Message #82: December 2003

Welcome to TechDirect. Since the November 1 message, TechDirect gained 262 new subscribers for a total of 17,690. If you feel the service is valuable, please share TechDirect with your colleagues. Anyone interested in subscribing may do so on CLU-IN at http://clu-in.org/techdirect . All previous issues of TechDirect are archived there.

The purpose of TechDirect is to identify new technical, policy and guidance resources related to the assessment and remediation of contaminated soil and ground water.

Mention of non-EPA documents or presentations does not constitute a U.S. EPA endorsement of their contents, only an acknowledgment that they exist and may be relevant to the TechDirect audience.

SERDP Proposal Solicitation

The Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) funds environmental research and development through a competitive process. Because both government and private sector parties may compete for SERDP funds, there are two announcements for each solicitation: (1) a Call For Proposals to the federal sector and (2) a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for the private sector. SERDP is requesting proposals for two programs - the CORE program and the SEED program. The Core solicitation was released on November 6, 2003 and provides funding in various amounts for multi-year projects. This year's Core Solicitation preproposals from the non-federal sector are due January 8, 2004, and federal proposals are due via your Executive Working Group member March 4, 2004. SEED is a separate solicitation for SERDP Exploratory Development (SEED) proposals. SEED proposals are, by definition, limited to a maximum of $100K and a period of performance of one year. The FY 2005 SEED solicitation was released on November 7, 2003. All SEED proposals are due February 5, 2004. Both programs seek proposals that respond to their specific Statements of Need. For full information and instructions for submitting proposals, see http://www.serdp.org/funding/funding.html .

Internet Seminars

Facilitating Reuse at RCRA Sites: Innovative Technologies for Groundwater Characterization & Cleanup, December 8. This seminar is sponsored by the U.S. EPA Office of Brownfields Cleanup and Redevelopment and the Office of Solid Waste. It is a panel session focusing on tools and strategies for ground water characterization and cleanup. For more information and to register, see http://clu-in.org/studio .

ITRC Phytotechnologies - December 9. This seminar focuses on the ITRC Phytotechnologies Technical and Regulatory Guidance and Phytoremediation Decision Tree. It provides technical and regulatory information to help you understand, evaluate and make informed decisions on phytotechnology proposals. For more information and to register, see http://www.itrcweb.org or http://clu-in.org/studio .

Initial Site Screening Using a Dynamic Field Activity: Callaway Drum Recycling Site, December 16. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) used a dynamic field activity to conduct an initial site screening on the Callaway Drum Recycling (CDR) site in Polk County, Florida, during 2001. This seminar provides an opportunity to hear from the FDEP project manager and contractor about how and why they developed their program to facilitate this kind of work, the problems they faced in implementing the project, and the benefits they have realized as a result of their efforts. For more information and to register, see http://clu-in.org/studio .

New Documents and Databases

Reusing Cleaned Up Superfund Sites: Golf Facilities Where Waste is Left On Site (EPA 540-R-03-003). This document was published by the U.S. EPA Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation. It provides technical information useful in planning, designing, and building golf facilities on sites where the remedy calls for on-site containment of contaminated material or post-construction monitoring or treatment. The report draws from experiences at completed redevelopment projects, EPA technical guidance, and other sources to describe remedy approaches and golf facility design features that have been used to accommodate golf courses at remediated Superfund sites where waste has been left on site (October 2003, 73 pages). View or download at http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/recycle/golf-103103-c.pdf .

Major Update to Site Remediation Database Available. EPA updated its database on the use of treatment technologies at Superfund sites. The Annual Status Report (ASR) Remediation Database documents the status and achievements of 1,760 treatment technology applications for soil, other solid wastes, and groundwater at Superfund sites. The data are current as of March, 2003. In addition to updated status information on over 800 projects, the new system documents for the first time over 700 pump-and-treat projects, and adds 175 treatment projects from Records of Decision signed in Fiscal Years 1999-2002. This database provides the detailed information supporting the report, Treatment Technologies for Site Cleanup: Annual Status Report (Eleventh Edition), which is scheduled for publication in January 2004. See http://cfpub.epa.gov/asr .

Capstone Report on the Application, Monitoring, and Performance of Permeable Reactive Barriers for Ground-Water Remediation: Volume 1 Performance Evaluations at Two Sites (EPA 600-R-03-045a). This report was published by the U.S. EPA National Risk Management Research Laboratory. The purpose of this document is to provide detailed performance monitoring data on full-scale Permeable Reactive Barriers (PRBs) installed to treat contaminated ground water at two different sites. This report will fill a need for a readily available source of information for site managers and others who are faced with the need to remediate ground water contaminated by chlorinated solvents, chromium, arsenic, nitrates, and other organic and inorganic compounds and are considering the use of this cost-effective technology (August 2003, 156 pages). View or download by section or as a whole at http://www.epa.gov/ada/pubs/reports.html .

Capstone Report on the Application, Monitoring, and Performance of Permeable Reactive Barriers for Ground-Water Remediation: Volume 2 Long-Term Monitoring of PRBs: Soil and Ground Water Sampling (EPA-600-R-03-045b). This report was published by the U.S. EPA National Risk Management Research Laboratory. It provides detailed sampling methods and procedures used to collect soil and ground-water samples in order to evaluate the long-term performance of full-scale permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) installed to treat contaminated ground water at two different sites (August 2003, 145 pages). View or download by section or as a whole at http://www.epa.gov/ada/pubs/reports.html .

EPA Science Inventory Database. The EPA Science Inventory is a searchable, Agency-wide catalog of science activities and scientific and technical work products (for example, risk assessments, technical studies and guidance, and research). It is designed to help EPA scientists and managers coordinate the planning and development of science activities and inform the public about scientific direction and achievement at EPA. The Science Inventory is maintained in a database containing thousands of records. These records provide information such as project descriptions (abstracts), contacts for additional information, and electronic links to related work and final reports. To use the Science Inventory Database, see http://cfpub.epa.gov/si/ .

Futures Analysis of Chemicals Affecting Waste Management Programs: Summary of New Initiatives That May Affect Waste Management Programs. This document was prepared by Tiffany Portoghese, a National Network of Environmental Management Studies grantee under a fellowship from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This report is intended to provide a basic summary of new initiatives within the EPA. It contains information gathered from a range of currently available sources, including project documents, reports, periodicals, Internet searches, and personal communication with involved parties (August 2003, 108 pages). View or download at http://clu-in.org/techpubs.htm .

A Comprehensive Strategy of Hydrogeologic Modeling and Uncertainty Analysis for Nuclear Facilities and Sites (NUREG/CR-6805). This report, published by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, describes a strategy that embodies a systematic and comprehensive approach to hydrogeologic conceptualization, model development and predictive uncertainty analysis. The strategy is comprehensive in that it considers all stages of model building and accounts jointly for uncertainties that arise at each of them. The stages include regional and site characterization, hydrogeologic conceptualization, development of conceptual-mathematical model structure, parameter estimation on the basis of monitored system behavior, and assessment of predictive uncertainty (July 2003, 309 pages). View or download at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/contract/cr6805/ .

ETVoice. If you are interested in tracking technology evaluations performed by the U.S. EPA Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) program, you may subscribe to their monthly ETVoice listserv. Every month you will receive an email highlighting upcoming technology demonstrations, calls for technologies and the availability of final verification reports. To subscribe, see http://www.epa.gov/etv/etvoice/subscribe.html .

NICOLE News (October 2003). The Network for Industrially Contaminated Land In Europe (NICOLE) publishes a periodic newsletter. The October issue features, among other items, several workshop summaries, a MNA demonstration project, and a risk-based management of megasites article (October 2003, 12 pages). View or download at http://www.nicole.org/ .

Conferences and Symposia

Reminder CALL FOR ABSTRACTS!! Accelerating Site Closeout, Improving Performance, and Reducing Costs Through Optimization, Dallas, June 15-17, 2004. This conference, sponsored by member agencies of the Federal Remediation Technologies Roundtable, will outline long-term remediation liabilities and optimization needs and opportunities; disseminate existing and emerging optimization strategies, technologies, tools and science; communicate lessons learned; and present remedial optimization within the context of site wide and multi-site management programs. Abstracts for oral presentations must be submitted by February 6, 2004. For information on how to submit an abstract, a list of abstract topics, and how to register for the conference, please visit http://clu-in.org/siteopt/siteopt.htm .

Call for Papers!! US EPA/ NGWA Fractured Rock Conference: State of the Science and Measuring Success in Remediation , September 2004. The conference is an international consortium of engineers, scientists, regulators, responsible parties, researchers and students gathering to understand the science of classical and innovative remediation technologies. Case studies will focus on federal, state and industrial sites contaminated by DNAPLs, other organics, metals and radionuclides. The conference committee is accepting abstracts for consideration on selected topics. The deadline for abstract submission is February 14, 2004. For more information on the abstract submission and the conference, see http://www.ngwa.org/pdf/e/conf/0409135017cfp.pdf .

NOTE: We prefer to concentrate mainly on new documents and the internet live events. However, we do support an area on CLU-IN where announcement of conferences and courses can be regularly posted. We invite sponsors to input information on their events at http://clu-in.org/courses . Likewise, readers may visit this area for news of upcoming events that might be of interest. It allows users to search events by location, topic, time period, etc.