Transcript Eco-risk in Sediments: Status in Oregon

Eco-risk, Focused on
Sediments:
Status in Oregon
Joan P. Snyder
Stoel Rives LLP
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Topics to Be Addressed:
• Existing DEQ Guidance—Sediment
Screening Level Values
• DEQ initiatives
– Informal Stakeholder Discussions
– DEQ Clearinghouse on Eco-risk issues
– Draft Guidance for Evaluation of Sediments at
State Cleanup Sites
– Draft Portland Harbor Joint (DEQ/EPA) Source
Control Strategy
– DEQ participation in RSET process
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Existing DEQ Guidance
• DEQ Guidance for Ecological Risk
Assessment--Level II Screening Level
Values for Freshwater and Marine
Sediment (Dec. 2001)
– Not promulgated as rule
– No stakeholder input
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DEQ Guidance for Ecological Risk Assessment --Level II
Screening Level Values Freshwater and Marine Sediment
• Are way conservative
• Are based on numbers developed as screening
values
– A few based on probable effects levels (Upper Effects
Thresholds (UETs) from NOAA Screening Quick
Reference Tables (SQuiRTs))
– Many based on threshold effects levels (NOAA
Threshold Effects Levels (TELs) or lowest ARCs H.
azteca TELs; Threshold Effects Concentrations (TEC)
from MacDonald & Ingersoll 1996; Lowest Apparent
Effects Thresholds (LAETs) from Washington
Department of Ecology)
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DEQ Guidance for Ecological Risk Assessment --Level II
Screening Level Values Freshwater and Marine Sediment
– Bioaccumulation screening values based
on calculations using Oak Ridge National
Labs formula for bioaccumulation to mink
and great blue heron, based on series of
conservative assumptions
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DEQ Guidance for Ecological Risk Assessment --Level II
Screening Level Values Freshwater and Marine Sediment
• Examples of conservatism
– Zinc bioaccumulation SLV = 3 ppm
• Zinc 90th % soil background, Clark County,=96 ppm
– Bioaccumulation values given for substances not
normally considered bioaccumulative—e.g.
selenium, thallium, carbon tetrachloride, ethanol,
methanol, methylethyl ketone
– Some SLVs significantly lower than routinely
available laboratory detection limits (e.g. individual
PCB Aroclors)
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DEQ Guidance for Ecological Risk Assessment-- Level II
Screening Level Values Freshwater and Marine Sediment
• Summary
– Screening tool that usually won’t screen much
out
– NOT cleanup levels
– Could be of value if you have limited
Chemicals of Interest at your site, and if DEQ
lets you focus only on your COIs (which it
should)
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DEQ Initiatives--Informal DEQ/Stakeholder
Discussion Issues (July 2003-Jan. 2005)
– Absence of clear management objectives in the eco-risk
process, and need for DEQ Project Managers/Risk
Assessors to use professional judgment along the way
to narrow the assessment
– Identifying and focusing on ecologically important
assessment endpoints and representative receptors
– Working within regulatory definition of Local Population
and Acceptable Risk Level for ecological receptors
– Taking natural and anthropogenic background into
account earlier in assessment process
– Taking into account likely or possible remedial actions
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DEQ Initiatives—Re-institution of DEQ
Internal Clearinghouse Workgroup
• Developed out of informal stakeholder
discussions
• Initially intended to reach DEQ consensus on
important eco-risk policy issues
• Current focus is on site-specific eco-risk
issues
– Unclear whether Responsible Parties will have
chance to make presentation to Clearinghouse
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DEQ Initiatives--Draft Guidance for Evaluation
of Sediments at State Cleanup Sites
• External Review Draft published July 31,
2002; revised outline provided Sept. 9,
2003; put on hold Jan. 2004
– Overall
• Acceptance of “Lines of Evidence” approach
– Sediment chemistry
– Sediment toxicity
– Benthic invertebrate community ecology
and
– Bioaccumulation
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DEQ Initiatives--Draft Guidance for Evaluation
of Sediments at State Cleanup Sites
• Level I Scoping
• Development of Conceptual Site Model
• Decision question: is there a possibility of direct or
indirect exposure
– Level II Screening—draft proposals
• For benthic toxicity—fail if exceed Mean Sediment
Guideline Quotient (of PECs) of 0.5
• For bioaccumulating substances—fail if exceed lowest
commercially available practical quantitation limit (PQL)
• For Human health—fail if exceed Region 9 Preliminary
Remediation goals (PRGs) for industrial soil
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DEQ Initiatives--Draft Guidance for Evaluation
of Sediments at State Cleanup Sites
– Level III Site-specific baseline risk assessment
• Benthic Community evaluation
– Bioassays
– Benthic ecology evaluation
• Bioaccumulation Evaluation
– Bioaccumulation bioassays
• Site Specific Risk Assessment
– Eco-receptors
– Human health (direct exposure, indirect (consumption))
• Summary: $$$$$$$$
– And, if you need statistical significance:
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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DEQ Initiatives--Draft Guidance for Evaluation
of Sediments at State Cleanup Sites
• Over 300 individual comments received on
initial draft from more than 15 commenters
• Sediment Evaluation Guidance Advisory
Panel (SEG-TAP) formed in 2003
– Met May 2003, Nov. 2003, July 2004
(conf. Call)
– On hold
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DEQ Initiatives--Draft Portland Harbor Joint
(DEQ/EPA) Source Control Strategy
• DEQ still in discussions with EPA attempting
to finalize this document
• DEQ has provided draft Joint Source Control
Strategy Sediment Screening Values for
Portland Harbor
– Toxicity Screens based primarily on
MacDonald & Ingersoll PECs (better than
TECs in Level II SLVs)
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Draft Portland Harbor Joint (DEQ/EPA)
Source Control Strategy
• Unclear what result will be based on
exceedance of PEC
– DEQ “preference for response action in lieu of, or
in addition to, further evaluation”
– Could be benthic toxicity testing or other
assessment
• Approach in Portland Harbor should be
refined after Portland Harbor baseline risk
assessment concluded, particularly
evaluation of correlation between benthic
toxicity and chemistry
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Draft Portland Harbor Joint (DEQ/EPA)
Source Control Strategy
• Bioaccumulation screens based on Level II
SLVs (based on ORNL formula) for
(tentatively)
–
–
–
–
–
–
Chlorinated pesticides
PCBs
PAHs
PCDD/PCDFs
Mercury
TBT
• DEQ preference for response action
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DEQ Initiatives--DEQ Participation in
RSET Process
• Regional Sediment Evaluation Team (RSET):
Army Corps, DEQ, DOE, EPA, Idaho DEQ,
NOAA, USFWS, Tribes
• Next meeting of RSET April 6-7, 2005,
Tumwater, Washington (all invited)
• Goal--Draft revisions to Dredged Material
Evaluation Framework by end of year
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Tips/Thoughts
• Stay focused on your site’s COIs and a
realistic CSM
• Remember that Screening Values are
screening values
– DEQ wants to jump from screening to
remedial action
– DEQ’s Lever—cost of assessment
• Bioaccumulation—is it in fish tissue?
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Tips/Thoughts (cont.)
• Distinguish between DEQ’s reluctance to
determine “No Further Evaluation is
necessary” and their ability, as a project
management tool, to prioritize
• Push back/invite dialogue—DEQ knows these
issues need work
• If you have sediment issues, watch RSET
process
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