SUMMARY OF THE REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPMENT FORUM
PHYTOREMEDIATION ACTION TEAM
CHLORINATED SOLVENTS SUBGROUP
CONFERENCE CALL

January 12, 2000
1:30 p.m.–3:00 p.m.

On January 12, 2000, the following members of the Remediation Technologies Development Forum’s (RTDF’s) Phytoremediation Action Team, Chlorinated Solvents Subgroup, met in a conference call:

Lee Newman, University of Washington (Subgroup Co-chair)
Keith Rose, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Subgroup Co-chair)
Bob Tossell, GeoSyntec Consultants (Subgroup Co-chair)
Linda Fiedler, EPA, Technology Innovation Office (TIO)
Steve Rock, EPA

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

SUBGROUP ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Keith Rose reminded conference call participants that a Steering Committee must be formed. Lee Newman asked if the Committee should be composed solely of private sector representatives. Rose and Steve Rock said that this was not necessary, but that several of the members should represent this sector. Bob Tossell suggested having the Steering Committee consist of a balanced mix of:

• Potential technology users. Tossell said that the Steering Committee needs members who want to apply phytoremediation at their sites. Representatives fitting this description would be expected to sponsor research at their sites.

• Technology "experts." Tossell said that people who have extensive experience working with phytoremediation technologies should be included in the Steering Committee.

• Technology promoters. Tossell said that it is important to include people who will promote the implementation of phytoremediation technologies.

Linda Fiedler talked briefly about the expectations that Steering Committee members will be asked to meet. She said that the RTDF’s Bioremediation Consortium requires its Steering Committee members to commit time and money. She said that the Bioremediation Consortium might serve as a useful model to emulate, and she agreed to learn more about the requirements it has established for its Steering Committee members. Fiedler did acknowledge, however, that it may be too early for the Chlorinated Solvents Subgroup to create a specific list of resource contribution criteria.

Tossell said that he is willing to compile and distribute a list of potential Steering Committee members before the next Subgroup conference call. He asked conference call participants to provide the names of potential candidates. Call participants agreed to do so.

DESIGNING A FIELD STUDY PROGRAM

During previous conference calls, Subgroup members decided that they want to develop a field study program. Also, they agreed to send existing field study protocols to ERG, which will distribute the protocols to all Subgroup members. ERG indicated that it had not received any protocols yet. Newman, Rock, and Tossell agreed to send protocols before the next conference call. (Rose reminded participants that it would be useful to gather protocols for transpiration studies and plant tissue sampling and analysis procedures.) After Subgroup members have reviewed the existing protocols, Rose said, the materials will be integrated to create a Subgroup protocol.

CREATING A DECISION TREE

During previous conference calls, Subgroup members talked about creating a decision tree to help site managers determine if their sites are candidates for phytoremediation. Rose said that he distributed a sample decision tree; he asked call participants to provide comments on it. They agreed to do so.

FACE-TO-FACE MEETING

Rock said that a three-day phytoremediation conference will be held in the spring so that researchers can share research findings. The meeting will take place at the Omni-Parker hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, on May 1–3, 2000. Rock said that the meeting’s third day will be dedicated to the RTDF Phytoremediation Action Team’s Subgroups. He said that there are three Subgroups: (1) the Chlorinated Solvents Subgroup, (2) the Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) in Soil Subgroup, and (3) the Alternative Cover Assessment Program Subgroup. Official meetings will definitely be held for the latter two Subgroups. (During these meetings, Subgroup members will provide site and activity updates and will discuss goals for the upcoming year.) Fiedler asked Subgroup members whether the Chlorinated Solvents Subgroup should also meet face to face during the May 2000 meeting. Call participants thought this was an excellent idea. Rock said that he could look into reserving a meeting room for the Subgroup, but conference call participants thought it might be just as effective to meet at a restaurant over lunch or dinner.

MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS

Conference call participants provided information on several miscellaneous topics:

• Rock and Fiedler said that they will attend a phytoremediation meeting in Toronto, Canada. (They have been invited to provide information about phytoremediation projects in the United States.)

• Rock said that a report that provides an introduction to phytoremediation has been completed.

• Newman brought up rumors about possible budget cuts by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Because NIEHS funds several scientific studies, certain scientists are eagerly awaiting news about the budget’s status. Information about NIEHS’ standing, said Newman, will be available in February 2000.

• Newman briefly described a phytoremediation project that is being conducted at a site contaminated with ethylene bromide (EDB). Newman said that native plants appear to be successfully enhancing EDB biodegradation at the site. Some laboratory studies are being performed to determine if metabolites are accumulating in plant tissues; results collected to date do not suggest that this is occurring.

• Newman said that the Savannah River site is contaminated with chlorinated solvents. Site representatives have expressed strong interest, she said, in using phytoremediation as a remedial technology. In fact, she continued, several treatability studies are ongoing and some field demonstrations are scheduled to start up at the site in the near future. Newman said that the University of Washington hopes to work with Savannah River representatives to study trichloroethylene’s (TCE’s) fate in plants. She and Rock agreed that at least some portion of the TCE that collects in leaves degrades via photodegradation processes. Newman said that some studies also suggest that TCE breaks down into conjugates while in plant tissues. (She said that one of TCE’s major metabolites, trichloroethanol, forms glucoside conjugates.) Newman said that the Savannah River site has several TCE plumes and a state-of-the art mass spectrometer; thus, the site would serve as an ideal location to study TCE fate in plant tissues.

• Tossell suggested writing a proposal and presenting it to the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP). He said that these organizations might serve as useful funding sources.

ACTION ITEMS

• ERG agreed to set up the next conference call for February 2, 2000, between 1:30 and 3:00 EST.

• Conference call participants agreed to send Tossell the names of potential candidates for the Subgroup’s Steering Committee. Tossell will compile a list of candidates and distribute it to Subgroup members before the next conference call.

• Fiedler agreed to learn more about the requirements that the Bioremediation Consortium has established for its Steering Committee members.

• Newman, Rock, and Tossell agreed to gather available field study protocols and to send them to ERG before the next conference call. After receiving them, ERG will forward the protocols to all Subgroup members. Subgroup members will review the protocols and will be prepared to discuss them during the Subgroup’s next conference call.

• Conference call participants agreed to provide comments on the decision tree that Rose distributed.