Message #47: January 2001

Happy New Millennium! I hope everyone enjoys their holiday season. Have a safe and rewarding year in 2001. Since December 1, TechDirect gained 281 new subscribers for a total of 9,690. Welcome to everyone just joining TechDirect. We hope this continues to be a useful resource. You may subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription address at http://clu-in.org/techdrct any time night or day. All past TechDirect messages are available in the archive at that URL.

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.

New Documents

Soil Screening Guidance for Radionuclides: User's Guide (EPA 540-R-00-007) and Technical Background Document (EPA 540-R-00-006). This guidance document and Technical Background document were published by the U.S. EPA Office of Emergency and Remedial Response (OERR) and the Office of Radiation and Indoor Air (ORIA). The guidance document sets forth recommended approaches for soil screening for radionuclides, but DOES NOT establish binding rules. It is a tool to help standardize and accelerate the evaluation and cleanup of soils contaminated with radioactive materials at sites on the National Priority List with future land use (October 2000, 82 pages). The Technical Background Document provides the technical background for the development of methodologies described in the Soil Screening Guidance (October 2000, 151 pages). View or download it in sections at http://www.epa.gov/superfund/resources/radiation/radssg.htm .

Evaluating the Use of Snow-Covered Ranges to Estimate the Explosives Residues that Result from Detonation of Army Munitions (ERDC/CRREL TR-00-15). This report was published by the Cold Regions Research Laboratory of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This study was conducted to assess the use of snow-covered ranges to estimate the amount of explosives residues that result from detonation of individual mortar rounds. Two scenarios were tested. In the first, a snow cover was used to estimate the amount of residues that are deposited on a range when an army munition is fired and detonates on impact. In the second, the residues that result from the practice of attaching C4 to an item of unexploded ordnance and detonating it in place were examined (August 2000, 20 pages). View or download at http://www.crrel.usace.army.mil/techpub/CRREL_Reports/reports/TR00-15.pdf .

Evaluation of H.E.L.P. Mate 2000 for the Identification and Quantification of Petroleum Hydrocarbon Products (TR-00-20). This report was published by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This study evaluates the H.E.L.P. Mate 2000 (HM2000), a spectrophotometric device for determining the extent and type of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) contamination in soil and water matrices. This field- portable instrument was designed to be used in conjunction with Hanby Test Kits for soil and water samples. The HM 2000 was used to estimate the concentration of TPH in both fortified and field-contaminated samples (September 2000, 20 pages). View or download at http://www.crrel.usace.army.mil/techpub/CRREL_Reports/reports/TR00-20.pdf .

Guide Specification - Operation, Maintenance, and Process Monitoring for Soil Vapor Extraction (SVE) Systems (CEGS-01830). This guide was developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It covers requirements to be followed by the operations staff to ensure proper operation of the SVE system equipment, e.g., monitoring vacuum levels and air flow rates, vapor stream monitoring, and performing preventative maintenance (August 2000, 29 pages). View or download at http://www.hnd.usace.army.mil/techinfo/ .

Tech Trends (EPA 542-N-00-007). Tech Trends, produced by the U.S. EPA Technology Innovation Office, is a quarterly newsletter that provides descriptions and performance data for innovative source control technologies that have been applied in the field. This issue highlights innovative technologies and information resources for site characterization involving contaminated soil and sediments. View or download at http://clu-in.org/techpubs.htm . For hard copies, contact (800) 490-9198 or (513) 489-8190 or fax to (513) 489-8695.

IT Summary Report: Remediation of DNAPLs in Low Permeability Soils (Tech ID 163). This report was issued by the U.S. Department of Energy Subsurface Contaminant Focus Area. It reports the results of a comparative field demonstration of hydraulic fracturing to enhance mass recovery or emplace reactive barriers was conducted during the fall of 1996 through the spring of 1998 at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PORTS) X-231A land treatment site (September 2000, 35 pages). View or download at http://apps.em.doe.gov/ost/ .

IT Summary Report: Subsurface Barrier Verification with the SEAtrace Monitoring System (Tech ID 308). This report was issued by the U.S. Department of Energy Subsurface Contaminant Focus Area. It describes the results of three demonstrations of the SEAtrace system's ability to monitor barrier integrity. The system incorporates gaseous tracer injection, automated multipoint sampling, and real-time global optimization modeling to characterize the integrity of impermeable barriers (September 2000, 30 pages). View or download at http://apps.em.doe.gov/ost/ .

A Collection of Solid Waste Resources on CD-ROM (EPA 530-C-00-003). This CD-ROM was produced by The U.S. EPA Office of Solid Waste. It contains 250 publications that provide information on how to reduce, reuse, and recycle trash and properly manage different forms of hazardous and solid waste. It includes alphabetical and subject indices. This edition also includes games and activities for kids. To get the CD-ROM, contact (800) 490-9198 or (513) 489-8190 or fax to (513) 489-8695.

While Supplies Last!! Hard Copies of Remediation Case Study documents are available from EPA's National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP). Before we recycle the existing hard copy stock of our Federal Remediation Technology Roundtable remediation case study documents, we wanted to give you an opportunity to order any you need. These documents capture cost and performance data for over 200 full-scale deployments of innovative technologies at hazardous waste sites. Available in hard copy until the supply is depleted. Contact (800) 490-9198 or (513) 489-8190 or fax to (513) 489-8695. All of these case studies are on the new CD-ROM which can also be ordered from NSCEP (http://www.epa.gov/ncepihom/ordering.htm ) and are available in a searchable database on-line at http://www.frtr.gov.

Technology Call!

MTBE in Groundwater. The Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Site Characterization and Monitoring Center is interested in testing field-portable technologies for the measurement of MTBE in groundwater. Criteria for participation in the program include a commercially available technology, willingness to cost share a portion of the testing costs, willingness to participate in the study design process, and a commitment to deploy and operate the technology at one or more contaminated sites during the verification testing process. If you have a technology that meets these criteria or would like to refer a technology for verification testing, please contact either Wayne Einfeld, ETV Project Manager at Sandia National Laboratories (505-845-8314, weinfel@sandia.gov) or Eric Koglin, ETV Program Manager (702-798-2432, koglin.eric@epamail.epa.gov).

Conferences and Symposia

Fractured Rock 2001, Ontario, March 26-28. This conference is sponsored by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, the U.S. Department of Energy, The Smithville Phase IV Bedrock Remediation Program and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The conference will focus on state-of-the-art methods of site characterization, contaminant mobility and behavior, as well as containment and remediation in groundwater and the vadose zone. Presentations will focus on all types of rock and organic contaminants (aqueous phase, LNAPLs, and DNAPLs), inorganic contaminants, isotopes, radionuclides, and all methods of investigation (laboratory, numerical modeling, field work, case histories, and policy). For agenda and registration information, see http://www.fracturedrock2001.org .

Field Screening Europe 2001, Karlsruhe, Germany, May14-16. The objective of this conference and exhibition is the continuation of discussions about on-site analysis together with methods, techniques and technologies in Field Screening. Among these questions are the development of all inclusive reconnaissance strategies, problems of measurement in heterogeneous media using, among others, new geotechnical and geophysical instruments, the application of chemical and physical in-situ measurement techniques will also be discussed. Flier available on conference website at http://wwwrz.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de/~rd03/FZU/conferences/fse2001/ .

Call for Abstracts!! 2001 International Containment & Remediation Technology Conference and Exhibition, Orlando, June 10-13. NEW ABSTRACT DEADLINE is Wednesday, January 24. The conference will emphasize the remediation and containment of DNAPL's, heavy metals & radionuclides through case studies in these technical focus areas: Thermal & Chemical Remediation Technologies, Biological Remediation Technologies, Modeling, Barriers, & Permeable Reactive Walls, characterization/monitoring/verification, Vadose Zone Issues Influencing Remediation, Regulatory Acceptance Of Technologies, Multi-Agency Remediation Strategies, Sediments Remediation, and Long-Term Stewardship. For complete information, see http://www.containment.fsu.edu .

Call for Papers!! Tri-Service Environmental Technology Symposium. The U.S. Army Environmental Center is hosting the Fourth Tri-Service Environmental Technology Symposium to be held in San Diego, June 18-20, 2001. The central theme, "Environmental Technology: Support the Mission, Sustain the Environment," symbolizes the military's continued emphasis on protecting resources, while maintaining readiness, supporting military operations, installation management, and material development. Abstracts are being accepted until February 23, 2001 that address mature technologies that are either "field ready" or currently being demonstrated, or have been demonstrated and are ready to be fielded to the broader community. For more information on the Tri-Service Environmental Technology Symposium call for papers, registration, or general information, visit either http://www.ets-2001.com or http://www.aec.army.mil or contact Ms. Jean Thomas at (757)-357-4011.