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Engineering Technical Support Center Annual Report Fiscal Year 2018
Citation:
Bronstein, K., J. McKernan, AND E. Barth. Engineering Technical Support Center Annual Report Fiscal Year 2018. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-19/245, 2020.
Impact/Purpose:
ETSC’s mission is to provide site-specific scientific and engineering technical support to Remedial Project Managers (RPMs), On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs), and other remediation personnel at contaminated sites. ETSC is primarily staffed with scientists and engineers from ORD/NRMRL/LMMD, thereby covering a broad range of skills and technical expertise. ETSC collaborates with EPA programs and other federal agencies to deliver the latest methods, approaches, and technologies needed to characterize, remediate, and manage risk at contaminated sites. Additional assistance is provided by other ORD Laboratory or Division personnel, EPA Regional personnel, and external contractors and consultants as needed. ETSC’s combined technical expertise supplements the work performed by responsible local, EPA Regional, or national authorities, allowing them to work more quickly, efficiently, and cost effectively, while also increasing the technical experience of the remediation team. In FY2018, which this report addresses, ETSC provided support to seven Superfund sites on the Administrator’s list of those targeted for immediate and intense action. ETSC responded to 169 requests for support at 122 sites from all 10 EPA Regions, 8 countries (Argentina, Australia, China, Israel, Peru, Poland, Ukraine, and Vietnam), the United Nations, and other entities. Twenty-one percent of the site-specific requests were on the Superfund NPL sites. Technical support requests ranged from site characterization to modeling, monitoring, and remediation of soil and water contamination to ecological effects resulting from chemical exposures. ETSC also provided technical input in the areas of engineering and prototype testing, environmental and human health risk assessment, and groundwater modeling. ETSC led or contributed to 28 disseminated products, including conference presentations, technical workshops, peer-reviewed journal articles, and other EPA technical reports and products.
Description:
There are five active Technical Support Centers (TSC) operated by the Office of Research and Development (ORD). All are co-funded by the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) and ORD, and supported by EPA Regions and Offices. Each TSC is dedicated to serving the EPA and its clients by supplying high-quality, quick-response technical support services when the scope of work is beyond what is available to the Regions. The Engineering Technical Support Center (ETSC), one of the five TSCs, is operated by the ORD National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL), Land and Materials Management Division (LMMD) in Cincinnati, Ohio. ETSC’s mission is to provide site-specific scientific and engineering technical support to Remedial Project Managers (RPMs), On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs), and other remediation personnel at contaminated sites. ETSC is primarily staffed with scientists and engineers from ORD/NRMRL/LMMD, thereby covering a broad range of skills and technical expertise. ETSC collaborates with EPA programs and other federal agencies to deliver the latest methods, approaches, and technologies needed to characterize, remediate, and manage risk at contaminated sites. Additional assistance is provided by other ORD Laboratory or Division personnel, EPA Regional personnel, and external contractors and consultants as needed. ETSC’s combined technical expertise supplements the work performed by responsible local, EPA Regional, or national authorities, allowing them to work more quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively while also increasing the technical experience of the remediation team.