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

June 20, 2023 Tech Track Zoom Meeting

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The next meeting of the TTWG will be held on Tuesday, June 20, 2023 from 10:00 am – 12:00 pm.  Please contact lara@whitebluffsconsulting.com for the Zoom meeting link.

Meeting Documents:

TTWG_agenda 6-20-2023
NEW TTWG-TF Report Review Schedule_6-5-23
Mission_Reach_GW_Report_19June2023_TTWG_PreRedlineReviewDraft SRRTTF_2223SPMD_PCB_Report_06202023_TTWGRedlineDraft SRRTTF_GE_PVA_Report_06-20-2023_TTWG_redline_draft

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

May 24, 2023 SRRTTF Meeting

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

Date: Wednesday, May 24, 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_5_24_23
1 – SRRTTF Meeting Summary March 22, 2023
2a – ACE Monthly Summary APR 2023
2b – 2023-04-30 ACE Commitment Report
3 – Task Force WGs May 24 2023 – PPT Update template
4 – SRRTTF_2022_FishTissuePCBReport_05-17-2023_ProvisionalFinalDraft
5 – 05.17.23 SRRTTF Presentation on Section 21 Petition
6 – SRRTTF-Facilitation Team Recommendation – Task Force websites
SRRTTF_05242023_fish

New Ecology QAPP Addendum – Freshwater Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program 2023, Spokane River

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Addendum 3 to Quality Assurance Project Plan: Freshwater Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program 2023, Spokane River is available at https://apps.ecology.wa.gov/publications/SummaryPages/2303110.html.

The Department of Ecology’s Freshwater Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program (https://ecology.wa.gov/Research-Data/Monitoring-assessment/toxics-monitoring/Freshwater-fish-contaminant-monitoring) characterizes persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals in freshwater fish throughout Washington state. In 2009, a long-term monitoring component was added to determine if changes in contaminant levels occur over time. The Spokane River was sampled in 2003, 2005, and 2012. The 2023 study will repeat historical work in the Spokane River to determine whether changes in fish tissue contaminant concentrations can be discerned.

The goals of 2023 sampling are to (1) measure concentrations of PCBs, PBDEs, PFAS, PCDD/Fs, and metals in various fish in the Spokane River and (2) compare results to previous studies to determine temporal changes.

These results will (1) inform resource managers about potential risks to human health from eating fish that may be contaminated and data will be placed into EIM and used in future WQ Assessments.

This document is an addendum to the most recent Quality Assurance Project Plan and gives information that is specific to the 2023 sampling in the Spokane River.

If you have questions, contact Shannon Nardi at shannon.nardi@ecy.wa.gov.

Diana Ruth Olegre
Web Content Manager
Washington State Department of Ecology

Comment period on Ecology’s SHARP tool developed to implement changes to MTCA Cleanup Regulations

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MTCA Cleanup Regulations Practitioners:

We’ve developed a new site hazard assessment and ranking process (SHARP). To support this process, we also developed the new SHARP Tool. We plan to use this Tool to identify which contaminated sites pose the greatest risk to people and other living things. We invite you to comment on the draft SHARP Tool and Manual through April 16, 2023.

We developed the new SHARP Tool to implement our proposed changes to the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) Cleanup Regulations. These changes are also available for public comment through April 16, 2023. To download and learn how to comment on the proposed rule changes, visit our rulemaking webpage.

What is SHARP? 

SHARP provides a method for Ecology to assess and rank threats to human health and the environment posed by a contaminated site based on information readily available at the time of assessment. SHARP replaces the outdated Washington Ranking Method (WARM), which hasn’t been updated since 1992. SHARP satisfies the requirements of MTCA and will play a key role in our work to improve environmental equity under the HEAL Act.

The SHARP Tool calculates scores for potential exposure to contamination in soil, groundwater, surface water, sediment, and indoor air. It also estimates the severity of exposure. Since SHARP uses only readily accessible information, we can calculate ranking scores fairly quickly. Unlike the WARM process, we’ll be able to re-rank sites as new or better information becomes available. 

How will Ecology use SHARP?

Ecology will use SHARP to: 

  • Assess and rank the threats to human health and the environment posed by all contaminated sites.
  • Identify whether the population threatened may include a vulnerable population or an overburdened community.
  • Prioritize remedial actions and allocate agency resources among and within all contaminated sites.
  • Reflect changes in threats posed by a site based on new information or changes in site conditions.
  • Better inform the public about the threats posed by contaminated sites.

What are our next steps?

After reviewing your comments, we will finalize the SHARP Tool and convert it to a computer application. We plan to do that by the anticipated effective date of the proposed rule changes, January 1, 2024. After we have finalized the Tool, we plan to develop policies about how we will use the site hazard rankings to prioritize sites and allocate resources.

For more information, please visit our site ranking webpage, or read our blog about the new process.

Eileen Webb
Environmental Remediation Coordinator
Toxics Cleanup Program
Eileen.Webb@ecy.wa.gov
360-763-2305

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