Runit (Yvonne) Cleanup and Crater Containment
The technicians advised that it would be unrealistic to plan on m

50 cubic yards sustained daily output, even with maximur

daylight hours. In July, additional personnel were assigned to th

operation to provide two-team, double-shift operations cov

daylight hours. At the technicians’ recommendation, Field C
procured another spare tremie pump, this one a duplicate of the
pump, to replace the spare which had been obtained from excess
proved inoperable.65 Equipment problems continued to hampe

operations until 26 September 1978 when a master mechanic was |
by Holmes & Narver, at the request of USASCH and Field Com:
maintain and repair equipment which exceeded USAE mait

capability.66.6? The mechanic, Mr. James W.Shively, proved inva

keeping the crater containment equipment in operating condition
vareity of adverse conditions and continuous personnel turnover. §
On 2 October 1978, Navy divers entered Cactus Crater to in:
material placed there. The existing surfaces of the material ;

even.©? However, core drilling, after the dome had been capped
project completed (March 1980), revealed some segregation andlz

The segregation andlaitance was probably caused by: (1) placing t

during daylight hoursonly, in lieu of 24-hour-a-day operation, (2)
pump failures, (3) difficulties in controlling the discharge en

tremie pipe; and (4) improper dumping of some oversize mater

The POD/Field Command decision to handle oversize m:
debris and encapsulate it in the sturry was not a part of the POD |
the OPLAN. Lacking specific guidance, the JTG disposed of cont
material too large for the tremie pump by bulldozingit in at the ec
crater. An estimated 7,109 cubic yards of oversized material were

this manner (Figure 8-23).7! When the tremie pump could not

load of slurry, the slurry was discharged from the transit-mix tr

excavated trenches and allowed to harden (Figure 8-24). The |

slurry then was loaded into a dump truck and placed in the cra
‘‘processed tremie’’ method was used only when necessary
limited to eight loads per day unless approved by CJTG. 72
Contaminated debris stockpiled on Runit from the other is!
placed in the crater during the tremie operation. Slurry was used
the material and encase the debris into the concrete mass produc
tremie process. Approximately 4,500 cubic yards of contaminat
were disposed of in this manner.
As the tremie operation progressed and the fill approached th
of the water, slurry was placed by both the tremie barge
inaccessible areas around the crater rim, by using transit-m

(Figure 8-25). Tremie operations were completed on 10 Februar

months ahead of schedule. Thecrater was filled to approximat

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