Recharge to low-level radioactive-waste burial trenches 11 through 14, West Valley, New York

After the dry summer of 1978, water levels began to rise in four of seven newer low-level radioactive-waste burial trenches at the Western New York Nuclear Service Center. The water-level rise in these trenches does not appear to be related to ground-water inflow, but rather to increased infiltration of precipitation through the clay-rich till cover over the trenches. The increase in infiltration is attributed to inflow through cracks caused by dessication and (or) settling of the buried refuse. (Woodard-USGS)