EPA NEW ENGLAND
REGIONAL LABDRATDRY
ENVIRONMENTAL
SCIENCE FACT SHEET
THE MOBILE LABORATORY
rARTNERS &
RELATED
PROGRAMS
• EPA New England, Boston
• New England States
• EPA Office of Research &
Development
•USGS
WQNTACTS
EPA New England
Regional Laboratory
11 Technology Dr.
North Chelmsford, MA
01863
1 (888) 372-7341 (in NE)
1(617)918-8300
www.epa.gov/ne/lab
INTRODUCTION
The EPA New England Regional Laboratory's (NERL) mobile
field laboratory provides rapid, cost-effective, on-site analysis
of air, water and soil samples for the Brownfields, Superfund,
Underground Storage Tank (UST) and Emergency Removal
programs.The on-site analysis that the mobile lab provides
gives site managers, on-scene coordinators and other field
staff immediate information at a site and allows them to make
sound decisions about where and how to remediate. Site
managers use mobile lab sample analysis to characterize a
site, determine the extent of contamination, monitor cleanup
and treatment operations and detect potential sources of
contamination.
The types of field analysis EPA chemists conduct out of the mobile lab include analysis of volatile
organic chemicals (VOCs) such as perchloroethylene (perc), trichloroethylene (TCE) and benzene
in water, soils, sediment, sludge and in waste drums. Staff also test for VOCs in indoor air and in
soil gas; for pesticides in soil and sediment; for asbestos in soils and bulk materials; for heavy
metals in soil, including lead, chromium, arsenic, cadmium, and others; and for polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs) in soil, sediment, sludge and oil. EPA field chemists also conduct immunoassay
tests for such toxics as dioxins, pentachlorophenols, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and
perform wet chemistry tests for dissolved oxygen (DO) and pH in water.
Typically, EPA staff spend four to five days each week working out of the mobile lab, driving from site
to site throughout New England to meet the sampling needs of site managers and on-scene coordina-
tors. Currently, the mobile lab conducts between 30 and 50 percent of all the samples analyzed by the
region's chemistry department and generates a large percentage of the region's fixed lab work.
BENEFITS OF USING THE MOBILE LAB
Use of the mobile lab provides quick turnaround time for sample analysis so the removal action
can proceed without any delay. Mobile analyses maximize efficiency on the job. In addition, waste
continued 3
&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency New England
901-F-03-004C
October 2004
www.epa.gov/ne/lab
® printed on 100% recycled paper, with a minimum of 50% post consumer waste, using vegetable based inks
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characterization makes it possible to determine the most appropriate disposal
method and rapid field analyses allow a program manager to minimize soil
volumes going to high-cost disposal facilities.
GREEN STREET SITE, HQUUTQN, MAINE
This PCB and lead contaminated property was eligible for a removal action.
The on-scene coordinator had samples collected for analysis during the
removal so quick turn around results could be used to determine what soils
had to be excavated. On-site analysis also was used to characterize the waste
for disposal. Disposal costs associated with PCBs greater than 50 ppm are
much greater than costs for the lower level PCB-contaminated soil. PCB
analysis in the mobile lab is done on a portable gas chromatograph. Lead
analysis is conducted in the mobile lab using a field portable X-ray fluores-
cence instrument. Thousands of dollars were saved both in analytical cost
and by minimizing the amount of soil that needed to be disposed at hazard-
ous waste landfills.
NEW FRANKLIN LAUNDRY SITE,
BANBDR, MAINE
Perchloroethylene (perc) used at the New Franklin cleaning facility has
contaminated soils and groundwater at the site. A groundwater plume
contaminated with perc is migrating off the site and has impacted a nearby
residential neighborhood. Perc is also volatilizing out of the groundwater and
entering homes via vapor intrusion. Three studies were performed during
August and September of 2003 and January of 2004 to determine the plume location, extent of contamination on the facility's
property, and which homes were impacted by the contamination plume. Air samples were collected in soil gas around home
foundations, inside home basements (foundation cracks, floor drains etc.) and the first floor living space areas. Samples were
analyzed on-site in the mobile laboratory to determine the impact from the perc plume. In some homes, staff were able to pinpoint
vapor intrusion locations and took remedial action — sometimes within a day of sampling and identification of a problem area.
Quick, accurate, on-site analysis enabled sampling of many homes in the affected neighborhood in a short time period. With
information in hand, it was possible to determine which homes need remediation and which homes needed further testing using
more sophisticated equipment in a fixed site laboratory.
SUMMARY
The Mobile Laboratory provides EPA site managers the ability to conduct timely, cost-effective, efficient, and thorough site charac-
terizations by facilitating the investigation process with rapid analytical information.
EPA New England's mobile field laboratory provides
rapid, cost-effective, on-site analysis
of air, water and soil samples.
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