Program Overview

Susan Hubbard , sshubbard@lbl.gov

The Environmental Remediation Technology Program (ERTP) conducts multidisciplinary environmental research on characterization, monitoring, modeling, and remediation technologies. This research is directed primarily at U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Defense waste site problems, as well as pollution problems in California--especially those targeted by the CALFED program for the San Francisco/Bay Delta.  Since many of the contaminants or closely related compounds found at these sites are also dominant at industrial waste sites, much of this research is also applicable to problems faced by the private sector and other government agencies.  These projects are both basic and applied, and include everything from molecular studies to full-scale field deployments in all types of media (gas, water, sediment), in all types of environments (wetlands to deserts). This year's major customers have been DOE Office of Environmental Management, DOE Office of Science, DOE National Nuclear Security Administration Chemical and Biological Non-Proliferation Program NN-22, Work for Others-DOD, Work for Others-USEPA, Work for Others-CALFED, and Work for Others (Industry and Other Government Agencies).

Demonstrations and Deployment

ERTP supports DOE's Office of Environmental Management (EM) in both the areas of Environmental Restoration and the Office of Science and Technology. Berkeley Lab ESD scientists directly supervise characterization, remediation, and monitoring, and provide regulatory and permitting support to Berkeley Lab's Environmental Health and Safety Department for all environmental problems on site. During this past year, the program demonstrated and deployed technologies for thermally enhanced vapor extraction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), constant-head well testing for characterization of low-yield porous materials, and groundwater flow models for complex geological structures.

This past year, ERTP has developed a new method, implemented in a code called ODA, to analyze the operation pumping rates for underground injection of liquid wastes for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This represents a significant safety enhancement over normal injection practices. ERTP scientists have also shown how strontium isotopes can be used to determine vadose zone infiltration flux and how carbon isotopes can be used to measure biodegradation rates of buried waste by carbon dioxide analyses of soil gas. At DOE waste sites, they have also demonstrated how uranium isotope analysis can be used to determine source histories and migration rates. In addition, ERTP scientists have field-demonstrated a new crosswell high-frequency seismic method for determining nonaqueous-phase liquid (NAPL) contamination in groundwater aquifers. Since NAPL is the hardest contaminant source to detect and remediate, this method could save both time and money in characterization and monitoring during and after remediation.

ERTP also supports EM with technical expertise via the International Programs in Russia, Ukraine, and Argentina; Environmental Laboratory Council, EM Technical Assistance Program, the multi-agency DNAPL Technology Advisory Group, and the Hanford Vadose-Groundwater-River Integrated Program.

Field and Laboratory Studies

DOE's Office of Science provides funding for several ERTP projects. The basic research projects funded in this area take advantage of the unique facilities at Berkeley Lab, such as the Advanced Light Source, where researchers look at the interactions between contaminants, water, and minerals at the microscale. ERTP scientists have also shown how humic acid accelerates biodegradation of organic contaminants using synchrotron IR methods. Further, ERTP is conducting a project (funded by the Natural and Accelerated Bioremediation Research [NABIR] program) that looks at mesoscale biotransformation dynamics as the basis for predicting core-scale reactive transport of chromium and uranium. The Environmental Management Science Program (EMSP) funds projects on the geochemical evolution of highly alkaline and saline tank waste plumes in vadose zone sediments at DOE waste sites. DOE's Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention program also funds ERTP for bioprospecting in the extreme environments of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia.

ERTP efforts have recently achieved numerous scientific breatkthroughs and advancement in knowledge. ERTP scientists showed this year that biological treatment of mixed wastes represents a safer alternative to incineration. Using a drip-feed bioreactor, ERTP scientists were able to degrade mixed wastes containing acetonitrile and tritium, so that only the radioactive component remained without dilution. ERTP scientists also developed a new module for the TOUGH2 simulator that models landfill biodegradation processes--to allow landfill management of optimal biodegradation rates for faster and safer closure. Moreover, using EMSP funding, ERTP scientists have developed a new high-frequency electromagnetic impedance measurement system for characterization, monitoring, and verification for buried waste and landfills. ERTP scientists have also demonstrated new techniques for measuring microbial backgrounds in air, using DNA microarrays that can determine variations in community structure from site to site. The effects that perturbations might have on key organisms can thus be determined, as can the reliability of various detection systems.

Demonstrations and Technical Assistance for Industry/Other Agencies

ERTP has researched selenium transport in the Grassland Water District, California, for many years. Recent research has focused on better methods for compliance monitoring and management. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has sponsored this work in an effort to better manage selenium loading in the agricultural wastewater of the San Luis Drain.  ERTP scientists showed that real-time management of dissolved oxygen in the San Joaquin River Deep Water Ship Channel was possible. The Sonoma County Water Agency has also funded ERTP scientists to model hydraulic conductivities along the Russian River in northern California, using groundwater temperature profiles. ERTP scientists have also developed a real-time sensor that can monitor suspended sediment loads and streams, and thus improve watershed management.

ERTP also provides technical consultation to private industry and other government agencies on implementing Berkeley Lab- and DOE-patented technologies at private and government-owned sites. Private industry must have a license to the technology for use at private sites, and all ERTP expenses are reimbursed by the company or another agency.  Several contracts this year were executed for consultation regarding bioremediation and characterization.

NABIR Program Office

ERTP continued to be the NABIR Program Office for the Office of Science. The NABIR Program Office maintains the dynamic NABIR Web home page (www.lbl.gov/NABIR/) with links to investigators, program element managers, science team leaders, recent publications, annual meeting registration, calls for proposals, review documents, and other Web sites.  In addition, the NABIR Program Office also organizes the NABIR annual investigators meeting, with more than 150 participants and sessions for posters, presentations, and breakout sessions. Moreover, the NABIR Program Office is producing a new NABIR bioremediation primer that will be available to the public in print or electronically on the NABIR home page. The NABIR program office also assisted DOE-HQ in reviewing and evaluating field-project implementation at the Field Research Center for the NABIR program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Partners and Funding

ERTP receives support from DOE programs in the Offices of Science and Environmental Management. The EM programs include the Environmental Management Science Program (now in the Office of Science); the Subsurface Contaminants Focus Area; and the Characterization, Monitoring, and Sensor Technology Crosscutting Program. The Office of Science funds the NABIR Program Office at Berkeley Lab, and the Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research funds two environmental remediation projects. The DOE IPP and NN-22 also fund two biological monitoring and bioprospecting projects. Support is also provided by the Department of Defense, Cal-EPA, other DOE Labs, DHS, UC Berkeley, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.