Waste & Response:
CERCLA/Superfund
Superfund News & Announcements
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This is a place for news and announcements about trainings, grants, consultation opportunities, or current events relating to Superfund issues. It will be updated as new information is
received so check back often!
Feb
27
The Pueblo de San Ildefonso is located directly adjacent and downstream of the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), New Mexico. Releases of hazardous substances from this nuclear facility dating back to the 1940s have resulted in a legacy of contamination, including radionuclides, metals and other contaminants in local canyons. In particular, canyon-bottom soils and sediments in Los Alamos and Pueblo canyons are contaminated with plutonium and other radionuclides upstream of the Pueblo de San Ildefonso. We evaluated the effect of cycles of wildfire and subsequent storm events on the mobilization and transport of plutonium in the canyons, and impacts to the Pueblo. Forest fires, including the 2000 Cerro Grande and the 2011 Las Conchas fires, have resulted in decreased soil/sediment retention in the canyon watersheds, and increased sediment transport during subsequent storm events. This has in turn resulted in mobilization and downstream transport of sediment-bound plutonium contamination, and deposition on Pueblo lands.
For more information and to register for this webinar, please go to:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/449484047708160001 After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Nov
15
ITEP is very excited to announce that the next TSFWG Webinar has been scheduled for Thursday, November 15. Phytoremediation is a topic many of you have requested for a future webinar, and we are extremely pleased to have found an outstanding speaker on the subject. For more information and to register for this webinar, please go to:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7292847715023700994
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Sep
23
The Groundwater Statistics and Monitoring Compliance training course provides information about using groundwater statistical methods and tools in all project life cycle stages: release detection, site characterization, remediation, monitoring and closure. The training course is designed for project managers to help them make better project decisions.
www.itrcweb.org/Training
Sep
11
The National Tanks Conference and Exposition (NTC) brings together hundreds of UST/LUST professionals, including tank inspectors; cleanup specialists; state, tribal, and territorial employees; federal regulators; and industry representatives to network and learn about emerging issues, policy, equipment, and many other topics.
neiwpcc.org/our-programs/underground-storage-tanks/national-tanks-conference/
Sep
11
Food waste is a major environmental, economic, and social issue. We’re wasting valuable resources and throwing away 40% of our food while hunger continues to be widespread. In 2017, the first Midwest Food Recovery Summit brought together 130+ attendees to focus on food waste reduction, recycling, and recovery and back by popular demand, we’re heading to Des Moines in 2018!
iwrc.uni.edu/foodrecoverysummit
Sep
7
This program provides grants for interdisciplinary research aimed at promoting health, preventing and limiting symptoms and disease, and reducing health disparities across the lifespan for those living or spending time in non-traditional settings. Deadline 09/07/2018.
grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PA-18-142.html
Aug
31
The EPA Office of International and Tribal Affairs (OITA) is initiating consultation and coordination with federally recognized tribes to gather input on how to improve the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program (GAP) Guidance and/or its implementation to better achieve the goals of the program. Consultation will be conducted until August 31, 2018.
Aug
30
The Tribal College Research Area of Expertise (TCRAE) for fiscal year (FY) 2018 to assist 1994 Land-Grant Institutions in building research capacity through competitive funding of applied projects that address student educational needs and solve community, reservation or regional problems consistent with the 1994 Research Grants.
www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=306609
Aug
28
U.S. EPA Region 5 is sponsoring a Tribal Disaster Debris Management Training in partnership with the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. This training is geared towards tribal staff involved in emergency management, waste management, public works, planning, and other areas. Debris management is an integral part of emergency management, especially in response to extreme weather or other disasters. Tribes that incorporate sustainable materials management into their disaster debris management plans will also be better prepared to handle disaster debris in a more efficient, environmentally beneficial manner. To attend this training, please register by August 6, 2018 by emailing Dolly Tong at tong.dolly@epa.gov
Aug
16
The basis for this training course is the ITRC guidance: Bioavailability of Contaminants in Soil: Considerations for Human Health Risk Assessment (BCS-1). This guidance describes the general concepts of the bioavailability of contaminants in soil, reviews the state of the science, and discusses how to incorporate bioavailability into the human health risk assessment process.
https://clu-in.org/conf/itrc/BCS/
Aug
14
Institutional controls (ICs) are administrative or legal restrictions that provide protection from exposure to contaminants on a site. While a variety of guidance and research to date has focused on the implementation of ICs, ITRC’s Long-term Contaminant Management Using Institutional Controls (IC-1, 2016) guidance and this associated training class focuses on post-implementation IC management, including monitoring, evaluation, stakeholder communications, enforcement, and termination. The ITRC guidance and training will assist those who are responsible for the management and stewardship of Ics.
https://clu-in.org/conf/itrc/lcmuic/
Aug
9
This webinar provides OSCs and RPMs with an overview of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and the requirements of Section 106 under CERCLA. The focus will be on EPA's Emergency Response and Removal Program. NHPA applies to your response action if your action constitutes an undertaking and will have a potential effect on a property that is eligible for or included in the National Register of Historic Places.
https://clu-in.org/conf/tio/NARPMOSCAcadpresents1/
Aug
8
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is hosting a FREE Grants Education and Technical Assistance Webinar Series for Tribes, Tribal Organizations, Indian Health, Tribal and Urban Indian Health Programs. Learn about the federal grant application process, how to write better grant proposals and evaluation plans for your projects, strategies for successful grant management, and more. Participants will also have the opportunity to connect with HRSA subject matter experts, grant reviewers, as well as peers to discuss best practices and barriers to successful grants application and management.
https://hrsa.connectsolutions.com/federal_grant_application_recording/event/registration.html
Aug
7
The Groundwater High-Resolution Site Characterization (HRSC) training course focuses on groundwater characterization and discusses (1) the impacts of subsurface heterogeneity on the investigation and cleanup of groundwater and related media, (2) the need for scale-appropriate measurements and adequate data density, and (3) the tools and strategies that are available to overcome the impacts of subsurface heterogeneity.
https://trainex.org/offeringslist.cfm?courseid=1389&all=yes
Jul
23
On the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Superfund Task Force Report, EPA is announcing significant progress in carrying out the report’s recommendations. The Agency also finalized its plans for completing all 42 recommendations by the end of 2019, which are outlined in a new “2018 Update” to the Superfund Task Force recommendations.
www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-task-force-recommendations-2018-update
Jul
6
Over the years, the stream was polluted beyond recognition. Mine waste was dumped into it from smoke-belching factories that concentrated ore, and the creek was rerouted and tapped to satisfy industrial demands. A massive flood in 1908 washed tons of waste along the length of the creek. Raw sewage ran into it until the 1960s. Most life in the stream and along its banks was wiped out. Along the banks of the Silver Bow, cattle bones turned an almost neon blue-green from high levels of copper in the water. For the past two decades, though, most of Silver Bow Creek has been meticulously rebuilt and restored by removing more than 1 million cubic yards of tainted soil and rock along most of its stretch, at a cost of about $150 million. A portion will be rerouted, this time to serve ecological goals. But there are no plans to restore the last mile of Silver Bow, running through some neighborhoods. And that has led to more upset in this town of 34,000.
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/let-the-stream-run-through-it/
Jul
2
Humans still aren't allowed to live in the exclusion zone of Chernobyl, where a nuclear reactor exploded in 1986. Although the radioactivity is dangerous for humans and animals alike, the lack of humans has given some animals an opportunity to thrive. Wolves in the 2,672 square mile Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Belarus and Ukraine have adapted surprisingly well to their new human-less existence, despite the threat of radioactivity, a study in the European Journal of Wildlife Research found.
www.newsweek.com/wolves-are-thriving-human-free-radioactive-chernobyl-1004302
Apr
1
The quarterly report provides a comprehensive list of accomplishments from January to March 2018. The Task Force will be providing these updates on a quarterly basis. Find previous reports and news below.
www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-task-force-accomplishments#fy18q2
https://semspub.epa.gov/work/HQ/100001309.pdf
For more information please contact: