SUMMARY OF THE REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPMENT FORUM
PHYTOREMEDIATION ACTION TEAM
TOTAL PETROLEUM HYDROCARBON IN SOIL SUBGROUP
CONFERENCE CALL

January 8, 2003
1:00 p.m.-2:30 p.m.

On January 8, 2003, the following people participated in a conference call for the Remediation Technologies Development Forum's (RTDF's) Phytoremediation Action Team, Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) in Soil Subgroup:

Lucinda Jackson, Chevron Texaco (Subgroup Co-Chair)
Jim Brown, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Henry Camp, ICF Consulting
Rich Farrell, University of Saskatchewan
Steve Geiger, ThermoRetec, Inc.
Peter Kulakow, Kansas State University (KSU)
Richard Purdy, ICF Consulting
Steve Rock, EPA
Greg Thoma, University of Arkansas
David Tsao, BP America
Chris Hartnett of Eastern Research Group, Inc., (ERG) was also present.

UPDATE ON THE SUBGROUP'S ACTIVITIES

The TPH in Soil Subgroup has created a field study program to evaluate how effectively plants degrade petroleum hydrocarbons. More than a dozen sites are participating in the program. Field activities have been completed at some of the sites, but are still ongoing at others. In 2002, samples were collected from several of the Subgroup's field sites. The analytical results from the 2002 sampling events will be available by February 2003. Over the coming year, sample collection and/or other investigative work will continue at Site F, Site G, Site I, Site J, Site L, and Site M. (Investigative activities might also continue at Site H, but this is not certain yet.)

Peter Kulakow said that the analytical results from all of the Subgroup field sites will be consolidated in a final report and published in spring 2004. One item that will be included in the report is a list of the projects and publications that are connected to the Subgroup's field study program. Kulakow asked Subgroup members for assistance in generating this list.

NEXT TPH IN SOIL SUBGROUP MEETING

The International Applied Phytotechnology Conference will take place March 3-5, 2003, in Chicago, Illinois. (See http://www.epa.gov/ttbnrmrl/phyto.htm for additional information.) The conference planners have reserved a 2-hour time slot (on the morning of March 5, 2003) for the TPH in Soil Subgroup, Steve Rock said; the Subgroup members may use the time however they would like. Call participants agreed on the following format:

• One hour of formal presentations. Call participants asked Kulakow to prepare a half-hour presentation that highlights the Subgroup's field demonstration program and the results collected to date. After Kulakow concludes his presentation, some call participants suggested, site representatives from each of the individual Subgroup sites could provide information on (1) the general conclusions that have been made about the site, (2) the site's future usage, and/or (3) the three most important issues that have emerged at the site. Steve Geiger proposed an alternate plan, noting that time constraints might make it impossible for individual site managers to offer meaningful presentations. He suggested asking Kulakow to present information during the entire hour and to incorporate information about the individual sites into his presentation.



• One hour of discussion. Call participants agreed that it would be useful to spend an hour discussing the Subgroup's findings. The discussion should be facilitated, they agreed, noting that Phil Sayre and Al Venosa would make good facilitators. Lucinda Jackson and Rock said that the discussion period could be used to explore the following questions: (1) What has the Subgroup's field demonstration program revealed so far? (2) At which sites did phytoremediation work and at which sites did it fail? and (3) Why doesn't phytoremediation work in all places? Jackson said that the discussions will be more meaningful if Subgroup members come to the meeting prepared to talk about conclusions drawn at individual field sites. Rock agreed, noting that it might be useful for Subgroup members to start sharing their conclusions before the meeting.

A poster session will be held during the evenings of March 3 and 4, 2003. Those who want to present a poster or are interested in having their students do so, Rock said, should contact Jordan Radin (jradin@purdue.edu) for additional information. Travel funds might be available for students, Rock said.

ACTION ITEMS

• Kulakow asked Subgroup members to send him a list of any projects, publications, or theses that are even tangentially associated with the Subgroup's sites. In addition, he asked Subgroup members to let him know of any sites that are using the Subgroup's protocol.



• Geiger and David Tsao will talk to Henry Camp about sending more samples to ICF Consulting.



• Kulakow will contact Terry McIntyre to discuss KSU's support to Environmental Canada.



• Kulakow will call Camp to discuss data analysis strategies.



• The following will be done in preparation for the March 2003 phytotechnology conference:



• Kulakow, Jackson, and Rock will meet (via telephone) at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on January 22, 2003, to talk about the conference. They will identify a facilitator for the Subgroup's 1-hour discussion period, determine which topics should be addressed, and decide on a format.



• Subgroup members who plan to attend the meeting should come prepared to discuss the status of Subgroup site activities and the conclusions they have drawn thus far.



• Subgroup members should think about whether they want to present posters. (Those who are interested should contact jradin@purdue.edu.)

• ERG will set up the next conference call for February 11, 2003, between 1:00 and 2:30 Eastern Standard Time.