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August 1 DOE Training on GSR Washington, DC

Green Remediation Update Carlos S Pachon Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation. August 1 DOE Training on GSR Washington, DC. What is “Green Remediation”*?. The practice of considering all environmental effects of remedy implementation and incorporating

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August 1 DOE Training on GSR Washington, DC

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  1. Green Remediation UpdateCarlos S PachonOffice of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation August 1 DOE Training on GSR Washington, DC

  2. What is “Green Remediation”*? The practice of considering all environmental effects of remedy implementation and incorporating options to minimize the environmental footprints of cleanup actions. *aka greening response actions, greener cleanups, etc.

  3. Policy Drivers at Many Levels Executive Order 13514: Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance It is the policy of the United States that Federal agencies shall increase energy efficiency; measure, report, and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions from direct and indirect activities; conserve and protect water resources through efficiency, reuse, and stormwater management; eliminate waste, recycle, and prevent pollution (President Obama) EPA Strategic Plan 2011-2015: Goal 3: Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development EPA’s hazardous waste programs are working to reduce the energy use and environmental footprint during the investigation and remediation of sites (Administrator Lisa Jackson). OSWER Policy: Principles for Greener Cleanups As a matter of policy, OSWER’s goal is to evaluate cleanup actions comprehensively to ensure protection of human health and the environment and to reduce the environmental footprint of cleanup activities, to the maximum extent possible. (OSWER A.A. Mathy Stanislaus) Region 1-10 Policies: Range of scopes and reach

  4. OSWER Principles for Greener Cleanups • Consistent with existing laws and regulations, it is OSWER policy that all cleanups: • Protect human health and the environment • Comply with all applicable laws and regulations • Consult with communities regarding response action impacts consistent with existing requirements • Consider recommended five core elements An incremental improvement in the implementation of our mission

  5. Superfund Considerations • We remain a program to remedy threats to human health and environment • Green remediation concepts fit within the existing Superfund framework • As an example, under Short Term Effectiveness “EPA shall consider the “potential environmental impacts of the remedial action and the effectiveness and reliability of mitigative measures during implementation.” (40 CFR 300.415(e)(iii)(E)(3)) • Green Remediation is NOT • “The Tenth Criterion” • “The Uber- Criterion - Pick the Greenest Alternative” • “Green Means Less Clean” – Don’t shift the end point

  6. Footprint Reduction in Remedies • Consistent with science and engineering principles • Minimizing footprints and large footprint reductions come from… • An accurate conceptual site model (CSM) • Well-characterized source areas and contaminant plumes • Appropriate remedy selection • Sound engineering • Streamlined performance monitoring • …then, focus on greening the resulting remedy

  7. Core Elements of Green Remediation “Minimize, Reuse, and Recycle…” “Reduction, Efficiency, and Renewables…” “Conserve, Protect, and Restore…” “Protect Air Quality, Reduce Greenhouse Gases…” “Improve Quality, Decrease Quantity of Use…”

  8. Energy and Emission Reductions • Reduced emissions of PM, SOx, NOx, and greenhouse gases • Maintaining, repowering, or retrofitting diesel engines… • Energy efficiency practices • High-efficiency equipment • Variable frequency drives • Low-emission vehicles and carpooling • Use of local materials and services • Combined heat and power • Renewable energy • On-site renewable energy • Purchased renewable energy An off-grid, 770-watt PV system at Brooks Camp, AK, powered an air sparging pump used for treating groundwater contaminated by former underground storage tanks.

  9. Water Conservation • Seek beneficial use of extracted/treated water • Optimize capture zones of pump and treat (P&T) systems • Divert clean water around impacted area • Infiltrate diverted storm water for aquifer storage • Use less-refined water resources when possible • Manage stormwater runoff Portable closed-loop wheel washing systems for reducing onsite and offsite trackout during construction

  10. Materials and Waste • Reduce Material Use • Alternative materials or chemicals • Materials with recycled content • Materials from waste products • Source unrefined materials locally and/or from recycled sources • Minimize hazardous and non-hazardous waste generated onsite • Recycle waste generated on site Use of passive diffusion bag samplers reduces or eliminates purge water associated with well sampling.

  11. Ecosystem Services • Protection of valuable “ecosystem services” at sites during cleanup • Metrics are under development, examples may include: • Soil erosion control • Nutrient uptake and water quality protection • Wildlife habitat

  12. Perceived Challenges Advancing Green Remediation

  13. Starting Points for Implementation • Superfund Green Remediation Strategy • EPA environmental footprint evaluation methodology • ASTM voluntary green cleanup standard practice • RE-Powering America’s Land: Renewable Energy on Potentially Contaminated Land and Mine Sites • Fact sheets, project profiles, conferences • Regional initiatives • Small business training • Webinars

  14. Methodology for Understanding and Reducing a Project's Environmental Footprint • Built around five core elements of a greener cleanup, as identified in OSWER’s “Principles for Greener Cleanups” • Remedy selection process remains the same in all cleanup programs • Footprints are not required, but if conducted this is the preferred approach (continued)

  15. Methodology for Understanding and Reducing a Project's Environmental Footprint • Provides common footprint metrics and a process to quantify them • Designed to be generally compatible with existing “footprinting” tools • Based on lessons learned from multiple projects • Goal of an assessment – Identify the most significant contributors to a project’s environmental footprint and better focus efforts to reduce it • Includes common conversion factors, contents of materials frequently used for cleanup, and typical energy demands of equipment deployed in the field

  16. Information and Resources Hazardous Waste Clean-Up Information (CLU-IN)www.clu-in.org CLU-IN Green RemediationFocus Area www.cluin.org/greenremediation Brownfields and LandRevitalization TechnologySupport Centerwww.brownfieldstsc.org Triad Resource Centerwww.triadcentral.org • Guidance Documents • Special Issues Primers • Technical Bulletins • Fact Sheets • Case Studies and Project Profiles • Technology Descriptions • Vendor Support • Current and In-depth Information: • BMPs for common cleanup approaches • Policy information at Federal and State level • Assessing a projects environmental footprint • Technical support

  17. Any Questions?

  18. Contact Information EPA Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI),Technology Innovation and Field Services Division (TIFSD) Carlos Pachon, Green Remediation Lead (pachon.carlos@epa.gov)

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