Sediments

Resources

EPA Contaminated Sediment Remediation Guidance for Hazardous Waste Sites, 2005

In December 2005, EPAs Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response issued the final Contaminated Sediment Remediation Guidance for Hazardous Waste Sites. The guidance is designed to assist EPA staff managing sediment sites by providing a thorough overview of methods that can be used to reduce risk caused by contaminated sediment.

EPA Contaminated Sediments in Superfund

The Superfund program uses its Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) authority, in collaboration with other EPA programs and authorities, to cleanup those sediment sites that present an unacceptable risk to human health and/or the environment. As of September 2005, Superfund has selected a remedy at over 150 sediment sites. Eleven of these sediment sites are considered "mega sites" where the cost for the sediment portion of the remedy exceeded $50 million. There are approximately 50 other sites with ongoing sediment investigations, several of which are expected to become mega sites.

EPA Principles for Managing Contaminated Sediment Risks at Hazardous Waste Sites, 2002

This guidance will help EPA site managers make scientifically sound and nationally consistent risk management decisions at contaminated sediment sites. It presents 11 risk management principles that Remedial Project Managers (RPMs), On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs), and RCRA Corrective Action project managers should carefully consider when planning and conducting site investigations, involving the affected parties, and selecting and implementing a response.

EPA Great Lakes National Program Office Contaminated Sediments Program

EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) has been responding in a number of ways to the need for gathering high-quality sediment information to assist Areas of Concern in making remedial action decisions. GLNPO provides technical, financial, and field support for federal, state, and tribal partners to assist in addressing contaminated sediments and work aimed towards reaching remedial decisions and environmental restoration.

EPA Contaminated Sediments in Water

Many of the sediments in our rivers, lakes, and oceans have been contaminated by pollutants. Many of the contaminants were released years ago while other contaminants enter our water every day. Some contaminants flow directly from industrial and municipal waste dischargers, while others come from polluted runoff in urban and agricultural areas. Still other contaminants are carried through the air, landing in lakes and streams far from the factories and other facilities that produced them. EPA is working to reduce the risks posed by contaminated sediments. You also can help reduce contaminated sediments by learning how sediments get contaminated, where the pollutants come from, how these pollutants affect living things, and strategies used to treat and prevent contaminated sediments.

EPA Superfund Sediment Resource Center

The Superfund Sediment Resource Center (SSRC) is designed to assist EPA staff on technical issues related to the cleanup of contaminated sediment sites. The Center focuses on providing timely and helpful input on site-specific issues for topics related to sediment site characterization such as data collection and evaluation; sediment stability; modeling (e.g., hydrodynamic, contaminant fate and transport, and food chain); ecological and human health risks; and the efficacy of remedies such as capping, dredging, monitored natural recovery (MNR), and treatment technologies.

Guide to the Assessment and Remediation of State-Managed Sediment Sites

This report was published by the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO). This paper is designed to provide State remedial project managers with information sources and issues related to sediment assessment and remediation. Because previous work, especially that by the COE and EPA, regarding large sites may be helpful, it will often serve as a starting point for a State program.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Center for Contaminated Sediments

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Center for Contaminated Sediments serves as a clearinghouse for technology and expertise concerned with contaminated sediments. The Center’s mission is to advance the development and application of sound science and engineering principles and technology in the assessment and management of contaminated sediments. The Center pursues this mission through sponsoring development of new initiatives and innovative technologies, organizing and sponsoring technical workshops and symposia, and working on contaminated sediment projects with other organizations within the Corps, Department of Defense, other federal and state agencies, academia, and the private sector.

U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command Implementation Guide for Assessing and Managing Contaminated Sediment

This document presents guidelines for conducting sediment site assessments and remedial alternative evaluations within the Navy’s Environmental Restoration program. It is intended for use by Remedial Project Managers (RPMs) and their technical support staff as stepwise guidance that will apply to most Navy sediment investigations. This guide identifies and discusses sediment-specific issues related to site characterization, risk assessment, and remedial alternative evaluation, and then directs the reader to related Web sites and resources for more detailed technical information. It is intended to help the RPM avoid unfocused or unnecessary studies and to coordinate and integrate data collection activities across all aspects of the sediment investigation.

SedWeb: A Web Community for Sediments Research and Management

SedWeb is designed to promote improvements in contaminated sediments management and research. You can participate in the community by registering as a member, joining in online discussions of pertinent technical topics, contributing articles to the online library, or placing items on the bulletin board. This web site is sponsored by the South and Southwest region of the Hazardous Substance Research Centers (HSRC), a five-center consortium established and supported by EPA's Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program.

New York/New Jersey Harbor Sediment Decontamination Project

Over the past decade, EPA Region 2 has led an innovative partnership to implement a multi-faceted program to improve the health of our urban estuaries. This effort, known as the NY/NJ Harbor Sediment Decontamination Technologies Demonstration Program, has evolved to rely on the integration of several actions, including: the elimination of contaminant sources, environmental restoration stringent controls on aquatic disposal, and the use of decontamination technologies to produce environmentally acceptable beneficial use products. A collaboration of federal, sate and local agencies, academic institutions, private industry and concerned citizens have contributed to the development of the program.

Sediments Remediation Action Team Bibliography

This bibliography contains sediments remediation-related articles and documents. The bibliography is searchable by author, title, citation, and description/abstract.

Capping

EPA Guidance for In-Situ Subaqueous Capping of Contaminated Sediments, 1998

This document provides technical guidance for subaqueous, in-situ capping as a remediation technique for contaminated sediments. The document was prepared as a part of the studies conducted for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) under the Assessment and Remediation of Contaminated Sediments (ARCS) Program, administered by USEPA's Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO), in Chicago, Illinois.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Equipment and Placement Techniques for Subaqueous Capping, 2005

This technical note (TN) describes equipment and placement techniques for subaqueous capping projects. The equipment and techniques are applicable to placement of contaminated material to be capped and clean material to be used for capping and include conventional discharge from barges, hopper dredges, and pipelines; submerged discharge from diffusers and tremies; and surface spreading techniques for cap placement. Both granular capping materials such as sediments and soils and geosynthetic fabrics and armoring materials are considered.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Guidance for Subaqueous Dredged Material Capping, 1998

This report provides guidance for evaluation of subaqueous dredged material capping projects. Design requirements, a design sequence, site selection, equipment and placement techniques, geotechnical considerations, mixing and dispersion during placement, required capping sediment thickness, material spread and mounding during placement, cap stability, and monitoring are included. From a technical perspective, this guidance is applicable to dredged material capping projects in ocean waters as well as inland and near-coastal waters.

Hazardous Substance Research Centers South & Southwest In-situ Capping Primer

This web primer provides an introduction to in-situ capping, a low-cost, low-technology alternative for keeping contaminated sediments from polluting lakes, rivers, bays, and coastal estuaries. This site provides a concise overview of the technology, including recommended practices and situations where it may be used most effectively. It also includes technical resources for those who are familiar with the technology.

Anacostia River Advanced Capping Demonstration

The Hazardous Substance Research Centers/South & Southwest is leading a federally funded project to demonstrate innovative sediment capping technology on the Anacostia River. The Anacostia flows from Maryland to the District of Columbia and is one of the nation's 10 most endangered rivers. Sand caps are often used to reduce the release of contaminants from sediments by physically separating contaminants from organisms and the water column. But in the Anacostia demonstration, researchers will cover contaminants with layers of alternative materials that can degrade or control sediment-bound contaminants more efficiently than sand.

Dredging

Sediment Dredging at Superfund Megasites: Assessing the Effectiveness

Examines 26 dredging projects, five of them at megasites, and evaluates whether they attained their cleanup and risk-reduction goals. Makes recommendations for setting and assessing cleanup goals for sediment removal. Concludes that dredging's ability to achieve cleanup goals depends on site-specific characteristics.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Dredging Operations Technical Support Program

The Dredging Operations Technical Support Program, known as DOTS, provides direct environmental and engineering technical support to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Operations and Maintenance (O&M) dredging mission. Technology transfer activities have supported diverse field needs for years and have directly benefited O&M dredging operations throughout the United States.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Dredging Operations and Environmental Research Program

The Dredging Operations and Environmental Research (DOER) Program supports the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Operation and Maintenance Navigation Program. Research is designed to balance operational and environmental initiatives and to meet complex economic, engineering, and environmental challenges of dredging and disposal in support of the navigation mission. Research results will provide dredging project managers with technology for cost-effective operation, evaluation of risks associated with management alternatives, and environmental compliance.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Silt Curtains as a Dredging Project Management Practice, 2005

This technical note reviews the basic types of silt curtains used in navigation and environmental dredging projects. The emphasis is on the state of the practice and circumstances under which silt curtains function best. A checklist is provided to aid in consideration of silt curtain applications, including selection, design, specifications, deployment, and maintenance of silt curtains at dredging projects.

Monitored Natural Recovery

Environmental Security Technology Certification Program Development of DoD Guidance for Monitored Natural Recovery at Contaminated Sediment Sites

The objective of this project is to develop a Department of Defense (DoD) guidance document for monitored natural recovery (MNR) at contaminated sediment sites. It will establish the principles and evaluation criteria for comprehensively and cost-effectively evaluating MNR as a remedial option at contaminated sediment sites. The guidance will be validated by applying it to case studies from two well-studied sites (Hunters Point Shipyard, California, and Lake Hartwell, South Carolina), by using it to develop site-specific guidance for MNR characterization at a Navy site, and by conducting a formal peer review. This guidance will formalize a DoD framework for properly designing and implementing MNR and for predicting long-term MNR performance and potential human health and ecological risk reductions, providing remedial project managers (RPM) and site owners with improved tools for more cost-effective sediment characterization and remediation.

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Last updated on Monday, January 14, 2008