Collaboration with University Students Helps with Remedial Efforts at LM Site

Students from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) are helping the Office of Legacy Management (LM) evaluate sources of groundwater contamination at LM’s Riverton, Wyoming, Processing Site.

LM began tracer testing at the site in 2017 as part of the Applied Studies and Technology Program’s (AS&T) Persistent Secondary Contaminant Source (PeSCS) Project. AS&T collaborates with graduate- and doctoral-level students who assist with field work in collecting samples, testing, and analyses.

With the help of graduate student Kendyl Hoss, and Ph.D. candidate Rakiba Sultana, UWM Geoscience Assistant Professor Charles Paradis is helping LM personnel to evaluate groundwater tracer test data from the Riverton site. Sultana and Hoss spent more than two months in Riverton in 2021 assisting with tracer testing and sampling.

The AS&T PeSCS project was initiated to better understand secondary contaminant sources that contribute to groundwater contamination. These contaminants are absorbed on soil and can delay remediation efforts and delay the natural flushing of groundwater. By studying secondary sources, LM can improve its remediation efforts at current and future sites.

“The Riverton project deals with uranium mobility, which has a direct implication in environmental protection. As I always wanted to be involved in projects related to the environment, I am very glad to be a part of it,” said Sultana, whose dissertation will be focused on the mechanisms responsible for uranium mobility. “I believe this project will enable me to learn a lot about geochemistry and hydrochemistry, and the combination of these two fields is very valuable in the environmental sector.”

Riverton tracer test data evaluations by Sultana, Hoss and Los Alamos National Laboratory post-doctoral fellow Dr. Martin Dangelmayr, provide the students with research topics to earn their degrees and to publish their research in peer reviewed journals. Students who have worked on this project in the past, such as UWM student Jiyan Hatami and Cullen Meurer, graduated or will graduate soon using research conducted during the project.

“These types of collaboration efforts with universities and graduate students are a win-win for everyone,” said LM Riverton Site Manager Bill Frazier. “DOE benefits from the efforts, and often fresh perspective of academia, while graduates have an opportunity to participate in the important DOE LM monitoring and evaluation efforts.” 

Planned work for 2022 and 2023 includes completion of these tracer test data analyses and publication of the various data from the project. The PeSCS Project is expected to be completed in March 2023.