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Remediation Program Guidance: Guidance for the Investigation and Clean-up of Contaminated Sites in Maine

Introduction

Many commercial and industrial processes can lead to the contamination of the environment with hazardous substances, including: painting operations; dry cleaning; solvent use & disposal; metal cleaning and fabrication; military operations; chemical storage, use & disposal; waste oil operations; papermaking; shoe making; tanning; auto repair; wood preserving and disposal of commercial or industrial wastes.  The following process is used in Maine to investigate and when necessary remediate hazardous substance sites.  The following basic steps are used in the Uncontrolled Sites Program, Brownfields Program, Voluntary Response Action Program, Superfund Program, and Federal Facilities Restoration Program.  See each of these programs for the process used to approve remediation and investigation activities.

1. Emergency Removal.  Determine if at the site there are levels of hazardous substances that have or are in imminent danger of being released that are explosive, corrosive, toxic or are otherwise immediately dangerous to public health or the environment.  If there are, immediately contact Response Services at: 
   
   To Report Oil Spills call (24 hours)
   800-482-0777
   
   To Report Hazardous Material Spills
   call (24 hours) 800-452-4664
   
   
2. Phase I Environmental Site Assessment.  Determine if there was a potential for the release of hazardous substances or petroleum at the site by interviewing knowledgeable people, facility documents, and documents at DEP and EPA.  In a Phase I Preliminary Assessment report, summarize this paper investigation and identify “recognized environmental conditions” (RECs) that need further investigation.    Phase I Preliminary Assessments should meet the standards in, “ASTM E1527 - 05 Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process”.  (Off-Site Website)
   Contact:  Nick Hodgkins (207) 287-4854 or 287-2651.
   
   
3. Phase II Environmental Site Assessment.  For all RECs, obtain site samples or otherwise determine if there has been a release at the site.  This may be done in an iterative manner, with initial data informing further investigation.  The Phase II environmental assessment should summarize the nature and extent of contamination, make recommendations for further action, and otherwise meet the standards in:  ASTM E1903 - 97(2002) Standard Guide for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase II Environmental Site Assessment Process. (Off-Site Website)
   Contact:  Nick Hodgkins (207) 287-4854 or 287-2651.
4. Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS).  Investigate the extent of contamination at the site, and risk to public health and the environment.  Then, determine the universe of options available for cleaning-up the contamination, and narrow these technologies down to the best option for the site.  Guidance Manuals for this stage of the process include:

   a. EPA RI/FS Guidance: EPA’s October 1998 Interim Final, Guidance for Conducting Remedial Investigations and Feasibility Studies Under CERCLA  is an overview of the iterative RI/FS process. (Off-Site Website)
   Contact:  Ted Wolfe (207) 287-2651

   b. TRC Guidance:  Interstate Technical & Regulatory Council (ITRC) Guidance documents and education materials on site characterization and remedial technologies.  (Off-Site Website)
   Contact:  Ted Wolfe (207) 287-2651
   

   c. Maine DEP Sampling & Data Validation SOPs
   Contact:  Brian Beneski (207) 287 – 2651

   Low Flow Groundwater Sampling 6/96
   

   d. Vapor Intrusion Guidance: Investigation procedures to determine if contaminants have volatilized from contaminated soil or water into indoor air.
   Contact:  Jean Firth (207) 287-2651 or Pete Eremita (207) 822-6300

   New: August 2009 drafts for Public Review:

   • August 5, 2009 Draft for Public Comment: Maine DEP Vapor Intrusion Evaluation Guidance -with appendices (pdf format)
   • Indoor Air Target Tables B1-B8 (MS Excel format)
   • Tables B9 and B10, for use in establishing Data Quality Objectives and evaluating results against “background”(MS Excel format).
   • Draft Indoor Air Sample Protocol of 8/2/09 with draft Indoor Air Sample Information Collection Form (MS Word format) (pdf format)
   • Draft Alternate soil gas sample point construction and sample method, utilizing thin diameter stainless steel tubing (pdf format)
   • Draft Indoor Air and Subslab field sampling checklist (pdf format) (MS Excel format)
   • Draft Soil Gas field sample checklist form 2a (PDF)

   e. Conceptual Site Models.  Once site history and data has been obtained, compile the information into a Conceptual Site Model.  ASTM defines a CSM as “a written or pictorial representation of an environmental system and the biological, physical and chemical processes that determine the transport of contaminants from sources through environmental media to environmental receptors within the system.” See ASTM E1689 - 95(2008) Standard Guide for Developing Conceptual Site Models for Contaminated Sites.  The conceptual site model will be refined as more information is gathered in the risk evaluation and feasibility study phases. 
   Contact: Nick Hodgkins (207) 287-4854 or 287-2651

   Historical Oil Contamination Travel Distances in Ground Water at Sensitive Geological Sites in Maine 4-30-2002

   f. Risk Evaluation & Clean-up Standards.  Determine the risk posed by a site, and the extent to which a site must be clean-up using the following guidance:

   i. Maine Risk Assessment Manual:  Maine DEP and CDC June 2009, Revised Guidance For Human Health Risk Assessments for Hazardous Substance Sites in Maine.  This comprehensive guidance provides Maine’s updated, iterative approach to determine the risk posed by a specific site, after obtaining samples to determine an exposure point concentration. (PDF Format)
   Contact:  Diane Silverman  (207) 287-3223

   • Figure 1 - Standard Default Exposure Pathways of Potential Concern for Maine Risk Assessments(1) (MS Excel format)
   • Table 1 - Standard Default Exposure Assumptions for Maine Risk Assessments - (MS Excel format)
   • PDF version of the Maine Risk Assessment Manual, including Fig 1 & Table 1.

   Contact: Diane Silverman (207) 287-3223

   ii. Maine Remedial Action Guidelines (MERAGs):  An abbreviated process for determining contaminant specific clean-up goals, or remedial action objectives, that will protect public health at a site.  The proposed new MERAGs are consistent with the Maine Risk Assessment Manual.  The following are available:

   Maine's Remedial Action Guidelines - guideline for Hazardous Substances in soil that may be used as cleanup levels for contaminated sites where theunderlying assumptions are appropriate. (Updated May 20, 1997) - (pdf format)

   Draft for Public Comment: Revised MERAGS Implementation Guideline & Appendices (MS Word) (pdf format)

   Draft for Public Comment: Revised MERAGS Appendices (MS Excel format)

   Contact: David Wright  (207) 287-2651.

   iii. Soil Standards for the protection of groundwater:  See the EPA Region 3 Risk-Based Concentrations (Off-site location)

   iv. MERAGs Basis Statement

   1. View the Technical Basis for Maine 's Remedial Action Guidelines  (pdf format)

   2. Revised Draft for Public Comment - The Technical Basis and Background for MERAGs (MERAGs Basis Statement) explains the science and policy decisions that Maine DEP used to develop the July 20, 2009 revision to the MERAGs. (MS Word) (PDF Format)
   Contact: David Wright  (207) 287-2651.
   MERAG Basis Tables - Data used to develop the draft MERAGS (MS Excel)
   

   v. Petroleum Decision Tree: Procedural Guidelines for Establishing and Implementing Action Levels and Remediation Goals for the Remediation of Oil Contaminated Soil and Groundwater in Maine (Effective January 1, 2009) - This guidance document outlines a decision tree approach using site specific geologic and human exposure related criteria to establish remediation goals for oil contaminated soil to protect groundwater.
   Contact: George Seel - (207) 287-2651

   New: August 14, 2009 Public Review Draft, Remediation Guidelines for Petroleum Contaminated Sites in Maine (pdf). This guidance document, when finalized, will replace the petroleum decision tree and contact and ingestion guidelines for clean-up of petroleum contaminated soil. Its purpose is to make oil remediation decisions on the basis of public health risks, define satisfactory oil clean up; and ensure consistency in the level of clean up while providing adequate flexibility for site specific conditions.

   vi. Petroleum Contact & Ingestion Guidelines:  Development of Risk-Based Cleanup levels for Petroleum Hydrocarbons, Interim Final, Prepared for the Maine Department of Environmental Protection by MACTEC Engineering and Consulting, Inc. in October of 2008. This report presents risk-based concentrations that may be used as cleanup levels for petroleum in soil that is reported as diesel range organics (DRO) or gasoline range organics (GRO). These clean-up levels pertain to incidental ingestion and dermal contact only. These guidelines complement, and do not replace, the D-Tree clean-up standards (above), which are protective of groundwater resources.
   Contact: Jean Firth – (207) 287-2651

   vii. MEGs:  Maximum Exposure Guidelines (MEG) –Maine Center for Disease Control’s Risk-based guidelines for drinking water  (Off-Site Website).
   Contact: Diane Silverman - (207) 287-2651.

   viii. MCLs:  Federal Drinking Water Standards and Health Advisories - National Primary Drinking Water Regulations for public water systems, including Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs).  (Off-Site Website).

   ix. AAGs:  Ambient Air Guidelines – Maine Center for Disease Control’s Risk-based guidelines for ambient air.  (Off-Site Website).
   Contact: Diane Silverman - (207) 287-2651.
   

g. Feasibility Studies:  After identifying remedial action objectives, the feasibility study identifies treatment technologies; screens the technologies based on effectiveness, implementability, and cost; and assembles the technologies into alternatives for the contaminated media at the site.  See:

i. EPA Guidance:  EPA’s overview of the RI/FS process and its detailed guidance.  (Off-Site Website)
Contact:  Ted Wolfe (207) 287-2651

ii. ITRC Guidance:  Interstate Technical & Regulatory Council (ITRC) Guidance documents and education materials on site characterization and remedial technologies.  (Off-Site Website)
Contact:  Ted Wolfe (207) 287-2651

iii. FRTR Treatment Technologies Screening Matrix: The Federal Remediation Technology Roundtable (FRTR) was established in 1991 as an interagency committee to exchange information and to provide a forum for joint action regarding the development and demonstration of innovative technologies for hazardous waste remediation.  The selection and use of innovative technologies to clean up hazardous waste sites is increasing rapidly, and new technologies are continuing to emerge. The FRTR plans to frequently update the FRTR website to help Remedial Project Managers keep pace with the ever-changing range of technologies available.   (Off-Site Website)
Contact: Ted Wolfe (207) 287-2651

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