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TECHNICAL RESOURCE DOCUMENT ON MONITORED NATURAL RECOVERY
Citation:
Foote, E., R. Fimmen, R. Darlington, J. Neff, G. Durell, R. Brenner, AND M. Mills. TECHNICAL RESOURCE DOCUMENT ON MONITORED NATURAL RECOVERY. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, 2014.
Impact/Purpose:
The purpose of this technical resource document (TRD) is to provide detailed information on field-scale methodologies and approaches that can be used to measure and/or predict natural processes that contribute to the reduction of risks to human and ecological receptors at contaminated sediment sites. The goals of this TRD are to: 1) identify and describe natural physical, chemical, and biological processes normally associated with contaminated sediments, and 2) discuss techniques and methods for quantifying and assessing the rates and extent of those processes that may be occurring at a particular site.
Description:
In 2005, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a document entitled Contaminated Sediment Remediation Guidance for Hazardous Waste Sites (EPA, 2005), which provides technical and policy guidance for project managers and teams making risk management decisions for contaminated sediment sites. This EPA guidance document addresses both in-situ and ex-situ remedies for contaminated sediment sites, including, among others, dredging and excavation, in-situ capping, and monitored natural recovery (MNR). This report is a Technical Resource Document (TRD) on MNR intended to function as a complement to Chapter 4 on MNR in the aforementioned EPA guidance document. As such, the purpose of this TRD is to provide detailed information on field-scale methodologies and approaches that can be used to measure and/or predict natural processes that contribute to the reduction of risks to humand and ecological receptors at contaminated sediment sites. Although the document includes information that may be useful in developing a site-specific protocol, it is not a protocol or guidance document. The goals of this TRD are to: 1) identify and describe natural physical, chemical, and biological processes normally associated with contaminated sediments, and 2) discuss techniques and methods for quantifying and assessing the rates and extent of those processes that may be occurring at a particular site. The number and types of measurement and analytical methodologies used for evaluating MNR at contaminated sediment sites will be influenced by the size and complexity of the site, project resources, available data, and the scope of decisions to be made. This TRD consists of five technical sections that address different facets of MNR, including an introduction and overview of MNR (Section 1); a discussion on sedimentation and contaminant isolation (Section 2); consideration of the fate and transport of organic (Section 3) and inorganic (Section 4) contaminants in sediments; and a description of a six-point process for developing and implementing a long-term monitoring plan to evaluate and forecase MNR progress (Section 5). A comprehensive set of References for the five technical sections is provided (Section 6).