The Kentucky Division of Waste Management, Agreement In Principal (AIP), is responsible for monitoring the water quality of Bayou Creek (BC), often referred to as Big Bayou Creek and Little Bayou Creek (LBC), to ensure the protection of human health and welfare, and protect the quality of water for wildlife.

This plan may be augmented to include periodic sampling of all discharges, including discharges to impoundments, from wastewater treatment facilities, and from storm water outfalls.  Data collected from the monitoring of surface water may be compared to water quality data collected in the past.  The PGDP utilizes water from the Ohio River for the uranium enrichment process.  The water intake is located three miles north of the plant on the Ohio River.  Effluent from the PGDP consists of facility process water and surface water run-off from the PGDP and is routed through numerous outfalls that are monitored under KPDES.  The PGDP outfalls that discharge to the east are received by the LBC and outfalls flowing to the west are received by BC.  Creeks receive run-off and process water from the PGDP.  The surface water from this site potentially contains elevated levels of metal, PCB and radiological contaminants.

The LBC watershed includes approximately 6,000 acres.  The creek originates in the West Kentucky Wildlife Management Unit (WKWMA) and flows north toward the Ohio River along the 6.5-mile course that includes parts of the eastern boundary of PGDP.  Adjacent to the Tennessee Valley Authority power plant the LBC has been channelized.  Effluents from the PGDP constitute almost 100 percent of the dry-weather flow in the creek.  The average discharge to LBC from the PGDP is approximately 0.7 million gallons per day (mg/d).

The BC watershed encompasses about 11,910 acres.  BC is a perennial stream whose drainage extends 2.5 miles south of the PGDP to its confluence with LBC in a marsh adjacent to the Ohio River.  BC flows toward the Ohio River along a 9-mile course that passes along the western boundary of the plant.  Effluents from the PGDP constitute about 85 percent of the dry-weather flow in BC, which has been estimated at 4 mg/d.

Approximately 740 acres of PGDP are within the fenced security area.  The raw-water treatment plant, the residential landfill and the inert landfill are the only operating areas outside of the security area.  The area southwest of the plant was operated as trinitrotoluene (TNT) production facility, the Kentucky Ordinance Works (KOW) during World War II.  The KOW was closed in 1946.  Later, the Department of Energy purchased 3,667 acres associated with this former facility.