EPA 950-R-19-002 /May 2019 Regional Laboratory Network 2018 Annual Report ------- Regional Laboratory Network 2018 Annual Report | Page 5 of 94 Guam Trust Territories American Samoa Northern Mariana Islands -o Figure 1, Map of the 10 EPA Regions ------- I Regional Laboratory Network 2018 Annual Report | Page 11 of 94 Providing for Clean and Safe Water EPA works with states, tribes, territories; and local communities to better safeguard human health; maintain, restore, and improve water quality; and make America's water systems sustainable and secure, supporting new technology and innovation wherever possible. Emergency Response to Hurricanes The Region 4 Science and Ecosystem Support Division (SESD) Regional Laboratory supported the Bay County Florida residents during the devastation of Hurricane Michael. SESD deployed the regional mobile laboratory and provide field inspections to support local drinking water and wastewater plants, SESD engineers conducted Infrastructure Assessments for the wastewater facilities that were inoperable due to the hurricane and developed Assessment Reports that were used for FEMA and Bay County to estimate the cost of the damages. SESD microbiologists analyzed 411 drinking water samples for total coliform and E. coli to support the drinking water facilities that were unable to analyze samples. This support was critical to end the Boiling Water Alert in the area and ensure that residents had access to safe drinking water. -*v ¦ % NMMiiMMM ------- Regional Laboratory Network 2018 Annual Report | Page 14 of 94 Acid mine drainage is caused when water (rain water, groundwater, snowmelt, pond water) flows over and through sulfur-bearing materials forming sulfuric acid. Heavy metals can be leached from rocks by contact with the resulting acidic waters. Ultimately, acid mine drainage causes environmental degradation that includes damaging impacts to aquatic resources in the receiving waters. In Region 9, over 1.5 million data points were collected at 23 monitoring stations associated with several acid mine drainage sites in 2018. Satellite and cellular telemetry connected to the stations allows real-time year- round water quality and flow monitoring by site Remedial Project Managers from their desktops. • Argonaut Mine - Continuous monitoring data (12 locations, 505,520 data points) collected at the Argonaut Mine in Jackson, CA was used to develop engineering controls to minimize acid mine drainage and prevent an environmentally catastrophic mine spill. The Argonaut Mine Site is a former hard rock gold mine in Jackson, CA. Portions of the site's soil have high levels of arsenic, lead, mercury, and other metals. Waste from the mine is held back by a concrete arch dam. The dam was determined to be unstable in 2015 with the potential for a catastrophic failure that could have resulted in loss of life and $100 million in damages. EPA is coordinating with the California Environmental Protection Agency's (CalEPA) Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to stabilize the concrete arch dam and to construct a stormwater diversion system behind the dam, to prevent water from pooling and increasing the load on the dam. This site was listed on the National Priorities List in September 2016. • Copper Bluff - In 2018, EPA proposed the addition of the Copper Bluff Mine Site to the National Priorities List. The continuous water level, flow and conductivity data (1 location, 70,080 data points) collected by the Region 9 Laboratory's field team was a key contributing element to the decision-making process. The Copper Bluff Mine is an abandoned copper, zinc, silver and gold mine located within the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation. The mine's primary entrance, or adit, is 300 feet above the Trinity River. The Trinity River is federally recognized as a "Wild and Scenic River." Heavy metals released from the mine could be hazardous to the tribal subsistence fishery in the ------- Regional Laboratory Network 2018 Annual Report | Page 15 of 94 Trinity River and the habitat for the threatened Coho Salmon. In addition, Tribal and non-tribal pedestrians are exposed to the acid mine drainage and the associated orange sludge on a variety of frequented paths within the Reservation. • Iron Mountain Mine - Iron Mountain Mine (IMM) is a former iron, silver, gold, copper, zinc and pyrite mine. The installation and operation of a full-scale neutralization system and the construction and operation of the Slickrock Creek Retention Reservoir to collect contaminated runoff for treatment have significantly reduced acid and metal contamination in surface waters at the site. The continuous water quality and flow monitoring systems installed in the watershed by the Region 9 Laboratory provide real time data (5 stations, 525,600 data points) on the efficacy of the treatment systems and the variability of the quality of waters discharging from the site. The discharges, via Spring Creek, flow to the Sacramento River, the drinking water source for 35% of California. More recently, the stations have started monitoring increases in turbidity due to wildfire damage in the watershed. • Leviathan Mine - Leviathan Mine is an abandoned open-pit sulfur mine on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada. The mine is 24 miles southeast of Lake Tahoe and acid mine drainage has contaminated a 9- mile stretch of mountain creeks. Continuous water quality and flow monitoring provided by the Region 9 Laboratory was initially used to characterize the variability of water quality leaving the site at various time scales: daily, monthly and seasonally. As in the case of IMM, after the implementation of treatment measures, the monitoring (4 locations, 420,480 data points) has been used to evaluate the efficacy and consistency of the treatment systems and to provide a check on the water quality of the receiving waters. • Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine - The Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine is an abandoned open pit mercury mine that is located on the shoreline of Clear Lake in California. The mine introduced mercury to bottom sediments in Clear Lake, and the levels of mercury in fish from the lake led the State to issue an advisory to limit consumption of fish. Real time continuous depth data (1 location, 70,080 data points) collected by the Region 9 Laboratory in the Herman Impoundment, a flooded acidic open pit on the site, is monitored to check for potential overflow into Clear Lake during severe rain events. The monitoring enabled emergency response personnel to add a berm to the outflow structure that prevented such a discharge this past winter. ------- Regional Laboratory Network 2018 Annual Report | Page 17 of 94 Southside Chattanooga Lead Site Region 4 SESD conducted a Remedial Investigation (RI) at the Southside Chattanooga Lead (SCL) Site in Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee. The site consisted of residential neighborhoods and communal areas (such as schools, parks, and daycare facilities} where lead-impacted foundry material has been used as fill material and topsoil. The investigation focused on eight neighborhoods in the downtown Chattanooga area: Alton Park, Cowart Place, East Lake, Highland Park, Jefferson Heights, Oak Grove, Richmond, and Southside Gardens. The investigation was conducted to define the nature and extent of lead contamination at the site. The collected data was utilized to assess the potential human and ecological risks that may be resulted from exposure to the contaminated materials. Additionally, soil XRF data were used by the On-Scene Coordinator to identify properties above the emergency response action level. Ensuring Safety of Chemicals Chemicals and pesticides released into the environment as a result of their manufacture, processing, use, or disposal can threaten human health and the environment. EPA gathers and assesses information about the risks associated with chemicals and pesticides to allow more rapid and accurate assessment Suspicious Cattle Deaths Associated with Coumaphos Application Coumaphos (found in Co-Ral) is an effective pesticide that has been widely used in Texas to kill ticks on cattle which cause Cattle Fever (bovine babesiosis). Cattle had been quarantined in 8 counties in south Texas along the Mexican border due to the severity of Cattle Fever in the area. In order to treat these cattle, the animal is put into a small enclosure, called a spray box, so that the treatment spray (Co-Ral) can be administered and contained inside the box. Several cattle died after receiving this treatment, which led to an investigation by the Texas Agriculture Commissioner (TAC) into the cause. One of the main suspects for the deaths ------- Regional Laboratory Network 2018 Annual Report | Page 21 of 94 Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators Workshop for Central America The WWTP Operators Workshop provided training to WWTP operators from Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Dominican Republic. The workshop also included visits to three wastewater treatment plants (Los Tajos WWTP, Lindora WWTP and Santa Ana WWTP) to perform field exercise activities (dissolved oxygen measurement profile, pH readings, settlometer tests, etc.). The workshop was part of an ongoing effort between USEPA and The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), under an USEPA-USAID Participating Agency Service Agreement (PASA), to support the environmental obligations under the CAFTA-DR and the Environmental Cooperation Agreement (ECA), The workshop also helped develop the ability of local operators to address WWTP process control and operational activities effectively, thus supporting the protection of the water quality of the waterways. Several countries benefited from the workshop presentations and field activities. In addition, a network of professionals was developed to continue to support a joint effort to develop sustainable wastewater treatment systems and strengthening of the wastewater management in the Region. On August 2018, Region 4 SESD engineers conducted the first Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Operators Workshop for the Dominican Republic- Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR). The workshop consisted of discussions concerning the design, maintenance, process control, operation and management factors limiting treatment performance on municipal wastewater treatment plants and provide recommendations to improve plant operation and performance. USEPA-SESD has been supporting the CAFTA-DR environmental projects with technical leads of wastewater regulations workshops and diagnostic evaluations of WWTPs. ------- Regional Laboratory Network 2018 Annual Report | Page 22 of 94 Environmental Sustainability in CAFTA-DR and Panama Note: Information referenced from "The Regional CAFTA-DR Environmental Program from USAID, Building A Sustainable Future" 2018 Brochure. The people of the United States, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), using the framework of the Free Trade Agreement between Central America, Dominican Republic, the United States (CAFTA-DR), and Panama have contributed to the prosperity of the signatory countries and improved the environmental performance of the region. Based on this agreement, Central America and Dominican Republic are advancing towards reaching their goal of sustainable development, improving the environmental standards in order to favor economic growth and having the most minimal impact possible on the environment. As a result of the environmental cooperation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA- Region 4 SESD) and The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the CAFTA-DR context, Central America and Dominican Republic are utilizing a regional Standard Waste Water Model as a template, which is a scientific methodology that established 12 basic elements for developing and implementing regulatory programs for the discharge of effluents. In this regard, the countries have initiated a process of discussion and socialization of the standard at the public-private levels, so they can slowly begin to lay the foundations in order to adapt this regional instrument to national regulations. USEPA - Region 4 developed technical reports for each treatment plant identifying opportunities for optimizing operations to improve treatment and energy use efficiency. Cocabel, Wastewater Treatment Plant, Lempira, Honduras USEPA-Region 4 SESD helped to improve the scientific capacity of regional laboratories in accurately determining the quality of the wastewater discharge. This project strengthened the technical skills and knowledge of the staff from 12 laboratories from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Dominican Republic. This made ------- Regional Laboratory Network 2018 Annual Report | Page 23 of 94 it possible to develop an inter-comparison process among laboratories and to work with samples to determine the efficiency and assertiveness of the results from each of them. This work allowed for a pre-certification of laboratories and helped establish a wastewater reference network between the CAFTA-DR countries and Panama that will help to increase the sustainability of water resources in the region. The laboratories were selected according to their high institutional commitment to train others, their operational quality control systems, their satisfactory participation in tests among different laboratories, the technical competency of their personnel, their adequate training and laboratory infrastructure, as well as their hierarchical organizational position that does not generate conflicts of interest. Water and Physical-Chemical Services Laboratory, Universidad de Chiriqui, Panama. 7th Africa Water Week/ African Ministers Council on Water Conference The Laboratory Capacity Building Team (Region 4 LSASD and ORD Cincinnati) composed 3 presentations for the 7th Africa Water Week/ African Ministers Council on Water Conference in Libreville, Gabon. These presentations described the results of a joint US Environmental Protection Agency/ The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) Drinking Water Laboratory Capacity program. The overall goal was to ensure the delivery of clean water in urban areas by building the capacity of laboratories for sampling and analysis of water. Ensuring the validity and reliability of data through a documented quality system protects public health by providing a sound scientific ------- Regional Laboratory Network 2018 Annual Report | Page 26 of 94 The first priority was to fill data gaps associated with a human health risk assessment of exposure to sediment and surface water for tribal use scenarios. The sampling events were a coordinated effort led by EPA Region 6, but involved sampling conducted by Region 7, Oklahoma State agencies, tribal members and others. Over 1400 samples were taken and analyzed resulting in 8,353 results from 14 sample sets for this site. There were 17 separate analytical methods requested, with a focus on metals (lead) and mercury. Region 7 chemists ground and analyzed the 400 tissue samples (plant, various mammals, fish, frogs, mussels) providing a service to the field teams and saving the agency money. Nine months later to meet the screening criteria for human health risk assessments, the Project Manager requested that all the results be modified to report down to the method detection limits instead of the originally reported limits. The analyses performed by the Region 7 laboratory resulted in a $104,700 commercial value per year. The data transmitted to the project managers provided the risk data for the states and tribes. Additionally, the data will be incorporated into a final Human Health Risk Assessment, then to a Remedial Investigation and further into remedy decisions for two watersheds and the four Superfund sites of the Tri-State Mining District (covering two EPA regions, three states, and several tribes). diz*tv ------- Regional Laboratory Network 2018 Annual Report | Page 31 of 94 The study had multiple unique characteristics including long duration, site-specific meteorology, measurement of multiple air pollutant species, and use of a wide variety of sampling methods and instrumentation including; traditional Federal Reference methods (FRM), lower-cost sensor packages, citizen science, and mobile monitoring techniques. The six fixed monitoring sites employed FRM devices incorporating both Teflon and Quartz fiber filters to measure both PM2.5 and elemental carbon/organic carbon (EC/OC). Non FRM sampling included a lower cost sensor package, called the P-POD, employing sensors streaming 1- minute PM2.5 and EC/OC concentration data. The P-POD adds particulate matter to the sensor pod (S-PQD). Additionally, beta attenuation monitors (EBAMs) were incorporated at selected fixed monitoring sites. The citizen science monitoring program used portable, battery powered units logging 10-second PM2.5 data, and the mobile monitoring campaign employed an instrumented electric vehicle, GMAP (Geospatial Measurement of Air Pollution), recording 1-second ultrafine PM and BC (black carbon) data. The citizen science monitors were based on EPA's Air Mapper design. The original Air Mapper design/build concept was significantly modified and updated by Region 7 scientists incorporating 3-D printing technology to locally manufacture an inventory of Air Mappers sufficient to support multiple deployments of citizen scientists over several weeks. The Air Mappers employed rechargeable battery power, global positioning system, optical particle sensor estimating PM1/PM2.5/PM10, C02, and other sensors including accelerometer, noise, temperature, and relative humidity. In total, this one-year data collection and monitoring effort yielded over 385 million data points that will be used for instrument intercomparison and source characterization purposes. The collection of a large volume of data, coupled with high time and spatial resolution meteorology, PM and BC concentrations allows the researchers to document and ascertain the potential impacts from many source categories. Region 7 scientists will continue to collaborate with ORD researchers during the data analysis phase of this study to further elucidate the relative impact of a wide variety of transportation related sources in these Kansas City, KS neighborhoods. ------- Regional Laboratory Network 2018 Annual Report | Page 32 of 94 Improving Efficiency and Effectiveness EPA is working to modernize and improve business processes and operations to promote transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness, and improve the capabilities and cost-effectiveness of its information technology and information management systems. Quality Assurance Guidance for Citizen Science The Region 1 Office of Environmental Measurement and Evaluation's Quality Assurance Unit, in conjunction with the Headquarters Office of Research and Development and Office of Mission Support, led a national initiative in developing quality assurance guidance for citizen science projects. The purpose of the guidance is to provide citizen scientists with tools and procedures that can help document the quality of data to achieve an intended purpose. The guidance should be released to the public in the Spring of 2019. NX Quality Assurance & Documentation "Ntvetdaubt ihatajiwffjraupof iftoughifct mchms*theimrid, t is the only thing that ever hoi' SEFAi * o o a z < HI |H 1 u 1 m li Quality Assurance & Documentation SEFA' ~ CITIZEN SCIENCE Quality Assurance & Documentation SERV Lil < X LU Lab Efficiencies and Effectiveness Region 7 chemists and support staff embraced LEAN and ELMS activities to improve laboratory performance while responding to customer needs. Their most notable accomplishment this year was to submit all sample data on-time with a standard 30 day turn-around. They improved their performance using lean tools, focusing on Program/State mission results, improving customer service, and being accountable resource stewards. ------- Regional Laboratory Network 2018 Annual Report | Page 33 of 94 For the last four years, the team has conducted 2-3 mini- lean events annually to understand and improve operations resulting in a savings of $30,000 per year on sample container procurement and streamlined data reviews to less thanlO days. They used an ELMS flow board to track and revise over 80 SOPs within a two- month period. They have begun the process to transition to electronic data review and analysis transmittals to save agency paper procurement to the tune of 600 boxes annually. Our laboratory chemists constantly look for ways to improve the analytical methods which reduce preparation times and hazardous waste costs. The team supported a new extraction for semi-volatile compounds which requires no solvents, and which has lower detection limits with smaller sample aliquots. The team's analytical products are used by the programs for enforcement, monitoring and human health evaluations. This year, 100% of the data generated by EPA was delivered to the customer on time with an average delivery of 12 days before the due date and with a standard delivery of 30 days. Over 50 of the 370 projects had shorter due dates of 3 or 7 days. This year, the chemists completed the analysis of 17,266 samples generating 262,255 results meeting all the agency required quality controls. 100% of the CLP sample data was reviewed for completeness and acceptability. In each of the LEAN events, the team invited customers to participate so that their needs were incorporated. One improvement was to request one electronic survey to respond to RCRA disposal guidance and customer service, replacing two paper forms. Initial responses were low, and the team developed talking points to be shared with customers. At the end of the year, the team receives greater than 95% of the surveys with a single reminder. Any complaints were addressed quickly. Out of 433 responses, only 10 had complaints; less than 2% complaint rate. Because the team is focused on the return on investments that the programs have made, they are looking for ways to be good stewards of EPA's resources while addressing the region's needs. Towards that end, they have eliminated 12 rarely used analytical methods. They have partnered with the states in the region, analyzing quarterly water samples saving Nebraska over $45,000 annually. They have implemented sample analysis for Pesticide Enforcement Inspections with one new method incorporating many analytes. They continue to analyze fish tissue samples for health advisories, completing 875 samples SOP huddle board in the first month SOP huddle board after 2 months, completing 80 SOP revisions. ------- |