Today, the scientific consensus on global climate change is challenging our assumptions about water resources. Wetland habitats in particular are faced with unique challenges due to a number of factors including rising sea levels and variable temperature and precipitation patterns. The importance of wetland functions and ecosystem services will continue to grow as the climate changes. Webcast instructors will discuss the issue from diverse perspectives reflecting the multifaceted approach needed to address the problem. Join us to learn more about the latest research findings, effects on inland and coastal wetlands in Alaska and Maine, and collaborative planning efforts in the Hudson River Valley to build coalitions that support adaptation strategies to protect people and the environment.

This session will cover the Brownfields and Land Revitalization Technology Support Center (BTSC) bulletin on implementing a data management program for a Triad project. It will include a brief introduction to the Triad approach, answers to frequently asked questions about data management on Triad projects, three examples of data management with state agencies as the primary regulatory body, and sources of additional information for project teams and stakeholders who develop or provide input on a data management.

The Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP), in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Technology Innovation Program, presents the 2008 edition of RiskeLearning: "Bioavailability - Metals, Organics, and Policy". This series of online seminars will focus on the science and policy issues of incorporating bioavailability into risk and exposure assessments. Largely drawing from the successful SBRP Bioavailability Workshop: "Assessing Bioavailability as a Determinant of Pollutant Exposure" held in Tampa, FL (February 2008), the web seminar series will feature SBRP-funded and other academic researchers and EPA senior staff.

This, the first of three sessions, will feature Dr. Dominic Di Toro, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Delaware and Dr. Nicholas Basta, Professor, Soil and Environmental Chemistry, Ohio State University.

Understanding and quantifying metal bioavailability is of central importance in performing scientifically sound risk assessments. Dr. Di Toro will review available models - the Free Ion Activity Model, the Biotic Ligand Model and Equilibrium Partitioning - and supporting data for water column, sediments and soils and will present example applications to human health in his presentation titled "Environmental Control of Metal Bioavailability".

Incidental soil ingestion is an important exposure pathway for assessing public health risks associated with contaminated soils. The bioavailability of Pb (lead), As (arsenic), and possibly other contaminants in soils can be determined by conducting dosing trials using acceptable surrogate animal models. To overcome the difficulty and expense associated with in vivo trials, in vitro gastrointestinal (IVG) methods, that simulate human gastrointestinal conditions, have been developed. The science of contaminant bioaccessibility has matured and several IVG methods have been reported. Dr. Basta will present data gaps, uncertainties and research needed to apply IVG methods to contaminated sites in his presentation titled "Assessing Contaminant Human (Bio)availability in Soil with In Vitro Gastrointestinal: Uncertainties, Data Gaps, and Research Needs".

The session will be moderated by Dr. Claudia L. Thompson, Acting Director of SBRP at NIEHS.

This introductory session is intended to provide a general overview of EPA Brownfields opportunities to local government and non-profits in Utah, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Montana. Previous successes will be highlighted as will grant funding opportunities. This session is designed to allow for maximum participant interaction so please come prepared with questions.

Green Remediation can be defined as the practice of considering the environmental effects of a remediation strategy (i.e., the remedy selected and the implementation approach) early in the process, and incorporating options to maximize the net environmental benefit of the cleanup action. In addition to an overview of what the state of the practice is in the US and Europe, this panel will focus in energy and climate change considerations at contaminated sites. Themes include:

• Assessment of the wider impacts of contaminated land management and remediation
• Innovative remediation practices that incorporate energy efficiency and cleaner and renewable energy sources to decrease greenhouse gas footprints while achieving cost savings and benefits to local air quality.
• Placing renewable energy generating capacity on contaminated lands
• Can contaminated land management and remediation work in parallel with carbon management?
• Re-using the built environment / re-using materials

Brownfield land exists for which there is no economic case for restoration to conventional functional re-use and/or no realistic prospect for "hard" re-use. All across Europe there are areas of land which have been degraded by past use that are not easy candidates for conventional regeneration, or for which conventional regeneration may not be the most sustainable approach. Such previously developed land included areas affected by mining, fallout from industrial processes such as smelting, activities related to forestry and the pulp and paper industry, areas elevated with contaminated dredged sediments, former landfill sites and many other areas where the decline of industrial activity has left a legacy of degraded land and communities. The extent of contamination may not be sufficient to trigger remediation under current regulatory conditions, and there may be little economic incentive to regenerate the areas affected.

An ideal solution would be a land management approach that is able to pay for itself. The combination of a wider range of risk management approaches with the emerging broad range of non-food uses of land offers great potential for low (or no) cost risk based land management that is stable and sustainable. An important basis for such an approach is to estimate the energy, policy and economical potentials, risks and limitations which to a great extent depend on the available area and technical solutions.

These themes are explored in four presentations in this special session.

The design and construction of the ecological end-use as an integrated component of the remediation system will realize pronounced benefits. Ecological elements considered at the inception of planning for environmental remediation at Superfund, RCRA, and Brownfield sites can be a cost-effective and an efficient way to restore, create, and improve wildlife habitat or the ecological system of the site. Incorporation of ecological elements can benefit multiple stakeholders, such as regulatory agencies, the regulated community (industry), local communities, and the general public.

This training is based on the ITRC Technical and Regulatory Guideline: Planning and Promoting Ecological Land Reuse of Remediated Sites (ECO-2, 2006). The document presents a process to promote ecological land reuse activities considering natural or green technologies instead of more traditional remedies. The guidance demonstrates that natural or ecological end-uses are valuable alternatives to conventional property development or redevelopment. It contains the principal decision points in a flow diagram format and discusses the practicality of applying natural or green technologies to traditional remediation processes.

Natural and green technologies have the attributes to improve the ecology of the site as long as it is coincident with the intent of the lands use and does not jeopardize the elimination or reduction of the human or environmental risk. Ecological benefits and a process for calculating their value are included in the guidance and reviewed in this training.

Performance-based environmental management (PBEM) is a strategic, goal-oriented methodology that is implemented through effective planning and decision logic to reach a desired end state of site cleanup. The goal of PBEM is to be protective of human health and the environment while efficiently implementing appropriate streamlined cleanup processes. The major components of PBEM include: systematic planning; effective communications; agreement of a land use risk strategy; current conceptual site model; decision logic analysis; remediation process optimization (RPO); ARAR analysis; exit strategy development; and performance-based contracting including environmental insurance.

This ITRC training presents an overview of what PBEM is, explains how and when to implement it, and describes the issues that regulators are concerned about throughout PBEM's implementation. Case studies will be presented to illustrate successful PBEM projects. The course is valuable not only because PBEM is being proposed and implemented at many federal and private sites throughout the country, but also because PBEM provides an opportunity to enhance all site remediation.

This training is geared to those in the environmental remediation field including Federal, state and local government officials; owners or operators of sites, and consultants. The course will be most beneficial if the participant has taken one of ITRC's remediation process optimization courses. Online archives are available for What is Remediation Process Optimization and How Can It Help Me Identify Opportunities for Enhanced and More Efficient Site Remediation? and for Remediation Process Optimization - Advanced Training. These courses are recommended as pre-requisites, but are not required. The training materials are based on the ITRC RPO Team's Technical Regulatory Guidance Document: Improving Environmental Site Remediation Through Performance-Based Environmental Management (RPO-7, November 2007).

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.

Direct-push wells have been used for temporary groundwater monitoring purposes for many years but are generally prohibited for use as long-term groundwater monitoring wells. Recent research indicates that direct-push wells are as well suited for long-term environmental groundwater monitoring purposes as conventionally constructed wells. Since they can be installed for much less expense, direct-push wells are an attractive option. However, most states' regulations prohibit their use indirectly due to the requirement of a minimum annular space.

This training introduces state regulators, environmental consultants, site owners, and community stakeholders to The Use of Direct-push Well Technology for Long-term Environmental Monitoring in Groundwater Investigations (SCM-2, 2006), created by ITRC's Sampling, Characterization, and Monitoring Team to assist reviewers in assessing the adequacy of direct-push well projects. This course gives the participant a background in the principles of direct-push wells and presents the state of the art regarding recent research.

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.