United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5102G)
EPA 542-N-98-009
October 1998
Issue No. 31
CONTENTS
"Inside-Out" Well for
Simultaneous Soil
Vapor and Ground
Water Sampling page 1
Honeybees and Bluegills
Used for Environmental
Monitoring page 2
Remote Sensing Tools
for Phytoremediation
Site Assessment page 3
Field Sampling and
Analysis Technology
Resources Available page 3
Case Study on Innovative
Technologies and
Strategies at Hanscom
Air Force Base page 4
The Applied Technologies
Newsletter for Superfund
Removals & Remedial
Actions & RCRA
Corrective Action
ABOUT THIS ISSUE
This issue highlights recent
demonstration results and
new technical resources on
several innovative
technologies for site
characterization and process
monitoring.
TECH TRENDS
"Inside-Out" Well for
Simultaneous Soil
Vapor and Ground
Water Sampling
by Joel Hubbell, Idaho National
Engineering and Environmental
Laboratory
Researchers at the U.S. Department of
Energy's Idaho National Engineering and
Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) have
developed a combination well for
simultaneous gas and ground water
sampling through the same borehole.
Design of the "inside-out" well, in which
gas sampling tubing and ports are
attached on the exterior of the well
casing, provides a means for simpler and
less expensive sampling than conven-
tional techniques. This technology was
demonstrated initially at INEEL, and
currently is used to monitor volatile
organic compounds at various U.S.
locations in the West and Southwest,
including the Sandia National Labora-
tory, Los Alamos National Laboratory,
and the Tucson Airport.
Conventional designs for combined
ground water and gas sampling wells
place the gas sampling tubing inside the
well casing, and sampling ports pen-
etrate the casing at various depths. This
approach physically interferes with the
placement of ground-water pumps and
samplers lowered within the well, and
usually requires an inner casing. In the
inside-out well, ground water and soil
gas sampling activities do not interfere
with each other, so the well can be used
simultaneously for monitoring and
remediation purposes, allowing direct
comparison of data. The well is as-
sembled easily in the field before the
casing is placed in the borehole. Precise
gas port depths are known, which
reduces the potential for grouting over
the ports after the casing is set.
Demonstration of the combination well
at INEEL's Radioactive Waste Manage-
ment Complex in Idaho involved the use
of 7 wells constructed to depths up to
243 meters within a thick vadose zone
(approximately 180 meters) consisting of
basalt with fracture and cinder zones,
and sedimentary interbeds. Each well
contained 3-9 gas sampling ports,
installed at depths ranging from 7.2-178
meters, to track chlorinated solvent
vapors. Figure 1 provides a schematic
diagram of the combination sampling
well. The cost savings for these wells
were estimated at $30,000 per well when
compared to drilling separate wells.
[continued on page 2]
Figure 1. Schematic Diagram of
Combination Sampling Well
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[continued from page 1]
This technology reduces the cost of long-
term projects in which vapor sampling
has been found to be more effective than
soil matrix sampling for VOCs. For
example, 6 vapor extraction wells at
depths of 43-148 meters are used to
monitor vapor extractions at a 2-acre
chemical waste landfill at Sandia National
Laboratory. Compared to an alternate
system requiring 6 separate boreholes for
soil gas monitoring, the combination
wells saved approximately $60,000.
Users of the combination well also have
found that the combination well is
effective in angled boreholes to reach
areas of interest without drilling through
the waste site itself.
For more information, contact Joel
Hubbell (INEEL) at 208-526-1747 or
E-mail jmh@INEEL.gov.
Honeybees and
Bluegills Used for
Environmental
Monitoring
by Jerry Bromemhenk, Ph.D.,
University of Montana, and Henry
Gardner, DrPH, U.S. Army Center
for Environmental Health Research
Honey bees, electronic hives, and chemi-
cal analyses are used to help assess
hazards posed by environmental contami-
nants and to signal their presence at
Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. This
approach is used in parallel with a
biomonitoring system using bluegills
(Lepomis macrochirus) to monitor the
quality of treated ground water. Continu-
ous monitoring of honeybees and fish is
well suited to address the terrestrial and
aquatic effects of human activity. These
continuous biological monitors provide an
early warning of changing environmental
conditions and a signal for appropriate
action to be taken.
From the late 1930s to 1953, the U.S.
Army used Aberdeen Proving Ground's
Old O-Field as a dumping ground for
chemical warfare agents, unexploded
ordnance, munitions, and wastes from
research and production facilities. This
practice led to numerous contamination
problems. To correct these problems, the
Army recently installed a permeable
cover of sand and gravel to cover the
landfill and a ground-water treatment
facility to capture and treat the contami-
nated ground water. The cover contains a
subsurface trickling system for applica-
tion of liquids or nutrients to enhance
degradation, and a subsurface air-
monitoring system to collect air samples,
as needed.
Bees were used to supplement standard
chemical monitoring during installation of
the cover by identifying possible chemical
releases, and continue to be used during
remediation efforts. Electronic beehives
with infrared counters track bee flight
activity at Old O-Field. These counters
and other electronic features, such as air
samplers and hive condition sensors,
gather and transmit information to a
central processing system capable of
detecting anomalies in bee behavior. This
behavior has been found to be closely
associated with exposure to toxic con-
taminants.
For example, changes in bee behavior
were identified during installation of the
landfill cover at the Old O-Field in 1996.
Flight activity was low, queen bees
disappeared, and hive temperatures
fluctuated. Analysis showed that the
abnormal behaviors coincided with very
high levels of perchloroethylene (PCE) in
the hives lacking queens. PCE contami-
nation in the landfill had been identified
earlier, but these behavioral differences
signaled that PCE was bioavailable and
enhanced hazard evaluation.
In addition to flight patterns, honeybees
can provide environmental information
through a variety of methods. As collec-
tors of plant nectar, pollen, and resins, as
well as water, honeybees serve as environ-
mental samplers to detect contaminant
concentrations at levels as low as 100
parts per quadrillion. Researchers are
able to measure contaminant
bioavailability directly by analyzing
whole bees or pollen collected from the
hives, and can use "beehive headspace
analysis" to identify volatile organic
contaminants.
In parallel with honeybee assessments,
bluegills are monitored to assess acute
aquatic hazards during remediation
activities at Aberdeen Proving Ground. A
biomonitoring system containing up to 32
bluegills in small, individual tanks is used
to assist in evaluating the effectiveness of
ground water treatment. The system
tracks various patterns offish activity to
detect any effluent conditions from the
treatment plant that may require a
corrective action. At O-Field, each fish is
connected to computer sensors and
monitored continuously. Data are
summarized at 15-minute intervals for
ventilatory rate, ventilatory depth, cough
(gill purge) rate, and whole body move-
ment. As a side stream of treated ground
water flows through the fish tanks, any
significant changes in these variables are
compared to each animal's historical
baseline response.
The bluegill biomonitoring system is
designed to identify acute toxicity in the
water as indicated by the fish's response.
If six of eight fish show signs of stress,
the system warns operators and a water
sample is taken automatically. If neces-
sary, a chemical analysis is performed; if
a problem with the treated water is
confirmed, the treatment plant will
discontinue operations until the problem
is corrected.
This work is sponsored by Aberdeen
Proving Ground's Installation Restoration
Program and the U.S. Army Center for
Environmental Health Research
(USACEHR), a detachment of the Army
Research Institute of Environmental
Medicine as part of the Army Medical
Research and Materiel Command. For
more information on honeybee monitor-
ing, contact Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk
(University of Montana) at 406-243-5648
or E-mail JJBmail@selway.umt.edu, or
visit the Web site www.umt.edu/biology/
bees. Contact Tommy R. Shedd
(USACEHR) at 301-619-7576 or E-mail
Tommy_R_Shedd@ftdetrck-
ccmail.army.mil for additional
information on the bluegill monitoring.
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Three Areas of Technology Verified
Under an umbrella of public and private partnerships formed by the Environmental
Technology Verification (ETV) Program, the ETV Site Characterization and Monitoring
Pilot (also known as the Consortium for Site Characterization) recently verified the
performance of technologies in three technical areas:
Soil and soil gas sampling,
Wellhead monitoring for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and
• Field analytical methods for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
Verification statements and reports for these technologies will be available this Fall on the
ETV Web site (http://www.epa.gov/etv) and on the Clean-Up Information Web site (http://
clu-in.org).
The goal of ETV is to verify the performance characteristics of commercial-ready environ-
mental technologies through the evaluation of objective and quality assured data.
Verifications can provide potential purchasers and permitters with an independent and
credible assessment of the technology that they are buying or permitting. During 1998, this
ETV pilot is evaluating four additional technology areas: decision support systems
software, ground water sampling, petroleum hydrocarbon measurements, and sediment
sampling. EPA expects to verify a total of approximately 300 innovative environmental
technologies by the year 2005.
Remote Sensing Tools
for Phytoremediation
Site Assessment
by Suzette R. Burckhard, Ph.D.,
South Dakota State University
Remote sensing is used increasingly to
assess agricultural conditions at phytore-
mediation sites. At the Anaconda
Company Smelter Site in Montana, South
Dakota State University (SDSU)
researchers are evaluating the correlations
between remotely sensed data and field
measurements. This information will be
used to develop a large-scale model for
predicting contaminant transport as
affected by vegetation. Studies indicate
that satellite or aerial photography data
could reduce analytical costs by as much
as 80% over conventional field methods,
and allow for statistical averaging of data
from large and/or remote field areas.
The Anaconda Company Smelter
Superfund site has a large number of
contaminated soil areas as a result of past
mining and smelting operations. Reveg-
etation of 25 square miles of mine tailing
piles, divided into 10 subplots, was
initiated in 1992 to reduce surface erosion
and limit the spread of contamination.
Remotely sensed data and sources used
for the Anaconda site include:
• Aerial photography to measure
visible, near-infrared, and thermal
spectra. Extensive data originated by
various government agencies are
available on-line from the U.S.
Geological Survey EROS Data
Center (EDC) Global Land Informa-
tion Service.
Thermally scanned data from EDC to
measure thermal energy emitted by
vegetation and water.
EDC and Jet Propulsion Laboratory
data obtained from multispectral
scanners, including Airborne Visible
and Infra-Red Imaging Spectroscopy
(AVIRIS) and a thematic mapper
with Landsat data, to provide a
spectral reflectance of the landscape.
Wetland data available on-line from
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
National Wetlands Inventory.
Geographic information systems data
provided by the State of Montana and
EDC.
Integration of data from these sources is
used to evaluate plant health and biomass
growth, and to develop a normalized
vegetation difference index. Results will
be used to simulate potential scenarios at
the Anaconda site regarding intermediate
treatment of mine tailings. This model
will be fully transferable for designing
monitoring schemes at other sites.
Collection of remotely sensed data and
correlation studies with existing field data
continue while long-term monitoring of
revegetation is conducted at the Anaconda
site. Technical advisory assistance is
provided by the Great Plains/Rocky
Mountains Hazardous Substance Re-
search Center, Northern Great Plains
Water Resources Research Center, South
Dakota Space Grant Consortium, and
EDC. For more information, contact Dr.
Suzette Burckhard (South Dakota State
University) at 605-688-5316 or E-mail
BurckhaS@ur. sdstate. edu.
Field Sampling and
Analysis Technology
Resources Available
The Field Sampling and Analysis Matrix
and Reference Guide is a quick reference
source providing users a general
understanding of the applicability of field
analytical and innovative sampling
technologies. The matrix and reference
guide compare technologies along a
number of application and performance
parameters, including analytes, media,
throughput, cost, data quality,
investigation-derived wastes, state of
development, precision, and accuracy.
Users may view the matrix (in poster
form) (EPA-542-B-98-002A) and
[continued on page 4]
Upcoming Field-Based Site Assessment and Monitoring Workshop
The Northeast Hazardous Substance Research Center (HSRC) and EPA's Technology
Innovation Office have teamed to offer a new training program focused on:
Use of new field measurement and monitoring technologies,
• Matching of technologies with site-specific contaminants,
• Practical considerations for technology implementation, and
Acceptable data standards for technologies.
The next one-day workshop, which is open to technology manufacturers, consulting
engineers, and state or local officials, will be hosted by the Great Lakes & Mid-Atlantic
HSRC on December 7, 1998, in Chicago, IL. Contact Andrea Kinney (Northeast HSRC) at
508-358-3532 or E-mail andreakinney(S>worldnet.att.net for more information.
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Y2K Alert
Be sure electronic devices and systems
are ready for Y2K. To deal with
problems posed by the Year 2000 on
hazardous waste systems, EPA's Office
of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
recommends:
• Initiating assessment of compliance,
control, and monitoring systems,
• Conducting internal audits of
systems and conferring with
systems experts, and
• Quickly gaining an understanding
of the effect that Y2K will have, and
acting soon to mitigate problems.
For assistance, visit the CLU-IN Web
site at http://clu-in.org, and click on the
Y2K button for a listing of numerous
links to other sites on Y2K issues.
[continued from page 3]
reference guide (EPA-542-B-98-002)
from the Federal Remediation
Technologies Roundtable Web site http://
www.frtr.gov, or obtain a free hard copy
from the National Center for
Environmental Publications and
Information at 800-490-9198 or 513-489-
8190.
EPA's Technology Innovation Office has
compiled a report, Field Analytical and
Site Characterization Technologies:
Summary of Applications, to document
experiences in the use of chemical,
geophysical, radionuclide, and sampling
technologies for 204 contaminated site
applications. Reported information for
each technology includes the types of
pollutants and media, advantages and
limitations, and cost data. To obtain a
free copy of the summary (EPA-542-R-
97-011), download the document from
the Clean-Up Information Web site http://
clu-in.org, or contact the National Center
for Environmental Publications and
Information at 800-490-9198 or 513-489-
8190.
Case Study on
Innovative
technologies and
Strategies at Hanscom
Air Force Base
EPA's Technology Innovation Office
(TIO) recently completed the first in a
series of case studies designed to provide
cost and performance information on
innovative tools that support less costly
and more representative site characteriza-
tion. The first case study focuses on a
number of innovative technologies and a
dynamic, adaptive approach to streamline
the overall site investigation process at
Hanscom Air Force Base, MA. New
technology applications and novel
applications of conventional tools and
processes are documented in the project
report, Case Study: Hanscom Air Force
Tech Trends is on the NET!
View or download it from:
http://www.epa.gov/swertio1/pubitech.htm
http://clu-in.org
ftp://clu-in.org
Tech Trends welcomes readers' comments and
contributions. Address correspondence to:
Tech Trends,
8601 Georgia Avenue, Suite 500
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
Fax: 301-589-8487
Base Operable Unit 1 (EPA-542-R-98-
006), which is available on TIO's
CLU-IN Web site at http://clu-in.org /
charl.htm#application. This report
summarizes more detailed project
information available on CLU-IN.
TIO also is preparing a guide to assist
in the collection and organization of
project information into a concisely
written case study. The interim guide
will be available on CLU-IN this Fall.
Public and private industry partners
interested in contributing information
on site-specific cases studies are
invited to contact Deana Crumbling
(EPA/TIO) at 703-603-0643.
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5102G)
EPA 542-N-98-009
October 1998
Issue No. 31
-EPA TECH TRENDS
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