Instructors: Eric Litman (NewFields), Allison Geiselbrecht (Floyd|Snider), Leyla Shams (NewFields)

Course Objective: This course will cover the fundamentals of key ASTM sediment guidance related to sediment corrective actions, including an overview of the risk-based corrective action framework guidance, analytical guidance, monitoring program development, as well as non-aqueous phase liquid mobility/migration evaluations for sediment sites. Additionally, this course will cover the fundamentals of determining representative background concentrations for sediment sites. At the end of the course, attendees should be familiar with these guidance documents, and have a better understanding of approaches to – and resources for – sediment site assessment, including sediment-specific considerations.

*Laptop Required Course

Instructor: Mike Dereviankin (Dereviankin Consulting Inc.)

Course Objective:
1. Develop proficiency in data pre-processing, statistical correlation, and multivariate statistical analysis for chemical data.
2. Understand and apply chemometric workflows in forensic investigations, focusing on big predictive analytics.
3. Analyze and visualize complex chemical datasets using modern data science techniques and customized R scripts.

 

Instructor: Richard Philp (University of Oklahoma [Emeritus])

Course Overview: The presence of contaminants in sediments requires determination of source, age, composition and extent of weathering. This course will discuss forensic approaches to investigate answers to these issues and discuss possible problems with data interpretation. The potential audience includes regulators, site managers, engineers, hydrogeologists, and environmental scientists. 

Instructors: Wesley Thomas (Oregon Department of Environmental Quality), Wardah Azhar (Parsons Corporation), Danny Reible (Texas Tech University), Tamara Sorell (Brown and Caldwell), Jeffrey Hale (Kleinfelder, Inc.), Todd Cridge (Haley & Aldrich), John Collins (AquaBlok Ltd.), Ashley Lesser (Michigan EGLE), Deirdre Reidy (Anchor QEA), Bhawana Sharma (Jacobs), Erik Bakkom (Maul Foster Alongi), David Lampert (Illinois Institute of Technology), Xiaolong Shen (Arcadis)

Course Objectives: 

• Presenting the recommended cap design framework and other key concepts from the recent 2023 ITRC Sediment Cap Guidance.
• Improve awareness of the ITRC cap guidance and the consistency in which it is applied.

Instructor: Donald Hayes (The Dredging Professor LLC) and Mike Palermo (Mike Palermo Consulting, Inc.)

Course Objective: This course will provide students with a broad overview of strategies and tools for remediating contaminated sediment sites. Specific topics include site investigation, conceptual site models, remedial alternatives (dredging, capping, natural attenuation), and monitoring strategies. The course is designed for regulators, engineers, scientists, and policy makers new to contaminated sediment site remediation.

Instructors: Jason Conder (Geosyntec Consultants), Florent Risacher (Geosyntec Consultants), Andrew Jackson (Texas Tech University), Gunther Rosen (NIWC Pacific)

Course Objective: This course will familiarize environmental practitioners and decision makers with the tools and concepts needed to apply dialysis passive samplers (“peepers”) at sediment sites contaminated with inorganics or PFAS. The course focuses on the latest advances in the technology and methods to provide a robust tool for decision-making.

*Laptop Required Course

Instructors: Danny Reible (Texas Tech University), Xiaolong Shen (Arcadis), David Lampert (Illinois Institute of Technology), Espen Eek (Norwegien Geotechnical Institute)

Course Objective: This short course aims to provide a comprehensive training session on using CapSIM in designing an in situ remediation approach. This course will include a brief introduction on the CapSIM model and its scientific background, a review of the functionality of this current model, and a hand-on training session with several examples.

 

Instructors: Craig Jones (Integral Consulting Inc.) and Jeff Rominger (Gradient Corporation)

Course Objective: Enhance sediment site management and assessment expertise by mastering the critical aspects of sediment transport and stability in this comprehensive short course. This course address key site management questions that depend on sediment insights, providing the attendee with the knowledge to make informed and effective decisions. Participants will learn how to integrate conceptual site models with field studies and numerical models to understand sediment transport processes as they relate to contaminated sediment sites. Additionally, focus will be provided on identifying essential data, selecting the appropriate type and quantity, and achieving the numerical accuracy necessary to effectively and efficiently address specific site management challenges.

Instructors: John Rice (TRC Environmental Corporation), David Moore (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers [DoD]), Michael Eberle (TRC Environmental), Patrick McKeown (ECT2)

Course Objective: With ever decreasing regulatory thresholds for PFAS it is critical to have an understanding of the fate and transport of PFAS compounds as they cycle through the environment.  This course will provide a short introduction on basic PFAS chemistry with further details on how the chemistry of these compounds controls their migration, transformation, and accumulation in sediment.  Unique sampling challenges associated with the sediment matrix for the evaluation of PFAS, including high moisture, fine grained materials, and pore-water, will be discussed.  The course will also provide an introduction to PFAS forensics, some tips on source identification, and how this may be useful and applied to sediment investigations. 

Each year, 200 to 300 million cubic yards of sediment are dredged to support commercial and recreational navigation.  There is increasing interest in using much of this material for beneficial purposes (habitat restoration, land reclamation, etc.) due to diminished upland disposal capacity and the need for sediment as a valuable resource in the face of climate change.  Prior to use, it is critical to establish suitability of the material for the intended beneficial application which includes ensuring that the intended application will not present any unacceptable environmental or human health risk due to the presence of any sediment associated contaminants from secondary sources.  With well studied legacy contaminants such as heavy metals, PCBs, and pesticides the evaluation of potential risk are more easily assessed and potential management actions to mitigate potential risk better understood.  However, with emerging contaminants (micro-plastics, PFAS, etc.) the assessment and management of potential risk becomes more challenging.  PFAS  are particularly challenging as they are widespread, of a concern even at relatively low levels, and are persistent in the environment.  

Understanding “anthropogenic” background  (i.e., concentrations in environmental media removed from known sources) will be critical to informing potential suitability of materials for particular applications (e.g., are levels similar to or lower than what already present at a site). Additionally understanding the behavior of these contaminated sediments in different environmental settings is also important in establishing suitability (e.g., will placement of sediment in upland setting facilitate increased bioavailability?). The course will summarize the current understanding of anthropogenic background for this ubiquitously distributed class of compounds in environmental media to provide context and a basis for evaluating relative risk associated with a particular management action / beneficial use application.

Methods of remediating PFAS in sediment will also be discussed in the course.  PFAS have been successfully removed from coarse and medium grained soil/sediment fractions via a washing process. Wash water is further treated via media treatment and foam fractionation to remove PFAS, significantly reducing the overall volume of PFAS waste and off-site disposal requirements. This course will discuss applications for which sediment washing is a good fit and subsequent aqueous treatment approaches.  An option for in situ capping and treatment is a developing technology that will also be covered in the course.