Emergency Response Research Webinar Series

Free webinars typically held on the second Wednesday of the month. Special webinars on COVID-19 research are conducted as research results become available. 

EPA hosts this webinar series to share current research activities and results. This webinar series covers the latest information on research supporting EPA's response to chemical, biological, and radiological incidents, as well as natural disasters. This forum allows EPA to communicate directly with partners and stakeholders to foster collaboration and dissemination of information. 

NOTE: Attendees have the option of receiving a certificate of attendance. Acceptance of certificates is contingent on organization requirements—EPA cannot guarantee acceptance. Closed-captioned recordings of the webinars are provided below for later viewing and as a training resource; certificates cannot be provided for viewing webinar recordings. 

Webinar dates and topics are subject to change.

On this page:

• 2026 Schedule
• 2025 Webinar Recordings
• More Webinars by Topic Area

Upcoming Webinar

Cleanup of Fentanyl Contaminated Surfaces and Associated Waste Management

Wednesday, February 11, 2026, 2:00 - 3:00 PM ET

Registration Open

Illicit fentanyl activities create exposure risks to the general public who unknowingly enter contaminated areas, along with law enforcement, first responders, and remediation contractors who encounter contamination during their official duties. Remediation operations will benefit from improved knowledge of on-site approaches for decontamination or disposition of building materials contaminated with fentanyl and its analogs. Any residual liquid waste containing fentanyl after decontamination may require proper handling and/or treatment prior to disposal. Disposal options for fentanyl contaminated solid waste are limited to incineration.

This webinar provides an overview of EPA’s role in fentanyl responses and discusses decontamination approaches that fill gaps identified during the development of EPA’s Fentanyl Fact Sheet for On-Scene Coordinators. Options to treat fentanyl contaminated liquid waste will be discussed, as well as an overview of EPA’s role in defining waste disposal options. This webinar is of interest to the EPA response community, as well as other federal, state, Tribal and local agencies.

About the Presenters

Lukas Oudejans is a Physical Scientist with the US EPA Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM)’s Environmental Response Team and CBRN Division. Over the past 17 years with US EPA, he gained vast experience in national security programs related to research, development and evaluation of innovative technologies for the decontamination of materials contaminated with chemical or biological agents. He is co-author of EPA’s Fentanyl Fact Sheet for US EPA Federal On-Scene Coordinators who are providing technical support to state and local responders who may encounter environmental contamination from the fentanyl class of synthetic opioids (including fentanyl analogs). Currently, he leads the workgroup that develops the National Response Team quick reference guides for chemicals (including fentanyl) and continues to lead research efforts to assess decontamination options for fentanyl analog contaminated building materials. Dr. Oudejans holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Physics from Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands (1994). 

Matthew Magnuson is a Research Chemist for EPA’s Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions – Emergency Response Science Branch. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1994 from the University of Oklahoma (Norman) and is currently involved in emergency response research related to analysis and environmental fate of chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) contaminants. A major focus of his work is management and treatment of large volumes of CBR contaminated water and wastewater, as well as resuspension and stabilization of radiological contaminants. Collaborations include US Department of War, US Department of Homeland Security, and the National Institutes of Justice. 

Kristin Fitzgerald has been with the US EPA since 2001, working primarily on sector-based rulemaking for hazardous waste generators. Kristin started working with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) over thirty years ago, answering questions on the RCRA/Superfund Hotline. More recently, Kristin has been working on hazardous wastes that pose unique challenges, including hand sanitizer, solar panels and e-cigarettes. She holds a B.A. in Government from St. Lawrence University in New York and an M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy from George Mason University in Virginia. 

2026 Schedule

If you are interested in being notified when new webinars are scheduled, please sign up to receive email notifications here: Receive emails for upcoming webinars.

Topic and presenters are subject to change. Additional information and registration links will be provided in advance of each webinar.

Date	Topic
February 2026	Topic Coming Soon!