III-3. COMPOSITE SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS
63
III-3. COMPOSITE SAMPLING AND ANALYSIS FOR
WHITE PHOSPHORUS IN UNTREATED PONDS
Marianne E. Walsh, Charles M. Collins, and Ronald N. Bailey
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory
picked up the white phosphorus in Area C/
INTRODUCTION
D or Northern C. This year we concentrated
We continued sampling in Areas A and C/
our efforts in these two areas but also collected
D in an effort to locate additional areas of
samples in an additional complex of small
white phosphorus contamination that might
ponds in the northern part of Area A.
be sources of waterfowl poisoning. The loca-
tions of recovered carcasses of telemetry mal-
lards indicated that localized areas of contami-
METHODS
nation that have not yet been identified may
still be present in Northern C, Area C/D, and
We collected composite samples consisting
possibly Area A. The major ponds within
of 31-mL subsamples taken at the nodes of a
these areas have already been extensively
1.82-m-square grid. Each composite was
sampled to try to identify areas of contami-
made up of a maximum of 48 subsamples that
nation. Over the last two years we have been
we collected to a depth of 10 cm using an
collecting grid composite samples in smaller
Oakfield corer. The outside dimensions of
ponds within these areas that in the past ei-
each gridded area were 5.46 m wide and up
ther have not been sampled or have had only
to 20.02 m long. The spacing between com-
cursory sampling. In 1999 we collected 32 grid
posite samples was governed by the shapes
composite samples from Ponds 226 and 228
of the ponds.
in Area A and 27 composites from Area C/D
White phosphorus was determined by gas
and Coastal East. We found one positive
chromatography (EPA SW-846 Method 7580)
sample in Area A Pond 226 and one in Pond
as described elsewhere in this report in the
75 of Coastal East. Neighboring samples were
section on the monitoring of the remediation
blank, indicating that the contamination was
of white-phosphorus-contaminated sedi-
not widespread, as in Pond 183 in Area C,
ments in treated ponds (M.E. Walsh et al., this
Racine Island, or the Bread Truck Pond. Te-
volume).
lemetry data for birds that died in 1999 and
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) hori-
had white phosphorus in their gizzards
zontal coordinates (North American Datum
seemed to indicate that most of these birds
1927) and elevations were obtained using a
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