SUMMARY OF THE REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPMENT FORUM
IINERT SOIL-METALS ACTION TEAM
CONFERENCE CALL

February 16, 1999
3:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

On Tuesday, February 16, 1999, the following members of the IINERT Soil-Metals Action Team met in a conference call:

Bill Berti, DuPont Life Sciences (Co-Chair)
James Ryan, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Co-Chair)
Sally Brown, University of Washington
Mark Doolan, EPA
Bill Duncan, Cominco Ltd. Trail Operations
Scott Fredericks, EPA
Gary Pierzynski, Kansas State University

Also present was Christine Hartnett of Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG).

PLANS FOR FUTURE MEETINGS

Ecological Endpoints Meeting

During previous conference calls, Action Team members agreed to hold a meeting about ecological endpoints. The Bunker Hill site (in Kellogg, Idaho) had been recommended as a potential meeting site because field demonstrations are ongoing at this site and at the Trail site, which is located nearby in British Columbia. (Conference call participants estimated that it would take three hours to drive between the sites.) Sally Brown said that she recently talked to Harry Compton about potential meeting locations. According to Brown, Compton thought Bunker Hill would be a good meeting location, but also recommended considering the Leadville site. Conference call participants expressed a stronger interest in visiting the Bunker Hill and Trail sites.

Brown said that she talked to a Bunker Hill representative (Earl Liverman). She said that he is eager to host the Action Team's visit and is willing to let the Team tour Bunker Hill's wetland area and the central impoundment area plots. Bill Berti suggested having the meeting extend over 2 to 3 days. He suggested touring the Bunker Hill site on the first day, holding a meeting on the second day, and traveling to British Columbia for a tour of the Trail site on the third day. Brown said that finding a meeting space should not be a problem. She said that meeting space may be available at the Bunker Hill site. If not, she continued, several hotels are located in nearby Coeur d'Alene.

Brown asked whether the week of June 21 would be convenient for Action Team members. She indicated that this was the only week that Compton would be able to attend. No conflicts were voiced. Brown and Bill Duncan (a Trail site representative) agreed to draft a preliminary itinerary for the meeting and to send it to Berti by February 19, 1999. Berti said that he would distribute the itinerary to other Action Team members so that he could get feedback. He asked whether the meeting should be limited to 20 to 25 participants. Conference call participants recommended sending notification to people on the Action Team mailing list and to other individuals who are interested in ecological endpoints. Brown recommended contacting Dan Audet, Nick Ceto, Sean Seldrake and representatives from the University of Idaho. (Brown said that Audet, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife representative, has studied toxicity in migratory fowl.) Brown and Mark Doolan agreed to talk to some of their colleagues to gauge their interest in attending the June 1999 Action Team meeting.

In general, conference call participants were enthusiastic about the meeting. Although some concern was voiced about traveling to Canada, Doolan said that he thought there were ways for federal employees to get permission to travel out of the country. Brown noted that Compton and Scott Fredericks are planning to conduct a 2-day workshop on residuals and compost. She recommended holding the workshop immediately before or after the IINERT Action Team meeting. Fredericks liked this suggestion. Brown said she would follow up with Compton.

Human Health Issues Meeting

Berti asked whether participants wanted to meet in Kansas City, Missouri, in April or May 1999 to discuss the Joplin site and human health issues. Conference call participants indicated that this would be a good time for a meeting. James Ryan recommended consulting David Mosby before choosing dates. He said that Mosby volunteered to summarize all of the available Joplin data in an effort to complete his Master's thesis. Doolan said that he will ask Mosby to update Berti on his availability. Doolan doubted that Mosby would want to meet before April because Mosby is still waiting to receive data from Stan Casteel's most recent animal dosing study. Once the dates are chosen, Berti said, several Action Team members (e.g., Judith Hallfrisch, Rufus Chaney, John Yang, and Casteel) will need to be notified.

ACTIVITIES AT THE JOPLIN, MISSOURI, SITE

Conference call participants discussed the following issues related to the Joplin site:

• Brown asked whether anyone could send her a bulk soil sample from the Joplin site. Berti agreed to send her a bucketful. Brown said she would provide her mailing address offline.

• Brown noted that her laboratory is currently digesting some samples collected from Joplin. She said that a portion of the samples have been run through the ICP.

• Berti said that his laboratory is processing about 60 soil samples that were collected in September 1997. In the near future, he said, these samples will be sieved through a 250-micron screen. Berti said plenty of material will be available for those who want to perform analyses. He said that a portion of the samples will probably be sent to John Drexler so that he can perform a physiologically based extraction test (PBET). (Berti said Drexler uses a pH of 1.5 and 0.4 M glycine.) Ryan said that he would be interested in obtaining some sieved samples and performing PBET as well. That way, Ryan said, Drexler's results can be checked against his. Berti agreed to send Ryan some sieved samples from the September 1997 and May 1998 sampling events.

• Berti noted that Dean Hesterberg plans to conduct X-ray absorption spectroscopic analyses on some of Joplin's soil samples.

• Berti noted that Hallfrisch and Rufus are conducting a rat dosing study. He recommended contacting them soon to check the status of their study.

NEXT CONFERENCE CALL

The next conference call is scheduled for February 16, 1999, between 3:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. EST.

MISCELLANEOUS

Ryan said that he needs a soil sample with 6,000 parts per million lead. He asked Brown whether such a sample could be collected at the Leadville or Bunker Hill sites. Brown said that soils at that concentration were present at both sites. She said it might take several months to obtain a sample from Leadville because a consultant conducts all of the sampling. Brown said it might be easier to get a sample from Bunker Hill. She asked Ryan if he wanted a sample collected from the wetlands or the uplands. He opted for the latter because he did not want a reduced sediment sample.

ACTION ITEMS

• Berti noted that the Action Team plans to meet in Kansas City, Missouri, to discuss the Joplin site. Conference call participants agreed that meeting dates should be chosen based on Mosby's availability. Doolan said that he will ask Mosby to update Berti on his availability.

• Brown and Duncan agreed to draft a preliminary itinerary for a June 1999 Action Team meeting/field trip. Brown agreed to send the itinerary to Berti by February 19, 1999. Berti said that he would distribute the itinerary to other Action Team members so that he could get feedback.

• Brown and Doolan agreed to talk to some of their colleagues to gauge their interest in attending the June 1999 Action Team meeting.

• Brown agreed to talk to Compton about holding a 2-day residuals and compost workshop in conjunction with the Action Team's June 1999 meeting.

• Berti agreed to send Brown a bucketful of soil from Joplin. Brown said she would provide her mailing address offline.

• Berti agreed to send Ryan some sieved soil samples from Joplin.

• Brown agreed to send Ryan a soil sample from an upland area at the Bunker Hill site.