Saving Time and Money:
The Brownfields and Land Revitalization
Technology Support Center
About the BTSC
The Brownfields and Land Revitalization Technology Support
Center (BTSC, formerly the Brownfields Technology Support
Center) provides technical support to federal, state, local, and
tribal officials for questions related to the use of innovative
technologies and strategies for site assessment and cleanup.
Since beginning operations in the Fall of 1998, the BTSC has
responded to more than 100 requests for support at brownfields
sites and, more recently, Superfund sites. The types of services
provided by the BTSC include:
• Reviewing documents, including requests for proposals, work
plans, field sampling plans, and other project documents
• Providing information about the use of innovative and field-
based technologies for site investigation and cleanup
Innovative technologies and strategies, such as the Triad
approach, are used to streamline redevelopment by lowering
costs and decreasing project time frames. The Triad approach
is a systematic approach synthesizing practitioner experience,
lessons learned, and technology advancement into a next-
generation framework improving cost-effective management of
contaminated sites.
BTSC Partners
The Center is a cooperative effort to provide technical support
to federal, state, local, and tribal officials for matters related to
the use of technologies for site assessment and cleanup.
Partners in the BTSC include the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
(OSWER) and Office of Research and Development (ORD); the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and Argonne National Laboratory.
As a Center partner, EPA's Brownfields Program helps to identify
support needed by EPA's Brownfields Program participants.
EPA Contact:
EPA Office of Superfund Remediation
andTechnology Innovation
Phone: (703)603-7196
E-mail: powell.dan@epa.gov
Are traditional site assessment and cleanup
approaches too time-consuming and expensive to
support the redevelopment of a site?
Are you:
• Looking for input on the review of project
documents, such as requests for proposals, work
plans, field sampling plans, or quality assurance
project plans?
• Considering the potential for incorporating one
or more elements of the Triad approach?
* Looking for information about the use of field-
based technologies for site assessment and
cleanup?
• Looking to incorporate dynamic work strategies
and decision support tools during site assessment?
• Evaluating remedial technologies and their
advantages and limitations in light of site-specific
features and needs?
• Seeking information to provide to technical and
nontechnical stakeholders?
The BTSC May Be Able to Help You!
www.brownfieldstsc.org
Toll-free; (877) 838-7220
Requesting Support from the BTSC
Local and state government personnel, EPA personnel, and
tribes may request site-specific support for brownfields and
Superfund sites from the BTSC at no cost. In addition, EPA's
Brownfields Program identifies support needs for program
participants; however, BTSC support is not limited to those
participating in EPA's Brownfields Program. Support may be
requested online, through EPA's regional offices, or via the
toll-free telephone number.
www.brownfieldstsc.org
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Direct Support Available from the BTSC
Planning Support
Planning support includes planning for the use of innovative technologies and strategies, such as the Triad approach, at a
specific brownfields or land revitalization site. Support includes evaluating available documents to assess how to incorporate
elements of the Triad, such as better use of field analytic technologies, and can include activities related to planning for
procurement under aTriad approach or use of decision support tools such as Field Environmental Decision Support (FIELDS),
Spatial Analysis Decision Assistance (SADA), Visual Sampling Plan (VSP), or Scribe.
Document Reviews
Document reviews include technical reviews of requests for proposals (RFP), sampling and analysis plans (SAP), quality
assurance project plans (QAPP), feasibility studies, engineering designs, or work plans. The Center evaluates the documents
with regard to technology options, implementation processes, use of the Triad approach, and other appropriate elements.
Technology Scoping for Site Assessment or Investigation Technologies and for Cleanup Technologies
Technology scoping includes preparing lists of potentially applicable technologies along with brief analyses of their advantages
and disadvantages under specific conditions at a site and in light of the specific features and needs of a site. This function is
not a formal review or approval process, but can provide decision makers with preliminary information in support of decisions
or approvals.
Technology Descriptions
Technology descriptions include brief (several pages) "layman's" guides describing a specific technology or technique. The
guides can assist decision makers in more fully understanding the principles of the technology (along with its cost and the
time necessary to implement it) and assist them in communicating the appropriateness of a technology to constituents and
stakeholders interested in a specific site.
Review of Literature and Electronic Resources
Literature and resource reviews include available information resources for technologies or classes of technologies relevant
to specific decisions at a site. The purpose of the reviews is to allow stakeholders an opportunity to broaden their understanding
of the technology options available for use at their sites.
Demonstration Planning Support
Drawing upon the expertise of the EPA Superfund Innovative Technologies Evaluation (SITE) program, the Center provides
planning assistance and technical review capabilities to localities that are seeking to arrange demonstrations and evaluations
of innovative sampling, analytical, or treatment technologies.
Information Resources Available from the BTSC
The BTSC has many resources available on the web site www.brownfieldstsc.org. The following are
examples of key resources available online in pdf format. In addition, both the Road Map and Directory
are available in HTML format.
Understanding Procurement for Sampling and Analytical Services Under a Triad Approach
(Coming Soon!) PDF
This guide will assist project managers, consultants, site owners, and technology vendors in understanding
options and strategies for procuring innovative approaches to characterization and monitoring at hazardous
waste sites. The guide will provide information on available technologies and strategies that have been
used to procure innovative measurement and monitoring services used in a Triad-based investigation.
(Coming Summer 2004)
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Information Resources Available from the BTSC (continued)
Road Map to Understanding Innovative Technology Options for Brownfields Investigation
and Cleanup, Third Edition (EPA 542-B-01-001)
www.cluin.org/products/Roadmap PDF
The Road Map describes the steps involved in the characterization and cleanup of brownfields sites and
connects those steps with available resources. The third edition of the Road Map, which has been expanded
significantly to include new and updated resources and one-page "spotlights," identifies potential technology
options available at each of the basic phases involved in the characterization and cleanup of brownfields sites.
Appendices in the Road Map include a list of common contaminants found at typical brownfields sites, a
detailed guide to common environmental terms and acronyms, and a list of state and EPA points of contact.
Directory of Technical Assistance for Land Revitalization (EPA 542-B-03-001)
http://www.brownfieldstsc.org/directory/directory.cfm PDF
This directory provides information about technical assistance that is available from federal agencies to
assist regional, state, and local government personnel in assessment and cleanup decisions at brownfields,
reuse, and revitalization sites. The directory discusses assistance that is available from a total of 10
agencies, covering 37 specific organizations. This directory supersedes the directory published in 1999.
Using the Triad Approach to Streamline Brownfields Site Assessment and Cleanup -
Brownfields Technology Primer (EPA 542-B-03-002) PDF
This primer is an educational tool for site owners, project managers, and regulators to help them better
understand how to use the Triad approach to streamline assessment and cleanup activities at brownfields
sites. Strategies such as the Triad that reduce costs, decrease time frames, and positively affect regulatory
and community acceptance can improve the economics of redevelopment at brownfields sites.
Assessing Contractor Capabilities for Streamlined Site Investigations
(EPA542-R-00-001) PDF
The purpose of this document is to familiarize and encourage brownfields decision makers to investigate
and employ innovative methods for characterizing their sites and to assist brownfields decision makers in
assessing contractors' capabilities and familiarity with innovative methods. It also suggests additional
items for contractors to consider in conducting their activities.
Brownfields Technology Primer: Requesting and Evaluating Proposals that Encourage
Innovative Technologies for Investigation and Cleanup (EPA 542-R-01 -005) PDF
The primer expands on the guide for assessing contractor capabilities by emphasizing techniques for
soliciting proposals that encourage contractors to use innovative technologies. It includes tips and questions
to assist brownfields communities in interviewing contractors to assess the contractors' capabilities to
use innovative technologies.
Brownfields Technology Primer: Selecting and Using Phytoremediation for Site Cleanup
(EPA542-R-01-006) PDF
The primer explains the phyto re mediation process and the potential advantages and considerations in
selecting phytoremediation to clean up brownfields sites. It provides information on additional resources
to assist brownfields decision makers in evaluating phytoremediation as an option for their sites.
All information resources available from the BTSC, as well as access to direct support, are available online at
www. bro wnfieldstsc. org
BTSC publications are available at www.brownfieldstsc.org/
pubsOl.cfm. Printed or hard copy versions of the publications are
available through EPA's National Service Center for Environmental
Publications (NSCEP). Documents may be ordered from NSCEP
online, by telephone, or by facsimile. Please include the EPA
document numbers of all publications ordered.
NSCEP National Service Center for Environmental Publications
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
P.O. Box 42419
Cincinnati, OH 45242
Telephone: (800) 490-9198
Telephone: (513) 489-8190 (Government Employees)
Fax:(513)489-8695
www.epa.gov/ncepihom »
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Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5102G)
EPA-542-F-04-017
June 2004
www.epa.gov/tio
Examples of Site-Specific Support Provided by the BTSC
Cache La Poudre River Site,
Fort Collins, CO
The Cache La Poudre River site
received a Targeted Brownfields
Assessment (TBA) grant in May 2003.
The site contains a 12-acre landfill and
is adjacent to a historical manufactured
gas plant. Contaminated groundwater
and DNAPL have migrated onto the site
and DNAPL has been identified in the
river. The BTSC supported use of the
Triad approach for site characterization,
including development of a conceptual
site model and planning for use of field
analytical techniques.
Cos Cob Power Plant, Greenwich, CT
This site was used as an electrical generating station and was contaminated with
petroleum compounds, as well as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and arsenic.
EPA Region 1 was interested in using a dynamic investigation strategy based on
the Triad approach for site assessment. The BTSC supported the Region by helping
to develop and implement a dynamic work strategy, including use of various field
analytical techniques. The effort was completed within a single mobilization.
Minerec Mining Chemical Facility,
Tuscon, AZ
The Tohono O'odham Nation (TON) and EPA
Region 9 requested technical support from the
BTSC for planning an environmental site
investigation at the former Minerec Mining
Chemical facility, which was contaminated with
a variety of compounds including sulfur-
containing chemicals. The TON had developed
a draft SAP to be used to guide the investigation.
The BTSC reviewed the SAP and provided
feedback on potential alternatives for chemical
analysis and to evaluate the potential for use of
the Triad in the investigation.
Milltown Redevelopment Site, Milltown, NJ
The Middlesex County Improvement Authority received an EPA Brownfields grant
to perform an environmental site characterization at a site located in downtown
Milltown, NJ. The site has a long history of industrialization dating back to the mid
1800's, including rubber manufacturing and various types of services. The BTSC
is supporting the use of the Triad approach for the site assessment, including the
use of decision support tools such as SADA and Scribe.
The Triad Approach
The Triad approach is used to manage decision uncertainty - to increase confidence
that project decisions about contaminant presence, location, fete, exposure, and risk reduction
choices and design are made correctly and cost-effectively. Triad elements are:
• Systematic project planning — includes development of consensus on the desired
outcome (end goal) for the site/project; preliminary conceptual site model (CSM); a list
of the various regulatory, scientific and engineering decisions that must be made in
order to achieve the desired outcome; a list of the unknowns that stand in the way of
making those decisions; and strategies to eliminate or "manage around" those unknowns.
Systematic
Project
Planning
Dynamic
Work
Strategies
:ertaii
Real-Time Measurement
Technologies
Dynamic work strategies - consist of work planning documents written in a dynamic or flexible mode that guide the course of
the project and enable it to adapt in real-time (while the work crew is still in the field) as new information becomes available.
Real-time measurement technologies- consist of a range of technologies supporting real-time measurements, including field
analytical techniques, in situ sensing systems, geophysics, rapid turn-around from traditional laboratories, and computer systems
that store, display, map, manipulate, and share data.
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