Incremental sampling is an unbiased, structured soil sampling protocol that reduces data variability and increases sample representativeness. It accomplishes this through careful up-front planning that defines what the soil samples are intended to represent, and through use of specialized sample collection and processing procedures in both the field and laboratory.

The Incremental Sampling Subcommittee was established in 2017 as a special focus workgroup within the Engineering Forum, one of the EPA Technical Support Project’s (TSP) three technical forums. The primary objectives of the Incremental Sampling Subcommittee are to: 1.) establish a national incremental sampling community of practice, 2.) develop incremental sampling expertise in every EPA Region , 3.) Educate state and federal environmental professionals, and 4.) provide information on current and new incremental sampling topics and procedures.

Presentations are specifically designed for EPA staff including RPMs, OSCs, Corrective Action Managers, Superfund and Technology Liaisons, Chemists, Biologists, Physical Scientists, and Engineers from within EPA regions, program offices, laboratory system, and headquarters personnel as well as environmental professionals from state agencies, tribes, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Dept. of Energy, and other federal agencies of all experience levels. THIS TRAINING IS NOT OPEN TO ACADEMIA, CONTRACTORS, CONSULTANTS OR OTHER PRIVATE ENTITIES.

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*This training is offered free of charge to all registrants who are confirmed to attend. One CLP will be issued for each session attended when you register and log on with the registration link provided to enable your attendance to be confirmed.*

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How accurate and reliable for decision making are sample data for surface water and groundwater and associated contaminant isoconcentration maps? Current approaches for testing of contaminated water have their origin in the same, unproven assumption of contaminant uniformity and reliance of "discrete" sampling methods that have long belabored reliable testing of soil and sediment. The results are worryingly familiar, with a focus on the "quantity" rather than the "quality" of sample data and the collection of samples in the field guided primarily by laboratory testing needs rather than the need to reliably represent environmental conditions of interest. As a result, assessment of risk and remediation needs is once again often based on irrelevant, "maximum" contaminant concentrations reported for tiny sample volumes of water, rather than the more applicable mean for well-thought-out, risk- or remediation-based areas and volumes of water as a whole.

The Theory of Sampling, long utilized by the mining and agricultural industries, offers a pathway forward to this dilemma. Although not specifically described as such, associated concepts of "Decision Unit (DU)" and "Multi Increment Sample (MIS)" investigation methods have long been a part of indoor air studies. Similar approaches have recently been applied to testing of vapors under buildings slabs for more accurate assessment of vapor intrusion risk. Significant advances have also been made in the use of DU-MIS type methods for the investigation of contaminated soil and sediment.

A progressively more complex series of examples is used to explore how concepts related to the Theory of Sampling can be used to improve the applicability and defensibility of surface water and groundwater sample data. Environmental concerns commonly associated with contaminated water are first used to establish case-specific, "Investigation Questions." The investigation question or questions are then used to designate risk-based or remediation-based Decision Unit areas and volumes of water for sample collection. This is followed by a review of methods to collect a sample from each Decision Unit that is directly representative of targeted environmental concerns and investigation objectives. Limitations on the quality and reliability of the final data are then discussed.

Expect more questions than answers, but formulating the former is the first step in discovering the latter.

Presenter: Roger Brewer, PhD, Senior Environmental Scientist, Hawaii Department of Health
 

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