Superfund Contaminated Sediments: Guidance and Technical Support

Below is a list of guidance and technical support documents for managing sediment sites.

Primary Sediment Guidance Documents

• Principles for Managing Contaminated Sediment Risks at Hazardous Waste Sites (EPA, 2002) (PDF)(11 pp, 71 K)
• Contaminated Sediment Remediation Guidance for Hazardous Waste Sites (EPA, 2005) (PDF)(236 pp, 3 MB)
• Remediating Contaminated Sediment Sites - Clarification of Several Key Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study and Risk Management Recommendations, and Updated Contaminated Sediment Technical Advisory Group Operating Procedures, January 9, 2017 (PDF)(24 pp, 6 MB)

Coordinating Water, Superfund, and Enforcement Programs

• Promoting Water, Superfund, and Enforcement Collaboration on Contaminated Sediments (PDF)(3 pp, 647 K)
• Sediment Assessment and Monitoring Sheet #4, A Primer for Remedial Project Managers on Water Quality Standards and the Regulation of Combined Sewage Overflows under the Clean Water Act (PDF)(23 pp, 390 K)
• Integrating Water and Waste Programs to Restore Watersheds: A Guide for Federal and State Project Managers (PDF)(197 pp, 10 MB)

Remedial Investigation

• Developing Sediment Remediation Goals at Superfund Sites Based on Pore Water for the Protection of Benthic Organisms from Direct Toxicity to Non-ionic Organic Contaminants (EPA, 2017) (PDF)(75 pp, 2.5 MB)
• Guidance Manuals to Support the Assessment of Contaminated Sediments in Freshwater Ecosystems (PDF)(149 pp, 996 K)
• Ecological Risk Assessment and Risk Management Principles for Superfund Sites (PDF)(9 pp, 1 MB)
• Guidelines for Ecological Risk Assessment (EPA, 1998) (PDF)(188 pp, 959 K)
• Ecological Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund: Process for Designing and Conducting Ecological Risk Assessments (EPA, 1997) (PDF)(239 pp, 17.8 MB)
• Determination of the Biologically Relevant Sampling Depth for Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecological Risk Assessments (EPA, 2015) (PDF)(75 pp, 2.2 MB)
• Assessment and Remediation of Contaminated Sediments (ARCS) Risk Assessment and Modeling Overview Document (EPA, 1993) (PDF)(82 pp, 3.8 MB)
• Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund (RAGS), Volume 1, Part A (EPA, 1989) (PDF)(288 pp, 7.8 MB)

Feasibility Study

• Sediment Assessment and Monitoring Sheet #2- Understanding the use of models in predicting the effectiveness of proposed Remedial Actions at Sediment Superfund Sites (EPA, 2009) (PDF)(36 pp, 1.9 MB)
• Estimating Contaminant Losses from Components of Remediation Alternatives for Contaminated Sediments (EPA, 1996) (PDF)(301 pp, 11.3 MB)
• Technical Guidelines on Performing a Sediment Erosion and Deposition Assessment (SEDA) at Superfund Sites (ACE, 2014) (PDF)(183 pp, 9.4 MB)

Dredging

• Technical Guidelines for Environmental Dredging of Contaminated Sediments (ACE, 2008) (PDF)(302 pp, 5.3 MB)
• The Four R’s of Environmental Dredging: Resuspension, Release, Residual, and Risk (ACE, ERDC, 2008) (PDF)(64 pp, 635 K)
• Sediment Dredging at Superfund Megasites: Assessing the Effectiveness (National Research Council, 2007) (PDF)(316 pp, 4.3 MB)
• Evaluation of Dredged Material Proposed for Disposal at Island, Nearshore or Upland Confined Disposal Facilities – Testing Manual (ACE, 2003) (PDF)(337 pp, 3.1 MB)
• Evaluation of Dredged Material Proposed for Discharge in Waters of the U.S. – Inland Testing Manual (EPA and ACE, 1998) (PDF)(176 pp, 9.6 MB)
• Mass Balance, Beneficial Use Products, and Cost Comparisons of Four Sediment Treatment Technologies near Commercialization (ACE, ERDC, 2011) (PDF)(286 pp, 15.8 MB)
• ARCS Program Remediation Guidance Document (EPA, 1994) (PDF)(356 pp, 18.3 MB)
• Handbook: Remediation of Contaminated Sediments (EPA, 1991) (PDF)(51 pp, 3.6 MB)
• Evaluating the Effectiveness of Contaminated-Sediment Dredging, Gustavson et al., Env. Sci. Technol., 2008. (PDF)(6 pp, 1.7 MB)
• Contaminated Sediments in Ports and Waterways: Cleanup Strategies and Technologies (National Research Council, 1997) (PDF)(318 pp, 2.3 MB)

In-Situ Sediment Remediation (Capping, Amendments, Enhanced Natural Recovery)

• Technical Note - Subaqueous Capping and Natural Recovery: Understanding the Hydrogeologic Settings at Contaminated Sediment Sites (ACE, 2002) (PDF)(16 pp, 2.5 MB)
• Use of In Situ Amendments
  • Infographic on In Situ Amendments (PDF)(4 pp, 4.9 MB)
  • White Paper: Use of Amendments for In Situ Remediation at Superfund Sediment Sites (EPA 2013) (PDF)(61 pp, 788 K)
• ARCS Program Guidance for In-Situ Subaqueous Capping of Contaminated Sediments (EPA, 1998) (PDF)(147 pp, 6.3 MB)
• ARCS Program Remediation Document (EPA, 1994) (PDF)(356 pp, 18.3 MB)
• Guidance for Subaqueous Dredged Material Capping (ACE, 1998) (PDF)(295 pp, 2.3 MB)

Monitored Natural Recovery

• Technical Resource Document on Monitored Natural Recovery (EPA, 2014) (PDF)(251 pp, 5.1 MB)
• Monitored Natural Attenuation: USEPA Research Program – An EPA Science Advisory Board Review (U.S. EPA, 2001) (PDF)(66 pp, 330 K)

Monitoring

• Using Fish Tissue Data to Monitor Remedy Effectiveness
  • Podcast: Using Fish Tissue to Monitor Remedy Effectiveness
  • EPA-OSRTI: Using Fish Tissue to Monitor Remedy Effectiveness Podcast Transcript (mp3)
  • Clu-In Webinar: Using Fish Tissue to Monitor Remedy Effectiveness
  • Sediment Assessment and Monitoring Sheet (SAMS) #1 —Using fish tissue data to monitor remedy effectiveness (EPA, 2008) (PDF)(14 pp, 390 K)
• Passive Sampling:
  • Laboratory, Field, and Analytical Procedures for Using Passive Sampling in the Evaluation of Contaminated Sediments: User's Manual (PDF)(167 pp, 7.7 MB)
    • Porewater PRC calculator (.ZIP)(18.3 MB)
    • Surface Water PRC calculator (.ZIP)(40.4 MB)
  • Infographic on Passive Sampling (PDF)(2 pp, 7.2 MB)
  • Passive Sampler Webinar (Clu-In module on how and why to use Passive Samplers, 2 hours long)
  • Sediment Assessment and Monitoring Sheet (SAMS) #3 - Guidelines for Using Passive Samplers to Monitor Organic Contaminants at Superfund Sediment Sites (PDF)(32 pp, 1.8 MB)
  • Clu-In Webinar Series Session 1 - Porewater Concentrations and Bioavailability
  • Clu-In Webinar Series Session 2 - Porewater Concentrations and Bioavailability
  • Clu-In Webinar Series Session 3 - Porewater Concentrations and Bioavailability
  • Clu-In Webinar Series Session 4 - Porewater Concentrations and Bioavailability
• Guidance for Assessing Chemical Contaminant Data for Use in Fish Advisories (EPA and the American Fisheries Society, 1993)
  • Volume I: Fish Sampling and Analysis, Third Edition (PDF) (485 pp, 3.5 MB)
  • Volume II: Risk Assessment and Fish Consumption Limits, Third Edition (PDF) (383 pp, 1.71 MB)
  • Volume III: Overview of Risk Management (PDF) (114 pp, 711 K)