The vadose zone within the Hanford Central Plateau contains large quantities of mobile contaminants that have not yet reached the groundwater. Deep vadose zone (DVZ) contamination is located below the depth of direct contaminant exposure potential, but may be a current and/or potential future source of groundwater contamination. Monitoring to observe subsurface processes and driving forces related to contaminant transport or to directly observe contaminant movement in the DVZ provides remedy performance information prior to contaminants reaching the groundwater and thereby is an important element of a remedy implementation.
Revised: December 26, 2018 |
Published: September 30, 2018