SUMMARY OF THE REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGIES DEVELOPMENT FORUM
SEDIMENTS REMEDIATION ACTION TEAM
CONFERENCE CALL

10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
September 5, 2003

On September 5, 2003, the following members of the Remediation Technologies Development Forum's (RTDF's) Sediments Remediation Action Team met in a conference call:

Nancy Grosso, DuPont (Action Team Co-chair)
Dennis Timberlake, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Action Team Co-chair)
John Davis, The Dow Chemical Company
Kelly Madalinski, EPA
Ralph Stahl, DuPont

Christine Hartnett of ERG was also present.

THE NEXT SEDIMENTS REMEDIATION ACTION TEAM MEETING

Call participants discussed the possibility of holding a Sediments Remediation Action Team meeting on December 9 and 10, 2003, in Baltimore, Maryland. They agreed that the meeting should focus on treatment technologies, and that people associated with the following organizations should be invited to speak:

• EPA's Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) program. Dennis Timberlake said that people from EPA's SITE program are willing to speak at the meeting. He recommended asking EPA's Annette Gatchett to provide an overview of SITE projects that involve sediments remediation. If the Action Team leadership wants more detailed information to be provided, said Timberlake, they could invite the Principal Investigators (PIs) who are working on individual SITE projects.



• The Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP). Kelly Madalinski said that he talked to Andrea Leeson about identifying people who could speak about sediments-related SERDP and ESTCP projects. While Leeson indicated that she would be willing to attend, she was doubtful that all the project PIs would be willing to do so, since they are already scheduled to attend a conference in the Mid-Atlantic area in early December 2003. Call participants agreed that it would be worthwhile to contact the individual PIs to ask them about their availability. Toward this end, John Davis agreed to invite Peter Adriaens and Victor Magar to speak at the RTDF meeting. Madalinski agreed to recontact Leeson to gather additional information about the individual SERDP and ESTCP projects and the PIs involved with the projects.



• The Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO). Davis said that he has left a message with Scott Cieniawski, asking whether anyone from GLNPO is interested in delivering a presentation.

Call participants identified the following as interesting topics for the agenda:

• Updates. Call participants recommended asking the following RTDF subteams to provide updates on their activities: (1) the Ground Water-Surface Water Interaction Workgroup, (2) the Natural Recovery Subgroup, and (3) the Assessment Subgroup. They also agreed that it would be useful for Timberlake or Madalinski to provide an update on EPA activities, such as the Agency's effort to develop guidance documents. Madalinski said that it might also be useful to obtain a progress report from the Commission's Technical Advisory Group.



• Case study development. During a previous meeting, Nancy Grosso said, Madalinski pointed out that it would be beneficial to summarize information about sediments remediation projects in a case study format. While such an effort is already underway for projects using natural recovery, Grosso said, the same cannot be said for projects using other types of treatment technologies. Madalinski said that he—or someone else from EPA—could talk about the benefits of developing case studies at the RTDF meeting to determine whether any Action Team members are willing to take on this task. Call participants agreed that it is challenging to develop case studies, noting that there are many difficulties associated with evaluating treatment efficacy. Madalinski said that some of his EPA colleagues are examining the efficacy of implemented remedies; he agreed to ask his colleagues for a list of sites that might serve as candidates for case study. Danny Reible (from Louisiana State University) might also have a list.



• The possibility of peer-reviewing specific remediation projects. Grosso said that the Sediments Remediation Action Team is an ideal forum for peer review. She recommended asking Action Team members to perform peer reviews on specific remediation projects. Prior to the meeting, she said, it would be useful to find out whether certain groups want to nominate their sites as candidates for peer review. Toward this end, Grosso will ask representatives from the Sediment Management Work Group whether they want to recommend a site for peer review. Madalinski agreed to ask his colleagues the same question.



• Work performed by EPA's Office of Research and Development in Cincinnati, Ohio. Timberlake said that EPA's laboratory in Cincinnati, Ohio, is developing methods to evaluate the efficacy of treatment technologies. Call participants agreed that it would be useful to hear about this work.

Call participants decided to hold another conference call on September 12, 2003. By that time, Davis and Grosso will draft a preliminary agenda for the meeting; ERG will determine whether hotel space is available in Baltimore on December 9 and 10, 2003; and the Action Team leadership will contact potential speakers to determine whether they can come to the meeting. With this information in hand, the Action Team leadership will make a final decision about whether to go forth with an Action Team meeting on December 9 and 10, 2003.

UPDATE ON THE NATURAL RECOVERY SUBGROUP'S ACTIVITIES

Davis noted that the Action Team's Natural Recovery Subgroup will be presenting papers at a meeting in Venice, Italy, in late September 2003. The Subgroup submitted five manuscripts, all of which will be included in the conference proceedings booklet. Davis said he had sent the manuscripts to Timberlake on the morning of September 5, 2003. Timberlake agreed to review the manuscripts and to forward them to Madalinski.