Class Details

Contaminated Site Response in a National Park Setting

The Engineering Forum (EF), established in the late 1980s, is a group of engineers and scientists that supports the Superfund and RCRA programs in each of the ten EPA Regional Offices. As one of the EPA Technical Support Project’s (TSP) three technical forums, the EF is a medium for exchanging technical information regarding innovative site cleanup and characterization technologies. Monthly technical talks focus on site-specific engineering problems encountered, alternatives and solutions, and lessons learned. After each presentation, information regarding upcoming events and training are discussed and time for an Open Mic discussion is provided. If you are a Superfund, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Brownfields, state or federal environmental professional who is interested in solving technical issues, register for any technical talks listed below that interest you and join the discussion!

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.

We will try to meet any special accommodations necessary for our participants as possible if given a minimum of two weeks notice. You will be prompted to indicate if you need any special accommodations upon registering for these events.

For general information, check out the EPA Engineering Forum Sharepoint site or contact Luci Dunnington via e-mail at dunnington.lucila@epa.gov.

*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.*
 

Gary Riley from the National Park Service Pacific West Region will discuss contaminated site response on NPS-managed lands in the western United States. NPS uses delegated CERCLA and other authorities to respond to legacy sites ranging from underground storage tanks, landfills, former mining/mineral processing facilities, and prior industrial uses. NPS also responds using time-critical authority to releases from spills, wildfires, and other natural disasters.

While the sites themselves may have relatively straightforward releases of hazardous substances, their broader settings are often anything but. The presentation will discuss the NPS Contaminated Site Program, with examples of unique settings and resource protection challenges for site investigation and cleanup. Project examples will include abandonment in place of five fuel storage tanks at the historic Scotty’s Castle in Death Valley National Park. While underground storage tank closure is relatively commonplace, conducting such work inside a National Register listed historic structure, only feet from priceless museum items, and at a remote site required careful management to simultaneously meet project goals and resource protection requirements that also apply to CERCLA responses elsewhere in the park. Other examples will include planning and executing site investigation (PA/SI) and cleanup alternative selection (EE/CA or FS) at mining and landfill sites in Death Valley and other park units in a manner that reduces risks, protects natural and cultural resources, and complies with applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs). These requirements include the National Park Service Organic Act of 1916 “to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”

Presenter: LCDR Gary Riley, Environmental Engineer, U.S. National Park Service