On February 11, 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:
Henry Camp, ICF Consulting
Steve Geiger, ThermoRetec, Inc.
Peter Kulakow, Kansas State University (KSU)
Jessica Patino, Syracuse University
Richard Purdy, ICF Consulting
Steve Rock, EPA
David Tsao, BP America, Inc.
Chris Hartnett of Eastern Research Group, Inc., was also present.
The TPH in Soil Subgroup has generated a large number of soil samples over the course of its field study program. Henry Camp (formerly of the Arthur D. Little laboratory and now with ICF Consulting) has managed, analyzed, and stored many of the samples. Camp said that he must curtail his involvement with the Subgroup and asked whether Subgroup members would like him to dispose of their frozen archived samples or return the samples to them. Camp agreed to contact Subgroup members individually (via e-mail) to find out what their preference is. Camp also said that he has been storing the Subgroup's standard sample. (This sample has a known amount of contamination; it is used to compare analytical results produced by different laboratories.) Camp asked whether he should send this sample to KSU or to Battelle. Peter Kulakow recommended sending it to Battelle.
Camp's questions prompted Subgroup members to wonder if there was any reason to keep the archived samples. Kulakow and Duane Wolf said that it might be useful to perform additional microbial analyses or bioavailability studies on the samples.
The International Applied Phytotechnology Conference will take place March 3-5, 2003, in Chicago, Illinois. As part of this conference, the TPH in Soil Subgroup will hold a 2-hour meeting on the morning of March 5, 2003. Kulakow will deliver information about the Subgroup's progress and lessons learned. (Subgroup members who want to provide information on their specific sites will be given a couple of minutes to do so.) For the remainder of the session, Subgroup members will discuss the field study program's conclusions. Rock encouraged Subgroup members to develop conclusions before the meeting.