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

August 4, 2000
11:30 a.m-12:30 p.m.

On Friday, August 4, 2000, the following members of the Remediation Technologies Development Forum's (RTDF's) Sediments Remediation Action Team, Assessment Subgroup, met in a conference call:

Ralph Stahl, DuPont Corporate Remediation (Subgroup Co-chair)
Kenneth Finkelstein, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Joseph Jersak, Hull & Associates, Inc.
Kelly Madalinski, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Christine Hartnett of Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG), was also present.

SUBGROUP WHITE PAPERS

Call participants discussed the Subgroup's white papers, a set of short documents that are being written to address sediment assessment issues. Ralph Stahl said that drafts have been distributed, and that comments should be submitted to the authors as soon as possible. At the latest, comments must be turned in by August 25, 2000. Authors will be expected to send revised papers to ERG by August 29, 2000. ERG will then forward a complete set of papers to Subgroup members by September 6, 2000, so that they can be reviewed before the Subgroup's September 12, 2000, meeting.

Stahl said that he hopes to finalize the white papers at the September Assessment Subgroup meeting. The finalized set, he said, will be compiled into a booklet (under the RTDF logo) and distributed at the November 2000 Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) meeting. (The Subgroup plans to hold an open house at this meeting.)

Stahl asked Kelly Madalinski to answer the following questions:

Does EPA need to review the white papers before the booklet can be issued? Madalinski said that EPA representatives should be given an opportunity to comment on the white papers, and agreed to send the revised papers to EPA representatives once he receives them from ERG. Joseph Jersak asked whether EPA will be expected to review the documents before the September 12, 2000, Assessment Subgroup meeting. Call participants agreed that this would be ideal, but might not be possible. Stahl said that he does not expect EPA to give the papers a detailed review, but he does think it is important to determine whether EPA representatives think the papers' content conflicts with any EPA policy stances. Jersak asked whether EPA could forego an exhaustive review if the Subgroup agreed to include a disclaimer clearly stating that EPA does not support or endorse the concepts presented in the booklet. Madalinski said that he would talk to Dennis Timberlake about this suggestion. Stahl asked whether it would be better to make the disclaimer more generic so that it is clear that other agencies, such as NOAA, are not endorsing the document either. Call participants agreed that this was a good idea. Using this approach, Stahl said, will help ensure that the opinions stated by individual authors are not interpreted to represent the stance of an author's affiliation. Stahl's statement prompted call participants to discuss authorship. Jersak asked: will authors be listed for individual papers, or would it be better to simply list at the beginning of the document all who contributed to the booklet? Call participants agreed that the latter option was more desirable.

How long will it take to create the booklets? Once the papers are finalized, Madalinski said, only about 2 to 3 weeks would be needed to create pre-publication booklets. These booklets, which would not contain fancy graphics and color figures, could be produced in time for the SETAC meeting. Later on, Madalinski said, a fancier version of the booklet could be prepared.

SEPTEMBER 12, 2000, ASSESSMENT SUBGROUP MEETING

Stahl noted that the Assessment Subgroup plans to meet on September 12-13, 2000, in Wilmington, Delaware. Stahl summarized the meeting's agenda topics:

Subgroup white papers. Stahl said that the following should be accomplished at the meeting:

• Check the papers for interdocument consistency. Some of the white papers discuss similar topics. The papers must be reviewed to make sure they do not contradict each other.
  
  
• Finalize the documents. Stahl said that the meeting will serve as a working session. Authors will be encouraged to bring laptops so that they can edit and finalize their papers at the meeting. (Stahl did acknowledge, however, that it might not be possible to incorporate EPA's comments by the time of the meeting.)
  
  
• Discuss next steps. Stahl said that Subgroup members will be asked to discuss additional goals for the white papers. For example, he said, people might be interested in expanding some of the papers into journal articles or manuscripts
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• Open house at the SETAC meeting. Stahl said that the Assessment Subgroup plans to hold an open house at the SETAC meeting scheduled for November 12-17, 2000, in Nashville, Tennessee. Assessment Subgroup members must decide, Stahl said, what information should be presented during the open house. Volunteers must be enlisted to make posters and pull together presentation materials for the SETAC open house.
  
• Next steps. Stahl said that Subgroup members will be asked to discuss other Subgroup activities that could be pursued. For example, he said, if anyone has identified a potential demonstration site, the Subgroup could discuss proposed projects at the meeting.

Stahl said that an in situ treatment workshop, hosted by the RTDF Sediments Remediation Action Team, will start immediately after the Assessment Subgroup meeting. This workshop will extend into the next day, ending around 3:30 p.m. on September 13, 2000. Stahl said that some Assessment Subgroup members have indicated that they do not plan to attend the workshop, and that they would rather go on a site tour during the afternoon of September 12, 2000. Stahl said that he knew of some sites in Delaware that might serve as good candidates for a field trip, and that he would continue to explore possibilities.

ACTION ITEMS

A number of white papers are being written to address sediment assessment issues. Subgroup members should submit comments to the papers' authors as soon as possible. At the latest, comments should be submitted by August 25, 2000. The white paper authors will be expected to submit revised papers to ERG by August 29, 2000. ERG will forward them to the entire Subgroup on September 6, 2000, so that they can be reviewed before the Subgroup's September 12, 2000, meeting. Madalinski will send the revised papers to EPA representatives for review.

The Assessment Subgroup will meet in Wilmington, Delaware, on September 12, 2000. Stahl agreed to research the possibility of having a site tour during the afternoon.

The Assessment Subgroup plans to hold an open house at the November 2000 SETAC meeting. Stahl will find out whether the Subgroup is going to be charged for meeting room space. He will also determine whether DuPont can provide refreshments for the open house.

Call participants talked about compiling the white papers into a booklet and including a disclaimer clearly indicating that the booklet has not been endorsed by regulatory agencies. Madalinski agreed to talk to Timberlake about this idea and to learn more about EPAs review process.