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United States Environmental Protection Agency

TechDirect, August 1, 2009
TIP's News Corner Courses & Conferences All Recent Additions All New Publications
Welcome to TechDirect! Since the July 1 message, TechDirect gained 164 new subscribers for a total of 33,836. 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.

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> August 2009 CLU-IN Theme: Triad
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Throughout 2009, CLU-IN will highlight various topics of interest in a series of special themes. During August, CLU-IN will focus on its Triad resources which include Technical Bulletins, Case Studies, and archive internet seminars. The Triad is an innovative approach to decision-making for hazardous waste site characterization and remediation. The Triad approach proactively exploits new characterization and treatment tools, using work strategies developed by innovative and successful site professionals. A special 8-part seminar series will be sponsored this month by the Triad Community of Practice covering sessions delivered at the 2008 Triad National Conference and Training hosted at the University of Massachusetts. More information on this seminar series is listed below under Upcoming Internet Seminars. Visitors are also encouraged to review Triad related resources at www.cluin.org/triad.

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> Upcoming Live Internet Seminars
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Triad Month Seminar Series - August 4, 6, 11, 13, 18, 20, 25. 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) will redeliver updates of several of the 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, the Triad CoP hopes participants can learn more about some of the Triad tools and how they have been applied by the environmental industry. For more information and to register, see http://clu-in.org/live .

ITRC Decontamination and Decommissioning of Radiologically-Contaminated Facilities - August 4, 2009, 2:00PM-4:15PM EDT (18:00-20:15 GMT). This training introduces 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: Introduction and Regulatory Basis for Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D), Factors for Implementing D&D, Preliminary Remediation Goal (PRG) Calculators, and Case Studies and Lessons Learned. For more information and to register, see http://www.itrcweb.org or http://clu-in.org/live .

Updates on Renewable Energy Development on Contaminated Land: Community Involvement and Useful Informational Tools - August 10, 2009, 1:00PM-2:00PM EDT (17:00-18:00 GMT). This session will provide federal and state regulators, environmental consultants, site owners and community stakeholders with a quick overview accompanied by real world applications of renewable energy development on contaminated sites with a focus on community involvement on Superfund sites. This hour session will include: analysis of current or successful renewable energy development projects on contaminated sites and the associated community involvement issues; conclusions from discussions with community involvement coordinators regarding renewable energy development on Superfund sites; introduction to the current mapping and informational tools available to generally assess renewable energy potential and resources; and contributions to the presentation by various experts who will also be available for the question & answer session after the main presentation. For more information and to register, see http://clu-in.org/live .

ITRC Phytotechnologies - August 11, 2009, 2:00PM-4:15PM EDT (18:00-20:15 GMT). 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. For more information and to register, see http://www.itrcweb.org or http://clu-in.org/live .

ITRC Enhanced Attenuation of Chlorinated Organics: A Site Management Tool - August 13, 2009, 11:00AM-1:00PM EDT (15:00-17:00 GMT). 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. For more information and to register, see http://www.itrcweb.org or http://clu-in.org/live .

Collaborative Research on Environmental Toxicants in Rapidly Developing Settlements of the U.S.-Mexico Border - September 16, 2009, 2:00PM-3:00PM EDT (18:00-19:00 GMT). This project aims to improve environmental public health in the San Diego-Tijuana city-region. The objective is twofold: (1) develop new watershed-based strategies/models that can help the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) address Global Environmental Health (GEH), and (2) share the science and technology contributions of UCSD's Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP) with urban-regional planning scholars, educators and professionals who are struggling to better understand how problems of the built environment, land use and pollution impact environmental public health. For more information and to register, see http://clu-in.org/live .

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> New Documents and Web Resources
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Summary of Key Existing EPA CERCLA Policies for Groundwater Restoration (OSWER Directive 9283. 1-33). This Directive provides a compilation of some key existing EPA groundwater policies to assist EPA Regions in making groundwater restoration decisions pursuant to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the National Contingency Plan (NCP) (June 2009, 11 pages). View or download at http://www.epa.gov/superfund/health/conmedia/gwdocs/pdfs/9283_1-33.pdf .

Technology News and Trends (EPA 542-N-09-004). This issue provides selected updates on pilot projects and treatability studies described in past issues. Some technologies moved toward full-scale application at the study sites, while others were supplemented or replaced by one or more technologies, such as injections of vegetable oil or sodium lactate, soil mixing with zero valent iron, air sparging, and mulch reactive barriers (July 2009, 6 pages). View or download at http://clu-in.org/techpubs.htm .

Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment (AFCEE): Sustainable Remediation Web Site. This web site contains information on the drivers for sustainable remediation, why it is important, current regulatory, state, and global initiatives in this area; advantages of sustainable remediation, information on how sustainable remediation concepts can be integrated into an environmental restoration project, and Air Force applications of green and sustainable remediation as well as links to other resources. It also contains the Sustainable Remediation Tool (SRT), which is free and available to all. More information at http://www.afcee.af.mil/resources/technologytransfer/programsandinitiatives/sustainableremediation/ .

EUGRIS Corner. New Documents on EUGRIS, the platform for European contaminated soil and water information. More than 43 resources, events projects and news items were added to EUGRIS 1 - 24 July, 2009. 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:

Sustainable Remediation White Paper, 2009, Integrating Sustainable Principles, Practices, and Metrics Into Remediation Projects. The Sustainable Remediation Forum (SURF) White Paper communicates SURF members thoughts on incorporating sustainability principles into environmental remediation. Large remediation projects can consume significant amounts of energy and emit large quantities of greenhouse gases. Site owners and local communities are increasingly knowledgeable about these sustainable remediation issues. In this paper, sustainable remediation is broadly defined as a remedy or a combination of remedies whose net benefit on human health and the environment is maximized through the judicious use of limited resources. View or download at http://www.sustainableremediation.org/library/issue-papers/ .

Environment Agency, 2009, TOX: Contaminants in soil: updated collation of toxicological data and intake values for humans: Cadmium. This report, one of a number on the assessment of risks to human health from contaminants in soil, presents key data and expert opinions on the toxicology and intake of cadmium. It provides an update to an earlier report by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Environment Agency published in March 2002. The report is based on findings identified in a series of literature searches, the latest of which was undertaken in January 2009. These findings, together with evaluations of national, European and international expert groups, are used to recommend Health Criteria Values (HCVs) and to estimate mean daily intakes (MDIs) for cadmium in the UK. View or download at http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Research/SCHO0709BQRQ-E-E.pdf .

Environment Agency, 2009, TOX: Contaminants in soil: updated collation of toxicological data and intake values for humans: Phenol. This report, one of a number on the assessment of risks to human health from contaminants in soil, presents key data and expert opinions on the toxicology and intake of phenol. It provides an update to a report by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Environment Agency published in October 2003. The report is based on findings from a series of literature searches, the latest of which was undertaken in November 2008. These findings together with evaluations of national, European and international expert groups are used to recommend Health Criteria Values (HCVs) and estimate mean daily intakes (MDIs) for phenol in the UK. View or download at http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/Research/SCHO0709BQRP-E-E.pdf .

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> Conferences and Symposia
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Multi-Agency Radiological Laboratory Analytical Protocols (MARLAP): New Practical Training on MARLAP Part I, Philadelphia, PA, August 18-20, 2009. MARLAP Part I is intended for planners and managers of radioanalytical projects and laboratory personnel who support them. Part I provides the basic framework of the directed planning process, including project planning, key issues to be considered during the development of analytical protocol specifications, developing measurement quality objectives, understanding the qualitative and quantitative components of method uncertainty, project planning documents and their significance, obtaining laboratory services, selecting and applying analytical methods, evaluating methods and laboratories, verifying and validating radiochemical data, and assessing data quality. This three-day course will cover all aspects of radiochemical project planning and will provide practical examples, exercises, and case studies. The course will conclude with a comprehensive exercise where participants will apply what they learned to evaluate indoor and ambient air quality following the release of Am-241 from a radiological dispersion device (RDD, or "dirty bomb"). For more information and to register, see http://www.trainex.org/marlap .

Environmental Measurement Symposium, San Antonio, TX, August 10-14, 2009. The Environmental Measurement Symposium, for the third year, is the combined meetings of the National Environmental Monitoring Conference (NEMC) and the Forum on Laboratory Accreditation (the Forum). The 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. The Forum consists of meetings of a number of committees of The NELAC Institute (TNI) and mentor sessions targeted to folks wanting to know more about accreditation. The 2009 Symposium will include keynote speakers on the San Antonio River Authority, Developmental Lifecycle of Commercial Laboratory Instrumentation, Pharmaceuticals in Water, and Health Effects of Exposure to Metallic Species. There will be technical breakout sessions that cover such topics as innovative approaches for analyzing conventional and emerging pollutants; air methods; contaminated sediments; data usability; inorganic and organic methods; international issues in monitoring; and others. There will be two featured plenary sessions on Wednesday that cover a global perspective on the environmental landscape and nanotechnology. For more information, please visit http://www.nemc.us or http://www.nelac-institute.org .

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 93 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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