Soil Chemistry and Quality Control Data in support of Environmental Monitoring at the Open Burning/Open Detonation (OB/OD) areas in the Ammunition Area (AA) at Letterkenny Army Depot, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, 2021 (version 1.1, February 2022)

Soil sampling was needed to provide analytical soil data for areas near the Open Burning/Open Detonation (OB/OD) areas in the Ammunition Area (AA) of Letterkenny Army Depot. The U.S. Geological Survey sampled 10 locations and prepared the samples for chemical analyses. Samples were collected from depths of zero to six inches with a stainless-steel trowel. Multiple subsamples (10-20) were homogenized at each location in a disposable plastic bowl, and the homogenized samples were used to fill two eight-ounce glass containers for each location. Seven soil sampling locations were in forested areas, two were in open-field areas, and one was at a forest-field interface. The results will be used to determine impacts of OB/OD activities on areas near the OB/OD area. This Data Release presents the analytical chemistry soil results (OBOD_soil_analytical.txt and OBOD_soil_MS.txt) for samples collected near the OB/OD area on April 21, 2021. Results for environmental samples and one replicate are provided in “OBOD_soil_analytical.txt“, and results for a matrix spike/matrix spike replicate are provided in “OBOD_soil_MS.txt”. Samples were analyzed for anions, metals, and selected explosive compounds. Metals that were detected at the highest concentrations were iron (range of 32,100 to 47,000 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg)), aluminum (range of 22,200 to 26,800 mg/kg), and manganese (range of 1,040 to 2,460 mg/kg). Cadmium, chromium(VI), mercury, molybdenum, selenium, silver, and thallium were all detected at mean concentrations below one mg/kg. No chloride, sulfate, antimony, or tin were detected at any of the sampling locations. Explosive compounds analyzed as part of this study included perchlorate, 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene, 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoluene, 2,4-dinitrotoluene, 1,3,5-Trinitrobenzene, nitroglycerin, nitroguanidine, nitrocellulose, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), high melting explosive (HMX), royal demolition explosive (RDX), and tetryl. Results for explosive compounds were below the detection limit for all compounds analyzed. Matrix-spike data showed that percent recoveries for explosive compounds were within acceptable quality-control (QC) limits. For the 28 other constituents, twenty had acceptable recoveries within QC limits. The metals with the highest concentrations (iron, aluminum, manganese, barium, and zinc) had recoveries that were outside acceptable QC limits. Fluoride, antimony, and chromium(VI) had percent recoveries that were below acceptable QC limits. The analytical chemistry data reported for soil samples collected in April 2021 near the Open Burning/Open Detonation (OB/OD) areas in the Ammunition Area (AA) at Letterkenny Army Depot will be used to determine if there are any impacts to the nearby soil environment from current and past activities within the OB/OD areas. 
Version 1.1 revision of this data release includes a data validation report of the analytical data presented in the original data release (version 1.0). Version 1.1 provides an analysis of the quality assurance/quality control data provided by the analytical laboratories. This was conducted to determine if any additional data qualifiers were necessary for any constituents. 
NOTE: The previous version is available from the author; all of the data in the previous version can be found in version 1.1. 
First posted - September 16, 2021 (available from author) 
Revised - February 15, 2022 (version 1.1)

Tags: franklin-county, hydrogeology, pennsylvania, soil-sciences, usgs-60e71f6bd34e2a7685d0781d, water-quality, water-resources
Organization: Department of the Interior