SUMMARY OF THE REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPMENT FORUM
PHYTOREMEDIATION ACTION TEAM
TOTAL PETROLEUM HYDROCARBON IN SOIL SUBGROUP
CONFERENCE CALL
June 20, 2001
12:30 p.m.-2:00 p.m.
On June 20, 2001, the following members of the Remediation Technologies Development
Forum's (RTDF's) Phytoremediation Action Team, Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH)
in Soil Subgroup, met in a conference call:
Phil Sayre, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Subgroup Co-Chair)
Marcos Alvarez, Environment Canada
Peter Kulakow, Kansas State University (KSU)
Steve Rock, EPA
David Tsao, BP America
Henry Camp of the Arthur D. Little (ADL) laboratory and Jason Dubow of Eastern
Research Group, Inc. (ERG), were also present.
UPDATE ON FIELD DEMONSTRATION SITES
The TPH in Soil Subgroup has created a field study program to evaluate how
effectively plants degrade petroleum hydrocarbons. Call participants provided
updates on sites that are participating in the program.
- Site A. Peter Kulakow said that plant shoot and
root samples have been collected from Site A and sent to ADL for hydrocarbon
uptake analysis. Time three (T3) soil samples will be collected
before the end of the month.
- Site B. Kulakow said that he has received the results from Site B's time one (T1) samples.
- Sites C, D, and E. Call participants did not have any new information on Sites C, D, and E. Kulakow said that he hopes Mike Reynolds will send him data on these sites for inclusion in the Subgroup's annual report.
- Site F. Camp said that Site F's time two (T2) samples will be analyzed before the end of the month. T3
shoot, root, and soil samples will be collected at the end of the growing
season. Following the sampling events, the trees will be cut back, and then
allowed to grow again. Kulakow expressed interest in studying how cutting
the trees will impact phytoremediation, but acknowledged that this event will
take place after the Subgroup's field study is completed. (The T3
samples are the last mandatory set of samples listed in the Subgroup's protocol.)
- Site G. Kulakow said that Site G has received much rain, and that plant growth has been strong. During the last growing season, samples were collected for microbial analysis on three separate occasions; this sampling regimen will be repeated this year. (Most probable number analyses will be performed to obtain estimates on hydrocarbon degraders.)
- Site H. David Tsao said that Site H was planted
in May 2001. Time zero (T0) samples have
been collected as well, but they were not sent to ADL or the Battelle laboratory
as was originally planned. Instead they were accidentally sent to BP America's
contract laboratory. Tsao said that this laboratory has agreed to perform
the analyses outlined in the Subgroup's protocol. To ensure that the contract
laboratory's methods provide data that are comparable to other laboratories'
data, Kulakow said, the Subgroup's "standard" sample should be analyzed along
with each batch of Site H's T0 samples.
Camp agreed to forward the standard to the contract laboratory; Tsao will
provide the address.
- Site I. Tsao said that four types of plots have been established
at Site I: (1) unvegetated/ unfertilized control, (2) unvegetated/fertilized
control, (3) a site-specific prairie grass mix, and (4) the RTDF mix. The
site was planted in November 2000, and T0 samples
were collected in April 2001. Camp said that the T0
samples have not been processed yet, but analytical activities will be initiated
during the first week of July. Tsao said that he might have to cancel the
analysis, but that he would contact Camp by the end of June to let him know
if this is the case. The problem, Tsao said, is that the site was tilled last
month even though this is not in keeping with the Subgroup's protocol. The
tilling process, Kulakow said, may lead to cross-speciation, encourage weed
growth, and limit the growth of plant species that are supposed to be in the
plots. The possibility of such complications, Tsao said, is making him consider
discarding the T0 samples and starting
the demonstration project over again. There is a downside to taking this approach,
however: Tsao would not be able to replant the site until 2002. (The seeds
for the site-specific prairie grass mix need to be winterized before planting.)
Subgroup members acknowledged that it is difficult to predict what impact
the tilling will have on the site. They feared that the tilling could cause
the planted plots to blend into one hybrid mix. There is no way to know whether
this will be the case, however, without actually going to the site to see
which plants have grown back in the plots. Tsao said that he intends to do
just that before the end of June. He said that the plots, which are 30 feet
by 30 feet, are separated by a 5-foot strip. If extensive mixing has not occurred
(or is only present in the plot's borders), the demonstration project may
be salvageable. Tsao agreed to let the Subgroup know what his site visit reveals.
Assuming that the project can be saved, Kulakow and Steve Rock said, extra
seed should be added on top of the current growth. (Kulakow said that overseeding
will not cause problems.)
- Site J. Camp said that ADL has started analyzing Site J's time one (T1) samples.
- Site K. Kulakow said that Tom Spriggs has written his Ph.D. dissertation on Site K; Kulakow expects to receive a copy soon.
- Sites L and M. Kulakow said that Sites L and M, both of which are
located in Canada, were recently added to the Subgroup's field demonstration
project. The materials that will be treated at these sites will be excavated
from flair pits, spread in raised beds, homogenized, sampled, and planted.
(Planting is scheduled to take place in August or September 2001.) Kulakow
said that four types of plots will be established at each site: (1) unvegetated/unfertilized,
(2) unvegetated/fertilized, (3) the RTDF mix, and (4) a native grass/legume
mixture. Marcos Alvarez asked the RTDF Subgroup co-chairs to draft a letter
inviting Environment Canada to participate in the TPH in Soil Subgroup demonstration
project. Once the letter has been written, Alvarez said, Environment Canada
will make agreements with KSU to obtain support services. (KSU will provide
data processing support. In addition, Kulakow will travel to the Canadian
sites twice.) Kulakow said that the samples collected at Sites L and M will
be analyzed in a Canadian laboratory. The laboratory will be asked to run
the Subgroup's standard sample (discussed above) with each batch of samples.
NEXT SUBGROUP MEETING
Call participants agreed to meet face to face on Monday,
September 10, 2001, in Austin, Texas. Rock said that two other meetings of interest
are being held in Austin during that same week. The first, which will take place
on September 11, is a summit on alternative landfill covers. On the following
two days, Rock continued, the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Cooperation
(ITRC) Work Group will hold a training session on phytoremediation.
Rock said that the September 10 TPH in Soil Subgroup meeting will probably attract between 20 and 60
people. (The meeting room will be set up to accommodate 20 people at a central table, and seating will
also be set up along the room's perimeter.) Rock encouraged Subgroup members to invite people who
might be interested in learning about the Subgroup's activities. He said that ITRC may be able to provide travel funds for some state regulators.
Rock agreed to draft an agenda for the meeting, but asked for help identifying agenda items. Call participants suggested the following topics:
- Site updates. Call participants agreed that updates should be provided for each site. Rock encouraged presenters to bring pictures, noting that audiovisual equipment will be available.
- Interpreting results. Kulakow said that it would be useful to talk about what kinds of statistical analyses should be performed to interpret the results that have been obtained from different Subgroup sites.
- Preliminary conclusions. Phil Sayre said that he is eager to know whether preliminary conclusions can be drawn based on the data that have been collected at the field sites. Kulakow warned Sayre that the results may be difficult to interpret at this stage.
- Microbial analysis. Sayre expressed interest in hearing more about the microbial analyses being performed at the Subgroup sites. (Sites that are performing analyses include Sites C, D, E, G, J, L, and M. The microbial work that was scheduled for Site I has been canceled.)
- Root modeling. Kulakow suggested having Greg Thoma present information about his root modeling work.
- The University of Cincinnati's work. Kulakow expressed interest in having someone describe the work that the University of Cincinnati has been performing at Site B.
- Plant hydrocarbon uptake analysis. Sayre suggested inviting Al Venosa to offer comments on hydrocarbon plant uptake analysis methodologies. Camp said that he could have the analysis for Site A completed before the meeting. That way, Subgroup members will be able to evaluate the results and determine whether the methodology should be modified before going forth with analyses at other sites.
ACTION ITEMS
- Rock asked Kulakow to send him the most recent version of the "Status of Field Sites" table.
Where possible, Rock said, the check marks that are shown under different tasks should be
replaced with the dates when activities were actually completed. Kulakow agreed to insert dates and to forward the table to Rock.
- Subgroup members will remind Reynolds to send Kulakow sampling and cost data for Sites C, D, and E so that this information can be included in the Subgroup's annual report.
- Camp agreed to forward the Subgroup's standard sample to the laboratory that has Site H's T0 samples. Tsao will provide the address.
- Tsao will visit Site I and report back to the Subgroup on the site's condition.
- Sayre agreed to write a formal letter on behalf of the Subgroup co-chairs to invite Environment Canada to participate in the TPH in Soil Subgroup program. He will send a draft to Rock and Lucinda Jackson for their review, input, and signatures.
- Rock will prepare an agenda for the TPH in Soil Subgroup meeting.
- ERG will set up the next TPH in Soil Subgroup call for July 18, 2001, between
12:30 and 2:00 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time.