Welcome to TechDirect!  Since the February 1 message,  
TechDirect gained 318 new subscribers for a total of 24,452.  This  
March issue of TechDirect kicks off our tenth year keeping you  
informed of new developments related to contaminated site  
clean-up. The growth in subscribers suggests that we are on target.  
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issues.  
  
The purpose of TechDirect is to identify new technical, policy and  
guidance resources related to the assessment and remediation of  
contaminated soil, sediments and ground water.  
  
Mention of non-EPA documents or presentations does not  
constitute a U.S. EPA endorsement of their contents, only an  
acknowledgment that they exist and may be relevant to the  
TechDirect audience.  
  
Internet Seminars  
  
ITRC Site Investigation and Remediation for Munitions Response  
Projects - March 14.  This training provides an introduction and  
overview of the processes, tools, and techniques used in  
investigation and remediation. These concepts are illustrated using  
an example munitions response site.  Major steps in each process  
are identified and key regulatory considerations discussed.  This  
training also identifies additional sources for more detailed  
information on key aspects of investigation and remediation.  State  
regulators and others who need to understand the general processes  
involved in these critical aspects of the munitions response process  
will benefit from this training.  For more information and to  
register, see http://www.itrcweb.org or http://clu-in.org/studio .  
  
ITRC Design, Installation and Monitoring of Alternative Final  
Landfill Covers - March 16.  This training focuses on  
evapotranspiration (ET) covers and the decisions associated with  
their successful design, construction, and long-term care.  For more  
information and to register, see http://www.itrcweb.org or  
http://clu-in.org/studio .  
  
Revegetation and Restoration of an Oil Contaminated Wetland in  
Northern New Jersey - March 30.  This presentation will attempt to  
show that a carefully supervised cleanup followed by a  
scientifically driven monitoring program can be effective in  
removing oil from a sensitive wetland habitat using the Green  
Pond Oil Spill Removal project as the prime example.  A  
monitoring program for determining the success of the  
revegetation/restoration effort was conducted. Species composition  
and productivity measurements were an integral part of the  
parameters to measure the progress of the effort to determine  
comparability between the remediated site and undisturbed  
wetlands. The presentation will incorporate all that has been  
learned from the removal activity in terms of How Clean is Clean  
as applied to an oil contaminated fresh water wetland.  This  
information should be useful for decision makers, responders, and  
consultants alike when faced with remediating disturbed or  
contaminated habitats.  For more information and to register, see  
http://clu-in.org/studio .  
  
ITRC Constructed Treatment Wetlands - April 4.  This course,  
developed by the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council  
(ITRC), is based on Technical and Regulatory Guidance for  
Treating Storm Water and Wastewater Using Constructed  
Treatment Wetlands (WTLND-1).  It describes the physical,  
chemical, and biological mechanisms operating in wetlands  
treatment systems, the contaminants to which they apply, the  
characteristics of sites suitable to treatment in this fashion, and  
relevant regulatory issues.  For more information and to register,  
see http://www.itrcweb.org or http://clu-in.org/studio .  
  
ITRC Perchlorate: Overview of Issues, Status, and Remedial  
Options - April 6.  Improved analytical methodology has increased  
the known extent of perchlorate contamination in the U.S.  A  
variety of remediation technologies are currently commercially  
available and being used for perchlorate remediation.  This training,  
based on ITRC's Perchlorate: Overview of Issues, Status, and  
Remedial Options (PERC-1), explains why perchlorate is a hot  
topic in the environmental community including up-to-date  
information on sources, occurrences, toxicity and exposure,  
regulatory status and remediation alternatives.  For more  
information and to register, see http://www.itrcweb.org or  
http://clu-in.org/studio .  
  
New Documents and Web Resources  
  
Pilot Project to Optimize Ground Water Remediation Systems at  
RCRA Corrective Action Facilities: Summary Report and Lessons  
Learned (EPA 542-R-06-001).   The U.S. EPA Office of Solid  
Waste (OSW) and the U.S. EPA Office of Superfund Remediation  
and Technology Innovation (OSRTI) sponsored independent  
optimization evaluations in 2003 and 2004 at five facilities with  
pump and treat (P&T) systems regulated under the Resource  
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The Remediation System  
Evaluation (RSE) process developed by the U.S. Army Corps of  
Engineers was used. Based on the positive results of these RSEs  
and the consideration that many sites would receive a similar  
benefit from a streamlined RSE with a lower cost, OSRTI and  
OSW commissioned a new pilot study to develop and pilot a  
streamlined RSE process (RSE-lite) that reduces the evaluation  
cost relative to a full-scale RSE. Four sites were selected by the  
EPA OSRTI and OSW to receive RSE-lites based on nominations  
provided by EPA project managers. Upon completion of the draft  
RSE-lite reports, one of the four sites was selected to receive a site  
visit and additional analysis to convert the RSE-lite into a  
full-scale RSE (December 2005, 26 pages).  View or download  
from http://clu-in.org/techpubs.htm .  
  
Characterization, Design, Construction, and Monitoring of  
Bioreactor Landfills (ALT-3).  This report was published by the  
Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC).  It is  
intended primarily for decision makers associated with the plan  
development, review, and implementation of bioreactor landfills.  
The decision makers include, at a minimum, regulators,  
owners/operators, and consultants. This document focuses on the  
decisions and facilitating the decision processes related to design,  
evaluation, construction, and monitoring associated with bioreactor  
landfills (February 2006, 111 pages).  View or download at  
http://www.itrcweb.org/Documents/ALT-3 ... .  
  
Report on Results of the 2004-2005 Double-Blind Laboratory  
Evaluation Program.  During 2004 and 2005, the Massachusetts  
Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) conducted a  
large double-blind laboratory evaluation study, involving 19  
commercial laboratories that provide the majority of analytical  
support services to parties assessing and cleaning up hazardous  
waste sites in Massachusetts.  A double-blind study is one in which  
a laboratory is unaware that they have been sent samples that  
contain known concentrations of contaminants. The study was  
undertaken by MassDEP as part of a multi-year/multi-component  
data enhancement effort, in order to obtain a direct, real world  
sense of data quality and reliability in its waste site cleanup  
program (December 2005, 30 pages).  View or download at  
http://www.mass.gov/dep/cleanup/dbl-bl ... .  
  
New Phytotechnologies Profiles. EPA has developed this website  
to summarize timely information about full-, field- and large  
greenhouse-scale applications of phytotechnology.  Projects for this  
website are collected using information from technical journals,  
conference proceedings as well as information obtained from  
technology vendors and site manag