SUMMARY OF THE REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPMENT FORUM
ACTION TEAM CO-CHAIRS CONFERENCE CALL

September 9, 1997
12:30 p.m.­2:00 p.m.

On September 17, 1997, Walter Kovalick, co-chair of the Remediation Technologies Development Forum (RTDF), met with co-chairs from four of the seven RTDF action teams in a conference call. The following co-chairs were present:

Jim Ryan (IINERT Soil Metals Action Team)
Greg Sayles (Bioremediation Consortium Action Team)
Mike Roulier (Lasagna ™ Partnership Action Team)
Dennis Timberlake (Sediments Remediation Action Team)
Bruce Yare (Sediments Remediation Action Team)

Also present were Jeff Heimerman (sitting in for Kovalick during part of the meeting); Trish Erickson (sitting in for RTDF Co-chair Robert Olexsey); Mason Hughes (sitting in for Lasagna ™ Partnership Action Team Co-chair Phil Brodsky); Rich Steimle (TIO liason for the Permeable Reactive Barriers and In Situ Flushing Action Teams); Carolyn Perroni of Environmental Management Systems, Inc. (EMS); and Colin Devonshire of Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG). Due to scheduling conflicts, the co-chairs of the In Situ Flushing, Permeable Reactive Barriers, and Phytoremediation of Organics action teams were not able to participate.

UPDATE OF RTDF PUBLICATIONS

New Issue of RTDF Update
Perroni said EMS is in the process of producing the latest issue of the RTDF Update progress report. Perroni is writing articles for each action team based on material provided by the action team co-chairs; in some cases she is including complete articles provided by the action team co-chairs. Perroni will try to give her articles to the action team co-chairs for comments within two weeks. The new issue will be distributed at the RTDF annual meeting on October 15 to 16 in Evanston, Illinois, and then will be sent to everyone on the RTDF mailing list.

Update of Action Team Fact Sheets
EMS/ERG is also preparing an updated fact sheet about each action team. These fact sheets will be based on current information provided by the action team co-chairs. The fact sheets should also be ready for distribution at the annual meeting, to be followed by a formal release and mailing by EPA. EMS is still collecting data for an RTDF overview fact sheet, which should also be ready in time for the annual meeting.


ACTION TEAM UPDATES

In-Place Inactivation and Natural Ecological Restoration Technologies Soil-Metals Action Team
Jim Ryan (EPA)

Ryan said that the In-Place Inactivation and Natural Ecological Restoration Technologies (IINERT) Soil-Metals Action Team continues to move forward in several areas of research. In one project, the team is feeding swine treated soil from the Joplin, Missouri, field site. Through these feedings the team will determine whether its experimental in situ treatment of lead-contaminated soil at the site has reduced the bioavailability of lead in the soil. Ryan said the results from the first feeding trial, which was recently completed, look promising, and a second trial is in progress or will be shortly. The Action Team has established some test plots at another field site to investigate stabilization techniques for mining waste. The Action Team is also progressing with its research to demonstrate that bioavailability of lead in humans can be measured both by other in vivo models (besides swine models) and by in vitro models. The Team's research indicates that, in the case of lead, the absorption process in the human model is chemistry-dependent, rather than physiology-dependent.

Lasagna™ Partnership Action Team
Mike Roulier (EPA) and Mason Hughes (Monsanto Company)

Hughes told the group that the vertical Lasagna ™ group has completed its Phase II-a field study. Hughes reported that this study was a resounding success, and the Department of Energy (DOE) has accepted Lasagna ™ technology as the remediation technique of choice for the TCE-contaminated site in Paducah, Kentucky. DOE has given the Action Team permission to proceed with the Record of Decision process. Hughes said the Action Team is preparing for another 6-to-12 months of activity to complete the Record of Decision. The Paducah project will be the first time that Lasagna ™ technology is implemented for full-scale site remediation. While "resting" before the ROD process, the Action Team has been investigating the possibility of commercializing Lasagna ™ technology. The Team has met with two groups of remediation companies to discuss licensing arrangements, and over the next few months, it hopes to complete agreements with various companies to set fixed costs for licensing the Lasagna ™ process for specific sites. Hughes said that with these agreements in place, the Action Team should be able to work with remediation companies to develop proposals for various agencies that might need the Lasagna ™ process for cleaning up TCE-contaminated areas.

Roulier updated the group on the actions of the horizontal Lasagna ™ group. The group has installed two small horizontal Lasagna ™ cells at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base in Ohio. One cell has a biological treatment zone, the other a zero-valent-iron treatment zone. The biological cell has operated long enough to move TCE into the treatment zone. The group has turned off the power supply at this cell and begun the treatment process to capture the TCE in granular activated carbon. Intermediate soil samples from the biological cell showed that, in a short time, the process has already achieved a 30 percent reduction of TCE between the electrodes. Roulier said the iron treatment cell is currently running well; the group has not yet collected intermediate soil samples from this cell. The group is set to prepare a new field site at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. The materials for a treatment cell, including 6 tons of graphite and 20 tons of iron, are already on order, and the group hopes to install two cells at the site in the next few weeks. The cells will treat contaminants including TCE, vinyl chloride, and DCE. The group has built a small cell in Cincinnati to test the power supply to be used at the Offutt installation. Through this test cell, the group managed to decrease resistance heating and improve conductance. In the next few weeks the group will test a remote-sensing and operating system, which will be used to control the Offutt cells from off site.

Sediments Remediation Action Team
Dennis Timberlake (EPA) and Bruce Yare (Solutia, Inc.)

Timberlake was pleased to report that Yare has joined him as the new co-chair of the Sediments Remediation Action Team. Yare said they are excited to get the Action Team working again and to make up for lost time. While the Action Team has canceled its tentative plans for a team meeting at the RTDF annual meeting, Timberlake and Yare will meet at that time to plan upcoming team activities.

Bioremediation Consortium Action Team
Greg Sayles (EPA)

Sayles told the group that the Bioremediation Consortium Action Team is developing three biotechnologies to clean up chlorinated solvents: vadose zone bioventing, accelerated anaerobic treatment of ground water, and natural attenuation in ground water. The Action Team's first field site is at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where the Team continues to make progress studying accelerated anaerobic treatment. Though the bioventing system at Dover is installed, the Team has had to postpone bioventing studies because of an unusually high water table. Sayles anticipates that the water table should recede enough by October to allow the Team to begin bioventing at Dover. The action team has identified a site for a Phase II bioventing study at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, where it should begin field work next spring. The Action Team is currently conducting laboratory studies of soil treatability for this site, and is also beginning work on a soil treatability protocol. The Team is still searching for a field site for its Phase II ground-water study. Although negotiations with potentially responsible parties for one prospective field site have broken down, the Team is actively investigating other possible sites, and will conduct some site visits over the next few weeks.


RTDF ANNUAL MEETING

Perroni told the group that, although plans are set for the RTDF annual meeting on October 15 and 16 in Evanston, Illinois, only around 12 people (including two co-chairs) have registered so far. The hotel is fixing some recent problems with its registration systems. Perroni reminded the co-chairs that they can also register through the RTDF Web site. The cutoff date for hotel registration in September 23.

The only action team still planning to meet separately during the first morning of the meeting is the In Situ Flushing Action Team (although its co-chairs have not yet finalized an agenda). The RTDF still has two additional conference rooms reserved for the morning of October 15. Perroni is going to ask ERG to cancel reservations for one of these rooms, and unless the co-chairs can think of a need for the remaining conference room, in a few days Perroni will ask ERG to cancel that reservation as well.

Perroni announced that three speakers have agreed to participate in the panel discussion on team organizational structure and funding opportunities: Joe Salvo (General Electric), Larry Radkin (EPA), and Skip Chamberlain (DOE). There have been no other changes to the meeting agenda.

Perroni said that an overhead projector and slide projector will be available in the main meeting room. She asked the co-chairs to let her know ahead of time about any audiovisual equipment needs they may have.

Kovalick informed the co-chairs that the federal government cannot procure coffee for the meeting. He said that unless the private companies involved want to take action, only water will be available during the meeting.

Kovalick said he would like to set aside about half an hour at the annual meeting to discuss joint technology demonstrations being performed through other government/industry parallel partnerships. He said several of these demonstration projects are generating results in the field that might be relevant to the RTDF.


NEXT CO-CHAIRS CONFERENCE CALL

The next co-chair conference call was tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, November 18, from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m., EDT. The backup date is Monday, November 17, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m.


MISCELLANEOUS

Hughes said that the Lasagna ™ Partnership Action Team has encountered increasing interest in electrokinetic processes among other technology and remediation companies. He suggested that the RTDF consider involving these interested parties by either expanding the Lasagna ™ Partnership Action Team or starting a new, broader electrokinetic technology action team. Hughes noted that Lasagna's ™ success could pave the way for other electrokinetic processes, which in turn could further acceptance of Lasagna™. Hughes said a possible avenue of expansion for Lasagna ™ technology is remediation of radionuclides. The Lasagna ™ Partnership Action Team has contacted Robin Anderson (EPA) about securing funding to extend the Lasagna ™ concept to radionuclide cleanup. Hughes said he was certain that other companies would be interested in participating in an action team devoted to a broad range of electrokinetic technologies, especially if the team's scope included radionuclide remediation.

Kovalick responded that he would prefer to start a new action team, separate from Lasagna ™ and open to other vendors, consultants, etc., without restriction from existing partnership agreements. Hughes agreed with this approach. Kovalick suggested that they propose this at the RTDF annual meeting. Hughes said they could contact potentially interested parties in the months following the annual meeting, and convene the new action team at a meeting in the spring. Kovalick said that, in the past, action teams have needed both interest from problem-owner companies and expertise from EPA (or other government bodies) in order make the action teams a partnership of private industry and government. He suggested that the group inquire within EPA and DOE for a potential electrokinetics co-chair from the government side. Hughes said Anderson would be a good co-chair or might know of other candidates. Erickson and Kovalick will search for interested people within EPA and DOE. Kovalick said this subject should be added to the agenda of the annual meeting.


ACTION ITEMS