This first webinar of the series on treatment technologies at mining sites will provide an overview of available technology-related resources and training opportunities associated with characterization, cleanup, and redevelopment of abandoned mine lands. Presenters will discuss the resources and support available through federal agencies and other organizations, including EPA's Abandoned Mine Lands Program and the Technology Innovation and Field Services Division.

SRI hosts a series of quarterly webinars on redevelopment of Superfund sites across the country. These webinars share the history of redevelopment, discuss the different types of reuse that are possible and share how particular Superfund sites have become reuse success stories. In addition to the webinar sessions, SRI also highlights a new site and its redevelopment story every other month.

Biofuels and biofuel blends are a new category of transportation fuels and are defined as liquid fuels and blending components produced from renewable biomass feedstocks used as alternative or supplemental fuels for internal combustion engines. Their manufacture and consumption are increasing, in part, due to usage mandates and incentives both in the United States and abroad. This expanded use of biofuel and biofuel blends increases the potential frequency of releases due to increased manufacture, transportation, storage, and distribution. Because biofuels differ from conventional fuels with respect to their physical, chemical, and biological properties, their introduction poses challenges with respect to understanding the potential impacts of releases to the environment. Specifically, once released into the environment, these fuels will exhibit different environmental behaviors as compared to conventional fuels.

This training, which is based on the ITRC's Biofuels: Release Prevention, Environmental Behavior, and Remediation (Biofuels-1, 2011), focuses on the differences between biofuels and conventional fuels specific to release scenarios, environmental impacts, characterization, and remediation. The trainers will define the scope of the potential environmental challenges by introducing biofuel fundamentals, regulatory status, and future usage projections. Participants will learn how and when to use the ITRC biofuels guidance document for their projects. They will understand the differences in biofuel and petroleum behavior; become familiar with the biofuel supply chain, potential release scenarios and release prevention; be able to develop an appropriate conceptual model for the investigation and remediation of biofuels; and select appropriate investigation and remediation strategies.

Download Slides in Microsoft PowerPoint Format (7.56MB/PPT)
Download Slides in Adobe Acrobat Format (2.21MB/PDF)
Download Slides in Black and White Adobe Acrobat Format (2.21MB/PDF)

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that approximately 10 percent (over a billion cubic yards) of the sediment underlying our nation's surface water is sufficiently contaminated with pollutants to pose potential risks to fish and to humans and wildlife that eat fish. Based on current average costs for managing contaminated sediments, this volume of material could cost several trillion dollars to dredge. Methods to assess the potential effect of sediment contamination on human or ecological health are historically based on total contaminant concentrations in the bulk sediment. However, research conducted over the past fifteen years has shown that the bioavailability of many of these contaminants to receptors is much less than the total amount of contaminant in the sediment. "Bioavailability processes," as defined by the National Research Council, are the "individual physical, chemical, and biological interactions that determine the exposure of plants and animals to chemicals associated with soils and sediments." Only the bioavailable fraction of an environmental contaminant may be taken up and subsequently result in an effect on an organism. Incorporating bioavailability considerations in the calculation of risk can optimize the extent of cleanup required to be protective, improve site decision-making, and can be an important factor in balancing the risks caused by remedial action with the risks addressed by remedial action.

ITRC's web-based Technical and Regulatory Guidance, Incorporating Bioavailability Considerations into the Evaluation of Contaminated Sediment Sites (CS-1, 2011) and associated Internet-based training are intended to assist state regulators and practitioners with understanding and incorporating fundamental concepts of bioavailability in contaminated sediment management practices. This guidance and training describe how bioavailability considerations can be used to evaluate exposure at contaminated sediment sites, the mechanisms affecting contaminant bioavailability, available tools used to assess bioavailability, the proper application of those tools, and how bioavailability information can be incorporated into risk-management decisions. This guidance and training also contain summaries of case studies where bioavailability has been assessed and considered in the contaminated sediment remedial decision making process. This guidance and training provide insight on how bioavailability assessments can be used to understand, mitigate, and manage risk at a contaminated sediment site, often at a reduced overall project cost.

The intended users of this guidance and training participants are individuals who have a working knowledge of contaminated sediment management but seek additional information about bioavailability. Prior to the training class, participants are encouraged to review the following documents:

• ITRC's web-based Technical and Regulatory Guidance, Incorporating Bioavailability Considerations into the Evaluation of Contaminated Sediment Sites (CS-1, 2011) http://www.itrcweb.org/contseds-bioavailability
  
  
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Ecological Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund: Process for Designing and Conducting Ecological Risk Assessment"- Interim Final, June 1997 http://www.epa.gov/oswer/riskassessment/ecorisk/ecorisk.htm
  
  
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund (RAGS)" Volume 1 -- Human Health Evaluation Manual, Supplement to Part A: Community Involvement in Superfund Risk Assessments, 1989 http://www.epa.gov/oswer/riskassessment/ragsa/ci-ra.htm

Sites contaminated with metals and radionuclides present unique challenges to the development of effective remedial alternatives that also provide long-term protection to human health and the environment. The high costs of ongoing conventional treatment, total removal, and/or management combined with the scale of potential health and environmental risks make it important to evaluate attenuation-based remedial alternatives. Sites that have been identified as having metal and/or radionuclide contamination include federal facilities, industrial (e.g., mines) sites, disposal sites, and transportation corridors. Common metals include arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, nickel, copper, and selenium. For radioactive hazardous substances, uranium, radium, strontium, technetium, tritium, and thorium are the most common contaminants of concern. The attenuation processes affect most metals and radionuclides by changing their valence state, which in turn affects their solubility and therefore mobility. When properly employed, Monitored Natural Attenuation (MNA) is an effective knowledge-based remedy where a thorough engineering analysis informs the understanding, monitoring, predicting, and documenting of natural processes. In order to properly employ this remedy, there needs to be a strong scientific basis supported by appropriate research and site-specific monitoring implemented in accordance with quality systems.

This training and the associated ITRC Technical and Regulatory Guidance document, A Decision Framework for Applying Monitored Natural Attenuation Processes to Metals and Radionuclides in Groundwater (APMR-1, 2010), is intended for anyone involved with evaluating, investigating, remediating or managing a site that involves metal and radionuclide contaminants in groundwater. This training and document provides:

• Introduction to key attenuation processes for metals and radionuclides
  
• Information on incorporating MNA into remedial alternatives for metals/rads
  
• Overview of the decision framework on MNA for metals and radionuclides in groundwater within the larger evaluation framework of a contaminated site

Solidification/Stabilization (S/S) is a remedial technology option which blends treatment reagents into contaminated material to impart physical and/or chemical changes to reduce the flux of contamination that leaches from a contaminant source to within acceptable parameters set forth in a site-specific remediation goal. S/S can be effective for metals, asbestos, radioactive materials, oxidizers, PAHs, PCBs, and pesticides and is potentially effective for dioxins/furans, some VOCs and other organics. Although there is abundant literature describing the S/S process and test methods for design and implementation, there was a lack of guidance for assessing performance. The ITRC technical and regulatory guidance document Development of Performance Specifications for Solidification/Stabilization (S/S-1, 2011) and associated Internet-based training provide an approach to assist practitioners and regulators with measuring and determining acceptable S/S performance. This approach developed by the ITRC Solidification/Stabilization Team provides information for developing, testing, and evaluating appropriate site-specific performance specifications and the considerations for designing appropriate long-term stewardship programs. In addition, the approach provides useful tools for establishing an appropriate degree of treatment and regulatory confidence in the performance data to support decision-making. This training and guidance is intended to be beneficial to anyone involved with CERCLA, RCRA, brownfields, UST or any other regulatory program where S/S has been selected or implemented as a remedial technology.

For reference during the training class, participants should have available a copy of the process diagram, Figure 4-1 on page 29 of the ITRC Technology and Regulatory Guidance Document Development of Performance Specifications for Solidification/Stabilization (S/S-1, 2011) and available as a 1-page PDF at http://www.cluin.org/conf/itrc/ss/ITRC-SS-Process.pdf.