Welcome to the eighth edition of ITRC's biannual newsletter, showcasing key events from Summer 2020 & Fall 2020. |
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Note - If the embedded links in this email don't work, email emadden@ecos.org for an email conversion of this interactive letter.
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A Message from the Director
Upcoming Opening: ITRC Board of Advisors
Progress through the Pandemic
ITRC & Me
New 2021 Project Teams
New ITRC Resources
Upcoming Internet-Based Trainings
2020 Team Updates
State Engagement Program Update
ASTSWMO News
New Faces at ITRC
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A Message from the Director |
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Greetings ITRC Members and Supporters,
What a whirlwind of a year - as our life, work operations, and our ITRC volunteers have shifted entirely virtual. ITRC was fortunate to be ahead of many as we have been set up to run virtual trainings for years and we rely on the remote participation of our teams across the country in our monthly meetings. Thankfully, with your help, ITRC was able to continue moving forward and accomplished many major milestones in 2020 despite not hosting a single in-person team meeting. Our 2020 highlights were many and include:
- Celebrating our 25th Anniversary with the largest membership in our history.
- Publishing over 20 new technical documents and fact sheets.
- Presenting live online trainings to over 11,000 environmental professionals.
- Reaching over 18,000 document downloads worldwide this year alone.
As we look towards a healthy 2021, we will continue to build and maintain collaborative partnerships with our federal partners at EPA, DOE and DOD, and the over 125 members of our Industry Affiliates Program, all while supporting our State members representing all 50 states, as well as our Board of Advisors and Tribal and Pubic Stakeholders.
Out of uncertainty with healthy travel in April 2021, we have moved the 2021 Annual Meeting to the Fall of 2021. We realize the importance of in-person meetings, and we hope that by next Fall we will all be ready to travel again. While this is a difficult year, it is cooperation and communication that keep ITRC moving forward, and we encourage each of you to reach out if there is anything we can do to help. We hope everyone is staying safe and healthy, and we look forward to seeing everyone in 2021!
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Upcoming Opening: ITRC Board of Advisors |
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In the Spring of 2021, Richard Spiese's (VT) three-year term as ITRC's Board of Advisors Co-Chair will draw to an end. While we will miss Richard's innumerable contributions to the board, ITRC will begin accepting nominations for a new state representative to serve as board co-chair in early 2021. For inquiries or any nominations, please reach out to ITRC Director, Patricia Reyes at preyes@ecos.org.
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Progress through the Pandemic |
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While the last year has been anything but normal, ITRC has been conducting business as usual, publishing technical documents and guidance materials while maintaining a packed schedule of internet-based trainings. Teams and members have adapted to virtual work, participating regularly in video calls and virtual meetings, while corresponding digitally. In today's digital landscape, focusing on communication allowed ITRC's teams cooperate efficiently in development of new documents and trainings; while these new products are detailed below, here’s a glance at our numbers for 2020 thus far. |
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In lieu of our in-person 25th anniversary fall meeting, ITRC is hosting a two-part digital webinar series, ITRC & Me, to share upcoming and innovative products from our 2020 Technical Teams, and look ahead to the opening of our 2021 Teams. These two one-hour Zoom sessions will commemorate our 25th anniversary by shedding light on all of the services and trainings that ITRC has to offer, as well as give insight into new projects and materials being developed and how to get involved. Team Leaders will provide overviews of their teams, and answer any questions concerning their team's focus and products.
Our first ITRC & Me webinar, ITRC & Me - About Us, Our Services and Our 2021 Teams, draws focus to ITRC, giving an overview of it's services and uses, and the unique opportunities ITRC membership has to offer. This seminar will also introduce and outline ITRC's new and continuing 2021 projects, providing an opportunity for questions and answers with team leaders.
Our second webinar, ITRC & ME - 2020 Team Products and Available Documents is geared toward ITRC's existing team products and guidance materials, offering insight on how to get the most out of ITRC's existing documents. This webinar will provide an overview of ITRC's 2020 teams and their respective documents, as well as an opportunity for questions and answers with 2020 Team Leaders.
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This Team’s chief objective is to be a platform for the integration and cohesion of data management policies across environmental disciplines and programs through online implementation trainings and community forums. This ITRC Team will produce a toolkit that focuses on the fundamentals of environmental data management practices, so that organizations can progress toward more modernized and efficient data management.
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Although microplastics are small — plastic debris less than five millimeters long — they pose one of the largest emerging threats to the global environmental community today. The ITRC Microplastics Team will develop free resources and fact sheets designed to provide the latest information and best management practices for the most important issues surrounding microplastics.
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This ITRC initiative will produce a set of case studies that can be used as a roadmap on how to apply existing ITRC regulatory guidance documents to hydrocarbon sites. This roadmap will help practitioners address all of their related hydrocarbon concerns when navigating through several regulatory documents.
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This project will expand on existing descriptions of Benthic Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms mentioned in other ITRC documents by providing in-depth information on background, screening and sampling methodology, and toxin thresholds, as well as management and prevention strategies and communication and response planning for these blooms.
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Coming December 1: New Team Registration
For additional information on each of these teams and their respective timelines, as well as our teams continuing into next year, check out our 2021 Team Descriptions. Registration for these upcoming teams begins December 1, 2020. Be sure to visit our website if you would like to register for these teams.
For industry members that wish to join upcoming teams, please ensure your company registers for our Industry Affiliates Program (IAP). In addition to being eligible to join upcoming and continuing teams, IAP members will have the opportunity to will have the opportunity to participate in the development of uniform national guidance, participate in training development and delivery, network with subject matter experts, and much more! For more information or to register now, please visit our Industry Affiliates Program page.
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Archived Internet-Based Trainings available for Online Streaming
ITRC's most popular IBT recordings have been uploaded to YouTube for convenient streaming - no download required. Trainings available for streaming include Geospatial Analysis for Optimization at Environmental Sites, Long-term Contaminant Management Using Institutional Controls, and Optimizing Injection Strategies and In situ Remediation Performance - and many more! To view our recorded IBTs, please visit our YouTube channel by clicking the link in the image above.
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Optimizing Injection Strategies and In Situ Remediation Performance
December 1
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Characterization and Remediation in Fractured Rock
December 10
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ITRC Recorded Online Trainings Archives
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Strategies for Preventing and Managing Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms (HCB) |
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Between responding to cyanobacterial blooms in their jurisdictions, the Strategies for Preventing and Managing Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms (HCB) Team has been working toward completing their guidance document. Throughout the document's external review from June to July, over 400 specific comments were received from 4 federal agencies, 15 states, and several stakeholders. The team spent the remainder of the summer incorporating responses to the external review comments. The team met via Zoom from September 21-23; during which, writing groups revised final issues from external review comments. The meeting ended with a preliminary look at the training modules that the training group is preparing for 2021. The photo above was taken during the team meeting's happy hour. |
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The Soil Background and Risk (SBR) team has spent the Summer and Fall working on their draft of the Technical Regulatory Document, holding monthly update calls to track progress and delegate tasks. Over 800 comments were received from the team on the first draft, and after numerous edits, the second draft will be sent out to the team for comment by the end of the month. Additionally, a draft approach for SBR training was developed and will be discussed with ITRC Staff to finalize an approach by the end of the year. |
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Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)
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Over the last few months, the Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Team has been working to update their Technical Regulatory Document as well as develop 11 PFAS Fact Fheets; these new products and updates were posted to the public website in October. In July, the team finalized the ITRC Risk Communication Toolkit in collaboration with the 1,4- Dioxane and Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms teams. Complimentary to their recently developed documents and fact sheets, the PFAS Team hosted three interactive PFAS Roundtable Webinars, and plans to host two additional sessions in 2021. In addition to their own trainings, the PFAS team has participated in and conducted several virtual workshops and presentations to provide additional training on PFAS topics.
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Incremental Sampling Methodology |
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The Incremental Sampling Methodology Update (ISM-2) Team has been working to finalize their Technical Regulatory Document, which was recently published by ITRC in late October. In addition to preparing their new document's release, ISM is practicing training module presentations to be broadcasted via Adobe Connect, featuring an overview of the ISM-2 document and a review of its most important subsections. Additionally, the team will conduct a dry-run practice of these training modules for the ITRC Points of Contact in early December, and advertise for the coming year's training on the EPA’s Contaminated Site Clean-Up Information Web Site (CLU-IN) in January 2021. |
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Over the last few months, The ITRC 1,4-Dioxane team has been working to finalize its guidance document and training modules. During it's external review, the team received over 500 comments from over 30 ITRC stakeholders, and the team is currently working to compile, finalize, and publish the document in January 2021. Complimentary to their final document, the team is also working on the development of a six-part modular training course to be scheduled in the coming year. The team plans to hold its Internet-Based Training dry-run at the end of January 2021 and will conduct its first live Training in March of 2021.
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Sustainable and Resilient Remediation |
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Since Spring, the Sustainable and Resilient Remediation (SRR) Team has been working diligently through the external review process. The guidance document went through external review from July to August, garnering 200 specific comments on the document. Prior to the external review, the guidance had been heavily edited; due to which, the team requested a second external review of the most heavily edited portions of the document, which ran from September to October. During that time, the team worked on addressing and incorporating external review comments. The team met virtually from November 4-6, and plans to have their document published in February 2021. |
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Vapor Intrusion Mitigation Technology |
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The Vapor Intrusion Mitigation Training (VIMT) team sent out 29 fact sheets, technology information sheets, and checklists for external review from July to August, switching focus to development of internet-based training (IBT) materials while the various documents were in review. Once external comments came back, the team worked to juggle both review and incorporation of comments, while also assisting with the development of slides and scripts for their module-based training course. Through hard work and collaboration, VIMT began sending work products to editor starting in late September, and was able to have all of their work products edited and sent to the web developer by early November. The photo above was taken during the team's recent virtual happy hour.
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State Engagement Network Update |
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Over the summer and fall, ITRC POCs reviewed technical guidance documents from five different ITRC teams, and participated in both of the PFAS Roundtable Webinar dry runs. The SEP plans to review the Incremental Sampling Methodology training dry run in the new year, while moving forward with implementing their updated strategic plan: facilitating the implementation of ITRC tools and resources and building the acceptance of ITRC as the “go-to” environmental solution provider for states
In addition to work with ITRC teams, the SEP welcomed two new POCs this last quarter:
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Patrick "Dusty" Hawkins
Alabama Department of Environmental Management
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Tim Eiken
Missouri Department of Natural Resources
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ASTSWMO recently held its 2020 Annual Meeting; a two-week virtual event, consisting of a series of webinars under the theme "Leading Through Change." This virtual event marked the largest ASTSWMO meeting to date, with over 1,200 participants in attendance across 15 webinars and meeting sessions. Part of this meeting included ASTSWMO's annual election of its Officers. Elected on October 28, 2020, the new ASTSWMO Officers for 2021 are:
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President: Brent Everett, UT
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Vice-President: Tim Ratsep, DE
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Secretary-Treasurer: April Webb, KY
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Past-President: Conchita Taitano, GU
During the meeting's awards ceremony, ASTSWMO presented its Lifetime Achievement Award to Clarence Smith lll (IL EPA). Recordings of open webinars and the materials used during these sessions will be available on the ASTSWMO website. ASTSWMO would like to thank its members and all attendees for their participation in the Annual Meeting. To view our upcoming meetings and events, please view our events page.
ASTSWMO’s quarterly newsletter will be sent out at the end of the November. If you would like to be included on the mailing list, please email TJ Gannon at timothyg@astswmo.org.
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Welcome, Melinda!
Selected to serve as Public/Tribal Stakeholder Representative to ITRC's Board of Advisors, Dr. Melinda McClanahan a member of Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, comes from a distinguished career in Washington, D.C. with the United States Senior Executive Service, where she held high-level positions with EPA’s Office of Research and Development and USDA’s Agricultural Research Service.
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This summer, Evan Madden began work as a Project Associate with ITRC and ECOS. Evan is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan, with a Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Planning, Evan brings an extensive background in journalism and environmental science to his role with ITRC. |
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