CONTENTS
NAPL Cleanup Alliance Established 1
Bioremediation Consortium Completing
Phase 2 Activities 2
Sediments Remediation Action
Team Meets 3
PhytoremediationTeam Developing
CVOC Protocol 3
PRBTeam Proposes Two-Vear
Monitoring Project 4
IINERTTeam Preparing Report from
October2001 Workshop 4
Current RTDF
Action Teams
Bioremediation Consortium
[INERT Soil-Metals Action Team
NAPL Cleanup Alliance
Phytoremediation of Organics Action
Team
Permeable Reactive Barriers Action
Team
Sediments Remediation
Action Team
RTDF Update
A Progress Report on the Remediation Technologies
Development Forum (RTDF)
Newsletter
August, 2002
NAPL Cleanup Alliance Established
The Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (NAPL) Cleanup Alliance was established
early in 2001 by representatives from the petroleum industry, federal and state
government, and academia who share an interest in pursuing aggressive
technologies for removing large-scale non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL)
contamination. The Alliance's mission is to develop an improved scientific and
technical approach to remediation of groundwater and soil at sites contaminated
by petroleum hydrocarbons at private industrial and government facilities. These
facilities include petroleum refineries, shipping terminals, pipelines, and airports.
The experience of the last fifteen years indicates that remediation of these sites
will take many years using existing approaches and technologies without
significant risk reduction benefits. The Alliance will address the need for more
effective alternatives, which focus on appreciable risk reduction based upon
specific site conditions such as geology and contaminant characteristics. A
critical component of the Alliance's activities will involve the evaluation of
innovative technologies that can contribute significantly to improving remediation
of large-scale NAPL contamination. The Alliance has established a Technical
Working Group to plan and implement a project to analyze the mobility and
behavior of hydrocarbons at a Casper, Wyoming site and to evaluate various
cost-effective remediation technologies for potential use at the site. Data from
this project will be used as a baseline for developing a decision tree that could be
used in other hydrocarbon-contamination scenarios.
About the Remediation Technologies Development Forum
^ http://www.rtdf.org
The Remediation Technologies Development Forum (RTDF) was established in
1992 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to identify what
government and industry can do together to develop and improve the environ-
mental technologies needed to address their mutual cleanup problems in the
safest, most cost-effective manner. The RTDF fosters public and private sector
partnerships to undertake research, development, demonstration, and evaluation
efforts focused on finding innovative solutions to high priority problems.
Structure
The RTDF establishes self-managed action teams that bring members together to
work on their highest priority problems. These action areas and priorities are
determined by the members ofRTDF Action Teams. EPA facilitates the operation of
the Action Teams and contributes its research efforts to the jointly-led projects.
Industrial participants help set priorities based on remediation problems they face,
serve as co-team leaders, and offer both in-kind and monetary resources to support
joint projects. Other federal agencies suggest priorities in their roles as owners of
remediation problems, as well as offer sources of funding and make joint research
contributions. Universities and other research institutions provide state-of-the-art
science and engineering expertise from their existing research bases and help assure
that sound engineering and scientific principles are followed.
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RTDF
Former Casper Refinery Mobility Study
The Alliance's Technical Working Group recently began the second stage of a hydrocar-
bon mobility study at the Casper, Wyoming site. The first stage of the mobility study,
completed in late 2001, involved use of the U.S. Navy's Site Characterization and Analy-
sis Penetrometer System (SCAPS). This truck-mounted system deploys various
subsurface diagnostic technologies using cone penetrometer (CPT) tools to provide
indirect characterization of subsurface petroleum hydrocarbons. SCAPS utilizes broad-
spectrum laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and fiber-optic technology to provide real-time
in situ delineation of subsurface petroleum hydrocarbons. High-resolution video imagery
(GeoVTS) was also used for visual characterization of soil properties and to estimate
hydrocarbon saturations. 160 LIF pushes were conducted on a 200-foot grid, spacing over
the 160 acre study area. Twenty GeoVIS pushes were conducted at LIF push locations
with the highest LIF intensities.
The LIF data have been analyzed for signal intensity and wavelength, which are functions
of hydrocarbon distribution and type, respectively. The LIF intensity and wavelength data
were cross-plotted with lithologic data obtained from the CPT cone pressure and sleeve
friction data to develop soil-hydrocarbon combinations. These soil-hydrocarbon combina-
tions were then used to correlate general soil types with the most common LIF
The SCAPS system
deploys various
subsurface
diagnostic
technologies using
CPT tools to provide
indirect
characterization of
subsurface
petroleum
hydrocarbons.
contaminated portions of the aquifer within the study area.
During the second stage of the study, the soil-hydrocarbon combinations were used to
determine locations and intervals for soil core collection. Atotal of 37 aquifer soil
cores were collected, flash-frozen in the field, and delivered to a petroleum engineer-
ing laboratory for analyses of the soil and NAPL. Analyses currently in progress
include grain size distribution, relative permeabilities, capillary pressure, fluid saturation,
and other parameters that influence the mobility of petroleum hydrocarbons in porous
media. Areport documenting these analyses will be posted to the RTDF web site in
Summer 2002.
Over the next few months, the Working Group will compile the petroleum engineering
analytical data to develop fluid saturation profiles and calibrate the API Brooks-Corey
van Genuchten Model to each soil-hydrocarbon combination identified. These data
will then be correlated with LIF data over the entire study area to develop NAPL
saturation and mobility maps that will serve as a basis for selection and deployment of
pilot-scale remediation systems.
Bioremediation Consortium Completing Phase 2 Activities
The Consortium held their semi-annual meeting on May 1 -2,2002 in Washington, DC.
Consortium members discussed the status of ongoing research, demonstration, and
reporting efforts and plans for future activities. More information on the meeting is
available on the RTDF web site.
The Consortium is completing three studies on bioaugmentation, cometabolic Bioventing,
and intrinsic biodegradation under Phase 2 activities. Field demonstrations were con-
ducted at Kelly Air Force Base, Texas from the fall of 1999 through December 2000 to
evaluate the applicability of accelerated anaerobic bioremediation via bioaugmentation to
treat chlorinated ethenes in groundwater. Results were published in a paper, "Successful
Field Demonstration of Bioaugmentation to Degrade PCE and TCE to Ethene," available
on the RTDF web site and published in Bioaugmentation, Biobarriers, and Bio-
geochemistry: Proceedings of the Sixth International In Situ and On-Site
Bioremediation Symposium, Vol. 8, 2001.
The Consortiumhas been conducting afield demonstration of co-metabolic bioventing of
TCE (with DNAPL ganglia present) at Operable Unit 2, Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
Injections of propane co-substrate began in August 2000, and field work is scheduled to
be completed by Summer 2002. The Consortium is also developing a laboratory treatabil-
ity protocol for bioventing and a model and users guide to help predict performance of
bioventing based on site-specific conditions.
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At the Bell Aerospace/Textron |Site in Niagara Falls, New York, Hie Consortium is studying
intrinsic biodegradation of a DNAPL source area in fractured bedrock. Field work has been
completed, and the project is in the data analysis and modeling phase. The Consortium is
developing a detailed groundwater flow and contaminant fate and transport model for the site.
hi addition to the published article on the Kelly demonstration, two other published articles
were added to the Consortium's list of technical documents on the RTDF web site:
"Using aMolecular Approach to Monitor a Bioaugmentation Pilot," also published in
Bioaugmentation, Biobarriers, and Biogeochemistry: Proceedings of the Sixth
International In Situ and On-Site Bioremediation Symposium, Vol. 8, 2001 and
"Molecular Analysis of Dehdlococcoides 16S rDNAfrom Chloroethene Contaminated
Sites throughout North America and Europe," published in Applied Environmental
Microbiology, Vol. 68, No. 2, 2002.
EPA and the Consortium's industrial partners are in the process of revising the Coopera-
tive Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) for third-phase activities. As part
of this phase, the Consortiumis considering implementing two studies: bioremediation of
dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLs) and degradation at the groundwater/surface
water interface. Anyone who may be interested in participating in this work may contact
one of the co-chairs through:the RTDF web site.
Sediments Remediation Action Team Meets
i
About 60 participants attended the March 11-13 meeting of the Sediments Remediation
Action Team in Baltimore, Maryland. The agenda included a Team business session, rapid
assessment workshop, renewable disposal workshop, and an overview of the Anacostia
Watershed Toxics Alliance's (AWTA) work on its Contaminated Sediment Manage-
ment Strategy (CSMS). AWTA held a separate meeting in Annapolis, Maryland on
March 14 that focused on the monitoring section of the CSMS
document and was attended by several Team members.
The rapid assessment workshop focused on sampling methods, but
also discussed using data to determine additional sample locations
and quality differences between laboratory and field data. These
two topics, as well as the application of rapid assessment to
brownfields and habitat assessments, may be covered in greater
detail during future meetings.
The renewable disposal workshop presented information on ex
situ treatment methods using both high- and emerging low-energy
technologies. Attendees also discussed the New York/New
Jersey harbor sediments dredging treatment processes, potential uses for manufactured
(treated) sediment, and options for Chicago's near-capacity confined disposal facility.
Members of the Team's Natural Recovery Subgroup continue to be involved in Anacostia
River site evaluationand remediation activities. Sampling and rjMffltoring efforts to better
classify pollution sources7clfeanup heeds, and remedial options are currently planned for
2002, with phase 2 field construction planned for 2003.
I
Phytoremediation T0am Developing CVOC Protocol
The Chlorinated Solvents Subgroup of the Phytoremediation of Organics Action Team is
developing a protocol that will describe how to determine whether phytoremediation is
appropriate to use at a given site with chlorinated solvent contamination and how to
evaluate the technology's performance. Arevised protocol was completed in April 2002,
and Subgroup members are currently working on a final draft. After completion, the
Subgroup plans to use the protocol in assessing specific sites, subject to funding availability.
The Team's Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) in Soil Subgroup is finalizing its second
annual report and expects to post it on the RTDF web site by early Fall 2002. Work
continues on the 13 TPH field demonstration sites, with several sites approaching the end of
the three-year data collectionperiod initially established by the Subgroup. However, sample
collection efforts will continue at two sites based on available funding. Additional sites will be
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individually evaluated for extended sample collection periods when they reach the end of the three-year
collection period. Periodic updates on each of these sites is included in summaries of the Subgroup's
conference calls, and more detailed information is available in each annual report, both available on the
RTDF web site.
PRB Team Proposes Two-Year Monitoring Project
The Permeable Reactive Barriers Action Team has outlined the scope of work for a two-year monitoring
project to assess PRB performance and is identifying potential funding sources. Candidate sites for the
proposed project would include AlamedaToIntTCATrn^TJlsrCd^
City (NC), Denver Federal Center (CO), the Somersworth Sanitary Landfill (NH), and Seneca Army
Depot (NY). The number of sites chosen for me project will depend on available funding.
A three-year, collaborative, long-term performance study conducted by the U.S. EPA, Department of
Defense, and Department of Energy is nearing completion. Team members are developing a document
that summarizes the activities of Hie three agencies, which may be issued as a tri-agency document. EPA
is finalizing a second document on the study that is expected to be published in the Summer of 2002.
IINERTTeam Preparing Report from October 2001 Workshop
The In-Place rnactivation and Natural Ecological Restoration Technologies (HNERT) Soil-Metals
Action Team is preparing a report summarizing results presented at its October 2001 symposium, held,
as part of the 2001 annual meeting of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of
America, and Soil Science Society of America. Once finalized, the report will be submitted for publica-
tion in Science, Environmental Science and Technology, or Environmental Health Perspectives.
For more current information, visit the RTDF web site:
http://www.rtdf.org
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