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| At the Peconic River Remedial Alternatives Workshop, George Proios (right), of the Suffolk County Executive's office, talks with Kenneth Wittle, Vice President of Electro-Petroleum, Inc. Proios was among the more than 100 workshop attendees. |
In December, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) hosted a two-day workshop to explore sediment remediation technologies for potential use in cleaning up on-site portions of the Peconic River.
The workshop was held in response to community requests that technologies be further evaluated before a final sediment cleanup strategy is selected. More than 100 community members, regulators, BNL and DOE representatives, and others attended the highly publicized workshop. Its primary focus was to investigate the viability of cutting-edge sediment remediation technologies. It also provided a unique opportunity for participants and the Lab's project team to expand their knowledge about and share information on sediment remediation alternatives.
"Input from the community continues to be a key factor in the Peconic River cleanup project," said Frank Crescenzo, deputy manager of the Department's Brookhaven Group. "Ideally, such information exchanges will lead to greater consensus among the community, regulatory agencies, and the Department regarding the best way of cleaning up the river sediments."
Community contributed to workshop planning
In preparing for the workshop, the Laboratory embarked on a nationwide search for companies offering innovative sediment cleanup technologies. A diverse committee, which included community members previously involved with the project, was formed to examine the 40-plus submissions. Following that review, 16 companies were contacted to attend the workshop and present detailed information about their technologies.
Companies not offered speaking slots were invited to participate in a poster session held on the first evening of the workshop. This assured them an opportunity to present their information to attendees as well. The project team members also met individually with company representatives following the workshop to obtain greater detail about each company's capabilities.
Process to continue
The committee met again on January 18 to recap and comment on the technologies discussed during the workshop. The committee and the Lab identified technologies that show potential, which will be investigated in greater depth.
Roundtable meetings, planned for the spring of 2001, will allow the community to examine the investigation results and further discuss sediment remediation options. Input from these roundtables will be considered during the development of a river cleanup proposal. The Department plans to release a proposed cleanup plan for the Peconic River in early summer, 2001.
More information on the workshop is available online at http://web.ead.anl.gov/TechCon/projects/peconic/index.cfm.