U.S. EPA Contaminated Site Cleanup Information (CLU-IN)


U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
U.S. EPA's Technology Innovation Program

For more information on Internet Seminars, please contact:

Jean Balent
Technology Integration and Information Branch

PH: (703) 603-9924 | Email: balent.jean@epa.gov

Upcoming Live Web Events

CLU-IN's ongoing series of Internet Seminars are free, web-based slide presentations with a companion audio portion. We provide two options for accessing the audio portion of the seminar: by phone line or streaming audio simulcast. More information and registration for all Internet Seminars is available by selecting the individual seminar below. Not able to make one of our live offerings? You may also view archived seminars.

Some comments we've received about Internet Seminars. . .
 
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Download seminar information in iCalendar formatComputational Toxico...

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Download seminar information in iCalendar formatITRC Quality Conside...

Quality Considerations for Munitions Response Projects

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Download seminar information in iCalendar formatITRC Survey of Munit...

Survey of Munitions Response Technologies

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Computational Toxicology: Chemical Prioritization / Rapid Assay Techniques

The Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP), in collaboration with the US Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI), presents the Spring/Summer 2009 edition of Risk eLearning: "Computational Toxicology: New Approaches for the 21st Century." This series of online seminars will provide an introduction to the key concepts of computational toxicology along with case studies demonstrating the utility of these approaches (e.g. high throughput screening, computer modeling, informatics) to risk assessment.

The National Research Council's Toxicology in the 21st Century report is advocating for greater acceptance of the pathway-based toxicity testing conducted mostly in in vitro systems. Recent advances in science and technology do provide unique opportunities to probe normal physiology and disease biology to an unprecedented depth. Ivan Rusyn, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Environmental Sciences & Engineering, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will highlight the tools and techniques that enable pathway-based toxicity testing and considers the challenges and opportunities that new science brings to the practice of toxicology.

For the second presentation Richard Judson, Ph.D., Bioinformatician, National Center for Computational Toxicology, U.S. EPA, will give an overview of ACToR. ACToR (Aggregated Computational Toxicology Resource) is a collection of databases collated or developed by the US EPA National Center for Computational Toxicology (NCCT). More than 200 sources of publicly available data on environmental chemicals have been brought together and made searchable by chemical name and other identifiers, and by chemical structure. Data includes chemical structure, physico-chemical values, in vitro assay data and in vivo toxicology data. Chemicals include, but are not limited to, high and medium production volume industrial chemicals, pesticides (active and inert ingredients), and potential ground and drinking water contaminants.

Approaches to Pesticide Cumulative Risk Assessment: Policy, Practice, Experimentation

ORD and EPA's Regions are sponsoring this series of publicly accessible seminars as a forum for discussing the current state of the art and practice of Cumulative Risk Assessment (CRA). These seminars will provide information regarding guidance, resources, and recommendations for real world CRA for regulatory and non-regulatory applications. This seminar series is, in part, preparation for the EPA ORD/Regional Workshop on CRA being hosted by Region 5 in Chicago, IL for July 28-30, 2009. The seminar series is publicly open in support of advancing CRA while the workshop will primarily be internal to EPA to enhance policy and other deliberative discussions.

Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (SRI) 10th Anniversary: Celebrating Success

EPA's Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (SRI) celebrates its 10-year Anniversary in 2009! To mark this event, EPA is hosting a diverse series of CLU-IN internet seminars featuring Superfund site reuse success stories. This and successive webinars will present reuse case studies on multi use, renewable energy, ecological reuse, and commercial reuse.

Triad Month Session 1: Introduction to Triad

A little over a year ago, over 260 individuals gathered from the U.S. and abroad at UMass-Amherst in Massachusetts to discuss the use of the Triad Approach to conduct investigations and remedial actions faster, better, and at a reduced cost. The Triad Community of Practice (CoP) decided to update and repackage several of those same sessions to benefit the greater CLU-IN audience that either may not have been able to attend the conference, or were not able to attend a specific presentation while at the conference. By doing this, we hope you too can learn more about some of the Triad tools and how they have been applied by your colleagues in the environmental industry.

Today's session is the first in a series of seven sessions collectively comprising Triad Month on CLU-IN. During this two-hour seminar, we will introduce students to the basic elements of the Triad approach and process. This seminar, which is primarily for managers and non-technical staff, describes processes for improving the performance of a project during setup, site characterization, and remediation/reuse and provides numerous "how to" examples of Triad processes. Instructors for this session include Robert Howe with Tetra Tech EMI and Kym Takasaki with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

See also the calendar for August 2009 at CLU-IN (http://www.clu-in.org/training/) for more details about all seven sessions being offered during Triad Month.

Triad Month Session 2: Triad Communications and Systematic Planning

A little over a year ago, over 260 individuals gathered from the U.S. and abroad at UMass-Amherst in Massachusetts to discuss the use of the Triad Approach to conduct investigations and remedial actions faster, better, and at a reduced cost. The Triad Community of Practice (CoP) decided to update and repackage several of those same sessions to benefit the greater CLU-IN audience that either may not have been able to attend the conference, or were not able to attend a specific presentation while at the conference. By doing this, we hope you too can learn more about some of the Triad tools and how they have been applied by your colleagues in the environmental industry.

Today's session is the second in a series of seven sessions collectively comprising Triad Month on CLU-IN. In two successive presentations, this 1.5-hour session will examine the use of Triad in communications and systematic planning. The first presentation by Thomas Palaia, CH2M Hill, prescribes a data management and decision support system as a critical success factor to sustain the long-term viability of Triad via incorporation of Triad data into the overall site management decision making. The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate that integration of this toolset can fulfill the data management needs of a Triad project as well as serve a long-term use as a full life-cycle environmental remediation database and decision support system. The second offering by Robert Howe of Tetra Tech EMI discusses work products and strategies for building consensus visions at sites. Lessons learned and examples of what has worked and not worked at sites in various stages of the planning and implementation process will be presented. Methods for bringing consensus vision with stakeholders during project design will be discussed in the context of real-world examples from the U.S. EPA Brownfields, Superfund, and RCRA technical support programs.

See also the calendar for August 2009 at CLU-IN (http://www.clu-in.org/training/) for more details about all seven sessions being offered during Triad Month.

Triad Month Session 3: Triad During RD/RA

A little over a year ago, over 260 individuals gathered from the U.S. and abroad at UMass-Amherst in Massachusetts to discuss the use of the Triad Approach to conduct investigations and remedial actions faster, better, and at a reduced cost. The Triad Community of Practice (CoP) decided to update and repackage several of those same sessions to benefit the greater CLU-IN audience that either may not have been able to attend the conference, or were not able to attend a specific presentation while at the conference. By doing this, we hope you too can learn more about some of the Triad tools and how they have been applied by your colleagues in the environmental industry.

Today's session is the third in a series of seven sessions collectively comprising Triad Month on CLU-IN. This two-hour session will look to dispel the common perception that Triad is simply a tool used during characterization. To meet that objective, we will be re-delivering two of the selected presentation from the June 2008 conference on this topic. The first is a case study involving Seymour Johnson AFB in North Carolina, where future first planning, Triad techniques, and performance-based contracting strategies were employed to accelerate site closure. The second is a demonstration of one of the many useful tools in the Triad toolbox — Spatial Analysis and Decision Assistance (SADA). In addition to learning more about SADA, the instructor will use a removal action to demonstrate the use of this useful Triad technique.

See also the calendar for August 2009 at CLU-IN (http://www.clu-in.org/training/) for more details about all seven sessions being offered during Triad Month.

Triad Month Session 4: Triad Measurement Techniques

A little over a year ago, over 260 individuals gathered from the U.S. and abroad at UMass-Amherst in Massachusetts to discuss the use of the Triad Approach to conduct investigations and remedial actions faster, better, and at a reduced cost. The Triad Community of Practice (CoP) decided to update and repackage several of those same sessions to benefit the greater CLU-IN audience that either may not have been able to attend the conference, or were not able to attend a specific presentation while at the conference. By doing this, we hope you too can learn more about some of the Triad tools and how they have been applied by your colleagues in the environmental industry.

Today's session is the fourth in a series of seven sessions collectively comprising Triad Month on CLU-IN. In two successive presentations, this two-hour session will examine the use of Triad measurement techniques. The first presentation by Seth Pitkin of Stone Environmental, "High Resolution Groundwater Characterization Methods and the Triad Approach," examines the principle of reducing sampling uncertainty as an essential element in reducing the uncertainty associated with key site management decisions. The second offering by Dr. Mark Kram of Groundswell Technologies, Inc., "Hydraulic Parameter and Mass Flux Distribution Using the High-Resolution Piezocone and GMS," will demonstrate the use of the high-resolution piezocone direct push sensor probe to determine direction and rate of ground water flow in three dimensions.

See also the calendar for August 2009 at CLU-IN (http://www.clu-in.org/training/) for more details about all seven sessions being offered during Triad Month.

Triad Month Session 5: Triad Implementation

A little over a year ago, over 260 individuals gathered from the U.S. and abroad at UMass-Amherst in Massachusetts to discuss the use of the Triad Approach to conduct investigations and remedial actions faster, better, and at a reduced cost. The Triad Community of Practice (CoP) decided to update and repackage several of those same sessions to benefit the greater CLU-IN audience that either may not have been able to attend the conference, or were not able to attend a specific presentation while at the conference. By doing this, we hope you too can learn more about some of the Triad tools and how they have been applied by your colleagues in the environmental industry.

Today's session is the fifth in a series of seven sessions collectively comprising Triad Month on CLU-IN. In two successive presentations, this 1.5-hour session will examine the implementation of Triad principles and processes. The first presentation by Nick Nigro of ECCS Nationwide Mobile Laboratories, "Programmatic Implementation of the Triad Approach within a State Reimbursement Program" presents the successful experience of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) program to remediate local agricultural supply dealerships using the Triad approach. Sharon Budney of CDM is making the second presentation, "Effective Funding Management Approaches for Triad Investigations." This presentation describes successful funding and budget management approaches used to implement the Triad approach during the remedial investigation at the Emmell's Septic Landfill Superfund Site located in Galloway Township, New Jersey.

See also the calendar for August 2009 at CLU-IN (http://www.clu-in.org/training/) for more details about all seven sessions being offered during Triad Month.

Triad Month Session 6: Triad Case Studies

A little over a year ago, over 260 individuals gathered from the U.S. and abroad at UMass-Amherst in Massachusetts to discuss the use of the Triad Approach to conduct investigations and remedial actions faster, better, and at a reduced cost. The Triad Community of Practice (CoP) decided to update and repackage several of those same sessions to benefit the greater CLU-IN audience that either may not have been able to attend the conference, or were not able to attend a specific presentation while at the conference. By doing this, we hope you too can learn more about some of the Triad tools and how they have been applied by your colleagues in the environmental industry.

Today's session is the sixth in a series of seven sessions collectively comprising Triad Month on CLU-IN. During this two-hour session, two Triad practitioners will present case studies of the Triad approach. In the first case study, "Characterizing a Complex TCE Groundwater Plume, Eliminating Suspected Source Areas, and Reducing Investigation Costs for a RCRA RFI at Shaw AFB, SC," Jonathan Shireman of Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure, will demonstrate how the Triad approach was successfully used to complete a RCRA Facility Investigation in a complex geologic setting with highly sensitive land use at Shaw Air Force Base. For the second case study, Kym Takasaki with the U.S Army Corp of Engineers, will present a case study on "Using Environmental Visualization System (EVS) Modeling to Develop Remediation Alternatives."

See also the calendar for August 2009 at CLU-IN (http://www.clu-in.org/training/) for more details about all seven sessions being offered during Triad Month.

Triad Month Session 7: Dynamic Work Strategies

A little over a year ago, over 260 individuals gathered from the U.S. and abroad at UMass-Amherst in Massachusetts to discuss the use of the Triad Approach to conduct investigations and remedial actions faster, better, and at a reduced cost. The Triad Community of Practice (CoP) decided to update and repackage several of those same sessions to benefit the greater CLU-IN audience that either may not have been able to attend the conference, or were not able to attend a specific presentation while at the conference. By doing this, we hope you too can learn more about some of the Triad tools and how they have been applied by your colleagues in the environmental industry.

Today's session is the seventh (and last) in a series of seven sessions collectively comprising Triad Month on CLU-IN. During this two-hour session, two Triad practitioners will present case studies of the Triad approach. In the first case study, "Real Time CSM Visualization and Feedback," Mr. John Sohl of Columbia Technologies will demonstrate concepts as well as case studies regarding one of the most challenging aspects of the Triad toolbox — that being able to both process large data sets as well as incorporate them into an evolving CSM, visually, so that both onsite and offsite project stakeholders can "see" the current investigation status. The second case study takes those concepts up a notch in terms of volume of data to manage and the duration of the program of interest. Between these two presentations, you will be better equipped prior to your next project planning process of potential means to manage data onsite and convert empirical 2-D results into more useable formats.

See also the calendar for August 2009 at CLU-IN (http://www.clu-in.org/training/) for more details about all seven sessions being offered during Triad Month.

Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (SRI) 10th Anniversary: Celebrating Success

EPA's Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (SRI) celebrates its 10-year Anniversary in 2009! To mark this event, EPA is hosting a diverse series of CLU-IN internet seminars featuring Superfund site reuse success stories. This and successive webinars will present reuse case studies on multi use, renewable energy, ecological reuse, and commercial reuse.

Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (SRI) 10th Anniversary: Celebrating Success

EPA's Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (SRI) celebrates its 10-year Anniversary in 2009! To mark this event, EPA is hosting a diverse series of CLU-IN internet seminars featuring Superfund site reuse success stories. This and successive webinars will present reuse case studies on multi use, renewable energy, ecological reuse, and commercial reuse.
Interstate Technology Regulatory Council
Seminars sponsored by the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council


Quality Considerations for Munitions Response Projects

Interstate Technology Regulatory Council This training introduces state regulators, environmental consultants, site owners, and community stakeholders to Quality Considerations for Munitions Response Projects (UXO-5, 2008), created by the ITRC's Unexploded Ordnance Team. In this document, quality is defined as "conformance to requirements." To manage quality, the quality requirements of the project must first be understood. Requirements must be precisely stated and clearly understood by everyone involved. A plan is then put in place to meet those requirements.

The UXO Team emphasizes taking a whole-system approach to designing, planning and managing a munitions response (MR) project to optimize quality. Whole-system design means optimizing not just parts, but the entire system (in this case the MR). Practically speaking, the UXO Team views MR project as a system made of processes, sub-processes, and tasks. Therefore, a process approach to planning and managing MR projects is recommended.

An MR plan properly developed using the process approach will contain quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) activities that need to be performed. Through the proper application of a process approach to plan and manage an MR project, the MR project should produce results of verifiable quality with sufficient QA and QC documentation for defensible decision making.

The document concludes with some real-world examples of how QA/QC planning and process control throughout an MR project can affect the results of the MR project, particularly how attention to quality during MR processes can influence follow-on processes and the project's final outcome.

This training course is intended for an intermediate audience and assumes a basic understanding of specialized processes associated with MR projects. Background information on some of the topics can be found in Munitions Response Historical Records Review (UXO-2, 2003) and Geophysical Prove-Outs for Munitions Response Projects (UXO-3, 2004), Survey of Munitions Response Technologies (UXO-4, 2006) and their associated Internet-based training courses

Survey of Munitions Response Technologies

Interstate Technology Regulatory Council This training introduces state regulators, environmental consultants, site owners, and community stakeholders to Survey of Munitions Response Technologies (UXO-4, 2006), created by the ITRC's Unexploded Ordnance Team in partnership with the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) and the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP). The document provides an overview of the current status of commercially-available technologies in common usage for munitions response actions, and, where possible, assess and quantify their performance capabilities. The document includes detailed findings from three separate surveys: (1) an assessment of technology implementation prevalence, (2) an evaluation of Geophysical Prove-Out (GPO) characteristics, and (3) an analysis of technology performance based on GPO and standardized test site results. The document also provides background information about technologies used in munitions response actions, as well as information about advanced technologies.

This training course is intended for an intermediate to advanced audience and assumes an understanding of technologies and phases of munitions response. Background information on some of the topics can be found in Munitions Response Historical Records Review (UXO-2, 2003) and Geophysical Prove-Outs for Munitions Response Projects (UXO-3, 2004), and their associated Internet-based training courses (available from http://www.itrcweb.org/ibt.asp#mr_uxo). This training course focuses on the major take-home conclusions of the Survey of Munitions Response Technologies (UXO-4, 2006) and provides an understanding of the performance capabilities of available technologies under real-world site conditions.

Perchlorate Remediation Technologies

Interstate Technology Regulatory Council Perchlorate contamination exists in water and soil, and occurs widely throughout the United States. Public awareness and concern regarding perchlorate has increased in recent years. Perchlorate occurrence in drinking water and food supplies is a human health concern because it can interfere with iodide uptake by the thyroid gland and result in decreased thyroid hormone production. The ITRC Perchlorate Team was formed in 2004 to address technical issues associated with perchlorate. Many technologies are available to remediate perchlorate contamination, but only a few are commonly used.

This training introduces state regulators, environmental consultants, site owners, and community stakeholders to Remediation Technologies for Perchlorate Contamination in Water and Soil (PERC-2, 2008), created by ITRC's Perchlorate Team to assist reviewers in assessing the adequacy of perchlorate remediation projects. This course gives the student a background in the available remediation technologies to treat perchlorate contamination, discusses emerging technologies, and presents case studies of applications.

The first document produced by the ITRC Perchlorate Team, Perchlorate: Overview of Issues, Status, and Remedial Options (PERC-1, 2005) and associated Internet-based training provide regulators and other stakeholders a basic overview of a broad spectrum of information regarding perchlorate sources, sampling and analysis techniques, a discussion of risk issues, risk management strategies and regulatory status, and included a brief summary of remediation technologies. It is recommended that the registrant review the Perchlorate: Overview of Issues, Status, and Remedial Options (PERC-1, 2005) document and associated Internet-based training archive (available from http://www.itrcweb.org/ibt.asp#Perchlorate_CurrentInfo) for more information.

Decontamination and Decommissioning of Radiologically-Contaminated Facilities

Interstate Technology Regulatory Council The decontamination and decommissioning (D&D) of radiologically-contaminated facilities presents numerous challenges. Many tasks are involved, each of which requires adherence to a complex array of federal and state regulations and policies, attention to health and safety issues for workers and the public, monitoring and management of schedules and costs, and interaction with a potentially large number of stakeholders who have an interest in the present activities and future plans for sites undergoing D&D. Since large-scale D&D operations at nuclear facilities began in the 1970s, one of the most noticeable advances has been dramatic decreases in decommissioning cost. This change is the result of a combination of accumulated decommissioning operational experience reducing the high initial cost estimates (which were high due to uncertainties and poorly defined boundaries), evolution of regulatory guidance, and continuously-developing technologies.

A large body of knowledge has already been accumulated on D&D operations. At the present time, approximately 90 commercial power reactors, 250 research reactors, 100 mines, 5 reprocessing facilities, and 14 fuel fabrication plants have been retired from operation, with some having been fully dismantled. In addition, the largest environmental cleanup projects ever undertaken are in progress or have recently been completed at several large DOE facilities in the nuclear weapons complex. Technologies developed for the D&D portions of these cleanups are part of the lessons learned from these projects.

This training introduces regulators, cleanup contractors, site owners/operators, and technology providers to ITRC's Technical/Regulatory Guidance, Decontamination and Decommissioning of Radiologically-Contaminated Facilities (RAD-5, 2008), created by ITRC's Radionuclides Team. The curriculum is composed of four modules as follows:

Module 1: Introduction and Regulatory Basis for D&D

Module 2: Factors for Implementing D&D

Module 3: Preliminary Remediation Goal (PRG) Calculators

Module 4: Case Studies and Lessons Learned

Phytotechnologies

Interstate Technology Regulatory Council Phytotechnologies is a set of technologies using plants to remediate or contain contaminants in soil, groundwater, surface water, or sediments. These technologies have become attractive alternatives to conventional cleanup technologies due to relatively low capital costs and the inherently aesthetic nature of planted sites.

This training familiarizes participants with ITRC's Phytotechnology Technical and Regulatory Guidance and Decision Trees, Revised (Phyto-3, 2009). This document provides guidance for regulators who evaluate and make informed decisions on phytotechnology work plans and practitioners who have to evaluate any number of remedial alternatives at a given site. This document updates and replaces Phytoremediation Decision Tree (Phyto-1, 1999) and Phytotechnology Technical and Regulatory Guidance Document (Phyto-2, 2001). It has merged the concepts of both documents into a single document. This guidance includes new, and more importantly, practical information on the process and protocol for selecting and applying various phytotechnologies as remedial alternatives.

This guidance contains decision trees:
  • Remedy Selection Decision Tree
  • Groundwater Decision Tree
  • Soil/Sediment decision Tree
  • Riparian Zone Decision Tree

This course will be most useful to you if you download the guidance and follow the discussion with the Decision Trees displayed in your guidance. Our instruction is how to use the Guidance - not how to use the decision trees process. That is explained within the Guidance.

Enhanced Attenuation of Chlorinated Organics: A Site Management Tool

Interstate Technology Regulatory Council Many sites with chlorinated organic contamination in groundwater have gone through extensive remedial evaluations and actions. After years of operating high energy processes, their effectiveness has begun to diminish without remedial objectives being met. Other effective remedial alternatives can be applied; however, there are difficulties transitioning these sites from these high energy systems to other low energy remedial alternatives and eventually to Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA).

This training on the ITRC Technical and Regulatory Guidance for Enhanced Attenuation: Chlorinated Organics (EACO-1, 2008) describes the transition (the bridge) between aggressive remedial actions and MNA and vise versa. Enhanced attenuation (EA) is the application of technologies that minimize energy input and are sustainable in order to reduce contaminant loading and/or increase the attenuation capacity of a contaminated plume to progress sites towards established remedial objectives. Contaminant loading and attenuation capacity are fundamental to sound decisions for remediation of groundwater contamination. This training explains how a decision framework which, when followed, allows for a smooth transition between more aggressive remedial technologies to sustainable remedial alternatives and eventually to Monitored Natural Attenuation. This training will demonstrate how this decision framework allows regulators and practitioners to integrate Enhanced Attenuation into the remedial decision process.

As our experience and knowledge grows around the implementation of MNA, the EA process will be considered an important management tool for optimizing site remedies and moving sites to final completion. This approach is consistent with the current regulatory environment and can be accommodated within a broad range of regulatory programs such as CERCLA and State dry cleaner regulations. This new framework and decision process will accelerate the environmental clean-up progress on a national scale and reduce overall costs, while still providing protection to human health and the environment.

For reference during the training class, participants should download and print a copy of the decision flow chart, Figure 2-1 on page 10 of the ITRC Technical and Regulatory Guidance for Enhanced Attenuation: Chlorinated Organics (EACO-1, 2008) and available as a 1-page PDF at http://www.cluin.org/conf/itrc/eaco/ITRC-EACO-DecisionFlowchart.pdf.