SUMMARY OF THE REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPMENT
FORUM
ACTION TEAM CO-CHAIRS CONFERENCE CALL
July 17, 1997
12:30 p.m.2:00 p.m
On July 17, 1997, Walter Kovalick, co-chair of the Remediation Technologies
Development Forum (RTDF), met with co-chairs from six of the seven RTDF action
teams in a conference call. The following co-chairs were present:
Bill Berti (IINERT Soil-Metals Action Team)
Dave Ellis (Bioremediation
Consortium)
Greg Sayles (Bioremediation Consortium)
Lynn Wood (In
Situ Flushing Action Team)
Bob Puls (Permeable Reactive Barriers
Action Team)
Dale Schultz (Permeable Reactive Barriers Action Team)
Steve Rock (Phytoremediation of Organics Action Team)
Dennis Timberlake
(Sediments Remediation Action Team)
Also present were Trish Erickson (sitting in for RTDF Co-chair Robert
Olexsey); Michael Kosakowski (EPA/TIO); Carolyn Perroni of Environmental
Management Systems, Inc. (EMS); and Susan Brager Murphy and Colin Devonshire of
Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG). Due to scheduling conflicts, neither
co-chair of the Lasagna Partnership™ was able to participate.
ACTION TEAM UPDATES
In-Place Inactivation and Natural Ecological Restoration
Technologies Soil-Metals Action Team
Bill Berti (DuPont)
Berti said that three weeks ago members of the In-Place Inactivation and
Natural Ecological Restoration Technologies (IINERT) Soil-Metals Action Team met
in Berkeley, California, at an international workshop of researchers to discuss
stabilization of metals and other soil contaminants. Berti stated that European
researchers have developed interesting stabilization and measurement methods.
He noted that the European researchers' approach to soil-metal remediation
appears more focused on ecosystem health, while U.S. research is geared toward
human health. Berti said he hopes that the workshop host, ILZRO (International
Lead and Zinc Research Organization) will make a written report on the meeting
available by the end of July. Berti will attempt to add a summary of this
workshop to the RTDF Web site or provide a link to the ILZRO Web site.
The IINERT Soil-Metals Action Team held a conference call last week. The
team discussed developing a bibliography of articles and reports relevant to
IINERT and the possibility of using the team's Web page to collect references
and make the bibliography available to a broad audience. In the conference
call, Dr. Stan Casteel of the University of Missouri discussed preliminary data
that analyzed the effect of phosphate treatment on the bioavailability of soil
lead. The data indicated that the bioavailability of lead in phosphate-amended
soil (treated by Dr. Bob Blanchar of the University of Missouri) was
significantly reduced in a swine model. Members of the Action Team are
currently studying methods of soil treatment that will reduce lead
bioavailability in soil using a variety of animal, laboratory, and human models.
Bioremediation Consortium
Greg Sayles (EPA)
Dave Ellis (DuPont)
Sayles told the group that the Bioremediation Consortium is involved in
three biotechnology projects to treat chlorinated solvents: vadose zone
bioventing, accelerated anaerobic treatment of ground water, and natural
attenuation in ground water. The Consortium's first field study site for these
projects is at Dover Air Force Base. A second site for bioventing study has
been chosen at Hill Air Force Base, and the search for a second ground-water
study site is ongoing. Sayles said fieldwork at the Dover bioventing study is
on hold because of an unusually high water table. Laboratory study of soil
treatability is underway in preparation for bioventing fieldwork at Hill Air
Force Base, which will begin next spring.
Ellis said the accelerated anaerobic treatment study has completed a
bioaugmentation process. Because there has been little well-documented research
on bioaugmentation of chlorinated solvents to this point, this project has
required development of new protocols and QA/QC methods. Ellis said the
researchers are currently waiting for biodegradation to measurably affect
ground-water contamination at the study site.
Ellis told the group that the natural attenuation research is focused on a
transect study that will quantify the mass balance of biodegradation during
ground-water migration. Data reduction is underway, and the results should help
determine the value of transect studies.
Ellis added that the Bioremediation Consortium has a "principles and
practices" document under review with EPA and state regulators.
Permeable Reactive Barriers Action Team
Bob Puls (EPA)
Dale Schultz (DuPont)
Puls told the group that the Permeable Reactive Barriers Action Team
Steering Committee is in the process of planning an open meeting of the Action
Team, scheduled for September 18 to 19 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The Action
Team will devote one day of the meeting to approximately a dozen speakers, and a
partial day to a field trip to the EPA/University of Waterloo permeable reactive
barrier (PRB) research site in Elizabeth City, North Carolina.
Puls said the Steering Committee has been reviewing the Interstate
Technology and Regulatory Cooperation (ITRC) Work Group's guidance document on
PRB technology. Puls said the ITRC Work Group hopes the Action Team will "sign
off" on this document. The document largely addresses regulatory concerns
surrounding PRB technology, and could be used by state regulators dealing with
this remediation technology.
The Steering Committee and additional Action Team members are also working
on what they hope will be an official RTDF PRB issues document. Puls said this
paper will be more comprehensive than earlier papers on the technology,
including ITRC and Department of Defense (DOD) documents. The paper is being
finalized and should be distributed to the Steering Committee for review by the
end of July.
Puls said members of the Steering Committee have also developed a proposal
outlining the primary research initiatives needed for further application of PRB
technology. These initiatives include study of the long term reactivity and
hydraulic conductivity of PRBs. Puls stated that the Steering Committee will
finalize this proposal and distribute it as an RTDF document to relevant
agencies (e.g., EPA, DOD, and Department of Defense (DOE)) in an
effort to raise research funding. Kovalick suggested that the Action Team
circulate this document to the Federal Facilities Forum leadership council and
members.
Schultz informed the group that he has stepped down as co-chair of the
Action Team, due to a pending reassignment within DuPont. The co-chairs thanked
Schultz for his efforts on behalf of the Action Team and the RTDF.
In Situ Flushing Action Team
Lynn Wood (EPA)
Wood told the co-chairs that the In Situ Flushing Action Team met
at Hill Air Force Base in May. Nearly 70 representatives from government,
academia, and the private sector attended. During the meeting, the team
identified several focus areas falling under one umbrella project, a conceptual
design of a large-scale non-aqueous phase liquid extraction system. Focus areas
included: technical practices and protocols for flushing technologies; economic
evaluation of these technologies; recoverability and reuse of adjuvants used in
in situ flushing; and assessment of appropriate endpoints and
performance criteria for source remediation. The Action Team is in the process
of dividing into working groups to study these areas. Wood said that the team
will reconvene in September or October to combine the working groups' efforts
into an overall action plan. Wood added that while the Action Team does not
have field activities ongoing, it is investigating opportunities to begin a
field program.
Phytoremediation of Organics Action Team
Steve Rock (EPA)
Rock explained that the Phytoremediation of Organics Action Team is divided
into three subgroups, two of which have not met since the last co-chair
conference call. The third subgroup, studying vegetative caps, is moving
quickly to begin field monitoring of vegetative caps and is actively searching
for field sites. Several caps are scheduled to be installed soon, and the
subgroup's monitoring equipment must be in place before cap installation,
because retrofitting the caps after construction may be impossible. The group
is currently developing proposals for these field monitoring activities.
Rock said that the team has developed a bibliography of around 850 citations
that is almost ready for posting on the Web site. At this point, the
bibliography is arranged alphabetically and has not been sorted. Rock said he
was open to suggestions about methods of sorting the bibliography.
Rock noted that the Action Team has also worked with the ITRC Work Group on
its phytoremediation document, though the ITRC Work Group is focused on the
remediation of metals rather than organic contaminants.
The Action Team plans to meet in September in Cincinnati, where it hopes to
develop a field plan. Rock said that the Action Team is growing rapidly and may
need to adopt a two-tiered structure; Rock said he would appreciate advice on
this matter from co-chairs of other large action teams.
Sediments Remediation Action Team
Dennis Timberlake (EPA)
Timberlake said that he is still searching for a co-chair. However, through
the Action Team's Web page, Timberlake has received many inquiries from industry
members expressing interest in the Action Team.
Timberlake said that members of his EPA laboratory and the Action Team met
with the Army Corps of Engineers last month. The Corps may be able to help the
Action Team by providing sites for field demonstrations.
Timberlake said that John Kingscott (EPA) will speak to the Association of
Ports and Harbors next week, and may be able to recruit more participants for
the Action Team. Kovalick said he and Timberlake contacted this lobbying group
because it presumably represents "problem owners" (i.e.,
owners of sites with contaminated sediments). Kovalick added that, this month,
the International Joint Commission will issue a list of contaminated ports and
harbors that the Action Team can use to identify problem owners. Kovalick said
that ports and harbors may also have brownfield properties available for staging
possible RTDF field studies. Kovalick has also approached the environmental
committee of the National Shipbuilders Association to discuss possible RTDF
field demonstrations using contaminated shipyard sediments.
RTDF ANNUAL MEETING
While the target date for the RTDF annual meeting is October 15 to 16, Susan
Brager Murphy and Carolyn Perroni informed the group that hotels and meeting
spaces are booked in Cincinnati throughout the fall. The first dates available
at a suitable facility are November 12 to13. In order to meet earlier in the
fall while accommodating the many participants from Cincinnati, the group agreed
that EMS and ERG should investigate hotel availabilities in Cleveland,
Pittsburgh, Chicago, or Washington, D.C., for October 15 to 16. ERG and EMS
will attempt to make arrangements in the city with the cheapest government-rate
airfare from Cincinnati. If none of these options is feasible, the group will
try to schedule the meeting in Cincinnati on the earliest available date in
November.
Kovalick noted that because the full RTDF meeting will not begin until 1:00
on the first day, there will be time for action teams to hold half-day meetings
before the full meeting begins. Rock and Puls said that the Phytoremediation
and Permeable Reactive Barrier Action Teams will not meet then, while Wood and
Timberlake said that the In Situ Flushing and Sediments Remediation
Action Teams, respectively, will try to meet at that time. Other co-chairs said
they have not determined whether their action teams will meet at that time.
Perroni and Brager Murphy requested that the co-chairs resolve this question by
the end of the week because this information will influence selection of a
meeting space.
Kovalick said that, in addition to the presentations specific to each action team, he would like to devote some meeting time to a discussion of broader issues. Kovalick said that a policy-related or cross-cutting topic, or perhaps a guest speaker, would be desirable. Wood said that the National Academy of Sciences will soon be releasing a National Research Council report on innovative remediation technologies, and suggested inviting to the RTDF meeting some of the contributors to this report. Kovalick agreed and suggested inviting Jackie Macdonald to speak about problems with remediation technology development.
Kovalick said that the annual meeting is a good opportunity to recruit new
participants, especially from industries that are not yet represented in the
RTDF. He said that the RTDF should make an effort to invite trade associations
to the meeting to learn about the RTDF.
EMS/ERG will draft an agenda for the meeting and provide it to the co-chairs
by August 1 for review.
RTDF WEB SITE UPDATE
Perroni said that EMS has entered all the information it has been given
during 1997 into the RTDF Web site. EMS is still working on password-protect
features for some of the action teams' pages, and is still adding some
historical information to the site. Perroni asked the group to discuss with her
any additional ideas or requests for the Web site.
RTDF PUBLICATION UPDATE
Perroni and Kovalick told the co-chairs that some of the action team fact
sheets are outdated and need to be revised. EMS will update them as much as
possible before giving them to the co-chairs for further revision. The revised
fact sheets will be due back at EMS by August 29, and will be published before
the annual meeting. Perroni said that EMS will also produce a new edition of
the RTDF Update newsletter/fact sheet for the annual meeting and will need some
short articles describing the recent activities of each action team. The
co-chairs agreed to provide these descriptions to EMS by August 29.
NEXT CO-CHAIR CONFERENCE CALL
The next co-chair conference call was tentatively scheduled for 12:30 to
2:00 p.m., Tuesday, September 9. Berti suggested discussing ways to take
advantage of the RTDF Web site during an upcoming co-chair conference call.
ACTION ITEMS
MISCELLANEOUS
Kovalick informed the co-chairs that a conference on ground water treatment technology, organized by the Ground Water Remediation Technology and Analysis Center, is scheduled for July 31 at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia.