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Welcome to TechDirect! Since the June 1 message, TechDirect gained 200 new subscribers for a total of 35,768. 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 TechDirect messages of the past can be searched by keyword or can be viewed as individual issues. TechDirect's purpose is to identify new technical, policy and guidance resources related to the assessment and remediation of contaminated soil, sediments 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. Rapid Response Research Grants Available for Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Research. The National Science Foundation (NSF) posted a special announcement concerning the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill using their Rapid Response Research (RAPID) mechanism on May 27, 2010. To ensure that all resources and possible innovations are available to help solve this disaster, NSF is encouraging all companies that have viable solutions to help solve this problem to submit a one time only proposal to this special announcement. This Rapid Response Research (RAPID) mechanism has been regularly used to enable research on unanticipated events such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or any other event where a timely presence is required to enable the research. A number of RAPID awards were made to support research on the earthquakes earlier this year in Haiti and Chile, and awards are being made related to the oil spill. All proposals must be submitted on or before September 30, 2010. Proposal information is available at http://www.nsf.gov/eng/iip/sbir/2010_ann_rapid_oil_response.pdf . Senior Environmental Employee (SEE) Program Position with EPA's Environmental Response Team. If you are over 55, live in the vicinity of Erlanger, Kentucky, and are interested in contributing to EPA's Environmental Response Team mission, please read on! EPA has a formal relationship with the National Older Workers Career Center (NOWCC) to support the Senior Environmental Employee (SEE) Program which provides positions for individuals aged 55 and older. The SEE employee in this position will maintain handheld radiation and chemical survey equipment; alpha, beta, gamma and neutron monitoring instrumentation; portable gamma spectroscopy instrumentation; ambient air samplers; alpha-beta scalers; floor monitors; PID/FID chemical contaminant monitoring equipment; and, coordinate outside vendor calibration of monitoring and analytical equipment. This position is located in Erlanger, Kentucky. To learn more about this particular position, see http://www.nowcc.org/applicants/positions/ky.aspx?id=767 . If this is your first time applying for positions administered by NOWCC, please submit an Initial Application Form to the South Central Field Office at http://www.nowcc.org/applicants/initialApplication.aspx . For questions about NOWCC or this advertised position, contact NOWCC at (703) 558-4200. Brownfields Nonprofit Outreach Training - July 6, 2010, 1:00PM-3:00PM EDT (17:00-19:00 GMT). The purpose of this meeting is to learn about the different types of grants and assistance available through the Brownfields Program specifically targeting nonprofits and their partners. For more information and to register, see http://clu-in.org/live . US and EU Perspectives on Green and Sustainable Remediation - July 12, 2010, 10:00AM-12:00PM EDT (14:00-16:00 GMT). Sustainable remediation is the practice of considering environmental, social, and economic impacts when restoring contaminated sites to productive use. During ConSoil 2010 (September 22-24, 2010, in Salzburg, Austria) a special session entitled "Sustainable Remediation: International Developments" will take place, focusing on the state of international implementation of sustainable environmental remediation (www.consoil.de). On July 12th, an interactive Internet Seminar will be hosted as a primer to the ConSoil session, wherein international leaders of sustainable and green remediation efforts will discuss their drivers and constraints as well as the impacts of these opportunities and issues on their efforts. An open forum will be held after the presentations in which participants will be able to submit questions to the speakers. The panel will include representatives from the following organizations: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Environment Canada; Sustainable Remediation Forum (SURF) United States, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands; EURODEMO+; Network for Industrially Contaminated Land in Europe (NICOLE); and the Common Forum on Contaminated Land in Europe. For more information and to register, see http://clu-in.org/live . ITRC Use of Risk Assessment in Management of Contaminated Sites, July 20, 2010, 2:00PM-4:15PM EDT (18:00-20:15 GMT). This training course identifies how various risk-based approaches and criteria are applied throughout the processes of screening, characterization, and management of contaminated sites. The training course and associated overview document, Use of Risk Assessment in Management of Contaminated Sites (RISK-2, 2008), are intended for risk assessors and project managers involved with the characterization, remediation, and/or re-use of sites. The training and overview document provide a valuable tool for federal and state regulatory agencies to demonstrate how site data collection, risk assessment, and risk management may be better integrated. For more information and to register, see http://www.itrcweb.org or http://clu-in.org/live . ITRC Quality Considerations for Munitions Response Projects, July 27, 2010, 2:00PM-4:15PM EDT (18:00-20:15 GMT). 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 (UXO) 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. This training course is intended for an intermediate audience and assumes a basic understanding of specialized processes associated with MR projects. For more information and to register, see http://www.itrcweb.org or http://clu-in.org/live . OSWER Discussion Forum Focus on Green Remediation. This online forum provides an opportunity for private citizens, environmental groups, businesses, community groups, and local and tribal governments to discuss topics relating to EPAs Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. This most recent post asks: What green remediation practices have you seen put to good use? What practices do you think should be used more often? View online and submit your comments at http://blog.epa.gov/oswerforum/2010/06/green-remediation/ . Technology News and Trends (EPA 542-N-10-003). This issue provides selected updates on innovative technology applications described in past issues. Some applications moved toward full-scale implementation at previous study sites while others drew sites much nearer to cleanup closure (June 2010, 6 pages). View or download at http://clu-in.org/techpubs.htm . EUGRIS Corner. EUGRIS Corner. New Documents on EUGRIS, the platform for European contaminated soil and water information. More than 29 resources, events, projects and news items were added to EUGRIS in June 1-24, 2010.These can be viewed at http://www.eugris.info/whatsnew.asp . Then select the appropriate month and year for the updates in which you are interested. The following reports were featured on EUGRIS: State of the Art Report on Mixture Toxicity (2009). This report details the findings of a project on mixture toxicology and ecotoxicology commissioned by the European Commission, DG Environment. It describes the scientific state of the art in the field, and gives an account of the regulatory state of the art for dealing with combined exposures in the European Union, in major competing economies, including the USA and Japan and in international bodies. View or download from http://ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/pdf/report_Mixture%20toxicity.pdf . Communicating Understanding of Contaminated Land Risks (2010). This guidance document is designed to assist those communicating with the public and other stakeholders about land contamination risks. It includes: recommendations on how to develop an effective communication strategy, and practical advice on how to communicate effectively about land contamination. This guidance will assist the user in developing a robust communication strategy that addresses the multitude of complexities inherent in communicating about land contamination and the associated risks. View or download from http://www.sniffer.org.uk/Webcontrol/Secure/ClientSpecific/ResourceManagement/UploadedFiles/UKLQ13_Communicating%20Understanding%20of%20Contaminated%20Land%20Risks.pdf . Vapor Intrusion Pathway: A Practical Guideline ITRC 2-day Classroom Training, Cambridge, MA, July 12-13, 2010. The ITRC 2-day Vapor Intrusion Pathway class is planned for Cambridge, Massachusetts (July 12-13) and Atlanta, Georgia (October 4-5). Led by internationally recognized experts, this 2-day ITRC classroom training will enable you to learn the latest strategies to conduct site screening and investigations; determine what tools are appropriate to collect quality data and evaluate the results; apply multiple lines of evidence to ensure quality decision-making; build solutions for VI issues through understanding of mitigation options; and network with environmental professionals dealing with this interdisciplinary and complex pathway. Interactive learning with hands-on exhibits, classroom exercises, and frequent Q&A sessions will reinforce these course objectives and contribute to a practical understanding of this difficult pathway. This course meets continuing education requirements of Massachusetts Licensed Site Professionals (LSPs) and Connecticut Licensed Environmental Professionals (LEPs). For more information and to register, see http://www.itrcweb.org/crt.asp . National Environmental Monitoring Conference (NEMC) 2010, Washington, DC, August 9-13, 2010. The National Environmental Monitoring Conference (NEMC) brings together scientists and managers from federal and state agencies, the regulated community, and laboratory and engineering support communities. It includes technical sessions, training courses, exhibits, and networking opportunities. As in previous years, this year's conference is being combined with the Forum on Laboratory Accreditation under the umbrella of the Environmental Measurement Symposium to allow many attendees to minimize travel costs. The Forum consists of meetings of a number of committees of The NELAC Institute (TNI). The technical program will feature over 100 technical presentations on recent developments in environmental monitoring. The Environmental Laboratory Advisory Board (ELAB), a Federal Advisory Committee to the U.S. EPA, will also be having an open public meeting to discuss their efforts on topics such as the performance approach and laboratory accreditation. For more information and to register, see http://www.nemc.us . Call for Ideas!! Brownfields 2011 Conference, Philadelphia, PA, April 3-5, 2011. This year the Brownfields 2011 Planning Committee wants to encourage more interactive educational sessions in hopes to have at least 60 percent using the always popular marketplace/roundtable format and the newly established public dialogue/debate format. Topics should fall under the categories of: Community Engagement and Environmental Justice; Green Jobs; Green Technology and Emerging Solutions; Planning for Community Revitalization; Sustainability, the Path Forward; and The Business of Brownfields. The Call for Ideas will be open and accepting submissions for full sessions, short presentations, and poster gallery ideas until July 30, 2010. For more information and to submit an idea, see http://www.brownfields2011.org/en/Article/4/Call_for_Ideas_is_Now_Open . NOTE: For TechDirect, 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. Currently there are 91 conferences and courses featured. 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.
If you have any questions regarding TechDirect, contact Jeff Heimerman at (703) 603-7191 or heimerman.jeff@epa.gov. Remember, you may subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription address at http://clu-in.org/techdirect at any time night or day.
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