An inhouse research project was conducted by the EPA's Industrial Environmental Research Laboratory (IERL) at the T&E Facility in Cincinnati, Ohio, to provide information concerning the potential for release of contaminants to groundwater from in-situ and above-ground processed tar sands. This study examined the composition of the leachate that may be generated from raw tar sand cores and spent tar sand waste. In all, twelve different water quality tests plus trace metal analyses were conducted on the leachate samples generated from the shake and extraction procedures.

Caption title. At head of title: Project summary. "July 1984." "EPA/600-S2-84-113."

"The research described in the full report was initiated at the USEPA's Test and Evaluation (T & E) Facility to assess the potential for release of contaminants to ground and surface waters from in-situ and above-ground processing of western tar sands. Initial laboratory tests indicate that leachates from spent tar sands may not contain significant amounts of toxic pollutants but may contain substantial amounts of sulfate and total organic carbon (TOC). Of the five priority pollutants tested (cyanide, mercury, nickel, arsenic and zinc), all exhibited low concentrations. However, concentrations of sulfate and TOC were sufficiently high to impact surface and groundwater quality."