14. ABSTRACT (cont'd)
Soil samples were also collected from a number of areas around detonation craters formed by 105-mm and 155-
m howitzers, and 60-, 81- and 120-mm mortars. Concentrations of explosives residues in and around these craters
were generally barely detectable, indicating that only minor amounts of explosives residue are deposited during
high-order detonations of army munitions.
Soil samples were also collected below and adjacent to a 155-mm howitzer shell that had undergone a low-order
detonation. These samples were heavily contaminated with TNT and its environmental transformation products.
These results indicate that efforts should be made to find and remove the resulting debris from low-order deton-
ations whenever possible to prevent leaching of contaminants to groundwater.
Water samples collected from five groundwater monitoring wells and five seeps around the artillery impact areas
at Fort Lewis were also analyzed for explosives; 8 of the 10 were found to contain very low (<1.0 g/L) concentra-
tions of RDX. The source of this RDX is unknown.
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