Conducting subsurface soil and groundwater radiological investigations: a case study from the University of Rochester

The University of Rochester performed subsurface soil and groundwater radiological assessments in the vicinity of a research building to investigate for contamination from possible past releases of licensed radioactive materials. During the course of this investigation, our contractors developed candidate well drilling and sampling plans. The University of Rochester selected one of these plans, which was subsequently modified due to unexpected costs associated with the local geology. This paper describes the factors that were considered during the development and implementation of the drilling and sampling plan, as well as other considerations and concepts that are inherent in many environmental investigations.