Grantee Research Project Results
2002 Progress Report: HSRC Technology Transfer, Training, and Outreach
EPA Grant Number: R828773C005Subproject: this is subproject number 005 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R828773
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: HSRC (2001) - South and Southwest HSRC
Center Director: Reible, Danny D.
Title: HSRC Technology Transfer, Training, and Outreach
Investigators: Fitzpatrick McCook, Leigh , Ford, Denise Rousseau , Schmitter, Bob , Hodges, M.
Current Investigators: Schmitter, Bob , Ford, Denise Rousseau
Institution: Georgia Institute of Technology , Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge
EPA Project Officer: Aja, Hayley
Project Period: October 1, 2001 through September 30, 2006 (Extended to September 30, 2007)
Project Period Covered by this Report: October 1, 2001 through September 30, 2002
Project Amount: Refer to main center abstract for funding details.
RFA: Hazardous Substance Research Centers - HSRC (2001) Recipients Lists
Research Category: Hazardous Waste/Remediation , Land and Waste Management
Objective:
One objective of the Hazardous Substance Research Center (HSRC) of the South/Southwest (S/SW) is to provide technology transfer and community outreach. Assistance to communities is provided through the Technical Outreach Service to Communities (TOSC) and Technical Assistance to Brownfields Communities (TAB) programs.
TOSC. The objective of TOSC is to provide no-cost, nonadvocate technical assistance to communities in U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regions 4 and 6 addressing issues of environmental contamination. The TOSC assistance efforts strive to provide a community with the information it needs to ask pertinent questions regarding contamination in their neighborhoods and remediation options, and to become informed participants in any decision-making processes. This effort also has the objective to widely disseminate research findings and technical expertise to interested communities with regard to hazardous substance/sediment remediation research.
By working closely with local, state, and federal environmental protection agencies, TOSC has been able to assist small, newly organized communities and large, multicommunity organizations that have an established presence and are a driving force in local environmental assessment and remediation efforts. TOSC markets its services directly to communities through participation in national and regional environmental conferences, through contact with state and federal environmental agencies, and through word-of-mouth from communities that have benefited from TOSC's services. Broader dissemination of the Center's work is achieved via workshops and presentations, traditional publications, electronic newsletters, Internet, and Web activities.
TAB. The objective of TAB is to provide no-cost, nonadvocate technical assistance to communities and municipalities in EPA Regions 4 and 6 addressing the redevelopment of environmentally contaminated property, also known as brownfield properties. TAB assistance efforts strive to provide a community or municipality with the information needed to ask pertinent questions regarding the sustainable redevelopment of brownfields and remediation options, and to become informed participants in any decision-making processes.
By working closely with local, state, and federal environmental protection agencies, TAB has been able to assist small, newly organized communities and large, multicommunity organizations that have an established presence and are a driving force in local environmental assessment and remediation efforts. TAB markets its services directly to communities through participation in national and regional environmental conferences, through contact with state and federal environmental agencies, and through word-of-mouth from communities that have benefited from TAB's services.
Progress Summary:
TOSC. During the 2002 calendar year, TOSC had 19 communities on its Active list (see Table 1, TOSC communities assisted in Year 1). Although some communities requested and received more assistance than others, a community is considered active if there is continued contact between the two parties, and a desire on the community's part to have TOSC available to provide assistance if needed. Nearly all of these communities have a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in place or in development with TOSC. The active communities TOSC is assisting are facing problems ranging from groundwater contamination, air quality/permitting issues, landfills, and soil contamination.
In addition to these active communities, TOSC has provided technical assistance via telephone and electronic mail to 10 additional communities. These assistance efforts are usually one-time efforts, without a need for an MOU. Some of these assistance efforts are with communities outside of the EPA Regions the TOSC S/SW Program serves, providing the TOSC S/SW Program with a nationwide presence.
Augusta, GA | The city is trying to redevelop the Goldberg Scrap yard site. TOSC is reviewing environmental sampling data, presenting several redevelopment visioning and brownfields 101 presentations. The city has a Brownfield Pilot grant. |
Spartanburg, SC | The city is interested in developing a brownfield site. TOSC has evaluated groundwater and air permit data for the facility on site and has provided some general brownfield assistance to ReGenesis Corp. The city has a Brownfield Pilot grant. |
Barnwell, SC | Possible groundwater contamination issues. TOSC is reviewing more than 4,000 pages of material pertaining to a possible push for Superfund status. |
Holly Hill, SC | TOSC has reviewed air permit applications and provided various types of technical assistance. |
El Paso, TX | The community is concerned about elevated levels of arsenic and lead in their neighborhoods. TOSC has reviewed sample results and is researching lead and arsenic cleanup criteria. |
Corpus Christi, TX | The Community Citizens for Environmental Justice (CFEJ) community group has environmental and health issues pertaining to more than 40 old unengineered landfills. TOSC is reviewing several documents, has presented an educational workshop, and will be presenting at a community health symposium. |
Southern Pines, NC | TOSC has reviewed several versions of the RI/FS. |
Shreveport, LA | The Residents for Air Neutralization (RAN) community group is concerned with facilities near their neighborhood. TOSC has reviewed placement of an air monitor, presenting an educational workshop about the facilities, their processes, the waste generated, fate and transport of these toxic chemicals, as well as health effects of the chemicals. TOSC will be teaming with ATSDR on the health portion of the workshop. |
The following is a list of TOSC Web Activities:
- Outreach Web Site
· Installed an online tool for logging in evaluations of Center work in various communities. This tool, accessible through the "Community Profiles" page on a password-only basis, will allow all TOSC/TAB staff members to see what community members said about the Center's work for them.
· Updated and expanded the "What's New" page information on a continual basis.
· Added new community profiles throughout the year to reflect new and continual outreach activities by the Center.
· Added two quarterly reports authored by the TOSC/TAB lead coordinator to the Web Site.
· Created an extensive series of new "Environmental Update" factsheets oriented to community environmental needs (see following section for details).
· Published HTML versions of several slide presentations made by HSRC-S/SW staff members at outreach workshops.
Main Center Web Site
· Answered or referred to subject matter, expert questions, or requests for information generated from the Center's Web Site.
· Reformatted the Web Site from "frames" to "tables." In the frames format, content pages were nested within a frame formed by the navigational bar and header bar. In the tables format, all pages have content integrated with navigational and header information. With the tables format, visitors who come to an individual page via a search engine link get links for the entire Center Web Site rather than simply an isolated content page without links.
· Updated and expanded the "What's New" page continually throughout the year.
· Updated the Web Site to include "Phase II-HSRC" information.
· Installed the Web Site with HTML-versions of presentations at the Center-sponsored environmental remediation conference in Rio de Janeiro in July-August 2002.
· Completed conversion and Web installation of HTML versions of presentations at the Center-sponsored environmental remediation conference in Prague, Czech Republic, in May-June 2001.
· Published four Center Web newsletters (winter, spring, summer, and fall).
· Created a Web page with Web abstracts of four new Center-funded research projects and two related projects funded at other centers.
· Created a Web page on the Anacostia demonstration project with a basic summary and links to two PowerPoint progress reports.
· Initiated and worked on arrangements for a Web workshop on http://www.cluin.org in early 2003 that focuses on the Anacostia capping demonstration.
Sediments Research Community
· Reformatted SedWeb Site from "frames" to "tables" (as done for Center Web Site).
· Expanded articles and announcements in the Bulletin Board section.
· Updated and expanded page with links to other Web resources.
· Created a Web-based page with links to slide presentations in Sediment Stability Workshop co-sponsored by the HSRC-S/SW in January 2002 in New Orleans.
· Created an interactive map of the United States with "dots" showing HSRC-S/SW sediments activities. Each dot linked to pages with information about Center work.
· Created a monthly e-mail advisory about sediment news and events to distribution list, totaling several hundred people. The advisory contained Center information as well as activities conducted by other organizations.
TAB. During the 2002 calendar year, TAB had 11 communities and municipalities on its Active list. Although some communities and municipalities requested and received more assistance than others, a community is considered active if there is continued contact between the two parties, and a desire on the community's part to have TAB available to provide assistance if needed. Many of TAB's clients are recipients of the U.S. EPA's Brownfield Assessment Demonstration Pilot Grants. Nearly all of these communities have a MOU in place or in development with TAB.
In addition to these active communities, TAB has provided technical assistance via telephone and electronic mail to 10 additional communities. These assistance efforts are usually one-time efforts, without a need for an MOU to be developed. Some of these assistance efforts are with communities outside of the EPA Regions the S/SW TAB Program serves, providing the S/SW TAB Program with a nationwide presence. See Table 2 for a list of Active TAB participants.
Augusta, GA | The city wants to redevelop the Goldberg Scrap yard site. TAB is reviewing environmental sampling data, presenting several redevelopment visioning and brownfields 101 presentations. The city has a Pilot BF grant. |
Spartanburg, SC | The city is interested in developing a brownfield site. TAB evaluated groundwater and air permit data for the facility on site, and provided some general brownfield assistance to ReGenesis Corp. The city has a BF Pilot grant. |
Lake Charles, LA | The city is in the early stages of building a brownfields program. We provided some basic information for an EPA Brownfields grant. TAB is in the early stages of working with the city. |
Atlanta, GA | The city is identifying brownfield properties. TAB is providing training and educational seminars. |
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 11 publications for this subprojectSupplemental Keywords:
data dissemination, Superfund, hazardous waste, community outreach, technical assistance, brownfields, redevelopment, sustainability., RFA, Health, Scientific Discipline, Waste, Health Risk Assessment, Risk Assessments, Hazardous Waste, Ecology and Ecosystems, Ecological Risk Assessment, Hazardous, outreach material, contaminant transport, contaminant dynamics, human exposure, technology transfer, human health risk, technical outreach, community support, hazardous substance contaminationRelevant Websites:
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractMain Center Abstract and Reports:
R828773 HSRC (2001) - South and Southwest HSRC Subprojects under this Center: (EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
R828773C001 Bioturbation and Bioavailability of Residual, Desorption-Resistant
Contaminants
R828773C002 In-Situ Containment and Treatment of Contaminated Sediments: Engineering Cap Integrity and Reactivity
R828773C003 Phytoremediation in Wetlands and CDFs
R828773C004 Contaminant Release During Removal and Resuspension
R828773C005 HSRC Technology Transfer, Training, and Outreach
The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.
Project Research Results
Main Center: R828773
279 publications for this center
63 journal articles for this center