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

1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m.
June 5, 2002

On Wednesday, June 5, 2002, the following members of the Remediation Technologies Development Forum's (RTDF's) Chlorinated Solvents Subgroup met in a conference call:

Bob Tossell, CH2M Hill, Inc.
Joel Burken, University of Missouri
Harry Compton, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Linda Fiedler, EPA
Jim Jordahl, CH2M Hill, Inc.
Xiujin Qiu, The Dow Chemical Company

Also participating in the call was Christine Hartnett from Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG).

SUBGROUP PROTOCOL

The Subgroup has been working on a protocol that describes how to assess phytoremediation at chlorinated solvent sites. Bob Tossell said that he has been revising the protocol and incorporating comments and materials submitted by his colleagues. He thanked Subgroup members for their input thus far. He has made major revisions to Tables 4 and 5 and distributed new versions to Subgroup members on June 5, 2002. Tossell asked call participants to review the tables and send him comments and feedback.

Subgroup members suggested making the following modifications to the protocol:

• Add information on potential future developments. Xiujin Qiu said that phytoremediation technologies will be pushed in new directions in the future. She recommended providing an overview of potential future applications, as well as research areas that require further exploration. She will send Tossell an example of what she envisions over the next couple of weeks.



• Revise Tables 4 and 5. Tables 4 and 5 provide a summary of the design and monitoring parameters that should be assessed at sites, as well as the frequency with which these parameters should be analyzed. Table 4 provides information on the parameters that should be collected during greenhouse and laboratory studies, and Table 5 provides recommendations for field pilot studies and full-scale implementation. Tossell said that Qiu recommends including a broader set of parameters than are currently listed. Tossell said he was reluctant to do so, noting that site owners are unlikely to choose phytoremediation as a remedial technology if it requires more monitoring than other types of technology. These statements prompted Linda Fiedler to ask whether all of the parameters listed need to be analyzed for each site: she was under the impression that site managers would use the tables to select a subset of analytical parameters. Call participants agreed that it would be useful to make a distinction between parameters that should be assessed for every site and parameters that are not absolutely crucial. Toward this end, Tossell will add new columns to Table 4 and 5, ranking parameters as strongly recommended, recommended, or optional. Fiedler asked Tossell to include the rationale associated with each parameter. This will help regulators and site managers determine, Fiedler said, which parameters must be analyzed to provide information that answers site-specific questions.

Tossell said that he plans to make the following modifications to the protocol over the next few weeks: (1) incorporate information that he receives from Subgroup members, (2) update Tables 1 through 5, and (3) insert figures. At that point, he said, the protocol will probably be 90% complete and will be ready for more rigorous editorial review. Call participants suggested sending the document to Linda Fiedler at that point so that she can direct it to an editor, possibly one at Environmental Management Support, Inc. (EMS).

MISCELLANEOUS

Fielder said that EPA's Technology Innovation Office has hired a Student Fellow to write a report on phytoremediation efforts at chlorinated solvents sites. Fielder said that the report will contain a series of case studies, and asked whether conference call participants could provide information for these case studies. Tossell agreed to provide information on two sites. Burken recommended contacting Lee Newman for information about the Keyport Naval Undersea Warfare Center.

ACTION ITEMS

• Harry Compton and Joel Burken agreed to provide text for the protocol's "Air Quality Monitoring" section and the "Regulatory" section. Compton and Burken will also participate in a three-way conference call with Tossell to discuss these sections in additional detail.



• Subgroup members agreed to review the most recent versions of Tables 4 and 5, and to send feedback to Tossell as soon as possible.



• Tossell will revise the protocol and distribute it to Subgroup members over the next few weeks.



• Fiedler will distribute the contact information for TIO's Student Fellow. She will also contact Newman to find out whether a case study can be written on phytoremediation efforts at the Keyport Naval Undersea Warfare Center.



• ERG will set up the next conference call for July 31, 2002, between 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.