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2004 Progress Report: Rocky Mountain Regional Hazardous Substance Research Center Training and Technology Transfer Program

EPA Grant Number: R829515C005
Subproject: this is subproject number 005 , established and managed by the Center Director under grant R829515
(EPA does not fund or establish subprojects; EPA awards and manages the overall grant for this center).
Center: HSRC - Rocky Mountain Regional Hazardous Substance Research Center for Remediation of Mine Waste Sites
Center Director: Shackelford, Charles D.
Title: Rocky Mountain Regional Hazardous Substance Research Center Training and Technology Transfer Program
Investigators: Wildeman, Thomas
Institution: Colorado State University
EPA Project Officer: Lasat, Mitch
Project Period: November 1, 2001 through October 31, 2003
Project Period Covered by this Report: November 1, 2003 through October 31, 2004
Project Amount: Refer to main center abstract for funding details.
RFA: Hazardous Substance Research Centers - HSRC (2001)
Research Category: Hazardous Waste/Remediation

Description:

Objective:

The goal of technology transfer at the Rocky Mountain Regional Hazardous Substance Research Center (HSRC) is to take the research results generated within the Center, package them with related technologies created in other settings, and develop these technologies for our customers through the demonstration phase and then to full-scale operations.

The specific objectives that have been set to reach this goal are to:

  1. seek out appropriate personnel in the agencies that are our primary customers to determine their needs concerning environmental projects at mine sites, make certain that those needs appear in the Request for Proposals distributed by the Center, and give the customer a written assessment of how to meet these treatment needs;
  2. interview the principal investigators for each Center research project, determine from them what would be a reasonable demonstration situation that would use the technology that they are developing, and write a short description of the project and the demonstration situation to have available when contacting customers;
  3. identify other public and private agencies with which we can combine results, generate packages that showcase the technologies, make our customers aware of these technology packages, and generate proposals that use technologies that are within the package;
  4. and if other agencies contact Technology Transfer about demonstration situations, advise them using either our research results or technologies that have been developed by other organizations and assist them in generating proposals for those situations.

To further focus efforts, our primary customers are the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8, the EPA Mine Waste Technology Program, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the Office of Surface Mining (OSM). Additional customers include the U.S. National Park Service and State Abandoned Mine Lands Programs in the western United States. All other agencies will fall into Objective 4, where they will be assisted when they contact us. Note that these objectives and the following measures of achievement are similar to how Technical Outreach Services for Communities (TOSC) and Technical Assistance to Brownfields (TAB) operate and measure success.

The approach for meeting these objectives requires informing individuals within agencies, committees, and societies of the activities of the Center. If the person falls in the customer category, we find out what they consider to be the primary technical needs for remediating abandoned mine land (AML) sites. If the person represents an organization with which we should cooperate, we determine how that cooperation could be achieved. If the person represents an organization that is developing related technologies, we determine how to package our technical expertise with their expertise so that it stands a better chance of being taken to the demonstration stage. This approach clearly involves making considerable contacts, preferably as personal visits. Fortunately, many of the individuals to be contacted are in the Denver area (i.e., close proximity to the Center). The budget for technology transfer, however, does contain a considerable travel allotment for trips to customers not in the Denver area. The activities of this past year will be put into the context of these objectives.

With respect to the final objective of achieving demonstration projects, the assumption is that if enough good proposals are created, then the demonstration projects will be achieved. Regarding how a proposal is counted as being assisted by Technology Transfer, the "but-for" criterion used by TOSC and TAB will be used. That is, "but for the involvement of Technology Transfer, this proposal would not have been written or would not have the links of technology with proposed solutions that are used".

Progress Summary:

Most proposals and project suggestions were formulated only in the last 4 months. These activities relative to the objectives are summarized below.

Objective 1: Contacting Agencies That Are Primary Customers

Continuous contact is maintained with personnel from EPA Region 8 throughout the year. In addition, contacts have been developed with the people at the Office of Research and Development in Cincinnati, and meetings with Superfund coordinators on priority site activities have been conducted. These efforts have resulted in assessment activities performed by Jim Ranville's group in North Clear Creek being extended to performing total toxicity assessment tests in conjunction with EPA Region 8 and to finding a low-cost enzyme test in conjunction with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Because of these efforts, North Clear Creek is becoming a prime mine waste assessment demonstration site.

With the aid of Diana Bless and David Reisman of EPA in Cincinnati, Ohio, a contract was negotiated that calls for students at the Colorado School of Mines to assist with demonstration projects in the operation, sampling, and analysis activities in Region 8. Currently, the students are assisting in the operation of the Pulsed Limestone Bed demonstration at the Argo Tunnel in Idaho Springs and in the analysis of samples from EPA demonstration projects in Montana.

Objective 2: Interviewing the Principal Investigators for Each Center Research Project

A draft of a technical applications summary has been prepared for each project. A brochure that can be disseminated on demonstration projects was finished in September 2004.

Objective 3: Combining Our Results With Those of Other Organizations

A contract to help with operation and analytical activities at the Argo Tunnel currently is being carried out. In addition, the alkalinity generator of Barnaby Watten and Phil Sibrell of the USGS, Kearneysville, West Virginia, was included in a proposal for the treatment of French Gulch water in Breckenridge that currently is under review. Laboratory tests on water from the French Gulch were conducted to determine the efficiency of zinc removal using this technology. About one-half of the zinc and 90 percent of the iron were removed. The plan is to find mine water in which zinc is the main contaminant to show how the pulsed limestone process can be used for this type of treatment. A proposal on this technology was submitted to the Mine Waste Technology Program (MWTP). James Ranville from the Center was added to the proposal to investigate the geochemical principles behind the removal process. This is an important example of how Technology Transfer is using Center capabilities to fill in scientific holes and make a promising technology more viable.

At the International Conference on Acid Rock Drainage 2003 Meeting and again at Tailings and Mine Waste '04 in October, attempts were made to assist Greg Olsen of Little Bear Laboratories to find a waste rock pile that can be used to demonstrate a new method for controlling the bacteria that catalyze the oxidation of pyrite that uses thiocyanate. In addition, because there is some uncertainty on the chemistry involved in the suppression of the bacteria, efforts are being undertaken to find a faculty member who could investigate this aspect of the process. A successful team of developer, scientist, and technology customer has been found. In this case the customer is a private company, and we are in negotiations with that company for funding.

Objective 4: Finding Situations for Going to the Demonstration Phase

Recently, inquiries have begun to see how technologies that are being developed at MSE Technology Applications in Montana can be combined with the research that is being conducted at the Center. The objective of this activity is to find proper combinations of projects that can be combined for proposals to the MWTP. Center research project R829515C003 on the metal removal capabilities of passive bioreactor systems was in the best position to combine on a proposal with MSE. Linda Figueroa has been maintaining contacts with MSE, and a joint proposal with MSE and the Center on passive bioreactor systems was submitted to the MWTP.

The consulting firm Envirocon is just starting reclamation of the sediment in the Milltown Dam site in Montana. In conjunction with Jim Ranville, the principal investigator on Center research project R829515C013 focused on developing improved methods for establishing water quality criteria for mining impacted streams, we are in negotiations to determine whether we can assist in the assessment work that will have to be done on the sediments that are removed from the reservoir.

In conjunction with Jim Herron of the Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology, a proposal was submitted to the Colorado Abandoned Mine Lands Program for assessment work in Gilson Gulch at the Idaho Springs/Central City Superfund site. Money for assessment work was not available this year, however, so the proposal will be resubmitted next year.

Although the original objective on contacting and interacting with related societies and committees has been eliminated, activities in this area have not ceased. A short course, " Assessing the Toxicity Potential of Mine Waste Piles," was presented to 20 people at EPA Region 8 on November 20, 2003. A similar short course, " Characterization and Assessment of Mine Sites," also was given by Jim Ranville and Tom Wildeman at the National Meeting of the Geological Society of America in Denver, Colorado, on November 6, 2004, and again at the National Meeting of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry in Portland, Oregon, on November 14, 2004. A specific section of this course, " Methods to Determine the Bioaccessibility of Metals From Waste," was developed from Center-sponsored research. Related to the activities of the treatment focus group, James Gusek and Tom Wildeman again gave our revised Passive Treatment Workshop at Tailings and Mine Waste '04 on October 10, 2004, in Vail, Colorado.

Besides these activities, talks representing the Center were given at EPA Region 8 in December 2003, at the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration Annual Meeting in February 2004, at the National American Society of Mining and Reclamation Meeting in Morgantown, West Virginia, in April 2004, and at Tailings and Mine Waste '04 in Vail, Colorado, in October 2004.

Future Activities:

Planned activities related to Objective 1, contacting agencies that are primary customers, are as follows:

Objective 2, interviewing the principal investigators for each Center research project, has been completed for all current and past Center research projects.

Planned activities related to Objective 3, combining our results with those of other organizations, are as follows:

Planned activities related to Objective 4, finding situations for going to the demonstration phase, are as follows:

Progress Summary/Accomplishments: Most proposals and project suggestions were formulated only in the last 4 months. These activities relative to the objectives are summarized below.

Supplemental Keywords:

Technical Outreach Services for Communities, TOSC, Technical Assistance to Brownfields, TAB, groundwater, industry sectors, waste, water, ecological risk assessment, ecology, ecosystems, ecology and ecosystems, environmental chemistry, environmental engineering, geology, geochemistry, toxicology, microbiology, hazardous, hazardous waste, mining-NAIC 21, selenium, acid mine drainage, acid mine runoff, aquatic ecosystems, arsenic, contaminant transport, contaminated sediments, contaminated marine sediment, contaminated waste sites, contaminated sites, contaminated soil, field monitoring, mining-impacted runoff, sediment transport, stream ecosystems, suspended sediment, sediments, mining, remediation, metal mobility, subsurface, extraction of metals, heavy metals, leaching of toxic metals, metal release, metal wastes, metals, metals-contaminated soil, mining wastes, remediation technologies, risk assessment, , Industry Sectors, Water, Scientific Discipline, Waste, RFA, Remediation, Geology, Ecological Risk Assessment, Hazardous Waste, Environmental Engineering, Contaminated Sediments, Hazardous, Mining - NAIC 21, Ecology and Ecosystems, arsenic, heavy metals, risk assessment, runoff, treatment, mining impacted watershed, redox, contaminated waste sites, mining, mining wastes, stream ecosystems, acid mine runoff, suspended sediment, acid mine drainage, groundwater, technical outreach, remediation technologies, contaminant transport, natural organic matter, metal contamination, aquatic ecosystems, sediment transport, field monitoring, contaminated marine sediment, training and outreach, technology transfer
Relevant Websites:

http://www.engr.colostate.edu/hsrc/ exit EPA

Progress and Final Reports:
2002 Progress Report
2003 Progress Report
Original Abstract
2005 Progress Report


Main Center Abstract and Reports:
R829515    HSRC - Rocky Mountain Regional Hazardous Substance Research Center for Remediation of Mine Waste Sites

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The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.

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