Fate and Transport of Tungsten at Camp Edwards Small Arms Ranges

Abstract

Camp Edwards, Massachusetts, is the first of three military installations studied to assess the distribution of tungsten at small arms ranges.The study focused on three ranges at Camp Edwards.Tungsten was present in surface soils up to 2,080 mg/kg.Highest observed concentrations occurred at the berm face and decreased away from the berm in the following order: trough, target, range floor, and firing point.Tungsten concentration in surface soils at the firing point was similar to background levels, i.e., 1.5 mg/kg.Tungsten levels in subsurface soils decreased with depth with an order of magnitude or more decrease in concentration within the top 25 cm.However, samples collected at 150 cm still had tungsten levels above background.Tension lysimeters installed in the berm area had dissolved tungsten up to 400 mg/L.The 24 lysimeters did not exhibit consistent tungsten concentration trends and no trend was evident with depth, but concentration levels on the range were significantly elevated compared to background.Mean tungsten concentration for lysimeters installed in background locations was 0.09 mg/L and ranged from 0.011 to 0.169 mg/L.One of three monitoring wells sampled had tungsten with concentrations varying from 0.0044 to 0.56.