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

December 8, 1999
1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m.

On December 8, 1999, the following members of the Remediation Technologies Development Forum’s (RTDF’s) Phytoremediation of Organics Action Team, Chlorinated Solvents Subgroup, met in a conference call:

Milton Gordon, University of Washington (Subgroup Co-chair)
Lee Newman, University of Washington (Subgroup Co-chair)
Keith Rose, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Subgroup Co-chair)
Steve Rock, EPA

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

INTRODUCTION

The Chlorinated Solvents Subgroup is in the process of defining their goals and activities. Conference calls were held on October 13, 1999, November 10, 1999, and November 24, 1999, to discuss these topics. The latter two calls served as brainstorming sessions; Subgroup members identified a mission statement, discussed the Subgroup’s organizational structure, and listed ideas for potential activities and areas of research. Conference call participants discussed some of these topics in greater detail during their December 8, 1999, conference call. The proceedings from this call are summarized below

SUBGROUP ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

The Subgroup will be led by four co-chairs: Keith Rose, Bob Tossell, Milton Gordon, and Lee Newman. In addition, a Steering Committee, consisting of about seven to nine people, will be formed to help guide the Subgroup’s activities. Rose encouraged conference call participants to send names of potential Steering Committee candidates to Tossell by the end of the year. According to Rose, Tossell will compile a list of candidates and distribute the list to other Subgroup members.

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 make a list of test protocols that can be used to conduct the studies. Several media must be tested, conference call participants noted, in order to truly evaluate the efficacy of phytoremediation and the processes that are involved with this technology. For example, soil and water samples will need to be analyzed. Newman said that EPA-approved methods are available for these media. For other media, however, no EPA-approved methods are available and the Subgroup must supply suggestions; Newman suggested that the Subgroup focus their efforts on providing guidance on:

• Conducting transpiration studies. Newman said that the Subgroup members should identify a list of protocols that have been used to measure transpiration.

• Sampling and analyzing plant tissue. Conference call participants brainstormed for a few minutes in an attempt to identify protocols that have been used for sampling or analyzing plant tissue. Steve Rock said that an analytical protocol was developed for a project that took place in Texas. Rose asked whether this protocol could be advertised as the Subgroup’s recommended protocol even though it has not been approved by EPA. Rock advised against this, noting that the protocol has only been used by one laboratory, and therefore has not been tested rigorously enough to be considered a recommended national protocol. Newman said that she knows of two other analytical protocols that have been developed. One was developed by Oxychem, she said, and the other is used by a laboratory that she has worked with; the latter protocol, which was used to analyze volatile compounds, worked quite well. Rock said that some analytical devices monitor plant health in a noninvasive fashion. These may be of interest to the Subgroup, he noted.

Conference call participants agreed to gather available protocols and to send them to ERG by December 31, 1999. After receiving these, 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. Rose said that he would like to focus some of the next conference call’s discussion on the applicability of using the protocols across different levels of study (i.e., bench-scale studies, pilot studies, and field studies).

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 conference call participants to provide comments on it. Conference call participants agreed to postpone additional discussions on the decision tree until the next conference call.

DATABASE LISTING PHYTOREMEDIATION SITES

Rock said that he and a contractor are working together to create a database of sites that have either chosen or implemented phytoremediation as a remedial approach. Rock said that the database is in draft form; while some sites still need to be added to the database, others need to be eliminated. Rock agreed to let conference call participants view the draft version. He will send them information explaining how to access the draft version on the Internet.

ACTION ITEMS

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

• Conference call participants agreed to gather available protocols and to send them to ERG by December 31, 1999. After receiving these, 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.

• Rock said that he and a contractor are working together to create a database of sites that have either chosen or implemented phytoremediation as a remedial approach. Rock agreed to let conference call participants view the draft version; he will send them information explaining how to access it on the Internet.

• ERG agreed to set up the next conference call for January 12, 2000, between 1:30 and 3:00 EST.