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ENGINEERING FORUM TELECONFERENCE MINUTES
August 6, 2008

Topics in this month's minutes:

TECHNICAL TOPIC
Dr. George Hoag (VeruTEK Technologies, Inc.) gave a presentation on his company’s surfactant enhanced in situ chemical oxidation (S-ISCO) treatment technology that can be used to reduce non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPL) in soil. Traditional ISCO processes involve injecting oxidants into contaminated areas. The oxidants react with contaminants and cause them to decompose into harmless substances. Traditional ISCO methods sometimes fail to remedy NAPLs such as gasoline, coal tar, or hydraulic fluid, because they do not readily dissolve in ground water. ISCO reactions predominantly take place in water in the ground and have little to no impact on contaminants bound to soil or in the NAPL.

S-ISCO™ is a new Coelution Technology™ that has been shown to reduce the flux of ground-water contaminants associated with NAPL-contaminated sites. The patent-pending S-ISCO™ technology uses biodegradable, food-grade surfactants, which consist of a mixture of citrus-based cosolvents and plant oil-based surfactants (i.e., VeruSOL™) that dissolve organic compounds into ground water and subsequently destroy the contaminants in-place using activated persulfate. Included in this list of compounds are petroleum products, chlorinated hydrocarbons, PCBs, dioxins, pesticides, and herbicides. The FDA has classified these surfactants as “generally recognized as safe.”

The addition of VeruSOL™ increases the solubility of DNAPL and adsorbed compounds between one to three orders of magnitude without physical mobilization of the NAPL. The inherent properties of plant-oil based surfactants to resist immediate chemical oxidation is key to VeruTEK's ability to simultaneously transport the surfactant and oxidants through the subsurface and target NAPL contaminated zones.

The S-ISCO™ process does not generate any wastes on site (beyond those associated with sampling) as compared to excavation, thermal or stabilization processes. Additionally, the carbon-greenhouse gas footprint of this new process is dramatically lower than with energy- and material-intensive processes, such as excavation, thermal, and stabilization-containment remedies. In response to a question from Nate Nemani (Region 5) about the products resulting from the oxidation process, Dr. Hoag said that his team is investigating oxidation byproducts at a site in New York, and he hopes to have some data in the coming months.

Dr. Hoag offered to lead a workshop on this technology in any EPA Region or state. For more information on this technology, EF members may contact Dr. Hoag via email (ghoag@verutek.com) or telephone (860-242-9800, ext. 301). His colleague Catherine Miceli (cmiceli@verutek.com) also can provide additional information.

2008 NARPM CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS
The EF co-chairs reported that the EF-sponsored courses were well attended and well received. Mike Gill (Region 9 STL) relayed a discussion from a recent co-chair call where the forums agreed to work more closely with the NARPM co-chairs in planning the next meeting. All co-chairs agreed to try and set the agenda earlier and provide more input into the planning process.

WINTER 2009 TSP MEETING
The winter 2009 TSP meeting, which will be held in conjunction with USGS, is tentatively scheduled for the week of January 26, 2009. Although the meeting location has not yet been finalized, Florida remains the most likely choice. Following two days of training by USGS, the EF will convene for one or two days of business sessions. There is a possibility that all TSP forums will meet for a single joint session (probably 1-2 hours in length) at some point during the meeting.

CONTAINMENT FAILURE PROJECT
Eva Davis (GWERD-Ada) proposed a joint project between the EF and Ground Water Forums (GWF) to examine containment system failures and long-term maintenance issues. René Fuentes and Bernie Zavala (both Region 10 GWF) have expressed interest in scoping this project. Mike Gill will initiate contact the GWF co-chairs to begin the collaborative effort. Donna McCartney (Region 3), Kira Lynch (Region 10), and Stephanie Vaughn (Region 2) expressed interest in working on this project. Ellen Rubin (TIFSD) said that HQ has money to fund contractor support (probably for publication assistance) for this project.

EVERGREEN LIST REVIEW
 Gary Miller (Region 6) and Mike Gill reviewed the status of items on the evergreen list. While many documents are still in progress (including the ISCO lessons-learned report, in situ thermal treatment paper, Indoor Air Vapor Intrusion Mitigation Approaches, Ex-Situ Treatment of Oxygenated Hydrocarbons & Perchlorates in Groundwater, and Technology Alternatives for the Remediation of Soil and Sediment Contaminated with PCBs), several products, including the EF brochure, NARPM courses, and EF Strategic Plan, are completed and can be removed from the list. Among the other updates:

RECENT DOCUMENT REVIEW REQUESTS

PARTICIPATION AGREEMENTS AND EF BY-LAWS
Hilary Thornton (Region 3) and Gary Miller will co-chair a subcommittee that will draft EF by-laws that link to the EF strategic plan and a streamlined, one-page participation agreement. EF members should contact Hilary or Gary if they are interested in participating.

ATTENDEES
Ray Cody, Region 1
Stephanie Vaughn, Region 2
Kevin Bilash, Region 3
Donna McCartney, Region 3
Fred MacMillan, Region 3
Andy Palestini, Region 3
Hilary Thornton, Region 3
Leo Romanowski, Region 4
Nate Nemani, Region 5
Peter Ramanauskas, Region 5
Raji Josiam, Region 6
Gary Miller, Region 6
Sandra Bourgeois, Region 8
Harry Ball, Region 9
Mike Gill, Region 9 STL
Ray Saracino, Region 9
Kira Lynch, Region 10
Ellen Rubin, TIFSD
Eva Davis, GWERD-Ada
Suzanne Davis, CA DTSC
Jim Harrington, NYSDEC
John Muegge, CA DTSC
George Hoag, VeruTEK Technologies
Catherine Miceli, VeruTEK Technologies
Jim Quigley, VeruTEK Technologies
Keith Arnold, EMS, Inc.

In an effort to foster scientific and technical advances in characterization, monitoring and remediation of contaminated sites, the EPA Technical Support Project encourages full and frank discussion of all technical matters and related issues that come before it.Information presented in these minutes represents the views of the participants and has not received formal EPA peer review. Therefore, this information does not necessarily reflect the views of EPA or other participating organizations, and no official endorsement should be inferred. The information is not intended, nor can it be relied upon, to create any rights enforceable by any party in litigation with the United States or any other party. Use or mention of trade names does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation for use. Errors and omissions in the information will be corrected as they are found and time permits.

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