedial alternatives, and monitoring during remedial action). This guide provides a general discussion (Section 2) of the elements of a background review and an on-site examination of site and soil characteristics essential to meeting the needs of these different data uses. This general discussion is followed by a catalogue of individual site (Section 3) and soil (Section 4) characteristics (e.g., climate and weather, texture and structure, hydraulic conductivity, slope, soil microorganisms) that could be investigated during site characterization. For each entry, the guide describes possible conditions of the characteristic (e.g., high, moderate, or low; prominent, distinct, or faint) and methods for assigning these conditions. References that provide more detailed information are given for each characteristic. Extensive definitions are provided for describing contaminated sites and soils.