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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) was used to evaluate the potential concentrations and migration pathways of spores spread by urban stormwater following a hypothetical biological agent terrorist attack or accidental pathogen rel...

This work investigated the suitability of three non-hazardous food dyes as PFAS simulants during wastewater treatment with powdered activated carbon (PAC). Data from batch experiments with PAC revealed equilibrium constants (Log Kd) and pseudo first-order adsorption rate constant...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) strives to protect human health and the environment from adverse impacts resulting from incidents involving biological outbreaks or the intentional release of threat agents. Over the last 15 years several interagency efforts have bee...

Hazardous and polluting sites have historically been disproportionately sited in low-income and underrepresented communities, placing these communities at the frontlines during contamination events. Coupled with the increasing threat of other disasters like flooding and extreme h...

Many aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) delivery systems in aircraft hangars and firefighting vehicles may require thorough cleaning to avoid ongoing environmental impacts from residual per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) within those systems. Though replacement AFFF formula...

The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated gaps in viral disinfection data for personal protective equipment and materials typically laundered at home. In support of responders, decision makers, and the general public’s questions concerning the use of different cleaning methods, the Unite...

The Analysis for Coastal Operational Resiliency (AnCOR) program is an interagency collaboration between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the United States Coast Guard (USCG). The overall purpose of this multiagency pro...

Home plumbing can be contaminated with PFAS from aqueous film forming foams (AFFF) through accidental backflow resulting from firefighting related activities, including back-siphoning during routine maintenance of equipment.  This exact incident did occur in Wyoming, OH in 2018, ...

The U.S. EPA’s Homeland Security Research Program (HSRP) is charged with protecting human health and the environment from accidental and intentional releases of toxic chemicals and other threat agents. Such chemical agents include Fourth Generation Agents (FGAs), which repr...

Photo-induced toxicity of petroleum products and polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) is the enhanced toxicity caused by their interaction with ultraviolet radiation and occurs by two distinct mechanisms: photosensitization and photomodification. Laboratory approaches for designi...

Illicit fentanyl activities can lead to complex contamination incidents and create exposure risks to law enforcement, emergency responders, remediation contractors, and the public. The objective of this presentation is to provide an overview of conducted research to assist i...

The US Environmental Protection Agency’s newly released tool, the Equitable Resilience Builder (ERB), guides practitioners through a resilience planning process that provides support for communities in the face of climate change and disasters. The ERB process is specificall...

Dispersion models, which are important tools for efficient routine releases and emergency response preparation scenarios, typically incorporate logarithmic wind speed profiles when simulating flow and downwind dispersion. This may be acceptable for regions with low surface roughn...

Tracking the subsea oil plume during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill (DWH) was conducted using in situ fluorescence via vertical profilers (n=1,157) and discrete sample chemical analyses (n=7,665). During monitoring efforts, discrete samples provided a coarse picture of the ...

Management of waste from radiological incidents is complicated by the fact that decontamination decisions have a profound impact on the characteristics of resulting waste streams. Wide-area radiological incidents could produce massive quantities of waste that might need to be tre...

Photo-induced toxicity of petroleum products and polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs) is the enhanced toxicity caused by their interaction with ultraviolet radiation and occurs by two distinct mechanisms: photosensitization and photomodification. Laboratory approaches for designi...

This is a presentation for the Energy Exchange Conference in Cincinnati, OH Oct. 25-27.  This presentation will discuss premise plumbing infrastructure remediation technologies that could assist home and building owners in removing contaminants immediately following a disast...

Organic contaminants such as benzene can enter drinking water systems through several mechanisms such as oil spills, industrial accidents, and natural disasters. Recently, benzene contamination has been discovered in drinking water systems affected by wildfires in California. Exa...

Two underwater oil detection technologies have been developed: (1) A Remote Environmental Monitoring UnitS (REMUS-600) AUV equipped with fluorescence and backscatter SeaOWL UV-A (Oil-in-Water Locator; Sea-Bird Scientific WET Labs Inc.), holographic imager (HoloCam; SeaScan, Inc),...

Historically, visual observation is an emergency responder’s first ‘tool’ in identifying spilled oil. Optical detection has since expanded to include a myriad of signals from space, aircraft, drone, vessel and submersible platforms that can provide critical information for decisi...

There are currently outbreaks of African Swine Fever Virus (ASFv) in Asia and Europe. ASFv has recently been confirmed in The Dominican Republic, the first ASFv outbreak in the Western Hemisphere in 80 years. ASFv is a hemorrhagic fever virus which only affects pigs. The U.S. Dep...

This paper discusses development of a computer-based tool that allows practitioners to leverage the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), a well-established method of MCDA, to select remediation technologies based on their effectiveness and their compatibility with the practitioner...

States and localities are looking for ways to integrate climate resilience and environmental justice into how they prepare, respond, mitigate, and recover from disasters. These efforts require effective and inclusive engagement with many broad constituencies. The research present...

Chemical dispersant formulations typically provide maximum oil dispersion in waters between 30-40 ppt (parts per thousand) salt content, which encompasses typical ocean salinity (~34 ppt). As a result, most laboratory studies of oil dispersion effectiveness (DE) are conducted at ...

Introduction:  Many aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) delivery systems in aircraft hangars and firefighting vehicles may require thorough cleaning to avoid ongoing environmental impacts from residual per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) within those systems. Though replaceme...