| |
Research Highlight from Sally Gutierrez
EPA’s National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL) develops scientific knowledge and technologies to reduce and prevent pollution, and restore ecosystems. NRMRL efforts focus on seven core research areas: drinking water protection, air pollution control, pollution prevention, remediation of contaminated sites, watershed management and protection, environmental technology verification, and technology and technical support.
NRMRL Director Sally Gutierrez recently traveled to Argentina to share NRMRL’s research efforts internationally. Gutierrez provided an overview of ongoing drinking water research to the Inter-American Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering. She also led seminars at the Instituto do Recursos Hidricos do la Universidad Nacional in Cordova, and the National Technical University in Buenos Aires. She provided faculty and students a look at the latest technologies being developed for controlling arsenic in drinking water.
Top of page
Arsenic Removal Paper is 9th Most Viewed
“Optimizing Arsenic Removal During Iron Removal: Theoretical and Practical Considerations," by Tom Sorg and Darren Lytle, is the 9th most viewed paper between 2004 and 2006 in the Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology – Aqua. Both NRMRL scientists work in the Water Supply and Water Resources Division.
Top of page
Journal of Environmental Monitoring Features NRMRL Research
Christopher A. Impellitteri, Otis Evans, and Bruce Ravel's paper, "Speciation of Organotins in Poly Vinyl Chloride Pipe via X-Ray Absorption Spectroscopy and in Leachates Using GC-PFPD After Derivitisation," was published in the April issue of the Journal of Environmental Monitoring.
The research was a joint effort between NRMRL, the National Exposure Research Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory.
Top of page
Green Chemistry Gets Small
Research chemists at NRMRL are tapping nanotechnology to develop new, “green” catalysts (agents that accelerate chemical reactions). These new products may soon reduce the use of strong acids and heavy metals.
One promising project used an ozone-based catalyst to remove an air pollutant and turn it into a resource, potentially saving the pulp and paper industry millions of dollars annually. See also Advanced Oxidation Technologies (AOTs).
Top of page
NRMRL Engineer Provides International Assistance
At the request of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the American Embassy in Jordan, Thabet Tolaymat, an environmental engineer at NRMRL, traveled to Amman to provide assistance with landfill site remediation and assessment. Thabet's eight-week detail involved working with researchers and engineers to create a comprehensive plan for addressing several solid and liquid waste disposal issues at the Russaifah mining area. Read U.S. Supports Jordan’s Protection of the Environment.
Top of page
NRMRL Scientist Elected to Serve on Board of Governors
for the International Microwave Power Institute (IMPI)
Dr. Rajender S. Varma, scientist at NRMRL, was elected to serve as a member of the Board of Governors for the International Microwave Power Institute (IMPI). Founded in 1966, the IMPI is a global organization that provides a forum for the exchange of information on all aspects of dielectric (microwave and radio frequency) heating technologies. The institute has expanded its industrial and scientific base to meet the information needs evolving in consumer microwave ovens and related products.
Top of page
NRMRL Scientists Receive National Recognition
Biomass concentrator reactor
The first innovation, the biomass concentrator reactor, was designed for use in retention of high-biomass solids to reduce soluble pollutants in groundwater. The reactor was developed by Albert D. Venosa, Ph.D., and the University of Cincinnati's Makram T. Suidan, Ph.D.
The second innovation, a process for the recovery of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from emulsion of VOCs in water by pervaporation, offers a clean and economic alternative for removal of VOCs from ground water. It was invented by Subhas K. Sikdar, Ph.D., and Leland M. Vane, Ph.D.
Top of page
ORD Researchers Study Avian Flu With the
Southeast Poultry Research Institute
Researchers from EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD), Noreen Adcock of NRMRL and Dr. Gene Rice of EPA’s National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC), collaborated with the Department of Agriculture's Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory (SEPRL) and the University of Georgia to evaluate the use of chlorine to inactivate the avian influenza virus H5N1 in water. (SEPRL conducts research on both endemic and exotic poultry illnesses, including avian influenza.)
Researchers at SEPRL became interested in evaluating chlorine's ability to inactivate the virus as a method of preventing the spread of the virus among poultry. The USDA contacted EPA for technical support in conducting the chlorine inactivation studies.
Top of page
| NRMRL Employees in Action |
| Dr. Jorge Santo Domingo presented “Microbial Forensics and Environmental Monitoring of Fecal Pollution: From Phylogenetics to Metagenomics” at the American Society for Microbiology’s 107th General Meeting, May 21–25 in Toronto, Canada. The meeting is the largest annual gathering of microbiologists in the world. |
| Dr. Doris Betancourt was interviewed by one of the main Puerto Rican newspapers, El Nuevo Dia, to discuss her research and years of service with EPA. The interview stemmed from ORD’s Spanish Access to Science Initiative. The Hispanic outreach initiative seeks to show EPA’s work to the Hispanic community via Spanish languages and media outlets. The program allows Hispanics in the United States and abroad to see Hispanic role models working for a better environment and human health. |
| Dr. Heriberto Cabezas, chief of the Sustainable Environments Branch, was honored with the 2007 New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) Alumni Achievement Award on Saturday, June 16. Dr. Cabezas was one of the five recipients of the award. The annual award honors a select group of distinguished alums for their professional achievement. |
| Craig L. Patterson of NRMRL’s Water Supply and Water Resources Division was awarded the Trudy A. Speciner Non-Supervisory Award for Advancing Environmental Protection. The award honors non-supervisory professional employees distinguished by unusual analytical ability, creativity and judgment, or the exceptional ability to work well with other staff. |
| Daniel J. Murray presented "Innovation and Research for Water Infrastructure in the 21st Century: U.S. EPA's Research Plans For Gravity Sewers" at the Water Environment Federation's 2007 Collection Systems Conference in Portland, Oregon. The paper, presented in May, outlined EPA's program aimed at reducing the cost and improving the effectiveness of drinking water and wastewater management systems. The program will assist utilities to more effectively implement comprehensive asset management, provide reliable service to their customers, and meet their Clean Water Act goals. |
Top of page
See Also
NRMRL Research Highlights
|
![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}