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

Capital Hilton
Washington, D.C.
November 5, 2002

On Tuesday, November 5, 2002, the following members of the Remediation Technologies Development Forum's (RTDF's) Permeable Reactive Barriers (PRB) Action Team Steering Committee met:

Bob Puls, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
John Vidumsky, DuPont
Richard Landis, DuPont
Matthew Turner, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
Stephen White, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Incheol Pang participated in the meeting on Chuck Reeter's behalf. Christine Hartnett of Eastern Research Group, Inc., was also present.


UPDATE ON ACTIVITIES PERFORMED SINCE JUNE 2001

During the last Steering Committee meeting, which was held in June 2001, attendees identified activities that required followup. Bob Puls listed these activities and provided an update on their status:


REVISITING THE PRB ACTION TEAM'S PURPOSE AND MISSION

The PRB Action Team was created in 1995 to further the acceptance and implementation of PRB technologies. At the time, Puls said, PRB technologies were in their infancy and the Action Team played a vital role in promoting PRB research, supporting PRB training, and disseminating information about case studies. The situation is different now. PRBs have gained a strong foothold, additional forums have been established to explore PRBs, and information about PRBs is shared via a number of avenues. Given this reality, Puls said, the following questions must be asked: Has the Action Team's job been completed? Is it time to disband?

Steering Committee members did not think it was time to sunset the PRB Action Team. They agreed that the Action Team still plays an important role in promoting PRB technologies. In addition, Stephen White noted, the Action Team is distinctive in that it is one of the only forums that facilitates collaboration between the public and private sector. Steering Committee members decided to focus future efforts on the following:


REVIEW OF THE STEERING COMMITTEE MEMBER LIST

Over the past several months, Puls said, Steering Committee calls have not been well attended. He suggested inviting new members to the group in an effort to generate additional energy and input. Steering Committee members thought this was an excellent idea. They agreed to follow up on it.


MISCELLANEOUS

EPA, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Energy have performed a long-term PRB performance study. Puls provided an update of the tri-agency study's status, noting that a 50-page summary report will be released soon. Steering Committee members will be invited to comment on the report. It will probably be published under the auspices of the Federal Remediation Technologies Roundtable.

Puls asked ERG to prepare a questionnaire and to distribute it during the November 6-7, 2002, PRB Action Team meeting. ERG agreed to do so. Puls said that the questionnaire should ask for input on future meeting locations and for a list of PRB-related issues that warrant additional investigation.