United States
                     Environmental Protection
                     Agency
       Office of Research and Development (481)
       Office of Solid Waste and
       Emergency Response (5102G)
EPA542-F-96-010D
September 1996
*EBV         IINERT  Soil-Metals
                                             Team
         RTDF
  Remediation Technologies
     Development Forum
    RTDF Action
            'earns
   IINERT Soil-Metals Action
    Team

   Lasagna™ Partnership

   Bioremediation Consortium

   Permeable Barriers Action
    Team
   Sediments Remediation
    Action Team
 What is the IINERT Soil-Metals Action

 Team?

The In-Place Inactivation and Natural Ecological Restoration Technologies
(IINERT) Action Team was established in November 1995, as one of five
Action Teams under the Remediation Technologies Development Forum
(RTDF).  The RTDF was created by EPA in 1992 to foster collaboration
between the public and private sectors in developing innovative solutions to
mutual hazardous waste problems.  The IINERT Soil-Metals Action Team
includes representatives from industry and government who share an interest
in further developing and validating in-situ techniques as viable technologies
for eliminating the hazards of metals in soils and surficial materials.


 What are IINER T Technologies?

IINERT technologies chemically and physically inactivate soil-metals found
at the earth's surface by reducing and essentially eliminating their solubility
and bioavailability without the  need for  excavating  the soil.  In-situ
incorporation of chemicals-such as phosphates, mineral fertilizers, iron
oxyhydroxides, other minerals, biosolids, limestone-changes the molecular
species of the metals. Changing a metal's molecular species can reduce its
water solubility, bioavailability, and potential toxicity to humans and the
environment.  However, the total concentration of the metals may not
necessarily change.

The chemicals used for inactivation may also increase the fertility of the soil
and eliminate any toxicities to plants and soil organisms. Growing a plant
cover physically stabilizes the soil and its contaminants in place, which
minimizes soil erosion and offsite movement of soil and the metals it
contains.  Incorporating amendments and growing plants are more natural
ways of restoring the ecology of a soil when compared to other techniques,
such as soil excavation, landfilling, soil washing, or soil capping.

Of the treatment options available for mitigating metals-contaminated soils,
in-place inactivation appears to be the most cost effective. Additionally, it
treats the contaminant in a way that reduces the hazard posed by the soil rather
than burying it in a landfill or covering it over. In this way, contamination of
other areas does not occur since soil cover and landfill space are not needed.


 What is the Action Team fs Mission?

The mission is to develop and demonstrate in-place inactivation and natural
ecological restoration technologies that reduce and eliminate the risks of
metals/metalloids in soil to human health and the environment and to
achieve regulatory and public acceptance of these technologies.

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What Are the Action  Team's  Goals?

The goals of the Action Team are to:

>•  Understand the mechanisms by which IINERT technologies work.
>•  Develop appropriate testing protocols and methodologies that
   illustrate their utility.
>•  Improve predictive capabilities.
>•  Facilitate validation of the effectiveness and persistence of these
   technologies.
>•  Prepare guidelines for effective implementation of these
   technologies.
>•  Gain scientific, public, and regulatory acceptance.


What Activities Are Planned?

The Action Team plans to investigate the following issues:

>•  What are the physical, chemical, and biological mechanisms of
   hazard reduction?
>•  What speciation techniques are appropriate?
>•  What factors limit these technologies?
>•  What are the technical omissions?
>•  What factors limit public acceptance?
>•  What animal surrogate can be used to determine human
   bioavailability from soil ingestion?
>•  What chemical extractions/in-vitro tests, which may be used to
   demonstrate hazard reduction, can lessen the need for animal feeding
   studies?

Areas to be addressed include:  (1) soil characterization; (2) site  char-
acterization; (3) treatment characterization and optimization; (4) hazard
characterization; and (5) hazard testing protocols.

Who Are the Action  Team Members?
           U.S. Army Corps of
            Engineers
           U.S. Department of Agriculture
JUm.
                                         K1DF
                                   Remediation Technologies
                                      Development Forum
U.S. Department of Energy
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
   To request other RTDF factsheets, please
             write/fax to:

             EPA/NCEPI
   11305 Reed Hartman Highway, Suite 219
         Cincinnati, OH 45241
          Fax: (513)489-8695
            ASARCO
            Beazer East, Inc.
            Doe Run Company
DuPont
ETHYL Corporation
FMC Corporation
ILZRO
PPG Industries, Inc.
PTI Environmental Services
3M Company
                                   Would You Like
                                           More
                                     Information?
                               For more information on the IINERT Soil-
                                 Metals Action Team, please contact:
                                         Bill Berti, Ph.D.
                              DuPont Central Research and Development
                                 Glasgow Business Community Site 301
                                      P.O. Box 6101, Route 896
                                       Newark, DE 19714-6101
                                        Tel: (302) 451-9224
                               Email: bertiwr@al.esvax.umc.dupont.com

                                         Jim Ryan, Ph.D.
                                 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
                                     National Risk Management
                                       Research Laboratory
                                  26 West Martin Luther King Drive
                                       Cincinnati, OH 45268
                                        Tel: (513) 569-7653
                                  Email: ryan.jim@epamail.epa.gov
For information on the RTDF or the other Action
         Teams, please contact:

           Robert Olexsey
    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
          Tel: (513)569-7861
    Email: olexsey.bob@epamail.epa.gov

        Walter Kovalick, Jr., Ph.D.
    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
          Tel: (703)603-9910
   Email: kovalick.walter@epamail.epa.gov
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