September 6, 2000
10:00 p.m-1:30 p.m.

On Wednesday, September 6, 2000, the following members of the Remediation Technologies Development Forum's (RTDF's) Sediments Remediation Action Team, Natural Recovery Subgroup, met in a conference call:

John Davis, The Dow Chemical Company (Subgroup co-chair)
Kenneth Finkelstein, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Richard Jensen, DuPont Corporate Remediation
Erin Mack, DuPont Corporate Remediation
Victor Magar, Battelle Memorial Institute

Christine Hartnett of Eastern Research Group, Inc. (ERG), was also present.

THE SUBGROUP'S DOCUMENT

The Subgroup is writing a document entitled Monitored Natural Recovery of Sediments. John Davis said that several Subgroup members are working together on this effort, and that most of the document's authors have already forwarded text to him. Davis agreed to distribute the text he has received to all Subgroup members so that they can comment on their colleagues' contributions. By September 11, 2000, Davis agreed, he would edit the text, streamline it, delete redundancy, combine the authors' contributions, and distribute one cohesive document to Subgroup members. Davis encouraged Subgroup members to read the draft as soon as they receive it and to respond with comments immediately. That way, Davis might have enough time to revise the draft before the Assessment Subgroup meeting that is scheduled to take place in Wilmington, Delaware, on September 12, 2000. (The Assessment Subgroup is also part of the RTDF's Sediments Remediation Action Team.)

Victor Magar, one of the document's authors, said that he would complete his section and distribute it to Subgroup members by September 7, 2000. Magar said that his section will discuss models and other tools that can be used to determine the extent or magnitude of sediment deposition. The section will discuss age dating--a powerful tool, Magar said, but one that is only useful in areas that have fairly uniform deposition. Magar said that bathymetric surveys and sediment traps will also be discussed, but that he was unsure how much detail to add about these tools. Call participants advised simply listing the type of data that each tool provides, as well as information about limitations. (Kenneth Finkelstein said that the Assessment Subgroup is preparing a series of white papers, which discuss many tools. He advised Magar to reference these papers; call participants thought this was an excellent idea.) Magar asked call participants which tools they thought he should mention in his discussion. Participants recommended including information about caged fish, caged mussels, trapped fish, depth profiling, biomarkers, and toxicity testing. Expanding on the latter, Finkelstein said that toxicity tests are very useful because they provide information on effects rather than exposure. Other call participants agreed that toxicity tests can be very useful, but warned that they must be performed with care: if they are not, cross-contamination can occur and natural recovery processes can be disrupted. Davis advised Magar to incorporate information about these benefits and pitfalls into his discussion.

Call participants talked about what they plan to do with the Subgroup document once it is completed.

They said that they want to have it included in a booklet that the Assessment Subgroup is creating. Davis said that he will call the Assessment Subgroup's leader (Ralph Stahl) to obtain a list of paper submittal dates. Judging from previous conversations, Davis thought papers would probably be due in early October 2000. Subgroup members identified another forum where they would like their paper showcased: the open house that the Assessment Subgroup plans to hold at the November 2000 Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry meeting.

MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

Jensen identified two resources that might be of interest to the Subgroup:

• List of models. A couple years ago, Jensen said, DuPont sponsored an effort to identify sediments assessment models. He said that a matrix has been generated; it identifies a number of models and lists their strengths, weaknesses, and functions. Jensen said that he would determine whether it is possible to post the matrix on the Sediment Management Work Group's (SMWG's) Web site.



• Proceedings from an EPA workshop. Jensen said that the proceedings of an EPA-sponsored workshop are available on the Internet. These proceedings, he said, contain useful information on a variety of topics, including how to evaluate ground-water recharge into sediments. Jensen agreed to send Subgroup members the proceedings' Web address.

ACTION ITEMS

• Davis said that several Subgroup members sent him text for the Monitored Natural Recovery of Sediments document. He agreed to send this text to Subgroup members, and asked them to send him comments as soon as possible.



• Magar agreed to complete his section and forward it to Subgroup members by September 7, 2000.



• Davis said that he would consolidate the material that he has received from different authors and distribute a draft of the Subgroup document by September 11, 2000. Davis encouraged Subgroup members to read the draft as soon as they receive it and to respond with comments immediately. That way, Davis might have time to revise the draft before the Assessment Subgroup meeting. Davis said that he will bring hard copies and electronic versions of the document to the meeting.



• Davis agreed to call Stahl to let him know that the Natural Recovery Subgroup plans to distribute a document at the Assessment Subgroup meeting. Davis said that he will also talk to Stahl about paper submittal deadlines.
  

• Jensen said that he would determine whether it is possible to post a list of models on SMWG's Web site. He also agreed to send Subgroup members the Web address for the proceedings of an EPA-sponsored workshop that was held in January 1999.