Category Archives: Announcement

June 28, 2023 SRRTTF Meeting

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The next meeting of the Spokane River Regional Toxics Task Force is:

Date: Wednesday, June 28, 2023
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Location: Spokane County Water Resource Center (1004 N. Freya St., Spokane, WA)
Zoom meeting link: Please email lara@whitebluffsconsulting.com for more information and to join via Zoom if you cannot attend in person.

Meeting Documents:

0- SRRTTF agenda_6_28_23
1 – SRRTTF Meeting Summary May 24, 2023
2a – ACE monthly summary May 2023
2b – 2023-05-31 ACE Commitment Report
3 – 2023_06_14_ChemFORWARD Pigment Resource Pilot QAPP with resp to comments.docx
4a – 05.30.23 – SRRTTF TSCA Section 21 Petition Roadmap_GJComments_aer
4b – 2022 EPA Study on iPCBs
4c – PCBs in Commercial Paint
4d – Rodenburg_Evidence for Unique and Ubiquitous Sources of PCB 11
4e – TOXICOLOGICAL PROFILE FOR PCBs
5a – SpokaneSedimentBiofilmReport_06212023_PreliminaryDraft
5b – Spokane2022SynopticSurveyReport_06212023__PreliminaryDraft
5c – SRRTTF_2223SPMD_PCB_Report_06212023_PreliminaryDraft
5d – Mission_Reach_GW_Report_21June2023_PreliminaryDraft_app-tables_a-b
5e – SRRTTF_GE_PVA_Report_06-21-2023_PreliminaryDraft
5f – SRRTTF_2023_SPMD_HighFlowDeployment
6a – SRRTTF transition actions 2023Juneclean
6b – SRRTTF-Facilitation Team Recommendation – Task Force websites- June 2023
7 – SRRTTF Transition TimelineWQ-WIDE
8 – RuckelshausCtr_slides_SRRTTF_06-28-23

Ecology News – Identifying and managing PCB-containing building materials training

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Training offers guidance for reducing PCB pollution and protecting water quality
We’re providing training to help business owners, consultants, and contractors safely maintain and abate buildings that contain polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. These manmade chemicals were widely used in building materials to add flexibility, adhesion, and durability. But they can also pose health risks and contaminate stormwater, soils, sediments, and affect indoor air quality.

Free training opportunities for private and public sectors

The good news is that we have strategies for managing building materials that contain PCBs. We are hosting two free online trainings about the guidance we developed, How to Find and Address PCBs in Building Materials. Trainings will take place on the following dates:
June 14, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. for property owners, developers, and other businesses.
June 27, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. for government agencies and other regulators.

The trainings will cover:
How to identify building materials that may contain PCBs.
Options for characterizing and managing these materials.
How to protect stormwater while these materials are left in place or when they are abated. How to estimate abatement project costs.

We will have time at the end of the presentation for informal discussion. It’s not too late to register for either training session.  

Why it matters

PCBs cause cancer in animals and are likely to cause cancer in people. They can harm the immune, reproductive, nervous, and endocrine systems in people and other organisms.

Even though production of PCBs was banned in 1979 by the EPA, they’re still present in many existing buildings. We’re working to manage PCBs in building materials like concrete, caulking, paint, and certain types of siding and roofing. That’s important because these materials can release PCBs into the environment through indoor air, construction debris, or runoff.

Once PCBs have traveled into the environment, they can accumulate in people and animals, becoming more concentrated in organisms at the top of the food chain, like orcas and humans. This is a particular problem for areas with a history of heavy industrial use, such as the Duwamish Waterway in Seattle and the Spokane River watershed, where sediments contaminated with PCBs make it unsafe to eat fish and shellfish from these waters.

Our grant from the EPA

The guidance and these trainings are made possible by a National Estuary Program grant from the EPA. Our goal is educational: We want to reduce pollution from PCBs in building materials by promoting best practices before demolition or renovation, when PCBs are more likely to be released into the environment.

May 31, 2023 Tech Track Zoom Meeting

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The next meeting of the TTWG will be held on Wednesday, May 31, 2023 from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm.  Please contact lara@whitebluffsconsulting.com for the Zoom meeting link.

Meeting Documents:

TTWG_agenda 5-31-2023_final
Spokane2022SynopticSurveyReport_05192023_TTWGReviewDraft SpokaneSedimentBiofilmReport_05192023_TTWGReviewDraft
TTWG-TF Report Review Schedule_5-31-23 
TTWG_05312023_SPMD
TTWG_05312023_Comments_SedimentBiofilm_Synoptic

March 22, 2023 SRRTTF Meeting

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The next meeting of the Spokane River Regional Toxics Task Force is:

Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Location: Spokane County Water Resource Center (1004 N. Freya St., Spokane, WA)
Zoom meeting link: Please email lara@whitebluffsconsulting.com for more information and to join via Zoom if you cannot attend in person.

Documents:

0- SRRTTF agenda_3_22_23
1 – SRRTTF DRAFT Meeting Summary February 22, 2023
2a – ACE Committment Report FEB 2023
2b – ACE Monthly Summary FEB 2023
3 – Task Force WGs Update – March 22 2023
4 – iPCB-EST-SRRTTF-02222023_V1
5 – iPCB Pigment Resource Pilot Proposal 2023_03_15
6 – Scope of Work for Additional Groundwater Flow Direction Evaluations_Mar15_2023_DRAFT_Addendum
6b – MissionReach_GSI_ConceptualScope_03152023
6c – GE_GSI_ConceptualScoope_0315_2023
6d – SRRTTF_TTWGscopes_03222023
7 – SRRTTF_Ruckelshaus-update_Mar’23Meeting
8 – SRRTTF-ACE recommendation 2023_03
9 – Future Meeting Topics March

March 15, 2023 Tech Track Zoom Meeting

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The next meeting of the TTWG will be held on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 from 8:00 am – 10:00 am.  Please contact lara@whitebluffsconsulting.com for the Zoom meeting link. Please review the scopes below and be ready to discuss at the meeting.

Meeting Documents:

TTWG_agenda 3-15-2023_d3
GE_GSI_ConceptualScope_0303_2023
MissionReach_GSI_ConceptualScope_03032023 

March 30, 2023 (2:00 pm – 3:30 pm) EPA Spokane River PCBs TMDL Webinar

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Please consider joining the EPA for a conversation on development of the Spokane River PCBs TMDL. This webinar will start with a ~30 minute presentation on progress to date and next steps, then transition to an hour of discussion on challenges and opportunities related to the project.

The EPA is committed to robust and meaningful public engagement in our work, so please feel free to forward this meeting invitation. We look forward to answering questions, addressing concerns, and collaboratively identifying solutions to PCB impairments in the Spokane River. This webinar is the first in a series that will occur roughly every three months through completion of the project in 2024, so there will be multiple future opportunities to participate in the dialog if you cannot make this session.

Thanks,

Gunnar Johnson, Ph.D. (he/him/his)
Washington State TMDL Coordinator │Watersheds Section
Standards, Assessment & Watershed Management Branch │ Water Division
Region 10 │ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
johnson.gunnar@epa.gov │206.553.2114
1200 Sixth Avenue, Suite 155 (19-A02), Seattle, WA, 98101

Microsoft Teams meeting

Join on your computer, mobile app or room device

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Meeting ID: 253 009 045 068
Passcode: 9TGt8E

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Video Conference ID: 115 653 979 7
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Phone Conference ID: 617 080 711#
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For all EPA meetings, there is no expectation of privacy regarding any communications. Participation in a recorded meeting will be deemed as consent to be recorded. Information on EPA systems is the property of the Agency and may become official records.

January 24-25, 2023 Managing Toxic Contaminants – Lessons and Best Practices for PCB Management from Regional Programs Symposium

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Hi Task Force,

We were just made aware of this symposium and that representatives from the basin will be participating in it.

It is a cross-program symposium focusing on sharing information on programs, projects, and best practices to help improve the cleanup and management of PCBs. Representatives from the Puget Sound, Chesapeake Bay, Spokane River, Delaware River, Great Lakes, and New Bedford Harbor will provide background and insights on PCB management in their regions. The main goal is to provide an opportunity to learn how to collectively reduce the levels and effects of PCBs in the environment.  

Adriane Borgias (Ecology) and Dave Dilks (Technical consultant to the Task Force) will be speaking on January 24 about the Spokane River. Here is more information and the agenda below along with a registration link:

Cross-Program-Contaminant-Group-Program-Description-2022.11.29

Registration: https://washington.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIldOCtqjsvE9CPT-Vizt38tt6FUn7kT3NJ

January 25, 2023 SRRTTF Meeting

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The next meeting of the Spokane River Regional Toxics Task Force is:

Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2023
Time: 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Location: Spokane County Water Resource Center (1004 N. Freya St., Spokane, WA)
Zoom meeting link: Please email lara@whitebluffsconsulting.com for more information and to join via Zoom if you cannot attend in person.

Meeting Documents:

0- SRRTTF agenda_1_25_23
1 – SRRTTF November 30, 2022 meeting summary
2a – 2022-12-31 ACE Commitment Report
2b – ACE Monthly Summary December
3 – Task Force WGs Jan. 25 2023 – PPT Update template
4a – Develop Approach to Petitioning change in TSCA Regs_for publishing 11-30-22
4b – 12.23.22 – AKWA-DC SRRTTF Proposal
4c – 1-6-23 SRRTF Proposal Addendum
4d – Ephraim Froehlich Resume
5 – Action to Recommend Ending Task Force 2023_01
6a – Ruckelshaus Assessment-Jan’23SRRTTF Meeting
6b – RuckelshausCenterSituationAssessmentReportonCapitolLakeManagement example
7 – SRRTTF.SRF.Request
8a – SRRTTF_DraftScopes_01172023
8 – WaterColumnTrend_HighFlow_Scope_01092023draft
9 – Scope of Work for Additional Groundwater Flow Direction Evaluations_Dec19_2022_DRAFT
10 – Future Meeting Topics January