Additional Labs VAP-Certified for Cis-DCE in Air

In August of last year our newsletter discussed the fact that only one lab was certified to analyze cis-1,2-dichloroethene (cis-DCE) in air under Ohio’s Voluntary Action Program (VAP). Cis-DCE is a breakdown product of tetrachloroethene (PCE) and trichloroethene (TCE),which are present at more than half of all RCRA sites, and is a ubiquitous constituent of concern in vapor-intrusion investigations. Unfortunately, cis-DCE has long been an orphan in the regulations, since it is a breakdown product and rarely or never a manufactured product. Many of us are familiar with the phrase “Appendix IX-plus-CIS” when discussing groundwater under RCRA. Until recently, only one lab was certified to analyze cis-DCE in air under Ohio’s VAP, and it used EPA Method 8260, which was designed for groundwater, not air.

TestAmerica’s Knoxville lab and Pace’s Indianapolis lab are now certified for cis-DCE in air under the Ohio VAP. Both use EPA Method TO-15, which is specifically designed for air and gives more accurate results. The availability of two new labs will allow far more flexibility for air sampling, and will prove to be especially helpful when dealing with vapor intrusion issues.

Cox-Colvin Lends Support to ODNR Core Lab & Coauthors Publication

For several years, I’ve participated as a committee member at the ODNR Division of Geological Survey’s H. R. Collins Core Lab at Alum Creek State Park, Delaware County. The Core Lab is a priceless repository of rock and soil cores from Ohio, which are extremely useful for study and research. The cores were gathered from various sources, including Cox-Colvin, at significant expense and are permanently archived and available for public use.

Last year, several Geological Survey employees and committee members put together a core workshop to help people hone their soil and rock examination skills. The workshop will be repeated on April 20 and 25 of this year. The group also put together a manual for the workshop, which has been published as:

Schumacher, G.A., Angle, M.P., Mott, Brian, and Schmidt, M.A. 2011. Central Ohio's Geology in Core and Outcrop Workshop II:, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011-1, 44 pages.

We hope that the significance of the Core Lab will be understood by higher-ups in state government, and that budget cuts will not result in the loss of this irreplaceable asset.

Online Waste-Related Resources

Are any of you old enough to remember calling the RCRA Hotline with waste-related questions, and actually talking to a real person? Although a similar phone operated service still exists as the Superfund, TRI, EPCRA, RMP, and Oil Information Hotline (1-800-424-9346), it no longer handles waste-related questions. At the federal level, there are several web-based services worth visiting, including RCRA Online and the recently started Wastes - Frequent Questions. RCRA Online is your best bet for finding published resources, while the newer "Wastes - Frequent Questions" site includes frequently asked questions and allows you to e-mail questions to technical staff. If you miss talking to a real person, you may stand a better chance working through your state agency.

Green and Sustainable Remediation Progress

I'm headed to Minneapolis this week to attend the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council's (ITRC) spring meeting. As a member of the ITRC Green and Sustainable Remediation (GSR) team, I will be assisting with the completion of the draft GSR Technical Regulatory Guidance Document. An earlier team document, the GSR Overview Document, will be published in the near future. Both documents will provide a significant contribution to the further evolution of the GSR approach.

On a separate, yet related note, Cox-Colvin & Associates was recently profile in Green Business Quarterly. The article discussed the firm's industry-leading efforts in the realm of GSR. Click here to read the article.

EPA Re-Evaluates the Risk from Fluoride Exposure

There has long been a debate about the use of fluoride in drinking water, pitting those who strongly believe in the benefits of fluoride to dental hygiene against those who even believe that there is no safe exposure level for fluoride. Recent EPA risk analyses of fluoride in groundwater will likely result in lower drinking water standards for fluoride. While the major impacts of these efforts will likely be to drinking water fluoridation and the use of fluoride-based insecticides in agriculture, industries with environmental issues that include fluoride will also feel the backlash, resulting in greater investigation and remediation costs. Click here to Read More.

Will EPA Meet Its 2020 Goals for the RCRA Corrective Action Program?

EPA recently reported in its annual performance report for 2010 that remedy construction has been completed at 37 percent of the 3,746 facilities on the RCRA Corrective Action 2020 baseline. To meet the goal of the 2020 Initiative, EPA and authorized states need to have achieved remedy construction status at 95 percent of the baseline facilities by the year 2020. With only nine years to go, what are the chances of meeting this ambitious goal?
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Is Excavated Soil Considered Hazardous?

Through the use of the Area of Contamination (AOC) policy, soil contaminated with a listed waste or exhibiting a hazardous waste characteristic which is excavated during pipeline work or construction may not need to be managed as hazardous if the soil is kept within the immediate area and returned to the trench. Read More