Coordinating with Tribes at Federal Facilities is a two-hour webinar course that will provide an overview of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) policy on consultation and coordination with Indian Tribes at federal facilities. This webinar will also provide tips on how to work more collaboratively during this process. By taking this course, participants will achieve the following objectives:Identify EPA processes and policies for interacting with the Tribes;Understand the roles of EPA and tribal governments in Federal Facility clean ups;Learn about the Federal Facilities Restoration and Reuse Office (FFRRO); and,Discover EPA resources and tools available to assist Federal Facilities in building partnerships with the Tribes;The instructional methodology for this course includes lecture, group discussions, and case studies. The target audience for this course is federal, state, and tribal representatives who work on Federal Facility cleanups. Ideally, students should have a basic understanding of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) process. This course is part of the Federal Facilities Academy training program. Please consider registering for other Federal Facility Academy courses and obtain a certificate upon completion of the entire Federal Facility Academy series (12 courses total). To view this archive online or download the slides associated with this seminar, please visit http://www.clu-in.org/conf/tio/FFAcademy10_121224/

Petroleum is a complex mixture of many compounds. Regulatory and technical guidance documents commonly focus on the hydrocarbon components of that mixture, or perceived risks that they present. However, focusing on a specific area of concern often causes practitioners to overlook other aspects of a release. For example, concerns related to exposure to total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) risks may be overlooked while pursuing concerns related to light non-aqueous phase liquid (LNAPL) recovery or petroleum vapor intrusion (PVI).

This class is designed to provide a basic overview of hydrocarbon behavior in the subsurface and how to scientifically assess concerns arising from the release of petroleum products into the environment. It will highlight key issues that help identify and manage TPH, LNAPL, and PVI risks together. Key concepts will include: Fundamentals of petroleum hydrocarbonsPetroleum chemistryHow TPH, LNAPL, and PVI are relatedBuilding an integrated conceptual site model (CSM) What is a CSM…what is its purpose?When is a CSM complete?Identifying and managing the risks from petroleum hydrocarbonsDefining LNAPL risks based on acute, saturation, composition, or aesthetic concernsEmphasize the importance of biodegradation in risk management decision makingHow to select remedial goals and remedies that align with your goals

This course is based upon three separate Guidance Documents developed by ITRC that address the course content in detail:Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (LNAPL), LNAPL Site Management: LCSM Evolution, Decision Process, and Remedial Technologies (LNAPL-3) Petroleum Vapor Intrusion (PVI), Fundamentals of Screening, Investigation, and Management (PVI-1) Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH), TPH Risk Evaluation at Petroleum-Contaminated Sites (TPHRisk-1) To view this archive online or download the slides associated with this seminar, please visit http://www.clu-in.org/conf/itrc/Hydrocarbons_120524/

Tracking Restoration And Closure (TRAC) is a web-based application that combines infographics, annual statistics, and historical facts to clearly communicate the current status of groundwater contamination cleanup efforts at Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (DOE-EM) sites across the nation.  TRAC is a tool to share information about and provide transparency into environmental remediation progress at these cleanup sites.  With TRAC, users can explore robust and consistent geospatial visualization of contaminants of concern above the regulatory cleanup concentrations at three levels of detail:  EM complex, EM site, and waste management unit.  Each level includes narrative information on key topics, such as cleanup challenges/priorities and technology approaches, and metrics about contaminant plumes, regulatory context/status, and remedy technologies/implementation status. To view this archive online or download the slides associated with this seminar, please visit http://www.clu-in.org/conf/tio/FRTR-TRAC_120424/

The NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) is hosting a Risk e-Learning webinar series focused on using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to advance environmental health research. The series will feature SRP-funded researchers, collaborators, and other subject-matter experts who aim to better understand and address environmental health issues by applying AI and machine learning approaches to complex issues.

Recent advances in AI and machine learning methods show promise to improve the accuracy and efficiency of environmental health research. Over the course of three sessions, presenters will discuss how they use AI and machine learning approaches to improve chemical analysis, characterize chemical risk, understand microbial ecosystems, develop technologies for contaminant removal, and more.

In the third and final session, ML & AI Applications to Understand Omics, Metabolomics, & Immunotoxicity and Optimize Bioengineering Using Datasets, Models, and Mass Spectrometry, speakers will discuss how they apply machine learning and artificial intelligence tools to analyze mass spectrometry and microscopy data and optimize models for understanding metabolomics, metabolite pathways, and immunotoxicology

To learn about and register for the other sessions in this webinar series, please see the SRP website.

Grace Peng, Ph.D., is a co-coordinator of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund's Bridge to Artificial Intelligence (Bridge2AI) program, bridging the gap between the biomedical, behavioral and bioethics research communities and the data science/AI communities through a consortium of diverse experts to set the stage for widespread adoption of AI/ML in medicine. Dr. Peng will give an overview of the Bridge2AI program and introduce one of their projects at the University of California San Diego — Trey Ideker, Ph.D. Dr. Ideker will discuss the cell maps for AI (CM4AI) functional genomics project, one of four major data generation projects under the Bridge2AI program. The goal of the project is to provide a comprehensive map of human cellular components through generation of major spatial proteomics datasets.

John Efromson, M.S., will present on Ramona Optic, Inc.'s Multi-Camera Array Microscope [MCAM(TM)], which is used to automate imaging and computer vision analysis of zebrafish and greatly improves previous throughput and analysis capabilities. Multiple applications of machine learning will be discussed, including behavioral pose estimation and phenotyping, morphological analysis, and cell counting and fluorescence quantification, as well as how these distinct analyses can be used together for pharmacology, toxicology, and neuroscience research.

Speakers:Grace C.Y. Peng, Ph.D., Division of Discovery Science and Technology (Bioengineering), National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and Trey Ideker, Ph.D., University of California San DiegoJohn Efromson, M.S., Ramona OpticsForest White, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)Moderator: Hunter Moseley, Ph.D., University of Kentucky To view this archive online or download the slides associated with this seminar, please visit http://www.clu-in.org/conf/tio/SRP-ML-AI3_112224/

In 2023, ITRC published the Sediment Cap Chemical Isolation Guidance to supplement the 2014 Contaminated Sediments Remediation Guidance with the goal of improving consistency in sediment cap performance outcomes. Sediment capping is a commonly selected remediation approach and numerous designs have been completed. Previous cap designs have been evaluated in multiple ways, and these varying approaches have led to some differences in selection of chemical design criteria, construction tolerance specifications, and monitoring/maintenance objectives for sites with similar characteristics and contaminants, leading to different expectations for long-term performance and reliability.

The ITRC Sediment Cap Chemical Isolation Guidance provides a framework for the design, construction, and long-term monitoring of the chemical isolation function of sediment caps. The framework consists of an iterative design process informed by site-specific data that balances achievement of chemical design criteria, physical design constraints, constructability and permitting requirements. In addition, the guidance summarizes key construction considerations and presents a recommended approach for monitoring and evaluating long-term chemical isolation performance. The recommended framework presented in the Sediment Cap Chemical Isolation Guidance is illustrated below.

The Sediment Cap Chemical Isolation Training will cover several key elements of the recommended framework, including:

A capping overview that summarizes objectives of capping, role of the chemical isolation layer, and generic cap types and compositions. A discussion of performance objectives and design concepts that includes the selection of chemical isolation performance targets criteria and development of design criteria while considering the site setting and conceptual site model elements. An overview of chemical isolation layer modeling tools and discussion of their applicability to support chemical isolation design, important model input parameters, and the impact of uncertainty and sensitivity of modeling results. A summary of chemical isolation construction considerations, including an overview of available construction methods and tolerances and quality assurance and quality control measures. A discussion of cap performance monitoring and maintenance objectives and approaches that include developing monitoring objectives to assess chemical isolation performance and methods for guiding long-term maintenance decisions.

We encourage participants to review the ITRC Sediment Cap Chemical Isolation Guidance (SD-1) before and after the training to become familiar with the topics and recommendations discussed during the training. This training is intended for all environmental professionals working in the field of sediment capping projects, including regulators and other government agency staff, consultants, project stakeholders, and industry. To view this archive online or download the slides associated with this seminar, please visit http://www.clu-in.org/conf/itrc/sd-1_112124/

The NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) is hosting a Risk e-Learning webinar series focused on using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to advance environmental health research. The series will feature SRP-funded researchers, collaborators, and other subject-matter experts who aim to better understand and address environmental health issues by applying AI and machine learning approaches to complex issues.

Recent advances in AI and machine learning methods show promise to improve the accuracy and efficiency of environmental health research. Over the course of three sessions, presenters will discuss how they use AI and machine learning approaches to improve chemical analysis, characterize chemical risk, understand microbial ecosystems, develop technologies for contaminant removal, and more.

In the second session ML & AI Applications to Environmental Engineering Contaminants & Bioremediation, invited presenters will discuss how they apply machine learning and artificial intelligence to environmental engineering applications including contaminants and bioremediation using biosensors, microbiome compositions, and screening tools.

To learn about and register for the other sessions in this webinar series, please see the SRP website.

Kei-Hoi Cheung, Ph.D., has an extensive history in data science, and has leveraged that expertise to lead natural language processing (NLP) projects in annotating, extracting, and retrieving environmental exposure data. He will present on the use of these NLP methods combined with ontologies in the in the context of scientific literature on emerging water contaminants.

Mohammad Soheilypour, Ph.D., will discuss the application of a suite of computational methods to identify and predict microbial metabolism of various chemical compounds, with a focus on gut and environmental microbiomes. Specifically, he will cover the potential application of machine learning models in this context and their integration with other computational methods to enhance both accuracy and utility.

Paul Westerhoff, Ph.D., will highlight the work of his research team utilizing and comparing two advanced multiple data imputation techniques, AMELIA and MICE algorithms, to fill gaps in sparse groundwater quality datasets to support State agencies in prioritizing future sampling activities. Historic water quality databases are often sparse due to financial budgets for collection and analysis, posing challenges in evaluating exposure or water treatment effectiveness — and this project aims to account for those by accurately assessing and managing risks associated with inorganic pollutants using this technology.

Speakers:Kei-Hoi Cheung, Ph.D., Yale University School of MedicineMohammad Soheilypour, Ph.D., Nexilico Inc.Paul Westerhoff, Ph.D., Arizona State UniversityModerator: Rodrigo Rimando, U.S. Department of Energy To view this archive online or download the slides associated with this seminar, please visit http://www.clu-in.org/conf/tio/SRP-ML-AI2_112024/

Groundwater Policy and Federal Facilities Overview is a two-hour webinar course that provides an overview of U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) groundwater policies and guidance with emphasis on cleanups at federal facilities. By taking this course, participants will achieve the following objectives:Identify EPA groundwater policies;Understand groundwater classification and beneficial use in restoration objectives;Understand nature and extent considerations from groundwater contaminant plumes;Explore applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs) commonly associated with groundwater remedies;Identify groundwater considerations for monitored natural attenuation (MNA), institutional controls, and technical impracticability waivers; and,Discover information on major groundwater policies from other federal agencies, such as Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Energy (DoE).The instructional methodology for this course includes lecture and quizzes. The target audience for this course is federal, state, and tribal representatives who work on Federal Facility cleanups. Ideally, students should have a basic understanding the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). This course is part of the Federal Facilities Academy training program. Please consider registering for other Federal Facility Academy courses and obtain a certificate upon completion of the entire Federal Facility Academy series (12 courses total). To view this archive online or download the slides associated with this seminar, please visit http://www.clu-in.org/conf/tio/FFAcademy7_111324/

In response to one of the biggest emerging environmental concerns, ITRC formed the Microplastics Team in 2021 to develop the Microplastics Guidance Document. Plastics have become pervasive in modern life and are now used in a wide range of commercial and industrial applications. Microplastics may result from the degradation and fragmentation of larger plastics, or they may be intentionally produced for specific applications and products. Regardless of their origin, microplastics are now ubiquitous in our environment. Because of their small size and pervasiveness in the environment, microplastics, along with any other contaminants which are adhered to the microplastics, may be inadvertently consumed by humans and other organisms.

The online ITRC Guidance Document is geared toward an audience with reasonable level of scientific understanding, but not microplastic-specific knowledge. The guidance provides a user with information on microplastics and the state of the applied science without having to go to the scientific literature.

The target audience for the guidance and this training course includes state regulators and environmental consultants, as well as community and tribal stakeholders.

The guidance and this associated training course uses a conceptual site model to navigate microplastics in the environment and explore the following general areas:An introduction to microplastics, their sources, and worldwide distributionThe pathways through which microplastics can enter and travel in the environment and their distribution in various media (water, soil, sediment, air, and biota) A current look at the most common techniques and best practices for sampling and analyzing microplasticsPotential human health and ecological risks associated with microplastics in the environmentAn overview of existing regulations related to microplastics and macroplastics at the state, federal, and international levelsExamples of prevention and mitigation strategies and best management practices to reduce microplastics from entering the environment and the emerging technologies to abate, treat, and remediate microplastics once they exist in the environment Identification of data gaps and the need for further researchSeveral case studies illustrating a range of current microplastics-related topicsPrior to attending the training class, participants are encouraged to view the associated ITRC Microplastics Guidance Document. To view this archive online or download the slides associated with this seminar, please visit http://www.clu-in.org/conf/itrc/Microplastics_110724/

The NIEHS Superfund Research Program (SRP) is hosting a Risk e-Learning webinar series focused on using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to advance environmental health research. The series will feature SRP-funded researchers, collaborators, and other subject-matter experts who aim to better understand and address environmental health issues by applying AI and machine learning approaches to complex issues.

Recent advances in AI and machine learning methods show promise to improve the accuracy and efficiency of environmental health research. Over the course of three sessions, presenters will discuss how they use AI and machine learning approaches to improve chemical analysis, characterize chemical risk, understand microbial ecosystems, develop technologies for contaminant removal, and more.

In the first session, AI & ML Applications to Understand Chemical Mixtures, Properties, and Exposures and their Relationship to Human Health, speakers will discuss how they apply machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques to understand chemical exposures and their effects on human health.

To learn about and register for the other sessions in this webinar series, please see the SRP website.

Naomi Halas, Ph.D., and Ankit Patel, Ph.D., will share updates on their work combining surface-enhanced spectroscopies (Raman and Infrared Absorption) with machine learning algorithms with the goal of developing simple and ultimately low-cost methods for the detection and identification of environmental toxins. As part of their discussion, they will share several approaches, including the use of machine learning algorithms to detect individual constituents in complex mixtures and the use of facial recognition strategies to identify specific chemical toxins in human placenta.

Jacob Kvasnicka, Ph.D., will present on a project he supported while he was a postdoctoral researcher at Texas A&M University SRP Center's Risk and Geospatial Sciences Core. There, his work involved developing an ML framework for predicting safe exposure levels to chemicals to avoid cancerous and reproductive/developmental effects. Most chemicals lack toxicity data related to human health, and this study uses ML to fill this gap, greatly expanding the ability to characterize chemical risks and impacts.

Trey Saddler will give attendees an overview of ToxPipe — a platform for performing retrieval augmented generation (RAG) over toxicological data. Comprised of a web interface, agentic workflows, and connections to various data sources, ToxPipe enables toxicologists to explore diverse datasets and generate toxicological narratives for a wide range of compounds.

Speakers:Naomi Halas, Ph.D., and Ankit Patel, Ph.D., Rice UniversityJacob Kvasnicka, Ph.D., U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyTrey Saddler, NIEHS, Division of Translational ToxicologyModerator: David Reif, Ph.D., NIEHS, Division of Translational Toxicology To view this archive online or download the slides associated with this seminar, please visit http://www.clu-in.org/conf/tio/SRP-ML-AI1_110424/

The FRTR 2024 Fall General Meeting provides an opportunity to share the latest developments in PFAS source differentiation and identification techniques applied to site remediation, as well as an update on advances in human health and ecological risk assessment. The meeting will highlight site-specific case studies where source differentiation technologies helped in identifying sites requiring further investigation and remediation. Emerging contaminants and issues have presented new challenges for risk assessment of both ecological and human health concerns. Therefore, meeting presentations will focus on new technical approaches to conduct site-specific risk assessments for PFAS when toxicological data, enforceable standards and similar information are limited. To view this archive online or download the slides associated with this seminar, please visit http://www.clu-in.org/conf/tio/FRTRFall24_102924/