Contaminated Sediment Remediation—
January 2005 Conference

The Third International Conference on the Remediation of Contaminated Sediments will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, January 24-27, 2005. This biennial conference was held previously in Venice, Italy. The theme of the 2005 Conference will be Finding Achievable Risk Reduction Solutions. The program will encompass characterization and remediation approaches, sediment management considerations, policies and guidelines that affect decision making, the definition of remediation success, and lessons learned. The Conference Chairs are Dr. Robert F. Olfenbuttel (Battelle, Columbus, Ohio) and Ms. Patricia White (Battelle, Duxbury, Massachusetts). The Program Committee is comprised of environmental professionals from the government, university, and private sectors who are well known in the sediments field.

The three-and-a-half-day program will begin on Monday afternoon, January 24, with the plenary session; noted marine researcher and environmentalist Jean-Michel Cousteau will give the keynote address. Monday events include the welcome reception and the opening of the exhibits area. The technical program will be conducted Tuesday through Thursday, when platform and poster presentations will be given in sessions organized and chaired by leaders in sediments management and research. Abstracts were due June 30, but later submissions will be considered for placement if space permits.

Panel/roundtable discussions will provide an opportunity for invited experts and practitioners and the audience to discuss some of the critical issues related to sediment assessment and management. The following topics are being developed:

• Sediment stability: How do we incorporate it into sediment management decisions? Chaired by W. Frank Bohlen (University of Connecticut) and Mike Erickson (BBL)
• How do we make risk management decisions? Chaired by Todd Bridges (USACE Center for Contaminated Sediments) and Sabine Apitz (SEA Environmental)
• Remedy effectiveness: What works, what doesn’t? Chaired by Craig Zeller (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) and Brad Cushing (Applied Environmental Management, Inc.)
• Defining remediation success: Are we reducing risk and achieving environmental protection? Chaired by Mike Palermo (private consultant) and Stephen Ells (U. S Environmental Protection Agency).

Four short courses will be offered on Monday afternoon:

• Evaluating Sediment Transport: Tools, Techniques, and Application to Site Management. Organizers: Craig Jones, Ph.D. (Sea Engineering, Inc.) and Jesse Roberts (Sandia National Laboratories)
• Sediment Management Based on Comparative Risk Assessment and Multicriteria Decision Analysis. Organizers: Greg Kiker, Ph.D. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ERDC) and Igor Linkov, Ph.D. (ICF Consulting)
• Ecological Restoration Following a Sediment Removal Action. Organizers: John P. Lortie and Douglas B. Stewart (Woodlot Alternatives, Inc.) and Susan Svirsky (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
• Application of Geostatistics to Sediment Characterization and Residuals Confirmation. Organizer: Nevin Kresic (Malcolm Pirnie, Inc.)
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Information on the technical scope of the Conference, abstract submission procedures, exhibit opportunities, and registration are available at www.battelle.org/sedimentscon. The printed Preliminary Program will be available in October 2004. If you would like to be added to the mailing list to receive a copy of the Preliminary Program, or if you have questions about the Conference, please e-mail sedimentscon@battelle.org.

The Bioremediation Symposium, chaired by Dr. Victor Magar and Mr. Mark Kelley of Battelle’s Environmental Restoration Department, will be conducted at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront. The four-day program will consist of several hundred platform and poster presentations, organized into sessions chaired by leaders in bioremediation research and application. Several panel discussions and short courses are in the planning stages, and 40 to 50 companies will be represented in the exhibit hall.

Abstracts to be considered for placement in the technical program are to be submitted by August 16, 2004. Abstracts addressing bioremediation and supporting technologies as applied to any contaminant are welcome. The expected technical scope of the Symposium is described at www.battelle.org/biosymp. The Web site also provides information on preparation and submission of abstracts, exhibit opportunities, submission of short course proposals, preregistration, and the Symposium headquarters hotel. The printed preliminary program will be available in January 2005. If you would like to be added to the mailing list or if you have questions about the Symposium, e-mail biosymp@battelle.org.

The Conference on Sustainable Range Management is designed to facilitate exchange of information among all stakeholders concerned with how military ranges and training areas can be used to test and evaluate weapon systems and train DoD personnel without conflicting with economic, environmental, and other concerns. The technical program will consider the many issues that must be resolved to sustain the military’s ability to conduct realistic training into the foreseeable future. These issues include operational management, urban encroachment, frequency and airspace competition, range of munitions constituents and UXO, protection of endangered species, protection of air quality, sustainability of the maritime environment, noise abatement, and outreach. The January 2004 Conference was attended by nearly 650 people, and 200 presentations were made. Twenty companies and government agencies were represented in the exhibit area.

The Call for Abstracts will be issued in September, and abstracts to be considered for the program will be due in early 2005. As additional details become available, they will be posted at www.battelle.org/rangecon.

For more information or to be added to the mailing list, e-mail rangecon@battelle.org.