SUMMARY OF THE REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPMENT FORUM
PERMEABLE REACTIVE BARRIERS ACTION TEAM
STEERING COMMITTEE CONFERENCE CALL

3:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
September 28, 1999

On Tuesday, September 28, 1999, the following members of the Permeable Reactive Barriers (PRB) Action Team Steering Committee met in a conference call:

Bob Puls (co-chair), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Bob Gillham, University of Waterloo
Nic Korte, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
Liyuan Liang, ORNL
Donald Marcus, MacMarcus Resources
Stan Morrison, Roy F. Weston, Inc.
Scott Warner, Geomatrix Consultants, Inc.
Stephen White, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Christine Hartnett of Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG), also participated in the conference call.

NEXT PRB ACTION TEAM MEETING

Bob Puls said that the next PRB Action Team meeting will be held in February 2000. Florida has been chosen as a meeting location, he said, so that meeting participants can go on a field trip to the Cape Canaveral Air Station (CCAS). ERG reported that three hotels have been identified as potential meeting sites; one of the hotels is located at Cape Canaveral and the other two are located nearby, in Melbourne, Florida. Conference call participants did not express a preference for one hotel over another. ERG agreed to gather more information about each so that the Action Team co-chairs can decide where to meet.

Puls said that the Action Team's conference will extend over 2 days, with meeting sessions commencing early on February 16. Conference call participants agreed that the first day should feature:

• Presentations. The Steering Committee said that the meeting should focus on lessons that have been learned at PRB sites. Puls asked whether speakers have been identified. Bob Gillham said that he contacted a representative from Pease Air Force Base (AFB); this contact agreed to ask the site's subcontractors to give a presentation on the slurry trenching method used at Pease AFB. Gillham said that he also left a message with a University of Florida representative, asking if someone would talk about ultrasonics or other University-related projects. One conference call participant said that a Shaw AFB representative is willing to talk about a project. (The project involves a wall that was installed with a trenching machine. Problems with hydrostatic pressure might have been encountered at this site.) Liyuan Liang said that she knows someone who is willing to talk about the Y-12 site at ORNL. (At this site, tracer tests have been used to characterize hydraulics.) Liang agreed to ask Peter Kjeldsen if he is interested in giving a presentation. She said that Kjeldsen, who is visiting from Denmark, is involved with a funnel-and-gate site and a site that is addressing trichloroethylene and chromium contamination at plating plants. Stan Morrison suggested asking Bob Edwards to recommend speakers for the CCAS site. Morrison said that he will give Edwards' contact information to Puls and ERG so that Edwards is included in all future conference calls. One conference call participant agreed to contact a representative from Dover AFB to ask if a speaker is available from this site.

  Puls said that all potential speakers should e-mail him their names, the proposed titles of their talks, and an explanation of how they will incorporate lessons learned into their presentations. Puls asked ERG to write a preliminary meeting announcement, indicating the meeting's dates, location, and general theme. In addition, Puls said, the announcement should tell people to contact him or John Vidumsky if they are interested in giving presentations. The announcement should clearly state that presentations on lessons learned are preferred, but that other topics will be considered. Puls asked ERG to post the announcement on the RTDF Web site, to e-mail it to the Action Team members, and to post it on TechDirect.

• Panel discussion. The Steering Committee agreed to hold a panel discussion late in the afternoon on February 16. Scott Warner recommended drafting several questions for the session to promote lively discussion.

• Poster session. Conference call participants said that excellent feedback was provided for the poster session that was held during the PRB Action Team's last conference. They agreed, therefore, to hold another poster session at the February 2000 meeting. Puls asked if anyone would volunteer to find a sponsor for the session so that food and beverages can be served. One conference call participant agreed to call EnviroMetal Technologies--the organization that sponsored the reception at the last Action Team meeting--to discuss the issue.

On the second day of the meeting, Puls said, some talks will be presented in the morning and the field trip to CCAS will take place in the afternoon. ERG said that a CCAS representative has asked the Action Team to come to the site in buses. Puls agreed to talk to Edwards about this. Liang noted that Action Team members will need to give CCAS advance notice if they plan to attend the field trip. Puls said that he will ask Edwards how much advance notice is required.

Puls said that he would like to talk about the Action Team's future plans at some point during the February 2000 meeting. While some Action Team members may feel that the Team has already done enough to promote PRBs, Puls said, others may disagree and lobby for the initiation of new activities. Puls asked conference call participants whether they had any thoughts on the matter. Gillham suggested expanding the Team's focus to include in situ abiotic technologies (e.g., hydrogen release compounds, oxygen release compounds, permanganate, and Fenn's reagent). Warner said that other groups are evaluating abiotic technologies; for example, conferences focusing on this topic are held regularly in Tennessee and one organization is considering putting together a training session. If the Action Team does choose to pursue these technologies, Puls said, it would be wise to contact the field's major players to determine whether it would be beneficial to get the RTDF involved.

Puls recommended having the Steering Committee meet before the Action Team meeting. Conference call participants agreed that the best time to hold such a meeting would be at 6:00 p.m. on February 15, 2000. Liang said that it would also be a good idea to coordinate a meeting between the Action Team members who are working on a long-term performance project. Conference call participants agreed, setting the time for this meeting at 4:00 p.m. on February 15, 2000. ERG agreed to reserve rooms for these two meetings.

MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS

One conference call participant said that a PRB wall is being installed at one of NASA's sites. Liang said that a wall is also being installed at the Department of Energy's Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky. Funding for the project has been approved, she said, but some people are skeptical about the project, because a demonstration pilot was not conducted beforehand. An iron barrier will be installed into a deep aquifer, Liang said, and fracturing technologies will be used to get the iron particles to target areas. Treatability studies will be initiated after October 15, 1999.

ACTION ITEMS

• ERG agreed to gather more information about the three hotels that have been identified as potential meeting locations for the Action Team's next meeting. After a location is chosen, ERG will reserve meeting room space on February 16-17, 2000, for the Action Team's meeting. In addition, ERG will reserve meeting room space on February 15, so that people working on a long-term performance project can meet at 4:00 p.m. and the Steering Committee can meet at 6:00 p.m.

• Liang said that she will ask Kjeldsen to give a presentation at the Action Team's February 2000 meeting.

• Morrison said that he will forward Edwards' contact information to Puls and ERG.

• One conference call participant agreed to contact a representative from Dover AFB to ask if a speaker is available from the site.

• Puls asked conference call participants to tell all those who have agreed to give presentations to e-mail him their names, the proposed title of their talks, and an explanation of how they will incorporate lessons learned into their presentations.

• ERG agreed to write a preliminary meeting announcement, indicating the meeting's dates, location, and general theme. The announcement will tell people to contact Puls or Vidumsky if they are interested in giving a presentation. The announcement will also clearly state that presentations on lessons learned are preferred, but that other topics will be considered. ERG agreed to post the announcement on the RTDF Web site, to e-mail it to the Action Team members, and to post it on TechDirect.

• Conference call participants agreed that a poster session should be held at the February 2000 meeting. One conference call participant agreed to call EnviroMetal Technologies to ask if they want to sponsor the event.

• The Action Team plans to go on a field trip to CCAS on February 17, 1999. Puls said that he will call Edwards to ask whether Action Team members will have to take buses to the site. He will also ask Edwards how much advance notice CCAS needs to perform security checks on Action Team members.