REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPMENT FORUM
NON-AQUEOUS PHASE LIQUID (NAPL) CLEANUP ALLIANCE

Progress Report
First Quarter 2001

Introduction

The Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (NAPL) Cleanup Alliance was established early in 2001 as one of the six active Action Teams under the Remediation Technologies Development Forum (RTDF). The RTDF fosters collaboration between the public and private sectors in developing innovative solutions to mutual hazardous waste problems. The NAPL Cleanup Alliance grew out of efforts since 1998 among representatives from the petroleum industry, federal and state government, and academia who share an interest in pursuing aggressive technologies for removing large-scale non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) contamination.

This report documents progress of the NAPL Cleanup Alliance during the first quarter of 2001.

Accomplishments

  1. The Alliance held it first meeting as an RTDF Action Team in February 2001, with Randy Breeden, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8, and Mark Lyverse, Chevron Research and Technology Company, serving as co-chairs. During this first meeting, Alliance members solidified the Alliance's goals, defined its future direction, and formalized work groups to pursue specific activities.
  2. The 13 public and private organizations who make up the "core team" of the Alliance have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to indicate their commitment to the Alliance. The MOU provides an overview of Alliance goals and a framework for working in partnership to achieve those goals.
  3. The Alliance has developed a World Wide Web site that is accessible to the public through the RTDF site at www.rtdf.org. The web site describes the Alliance's mission, goals, and plans; names the Alliance member-organizations, provides contact information for the Alliance co-chairs, provides electronic links to other useful Internet sites, and provides access to summaries of conference calls and meetings of Alliance members, including historical information from the Alliance's formative meetings in 2000.
  4. The Alliance has formed a Technical Working Group to pilot a project to address on-site contamination at a refinery site in Casper, WY, owned by Texaco Group, Inc. Work on the project will focus on analyzing the mobility and behavior of hydrocarbons at the site and evaluating various cost-effective cleanup technologies to identify remedies that work fast enough, effectively enough, and economically enough to reduce contaminant concentrations below risk-based standards, so that the site would be considered acceptable for future re-use. (Facility-related off-site migration already is being addressed and the site is stable.) The Technical Working Group has compiled assessment data for the site and investigated applicable State of Wyoming statutes in order to develop a scientific approach for implementing remedial measures in a reasonable time frame and practicable remedial measures that can be implemented within the State's regulatory framework. The Working Group is in the process of defining the scope of work for the project and in developing a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) among major project participants.
  5. As an adjunct to its February meeting and in preparation for the Casper project, NAPL Cleanup Alliance members visited UNOCAL's Guadalupe Oil Field near San Luis Obispo, CA, and discussed plans for using steam injection to remediate NAPL contamination at the site with UNOCAL project managers.
  6. The Alliance is investigating other potential project sites throughout the. Alliance members agreed at their February meeting that lessons learned at different sites, where cleanup might be motivated by different drivers, will be valuable in addressing some of the larger issues related to NAPL cleanup.
  7. The Alliance has established a Information Working Group to review existing information on NAPL cleanup projects already completed in the United States and Europe in order to identify data that may be useful in Alliance projects. The Working Group will develop a mechanism for sharing this information among Alliance members and others addressing NAPL cleanup issues.
  8. The Alliance held a conference call in early February to review the agenda and discuss other preparations for the February meeting. The next Alliance meeting is expected to be in June 2001.