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SOURCE CONTROL IS IMPORTANT!

SOURCE CONTROL IS IMPORTANT!. Stormwater & Contaminated Sediment Conference October 30, 2009 Sheila Eckman, EPA. Source Control and Contaminated Sediment Cleanup. What is “source control”? What are the goals of source control? What is the status of source control?

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SOURCE CONTROL IS IMPORTANT!

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  1. SOURCE CONTROL IS IMPORTANT! Stormwater & Contaminated Sediment Conference October 30, 2009 Sheila Eckman, EPA

  2. Source Control and Contaminated Sediment Cleanup • What is “source control”? • What are the goals of source control? • What is the status of source control? • How can sustainable source control be achieved? • What are challenges? • What are successes? • Where do we go from here?

  3. View From the Sediments Perspective • Contaminated sediments pose risks to human health and the environment. • We can address contaminated sediments through proven cleanup technologies and monitored natural attenuation. • Our investment in sediment cleanup in this region is significant. • Our goal is to minimize post-cleanup contamination.

  4. Why Do We Care? • We are at the end of the pipe. • Cleanup won’t be completed until ongoing sources are controlled. • We want to protect our investments in sediment cleanup.

  5. Industrial Release RM 11 Upstream Surface Water RM 2 Navigation Channel Boundary Upstream Sediment Transport Conceptual Site Model

  6. Historical and Current Historical and Current Historical and Current Historical and Current Atmospheric Deposition Stormwater Runoff Riverbank Erosion Industrial Discharge RM 11 Overwater Releases Historical and Current Historical and Current Historical and Current Upstream Surface Water Upland Groundwater Plumes RM 2 Advection through Contaminated Sediments Navigation Channel Boundary Upstream Sediment Transport Historical and Current Historical and Current Conceptual Site Model

  7. Goals • Control ongoing sources of contamination. • Minimize recontamination of sediment. • Achieve long-term protection of human health and the environment. • Meet our cleanup goals. • Protect and preserve valuable regional resources - Puget Sound and Columbia River cleanup and restoration are regional and national priorities.

  8. What We Have • Sediment cleanup levels for protection of human health are very low. • Many areas are and will continue as industrial corridors. • Toxics are present in most urban storm water discharges. • In some areas, contaminated groundwater is discharging to waterways. • Erosion of contaminated soil from banks. • Current regulatory programs do not require monitoring or discharge limits for sediment toxics.

  9. What We Need • Integrated watershed approach to toxics control. • Coordinated effort of Federal, State, Tribal, and Local Governments and the regulated community. • Watershed restoration through removal of legacy contamination AND reduction of ongoing discharge of toxics. • Realistic but optimistic expectations of what we can achieve – we will not eliminate recontamination but should minimize it as much as possible.

  10. REALLY What We Need • Thinking that follows natural, scientific systems rather than political, administrative systems. • Commitment and strategic planning at top management levels of governments and industry.

  11. Challenges • Regulatory stovepipes and disconnects. • Cleanup program limitations for mega- sites. • Artificial boundaries between sediment cleanup and source control. • Resource limitations. • Liability concerns.

  12. What Is Working • Great on-the-ground work. • Good coordination and communication between government agencies. • Shared data. • Joint inspections. • Working together to look at the most effective tools. • Sites with integrated upland/sediment approach.

  13. More of What is Working • Northwest is leader in source control integration. • Lots of monitoring data from sediment cleanups to learn from.

  14. Invitation to Sustainability • Commitment to integrated watershed management. • Communication and partnership. • Creative thinking outside the regulatory stovepipe. • Acknowledgement that source control is on a long-term time frame - we will have some sediment recontamination in the short term.

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