*>EPA

United States
Environmental
Protection Agency

epa.gov/research

Innovative Science f

Introduction

EPA's Center Hill Research Facility (CHRF) in
Cincinnati, Ohio, is EPA's center of expertise for
sustainable materials management and land
management research. Scientists at CHRF specialize
in contaminant characterization & metals speciation,
sediment/soil contaminant interaction & remediation,
transport of contaminants in the environment, and
waste & materials management.

This research directly supports EPA's National
Research Programs that provide the scientific
foundation needed to protect public health and the
environment, primarily the Sustainable and Healthy
Communities program.

r a Sustainable Future
Facility and Staff

Facility: Located on 18.5 acres of land, the 20,500
square foot facility includes nine laboratories (11,000
ft2), high bay area (4100 ft2), and field research
equipment staging and storage enclosures (5,400 ft2).
CHRF is one of four EPA research facilities in
Cincinnati.

Staff: CHRF staff includes seven EPA employees
and 13 non-federal contractors, post-doctoral fellows,
graduate program participants, student contractors,
and administrative support staff.

Sustainable Materials Management

A systematic approach to using and reusing materials

more productively over their entire lifecycles. This
transformative approach to natural resource use and
environmental protection advances the scientific foun-
dation used to manage and develop innovative solu-
tions for municipal, industrial, biological, and emerging
wastes and materials.

EPA/601/F24/001

The Center Hill Research Facility's High Bay Experimental Area

Capabilities

CHRF's specialized equipment and instrumentation
enables researchers to determine and measure the
chemical and microbiological characteristics of waste,
leachates, soil and sediments. Unique capabilities
include:

•	a High Bay, accommodating pilot- and larger-
scale experiments not possible in standard
laboratories, is equipped with a large-scale
lysimeter, simulated soil columns, waste
composters, and digesters;

•	a suite of equipment for state of-the-art material
and contaminant characterization, including
spectrometers, chromatographs, scanners and
surface analyzers, with an emphasis on metallic
species determination;

•	a Mossbauer Spectrophotometer measures
specific elements (usually iron) in soil and helps
determine how the content affects the bioavaila-
bility of arsenic in soils.

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Facility Contact: David Carson, carson.david@epa.gov

£EPA

CHRF scientists also have access to the Advanced
Photon Source of Argonne National Laboratory in
Illinois, where they apply their expertise to determine
the atomic-level form, fate, and transport characteris-
tics of specific metal contaminants.

Technical Support & Applied Research

CHRF scientists are contributors to EPA's
Engineering Technical Support Center (ETSC),
headquartered in Cincinnati. ETSC delivers expertise

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on the latest methods, approaches, and technologies
to characterize, remediate, and manage pollution at
contaminated sites.

Through ETSC, CHRF scientists provide technical
information and expertise in soil, sediment, and
waste management to EPA regional offices and
Superfund site project managers. Their efforts ensure
the cutting edge research is considered during
complex contaminated site cleanups.

Science Contributions

CHRF scientists lead EPA's sustainable materials and land management research programs. Scientists produce
advanced methods and technologies for more sustainable environmental solutions at sites that often face
environmental justice and climate factors. Research at CHRF is aimed at finding more effective solutions at
contaminated sites, both technically and economically. Scientists address materials that raise risk at disposal sites
and provide tools for waste reduction. CHRF scientists' research efforts continue to minimize environmental and
human health risks from materials when used, reused, recycled, and ultimately disposed of on land. Materials
include municipal, hazardous and electronic waste, and building materials from construction and demolition.

Active research topics include:

•	Characterization and remediation of contaminated soil
and sediments.

•	Essential data on the bioavailability of contaminants in
soil at Superfund sites for site assessors.

•	Research methods to study elevated landfill
temperatures and approaches for addressing them.

•	Long-term performance of waste containment
systems, including composite geosynthetic liner and
cover systems.

•	Landfill bioreactors to actively degrade waste after
disposal, reducing reliance on containment systems.

•	Management of construction and demolition of debris,
including disassembly and reuse of materials.

•	Evaluation of post-closure care options for waste
sites.

•	Assessment of molecular properties of microbial
waste decomposition dynamics.

Notable scientific products & achievements include:

•	Developing data and methods on the bioavailability
of arsenic, lead and other contaminants in soils that
support the selection of less costly, risk-based clean-
up approaches.

•	Creating systems, approaches and models that have
helped transform land and waste management
practices in the United States, including:

•	Waste containment systems using geosynthetic
and natural barriers and liquid collection layers.

•	Waste degradation approaches to minimize foot-
print of waste materials management.

•	Hydrologic Evaluation of Landfill Performance
(HELP) model for leachate estimation.

•	Waste Reduction Model (WARM).

•	Advancing the science underlying the use of passive
treatment options for contaminated surface water at
remote, abandoned mine sites.

•	Pioneering EPA's nanotechnology research program.

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