SURVEY OF GROUNDWATER CONCENTRATIONS OF URANIUM, RADON AND OTHER CONSTITUENTS IN KLEBERG COUNTY, TEXAS

Uranium in the Southwest Texas coastal plains has been mined using in-situ recovery (ISR) for several decades. There is at least 36 closed and 3 active uranium mines in the region. Since the major source of drinking and irrigation water in the area is groundwater, the public is concerned about restoration of groundwater at uranium mining sites to baseline levels to prevent contamination of private wells by migration of contaminants such as uranium, molybdenum, selenium, strontium, and arsenic. One objective of this study is to determine the quality of the groundwater around ISR mining sites. 50 private drinking water wells were tested in areas near the Kingsville Dome uranium mining in Kleberg County, Texas during 2010 and 2011, and the concentrations of parameters of interest (U, Th, Mo, As, Se, Sr, Ca, Mg, Na, K, Cl^‑, SO₄^2-, NO₃^-, Br^-, F^-, radon, thoron, alkalinity, pH, conductivity and temperature) were determined. The results to date have shown that 58% of the wells surveyed had uranium concentrations greater than 10 ppb, and 22% had uranium concentrations greater than the EPA drinking water standard of 30 ppb, including four wells with uranium concentrations between 160 and 771 ppb. There was no significant correlation between the measured uranium concentrations and either distance or direction from the mining site. The measured concentrations will be compared with data in the USGS National Uranium Resource Evaluation (NURE) database for groundwater samples collected in the late 1970s.