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NRMRL MONTHLY REPORT FOR JANUARY 2004
Stephen G. Schmelling, Division Director
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
D'Imperio Property Superfund Site, Region II: On January 26,
2004, Dominic DiGiulio (GWERD) provided RPM Michael Zeolla
with review comments on a remedial design work plan for a soil
vapor extraction system at the D'Imperio Property Superfund Site
in Hamilton Township, NJ. In addition to discussing performance
objectives, suggestions were offered with respect to the design and
construction of vapor probe clusters as well as the number of
clusters and their location with respect to SVE wells. Soil vapor
monitoring was discussed in terms of the type of canisters used for
sample collection and the preferred method of analysis. Problems
associated with the proposed "radius of influence" SVE design
were outlined and the need to base the design on a knowledge of
subsurface permeability variations and resulting specific discharge
or pore-gas rates was discussed.
(D. DiGiulio(GWERD)580-436-8605)
Aberdeen Proving Ground Site, Region III: On January 27,
2004, David Jewett (GWERD), Mark Paddack and Bruce Pivetz
(Dynamac) provided RPM Frank Vavra with comments on the use
of BiQuat Resin and other treatment alternatives for the
remediation of perchlorate-contaminated ground water at the
Aberdeen Proving Ground Site in Aberdeen, MD. Specifically, the
request was for a literature review covering an evaluation of ion
exchange technologies including BiQuat resins, advantages and
disadvantages of the technology, and identification of case studies.
Generally, the BiQuat technology has been shown to be successful
in water having low concentration of perchlorate. It was pointed
out that the effectiveness and longevity of the resin are dependent
on water chemistry and will vary between sites.
(D. Jewett(GWERD)580-436-8560)
Montrose Superfund Site, Region IX: On January 9, 2004,
Steven Acree (GWERD) provided RPM Jeff Dhont with comments
concerning the location of injection wells for a DNAPL extraction
test program at the Montrose Superfund Site in Torrance, CA. In
general, it was not clear that sufficient hydraulic analyses were
performed to support reported conclusions that injection will not
result in significant DNAPL mobilization. Discussed in detail
were the gradients required to mobilize DNAPLs, direction of
movement, location of injection wells with respect to future source
removal systems, and the size of the calculated capture zone.
(S. Acree(GWERD)580-436-8609)
Wilkin, Richard T. and Robert W. Puls (GWERD). 2003.
"Capstone Report on the Application, Monitoring, and
Performance of Permeable Reactive Barriers for Ground-Water
Remediation:
Volume 1 - Performance Evaluations at Two Sites." EPA Report.
EPA/600/R-03/045a.
NRMRL-Ada-03182
(R. Wilkin(GWERD)580-436-8874)
http://www.epa.gov/ada/pubs/reports.html
Paul, Cynthia J., Mary S. McNeil, Frank P. Beck, Jr. (GWERD),
Patrick J. Clark (NRMRL), Richard T. Wilkin, and Robert W. Puls
(GWERD). 2003. "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 Report.
EPA/600/R-03/045b.
NRMRL-Ada-03191
(C. Paul(GWERD)580-436-8556)
http://www.epa.gov/ada/pubs/reports.html
Biosafety Program. On January 9, 2004, Ann Keeley (GWERD) provided Garmon Smith, SHEM Project Manager at GWERD, review comments on a draft Biosafety Manual prepared by ICF Consulting Group (dated May 2003). This project is a component of a larger Biosafety Program umbrella at GWERD. Although the document was complimented for its scientific and technical accuracy in following guidelines established by CDC and NIH, general comments dealt with the excessive length of the document, redundancies, and lack of focus. It was noted that two essential safety measures were lacking with respect to bloodborne pathogen control for HIV and HBV: not because of blood research, which is not conducted at GWERD, but accidental exposure when handling body fluids. Other points of confusion resulted from combining chemical and biological agents and discussions related to Medical Surveillance which has no relevance to the Biosafety Manual. Medical surveillance is provided to all employees regardless of their involvement with bioagents in a laboratory. Numerous specific comments were also provided.
MEETINGS AND CONFERENCESCynthia J. Paul (GWERD) was an invited speaker at the 2004 North American Environmental Field Conference and Exposition: Advances in Environmental Site Characterization and Monitoring Technology, January 14-16, 2004, in Tampa, Florida. The title of her presentation was "Site Characterization: Vertical Profiling of VOCs in the Water Table/Capillary Fringe Area for Assessing Impact on Vapor Intrusion."
Bart Faulkner (GWERD) and Mohamed Hantush (NRMRL) attended a meeting of the Distributed Watershed Water Quality Modeling Group held in Fort Collins, Colorado, January 15-16, 2004. This interagency workgroup was formed to develop and evaluate the current status of models, address scaling issues, discuss ways to modernize commonly used legacy code, and find ways to integrate existing model components. The workgroup consists of model developers from EPA, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, US Geological Survey, and US Agricultural Research Service. A Memorandum of Understanding has been developed among these agencies, and several documents describing the group's findings are expected to be delivered during 2004/2005. Billy Johnson of the ERDC, Department of Defense is the organizer of the group.
Stephen Schmelling (GWERD) attended a planning meeting for this summer's ORD Management Summit at Headquarters on January 26-27, 2004. Additional planning meetings for the summit are planned for this spring.
MISCELLANEOUSSteve Vandegrift (GWERD) is serving as the NRMRL representative on an ORD-wide workgroup charged with re- drafting EPA Order 1900.1A dealing with interactions between federal employees and contractors. The purpose of the re-draft is to focus on how to make these interactions work instead of simply listing prohibited activities. It is expected that an ORD draft will be available by the end of March.
GWERD staff Mary S. McNeil and Stephen Kovash conducted an on-site review of the Environmental Research Apprenticeship Program (ERAP), a cooperative agreement with East Central University. This review was conducted on January 26-27, 2004. Findings and observations will allow the Program to run more effectively and efficiently in the future. A two-year no- cost extension was approved for the ERAP Program.
COMMUNITY OUTREACHPrekindergarten and kindergarten students at Glenwood Early Childhood Center were treated to an interesting and enjoyable Fabulous Friday program on January 16, 2004, by Randall Ross (GWERD) and Ruth Ann Taylor. He and Ms. Taylor took the children on an imaginary fossil hunt. Their program included books, information about appropriate clothing and tools for a paleontologist, as well as Dr. Ross' collection of fossils. The presentation was scheduled in conjunction with classroom studies about dinosaurs.
Tour Coordinator Linda Jackson (GWERD) hosted twelve East Central University students, who were given a demonstration of the center's updated and comprehensive library system by Tanya Wiggins (ASRC Aerospace Corporation), contractor. This was followed by a tour through some of the research labs given by ECU ERAP students Jamie White and Justin Thompson. The tour ended with a demonstration by Ken Jewell (GWERD) of GWERD's amphibious well drilling vehicle. Professor Doug Weirick of the Environmental Health and Science Department accompanied the students new to East Central University, who came to learn what the EPA does and to realize the work/study opportunities (ERAP) for those who choose the field of science.