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

1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
December 19, 2001

On December 19, 2001, members of the Remediation Technologies Development Forum's (RTDF's) Sediments Remediation Action Team, Natural Recovery Subgroup, met with members of the Anacostia Watershed Toxics Alliance (AWTA) via conference call. The following people participated:

Danielle Sass of Eastern Research Group, Inc., (ERG) was also present.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE ANACOSTIA RIVER AND AWTA

Mike Buchman provided a brief overview of AWTA. The organization was formed in March 1999 as a private-public partnership. Many entities are interested in the Anacostia River, he said, but AWTA has distinguished itself as a group that is working to obtain a thorough understanding of the river's toxics situation. Much investigatory work has been performed on the Anacostia River: researchers already have a fairly strong understanding of sediment transport dynamics, sediment deposition rates in the lower portion of the river, and sediment contamination patterns throughout the entire river. Several data gaps still exist, however. For example, only limited toxicity testing and benthic community analyses have been performed, and the river's mass-balance calculations have not been completed yet. Modeling activities are underway, with efforts being made to model water column and sediment compartments.

Buchman said that contaminants are still being added to the Anacostia River; in fact, several active point and non-point contaminant sources still exist. Combined sewer overflows, storm sewers, and river tributaries continue to contaminate the river. AWTA realizes that these sources must be controlled if the river's health is to be restored. Source control plans are being developed, but these may take several years to implement.

THE CONTAMINATED SEDIMENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY DOCUMENT

Buchman said that AWTA and the Anacostia Watershed Restoration Committee are working on a document called Contaminated Sediment Management Strategy, which describes the management strategy that is proposed for the Anacostia River. Buchman said that the lower part of the river is suitable for remedial action and that innovative in situ treatment technologies will be used to address four hot spots. The areas between the hot spots will be addressed via natural attenuation. Buchman, who is the document's editor, expects text to be submitted by January 15, 2002. Buchman is also serving as one of the main writers for the document's monitoring chapter. In an effort to initiate discussion on this chapter, Buchman created and distributed a strawman. Those who would like to comment on the strawman, write sections on listed topics, or propose new topics should submit these suggestions in writing to Buchman by January 15, 2002.

Buchman said that the approach outlined in the strawman is designed to complement monitoring efforts that are being performed by other groups, such as the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, a consortium of 17 government organizations that is collecting and consolidating information on benthic community data, fish tissue data, and stream condition parameters.

As currently written, Buchman said, the strawman proposes using data from 120 sediment samples as a baseline, and collecting additional data on a 3-year cycle. He said that sediment samples would be collected across the entire lower portion of the river, not just the hot spots. The strawman also proposes collecting fish tissue samples on a 3-year cycle. The fish samples would be measured for chlorinated compounds. DNA adducts and biometabolites would be relied upon, Buchman said, to determine whether fish are being impacted by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Conference call participants offered several comments on the monitoring approach proposed in the strawman. The following topics arose:

• Defining boundaries. Call participants asked whether the river's tributaries would be monitored. They noted that such monitoring might be needed to determine whether source control is being achieved.



• Segmented cores. Richard Jensen said that there is no evidence that natural recovery is actually occurring at the Anacostia River. In 1996, he said, the Academy of Natural Sciences collected six cores to evaluate contamination at depth in sediment columns. The results failed to show that a "cleaner layer" is forming on the sediments surface. Jensen said that the formation of such a layer would be the first sign that natural recovery is occurring, and that the Anacostia River's monitoring program should be structured to look for the formation of such a layer. It might not form, he said, until many of the source control activities planned for the Anacostia River are completed. Jensen recommended collecting some shallow segmented cores to determine whether a "cleaner layer" has started forming since the 1996 coring event. If it has not, he said, AWTA might want to consider delaying a robust monitoring effort until a significant amount of source control has been completed and a "cleaner layer" has started to form. Jensen advised synchronizing the monitoring program with the source control and remediation improvements that are scheduled for the river. This will help researchers obtain a clearer understanding of the impact of specific improvements. Victor Magar and John Davis agreed to work with Jensen to summarize his points; they will submit something in writing to Buchman by January 15, 2002.



• Assessing hotspots. Jensen said that it would be useful to develop an approach to determine whether hotspots are "dead" or "alive." (A"dead" hotspot is one that is sufficiently isolated and will not cause recontamination in other areas of the river.)



• Indicator species. Jensen noted that the strawman discusses fish monitoring activities. He agreed that this is important, but recommended also monitoring organisms that respond more quickly to changing conditions than fish do. This will help researchers understand the impact that improvements have on the toxicity of the river. Beth McGee said that benthic community data might serve as a useful monitoring tool. Davis and Mike Erickson agreed to write up some ideas regarding indicator species and to submit the ideas to Buchman before January 15, 2002. Davis agreed to contact McGee offline to ask for her collaboration on this effort.



• Narrative materials for the public. Jensen said that narrative paragraphs should be included in the Contaminated Sediment Management Strategy to explain the scope of activities that are planned at the Anacostia River. A description of expected response times should be included to help the public set realistic expectations. Jensen agreed to write this text and to send it to Buchman by January 15, 2002.

Davis asked RTDF Subgroup members to contact him or Jensen if they had other topics that they wanted to discuss, write up, or submit to Buchman. He said that the RTDF team hopes to provide additional feedback and support to AWTA in the coming months.

FACE-TO-FACE MEETING

Ralph Stahl said that the RTDF Sediments Remediation Action Team plans to meet in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 11-12, 2002. Conference call participants recommended holding an RTDF-AWTA meeting after the RTDF meeting has adjourned.

NEXT CONFERENCE CALL

ERG agreed to set up the next conference call for January 16, 2002, between 10:00 and 12:00 Eastern Standard Time (EST).