Superfund and Technology Liaison Program Workshops

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Introduction to Phytotechnologies and Water Balance (Evapotranspiration) Covers Workshop

December 14 & 15, 2011
San Francisco, CA

On December 14 & 15, 2011, Region 9 teamed up with ORD to present two days of training on Phytotechnologies and Water Balance Covers, with each taking a day. This two-day workshop, offered at the Region 9 offices in San Francisco, was intended to teach regulators, owners and operators, consultants, and engineers the basic principles for growing plant systems for environmental remediation, enhancement, and waste containment. Topics covered included alternative cover design, soil selection, construction, and monitoring, along with discussions of regulatory issues. Regional case studies were emphasized. The days' offerings were mutually exclusive, so the attendees were not the same each day, as their interests and needs varied.

On day 1, a number of speakers provided background and practical engineering application information on phytotechnologies, including an overview, use for site remediation and wastewater management, current research and a global perspective on the topic. We heard from ORD's Steve Rock to kick things off. Then Amanda Ludlow, Wai Kwan, Scott Knoepke and Walt Eifert, all from Roux Associates, along with Norman Terry from University of California at Berkeley, provided presentations covering the topics mentioned above.

Day 2 was dedicated to discussions on water balance covers or what are sometimes called evapotranspiration caps. They can be considered a specific application of phytotechnologies. Among the speakers for day 2 were Drs. Craig Benson and Bill Albright. Dr. Benson is the Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Albright is Research Hydrogeologist at the Desert Research Institute of the Nevada System of Higher Education. ORD's Steve Rock and Jim Kelsey from Daniel B. Stephens and Associates rounded out the speakers for day 2.

For more information, please contact Mike Gill (415-972-3054, gill.michael@epa.gov) or Steve Rock (513-569-7149, rock.steven@epa.gov).

Region 9 / ORD Homeland Security Research Workshop

July 14, 2011
San Francisco, CA

This workshop took place in the EPA Region 9 office in San Francisco, California. It was an introduction of tools, technologies, methods, and research products from ORD's National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC). Research program staff presented information and demonstrated tools on:

Water security
Technology testing and evaluation
Laboratory response to homeland security events
Risk assessment research
Indoor and outdoor decontamination

If you have questions about this workshop, please contact Kathy Nickel (nickel.kathy@epa.gov) or Mike Gill (gill.michael@epa.gov).

National Forum on Vapor Intrusion

January 12-13, 2009
Philadelphia, PA

Thanks to all who attended our successful conference! We met our goal of about 350 people from across the United States, including Federal agencies, state and local governments, community activists and other impacted residents, property developers and property reuse personnel, private consultants and vendors, and responsible parties undertaking response. This Forum was structured on dual tracks with common sessions. We had technical presentations on sampling, assessment, risk, and engineering. There were also case studies illustrating a cross section of vapor intrusion issues from the perspective of community stakeholders, Brownfields, EPA, and states. We had two breakout sessions: one on community issues and one on government programs. The Community Stakeholder Breakout presented areas and issues of interest for community groups, residents, developers, and possibly local government. The Government Stakeholder Breakout pertained to internal issues of program implementation, policy and guidance. We also had close to 30 poster presentations.

Thank you to all who supported our conference, including ORD's Office of Science Policy, OSWER's Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation, and ORD's National Exposure Research Laboratory and Land Research Program. Thanks also go out to the "champions" of the Monday evening poster session, including HydroGeoLogic, Inc., CH2MHill, Sullivan International, and Pontarolo Engineering.

If you were an attendee, please fill out our evaluation form available via the link below. You may also request a Certificate of Participation by emailing register@consolidatedsafety.com. We hope to have Proceedings completed and posted here by early March 2009.

If you have any further questions about this workshop, please feel free to contact Bill Hagel (hagel.bill@epa.gov) or Mike Gill (gill.michael@epa.gov).

International Environmental Nanotechnology Conference: Applications and Implications

October 7-9, 2008
Chicago, IL

Nanomaterials present:

new opportunities to improve our ability to detect, monitor, control, and clean up environmental pollutants and contaminants
potential new risks to human health and the environment

This conference followed two previous successful EPA environmental nanotechnology conferences, the first held in Washington, DC (October 2005) and the second in Chicago, IL (September 2006) The scope of this conference was expanded to take on an international perspective, and plenary sessions included keynote addresses by international experts. The keynotes introduced each of the subtopics that were highlighted during subsequent concurrent sessions. The following nanotechnology or nanomaterial subtopics were addressed:

Water Remediation - applications of nanotechnology to decontaminate surface water or groundwater.
Soil and Sediment Remediation - applications of nanotechnology to decontaminate soil or sediments.
Water Pollution Control - applications of nanotechnology to treat water prior to release to the environment or release into drinking water distribution systems.
Air Pollution Control - applications of nanotechnology to treat emissions prior to release to the environment or to purify indoor air.
Nano-enabled Sensing - nanotechnology applications to improve environmental contaminant or pollutant detection.
Environmental Fate & Transport - migration, transformations (biotic and abiotic), and sinks of nanomaterials in the physical environment from the point of environmental release to the point of biological exposure or long-term stable abiotic residence.
Biological Exposure - nanomaterial bioavailability, biological uptake (& barrier) mechanisms, biotic migration (organismal, cellular & subcellular), internal biological transformations, bioaccumulation, and food chain transfer.
Toxicity - biological effects of nanomaterials including mechanisms of toxicity, modes of action, biotic sensitivities and vulnerabilities (ecosystem through molecular), and dose-response relationships.

Desert Remedial Action Technologies (D-RAT) Workshop

The first Desert Remedial Action Technologies Workshop was held in Phoenix, AZ on October 2-4, 2007. The workshop was sponsored and organized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, and CH2M Hill.

An optional field trip was offered on October 4, 2007. This was the first workshop to focus on innovative, emerging, and proven remedial technologies being successfully applied in desert environments. The program emphasized field applications and case studies for technologies being applied to dissolved phase volatile organic compounds (VOCs), (specifically tricholoroethene [TCE]), perchlorate, and chromium. The focus was on in-situ technologies.