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HIGHLIGHT/
HIGHLIGHT/ OF THE JPRING 2OO4 TECHNICAL JUPPORT PROJECT (T/P) MEETING
For their Spring 2004 meeting, EPA's Technical Support Project (TSP) teamed for the first time with the National
Association of Remedial Project Managers (NARPM) Annual Training Conference in Miami Beach, May 24-28. The
three forums of the TSP—the Engineering, Federal Facilities, and Ground Water Forums—participated in NARPM's
plenary sessions as well as the technical sessions and training. About a dozen forum members also served as instructors
for the training. Through their participation at NARPM, the TSP hoped to foster stronger ties with RPMs to further their
goal of improving technical outreach and transfer within the regions. During the Tuesday morning plenary session, Rich
Steimle (OSWER), Headquarters' point of contact for the TSP, provided an overview of TSP to conference participants.
This overview included how to contact the Office of Research and Development's (ORD) Technical Support Centers for
technical assistance as well as updates on forum activities, such as the development and availability of technical issue
papers. Mavis Kent (Michigan DNR), a state representative to the Ground Water Forum, summarized the work of the
Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC) on technical guidance, training, and conferences (http://
www.itrcweb.org). The forums also met individually in business sessions to discuss current and future forum activities.
This newsletter highlights these activities. For more information on the topics highlighted, please contact your regional
TSP representative listed at the end of this newsletter.
^^ Contents
Ground Water Forum
Next Meeting
Federal Facilities Forum
Engineering Forum
New Members
Technical Support Project
Regional Contacts
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Ground Water Forum
Several members of the Ground Water
Forum (Steve Mangion, Region 1; Dick
Willey, Region 1; Andy Grassland.
Region 2; Kathy Davies, Region 3; Bill
O'Steen, Region 4; Gregg Lyssy.
Region 6; Jeff Johnson, Region 7; and
Mark Henry, Michigan DNR) presented
site-specific experiences with
delineating DNAPL source areas. A wide
range of sites were represented. Sites
were contaminated with a variety of
chlorinated solvents and creosote and
included both known and unknown
source areas—from small to large and
shallow to deep. The subsurface
geology at the sites ranged from
uniform to complex and from
unconsolidated deposits to fractured
bedrock formations. A variety of
characterization and treatment methods
were implemented at these sites with
varying degrees of success. Forum
members concluded that the overall
take-home message from the
presentations is that there appears to be
no "cookbook" approaches that are
universally applicable to all DNAPL
delineation situations. Therefore, any
guidance on the topic should not be
prescriptive but rather allow for
professional judgement and flexibility in
selecting characterization and treatment
methods. Abstracts and Power Point®
files for these presentations will be
posted soon on the TSP's website at
www.epa.gov/tio/tsp/meetings.htm.
Ruth Izraeli (Region 2) alerted the
forum to a cost/benefit analysis of
source removal versus long-term O&M
contained in the report, The NAPL
Remediation Challenge: Is There a Case
[continued on page 2]
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Recycled/Recyclable
Printed with Soy/Canola Ink on paper thai
contains at least 53% recycled fiber
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Next Meeting
The Fall 2004 TSP meeting is tentatively scheduled for the week of
October 18th in Sacramento, California. The theme of this meeting likely
will be California's list of Emerging Contaminants in Drinking Water,
which include perchlorate, 1,4-dioxane, and arsenic. Presentations
would include treatment technologies for these contaminants, and field
trips will be arranged to McClellan Air Force Base and Aerojet General
Corporation to view ground-water remediation projects for TCE,
radiological contaminants, and perchlorate. If you are interested in
participating in this meeting, contact your regional forum representative
listed at the end of this newsletter.
[continued from page 1]
for Source Depletion? (EPA/600/R-03/
143), which is now available on the
web at http://www.epa.gov/ada/pubs/
reports.html. The report suggests that
source depletion is justified if the
source is less than 20 feet deep, less
than 0.1 acre, and the value of the
property is greater than $lM/acre.
Source depletion may also be justified if
remedial action objectives other than
MCLs are acceptable to all parties. The
report concludes that the source cannot
always be cleaned up to MCLs, but
there may be other reasons to address
the source zone.
Dave Jenkins (Region 4) reported on
the success of using Color Tec
colorimetric gas detector tubes for
assessing the presence of TCE in soil
cores, while drilling wells at an
electroplating site in Florida. The
screening test was used to determine
the best depths to set monitoring well
screens. To screen a sample.
investigators filled a 40-mL vial one-
third full of soil and one-third full of
distilled water. The vial was placed in a
hot water bath for 30 minutes. A
vacuum pump was used to extract air
from the headspace through a needle
and into the detector tube. A color
change in the reagent indicated the
presence of TCE. The Color Tec tubes
are also sensitive to DCE and vinyl
chloride, but the tubes will
underestimate the presence of
chlorinated VOCs if BTEX are present
in the sample. Field experiments
showed that chlorinated VOCs could
be detected using the Color Tec tube
directly in the RotoSonic sample bag
in a manner similar to screening a
RotoSonic-drilled core with a PID or
FID. This method allows the
investigator to keep up with progress
of the drill rig. Furthermore, it reliably
shows zones where chlorinated VOCs
are not detected (reportedly down to 8
ppb), and can detect the most
contaminated vertical segment in a
plume. Dave's abstract and Power
Point® file will be posted soon on the
TSP's website at www.epa.gov/tio/tsp/
meetings.htm.
Andy Grassland (Region 2) provided
an update on the Ground Water
Forum's efforts to create a database of
Superfund and RCRA sites where low
detection level analyses for 1,4-dioxane
have been conducted. With data from
almost all of the regions, the database
currently contains 53 sites in 17 states.
The forum discussed appropriate next
steps and concluded that it should: 1)
pass the information to interested
parties at EPA Headquarters and in the
states; and 2) prepare a short writeup
that can be used in the regions to
increase the awareness of this
emerging issue.
Ken Lovelace (Headquarters/OSRTI)
announced that the Ground Water Task
Force, a workgroup established under
EPA's "One Cleanup Program," has
posted two option papers for review on
their website (http://gwtf.clu-in.org/
papers/default.cfm#options): 1)
Cleanup Goals Appropriate for
DNAPL Source Zones; and 2) Ground
Water Use, Value and Vulnerability as
Factors in Setting Cleanup Goals. He
asked that the Ground Water Forum
and other interested parties to review
the option papers to determine whether
or not the papers comprehen-sively
identify the issues of national
stakeholders (described in the
"problem statements" section) and
which options they would prefer the
Agency to pursue to address these
issues. The task force will compile
comments (due July 31st) and develop a
set of recommendations to OSWER
management.
Federal Facilities Forum
The Federal Facilities Forum
conducted a regional "roundup" of hot
issues affecting federal facilities in each
EPA region. Renee Wynn then updated
the forum on recent activities and
strategies implemented by the Federal
Facilities Restoration and Reuse Office
(FFRRO) to address these issues.
[continued on page 3]
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[continued from page 2]
which included perchlorate, BRAC
'05, performance-based contracting.
performance-based RODs, privatized
cleanup, FUDS, emerging
contaminants, and the Department of
Energy's Risk-Based End State
Initiative.
Stacie Driscoll (Region 3)
demonstrated a proposed streamlined
format for CERCLA RODs, which has
been presented to the Streamlining
Task Force for future consideration at
federal facilities. The format is
explained in a new manual, which is
accompanied by a navigable CD-ROM
containing the streamlined ROD with
links to reference documents for
further information. In addition to
being archived on CD-ROMs, RODs
developed in the new format can also
be web-based. Stacie raised the
possibility of streamlining other
documents, such as remedial action
construction closeout reports.
The Federal Facilities Forum discussed
plans to write an issue paper on
perchlorate contamination. The issue
paper, which will be drafted by Tetra
Tech, will focus on the treatment of
perchlorate (both in-situ and ex-situ
techniques), but will also touch on the
general chemistry of perchlorate and
the appropriate analytical methods. The
target completion date for the issue
paper is Fall 2004.
Engineering Forum
Mike Gill (Region 9's ORD Hazardous
Substance Technical Liaison)
announced that the latest Engineering
Forum Issue Paper, Introduction to
Energy and Production at Waste
Cleanup Sites (May 2004, EPA 542-S-
04-001), will be available on
www.cluin.org on July 1st. The paper.
which will help RPMs apply an energy
efficiency approach to waste site
cleanups, features descriptions of
cleanups at four sites: two sites
involving energy conservation/
reduction and two sites involving
energy production. There are plans for
a follow-up software tool to
accompany the issue paper. This tool
will be a web-based energy calculator
that allows RPMs to estimate energy
use at site cleanups. The calculator is
applicable to 13 different cleanup
technologies.
The Engineering Forum is pushing
ahead with its plans to update the
Remedial Design/Remedial Action
Handbook (June 1995, EPA 540/R-95/
059). Once funding for the project is
lined up, forum members plan to
update the handbook to better
accommodate the more recent "One
Cleanup Program" concept. The
updated handbook will use program-
neutral language to provide a general
scheme for design and construction
concepts, while providing web-based
references to reach specific program
requirements.
Dave Reisman (EPA National Risk
Management Research Laboratory
[NRMRL] in Cincinnati) reported that
NRMRL is updating five previously
published Engineering Bulletins on
bioremediation, remediation of PCBs.
in-situ chemical oxidation, mining
issues, and in-situ soil remediation.
Once NRMRL and the Engineering
Forum have reviewed the updated
bulletins, they will make them available
for external review before final
publication.
New Members
The TSP is always seeking new
members to participate in
activities of the Ground Water,
Engineering, and Federal
Facilities Forums. If you are
interested, please contact your
regional TSP representative or
a forum co-chair listed at the
end of this newsletter. A
complete list of contact
information is available at
www. epa. go v/tio/tsp/
member.htm.
Ed Mead (U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers) indicated that the Screening
Data Collection Paper he is developing
with the Engineering Forum is ready
for a final review. The paper, which is
also being developed into an ASTM
guide, will help RPMs to select and
obtain the required physical and
chemical treatment process design data
at contaminated sites early in the
investigation stage. The paper contains
tables summarizing what data to
collect for in-situ and ex-situ soil and
water treatment technologies, as well
as the corresponding field and
laboratory analytical methods.
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Technical Support Project Regional Contacts
REGION 1
REGION 2
REGION 3
REGION 4
REGION 5
REGION 6
REGION 7
REGION 8
REGION 9
GROUND WATER FORUM
Bill Brandon
Ernie Waterman
Richard Willey*
Robert Alvey
Andy Grassland
Ruth Izraeli
Kevin Willis
Kathy Davies
Joel Hennessy
Dave Jenkins
BillO'Steen
Kay Wischkaemper
Dave Petrovski
Luanne Vanderpool
David Wilson
Dave Abshire
Greg Lyssy
Vince Malott
Dave Drake
Jeff Johnson*
Bill Pedicino
Helen Dawson
Rich Muza
Kathy Baylor
Glenn Bruck
Rich Freitas
Herb Levine
FEDERAL FACILITIES FORUM
Christine Williams*
Paul Ingrisano
Stacie Driscoll
Steve Hirsh
Jim Barksdale
Lila Koroma-Llamas
Robert Pope
Gene Jablonowski
David Seely
Mike Overbay
Chris Villarreal
Scott Marquess
Jim Kiefer*
Judith McCulley
Glenn Kistner
ENGINEERING FORUM
Ray Cody
Sharon Hayes*
Mark Granger
Hilary Thornton
Frank Vavra
Jon Bornholm
Carmen Santiago-Ocasio
Leo Romanowski
Kaushalya Khanna
Bernard Schorle*
Karen Mason-Smith
Tony Holoska
Gene Keepper*
Carlos Sanchez
Steve Kinser
Fran Costanzi
Bill Rothenmeyer
Harold Ball
REGION 10
Curt Black
Rene Fuentes
Howard Orlean
Jonathan Williams
Bernie Zavala
Harry Craig*
Neil Thompson
* Denotes Forum Co-Chair
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