ITRC Success Stories Main Page

ITRC takes pride in the value that its activities, documents and training courses provide to environmental practitioners, funding agencies, and other stakeholders.  With these success stories, ITRC shows how we advance better environmental decision making.  If you wish to provide feedback to ITRC on the value of our work, please use our Success Story Submission form.

Success Story Snippets
Innovative Processes and Technologies at Work

For more information on ITRC Success Stories, please email itrc@itrcweb.org.
February 2013 – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is using the ITRC Incremental Sampling Methodology (ISM) technical regulatory guidance document on a site in Key West to conduct sampling. The state is using the project as a training opportunity on how to incorporate ISM guidance into its protocols. In addition, the state held another ISM training for 25 DEP staff members in February.
February 2013 – The Colorado ITRC Point of Contact worked on a cleanup response with an engineer from the local County Health Department. During the cleanup activities, the engineer stated that the county staff use ITRC internet-based training (IBT) courses and that he was impressed with the quality of training.
February 2013 – An application for the 2010 European Responsible Care award, from a manufacturing facility in Belgium, titled Sustainable Groundwater Remediation for a Former Production Site, referenced and used the ITRC In Situ Bioremediation of Chlorinated Ethene: DNAPL Source Zones (BIODNAPL-3) document in the cleanup of the property. It is not clear if the facility received the award.
January 2013 – The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the U.S. Air Force have been in discussion over the exposure levels on 11 former Air Force bases in Alaska. The initial extent of the closure plan included a large discrete sampling strategy for several years. For further clarification and direction, the issue was sent to EPA Region 10. In EPA’s letter to the Air Force and Alaska DEC, it specifically states that the ITRC Incremental Sampling Methodology (ISM) technical regulatory guidance document should be used to assess and monitor the former bases for closure.
December 2012 – John Cargill, the ITRC Contaminated Sediments Co-Team Leader, was invited to attend an International Pellston Workshop, sponsored by the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), related to “Guidance on Bioavailability/Bioaccessibility Measurements using Passive Sampling Devices (PSD) and Partitioning-Based Approaches for Management of Contaminated Sediments.” The workshop was held in Long Beach, CA on November 7-9, 2012; and comprised 45 individuals from around the world representing academia, government, and the private sector. The goal is to complete four manuscripts that will be published in a special SETAC publication in 2013. The ITRC Contaminated Sediments-1 document will be referenced within these manuscripts. Mr. Cargill was invited because of his involvement with the ITRC Team.
December 2012 – In the past, the EPA Engineering Forum had neither highlighted nor discussed any of ITRC’s documents. However, the Forum recently highlighted the “ITRC Development of Performance Specifications for Solidification/Stabilization” document on its website (http://costperformance.org/remediation/#17). This is a great recognition and accomplishment.
December 2012 – The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) reported that the National Research Council released a report called "Alternatives for Managing the Nation's Complex Contaminated Groundwater Sites" (http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=14668). Several ITRC documents were referenced, as well as individual members, including Rula Deeb, Chuck Newell, and others. In addition, NAS held a free webinar on the contents of the report on December 12, 2012.
December 2012 – The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources hosted a Green Day event on December 4, 2012. As a part of the event, the ITRC Green and Sustainable Remediation (GSR) team held a condensed version of the ITRC GSR internet-based training (IBT) course.
November 2012 – The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is updating a number of its guidance documents, using ITRC documents as a guide, and referencing ITRC documents in the actual guidances. Several of the New Jersey guidances are already completed and include ITRC references.

November 2012 – A Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment (DPHE) staff member recently attended several ITRC internet-based trainings (IBT):

  • LNAPL Characterization and Recoverability – Improved Analysis
  • ITRC Technical and Regulatory Guidance: Evaluating LNAPL Remediation Technologies for Achieving Project Goals
  • ITRC Internet-Based Training and Technical and Regulatory Guidance: Integrated DNAPL Site Strategy

The staff member reported that the IBTs were very educational and provided leading-edge information relative to LNAPL and DNAPL to which he had not been exposed. Of note were the new technologies that have been developed for characterizing the extent of LNAPL contamination as well as the technologies that could be applied towards remediating DNAPL under differing site conditions. Both of these notable points, as well as the entirety of the information shared in these IBTs, are applicable to future or continued remediation of LNAPL and DNAPL at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Project.
October 2012 – The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) is currently updating its regulatory guidance. The guidance will include multiple references to ITRC guidance documents.
July 2012 – The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is currently updating its Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP) Guidance Manual after 10 years. As a part of the update, DEP is including ITRC references in relevant sections especially in the Remedial Action and the Vapor Intrusion sections.
June 2012 – InsideEPA.com wrote an article about and review of the ITRC Biofuels guidance document and internet-based training (IBT) course. The article provided a good review and great exposure for the Biofuels products. The InsideEPA.com article is now linked on the ITRC Biofuels team webpage at: http://www.itrcweb.org/Documents/news/PA-DEP-As-EPA-Backs-IEPA-04-12.pdf.
June 2012 – The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) recently developed a Green and Sustainable Remediation (GSR) Policy and Best Management Practices (BMP) guidance. The DEQ utilized the ITRC POC network to obtain information from other states to assist in developing their policy and BMPs. In addition, the DEQ guidance referenced the ITRC GSR products.
May 2012 – The Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) uses and references the ITRC Vapor Intrusion Pathway: A Practical Guideline (January 2007) often and linked the Maine DEP website to the ITRC document.
May 2012 – The Connecticut Licensed Professionals Training Committee attended the ITRC LNAPL Classroom Training Course in Massachusetts and discussed the possibility of scheduling a modified one-day course in Connecticut for their licensed environmental professionals.
May 2012 – Shell Oil is developing its Global Sustainability Plan, which will reference the ITRC document, Green and Sustainable Remediation (GSR): A Practical Framework (November 2011).
May 2012 – The ITRC Green and Sustainable Remediation (GSR): A Practical Framework (November 2011) guidance document will be used at the Wisconsin Training Day to discuss the development of the state's GSR documents. The Wisconsin GSR rules will come out soon and they will rely heavily on the ITRC GSR products.
May 2012 – The LNAPL Investigation Plan for Holly Refinery (Tulsa, OK) used four ITRC products in its investigation plan. The ITRC products used are:
April 2012 – The ITRC Incremental Sampling Methodology (ISM) (February 2012) guidance document is receiving a lot of exposure. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is referencing the ITRC ISM guidance document in its Incremental Composite Sampling (ICS) guidance. In addition, the ITRC ISM team is garnering a lot of interest internationally from Bolivia, Columbia, and other countries.
April 2012 – The ITRC Biofuels Team recently presented a training short course at the National Tanks Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. The short course was well attended and received positive feedback. In addition, www.InsideEPA.com wrote an article and review of the ITRC Biofuels: Release Prevention, Environmental Behavior, and Remediation (September 2011) guidance document and training course. The article provided a good review and great exposure for the ITRC Biofuels products.
April 2012 – In April 2012, the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Land Protection Division organized an Environmental Panel Presentation. One of the presenters was Dr. Paul C. Johnson, Dean of the Ira Fulton School of Engineering at Arizona State University. Part of his presentation included his work on assessing source zone natural attenuation and source zone longevity that was used in the ITRC Guidance Document – Evaluating Natural Source Zone and Sites with LNAPL (April 2009). This was great exposure and marketing for ITRC within the Oklahoma DEQ.
March 2012 – The ITRC Green and Sustainable Remediation (GSR): A Practical Framework (November 2011) guidance document is garnering a lot of exposure and support. In February 2012, the ITRC GSR Internet-based training courses started and the Association for Environmental Health and Sciences (AEHS) referenced the ITRC GSR products at their workshops.
March 2012 – Several staff from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment attended the EPA Trainex Program on environmental remediation. ITRC and its products were referred and promoted several times during the training.
March 2012 – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection is extremely interested in the ITRC Development of Performance Specifications for Solidification/Stabilization (S/S) (July 2011) guidance document and is looking to develop a state S/S guidance document that summarizes and references the ITRC S/S document.
February 2012 – There is great interest from Connecticut regarding the ITRC Incremental Sampling Methodology (ISM) products and Connecticut may look to use the ITRC ISM (February 2012) document as a model for the state guidance.
February 2012 – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection Division Director made it mandatory for staff to attend the ITRC Incremental Sampling Methodology (ISM) Internet-based training course. Florida's response to the course was great; a large group attended the training in a conference room and the group held a discussion about the training after the training concluded.
January 2012 – In Virginia, the ITRC Integrated DNAPLs Site Strategy (IDSS) (November 2011) guidance document was referenced in a corrective action plan for one of the state's federal facilities sites.
January 2012 – The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Director of Waste encouraged staff to participate on ITRC project teams. The endorsement from the upper management within Virginia DEQ shows great support for ITRC and hopefully leads to additional ITRC participation from Virginia DEQ staff.
January 2012 – A geology organization in Tennessee asked if ITRC courses can be used for continuing education credits for their professional development. The Tennessee ITRC Point of Contact provided the organization with ITRC training certifications and approval and the organization is now using ITRC training courses for professional development credits.
December 2011 – ITRC staffed an exhibit booth at the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP) conference in Washington, DC the week of November 27, 2011. ITRC reported that there was a lot of traffic at the ITRC booth and many folks—including several members from the U.S. Air Force—were interested to learn more about ITRC documents and training courses. ITRC received a lot of exposure and encouraged participants to share their experiences with ITRC products.
December 2011 – The number of New York State Department of Environmental Control (NYS DEC) staff enrolled in the December 7th ITRC Biofuels internet-based training course was unprecedented. A total of 46 NYS DEC staff enrolled for the training across the state. Feedback regarding the training course has been extremely positive.
December 2011 – Colorado is using the ITRC small arms firing range guidance documents — ITRC Characterization and Remediation of Soils at Closed Small Arms Firing Ranges (January 2003) and ITRC Environmental Management at Operating Outdoor Small Arms Firing Ranges (February 2005)—to update its policies. There are many firing ranges throughout the state.
December 2011 – During a Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Waste Division staff meeting, employees were told to make a list of training they would like to attend or will attend for professional development in 2012. The Waste Division Director suggested looking at the scheduled DEQ courses and also mentioned that the staff should go to the ITRC website to check on upcoming courses. This was the first time that DEQ staff were encouraged to use ITRC courses when planning their professional development.
November 2011 – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a new guidance, "Brownfields and Urban Agriculture: Interim Guidelines for Safe Gardening Practices", in the summer of 2011. Within the section on managing risks, there is a text box that discusses the use of phytoremediation. The document references ITRC's Phytotechnology Technical and Regulatory Guidance Decision Trees, Revised (February 2009) along with a link to the ITRC website.
November 2011 – Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality received a Remedy Alternative Evaluation Report for a site that discussed in situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) as a remedy. The report referenced the ITRC ISCO of Soil and Groundwater (2005) guidance document.
October 2011 – Wyoming co-hosted the Vapor Intrusion Classroom Training with Colorado in Denver, Colorado on October 3-4, 2011. Over 75 participants attended the training and all of the feedback provided was positive. Colorado presented a case study so the attendees could see how the technologies and screening levels were used in a practical setting.
October 2011 – The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) published an article about ITRC in its internal newsletter. The article provides a history of ITRC in the state and discusses the collaboration of cleanup remedies. This article will help bring additional recognition to ITRC in California and serve as an idea for other states to publish ITRC informational articles in their internal newsletters.
October 2011 – Maryland issued its first ITRC concurrence letter. The Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) anticipates that several of its remediation projects will use permeable reactive barrier (PRB) technology in the near future. One of the projects includes chlorinated solvents making their way into a nearby waterway. MDE wanted to ensure that they had PRB guidelines in place, so they reviewed and endorsed the ITRC Permeable Reactive Barrier: Technology Update (June 2011) guidance document and issued a concurrence letter.
September 2011 – The U.S. Air Force is using the ITRC Integrated DNAPLs Site Strategy (IDSS) (November 2011) document to close out every site under its performance-based contract. The U.S. Air Force is expected to save time and money from the use of the ITRC IDSS document through its site closure process.
September 2011 – Colorado is involved in a groundwater treatment project at a Department of Defense facility. The remediation team reviewed the ITRC Use and Measurement of Mass Flux and Mass Discharge (August 2010) guidance document and used techniques from the document to address the remediation.