Waste Disposal Facility Characterization
Tetra Tech performed a characterization of sodium sulfate tailings that were placed in a disposal facility on the dry lakebed of Owens Lake, California. Tetra Tech completed a full characterization for the Umetco Minerals Corporation with the purpose of determining if material had been released from the disposal facility to the lakebed sediments or groundwater.
The characterization included:
- A physical stability study performed with ground-penetrating radar
- A groundwater study that involved installing numerous monitoring wells and piezometers
- A geochemistry study of the sodium sulfate and lakebed evaporates
- A geochemical background study
- Chemical transport modeling
The results of this study showed that the tailings have had minimal effects on the groundwater.
