Work Group Updates

SRRTTF has several work groups, or subcommittees, looking at many of the different issues surrounding its mission. Here are summaries of the work group work as of Winter 2019.

Fish Sampling Work Group
The goal of the Fish Sampling work group is to design and oversee implementation of a multi-faceted study (data/models) that will further our understanding of what is causing the PCB concentrations in fish that we are observing in the Spokane river, including identifying bioaccumulation and exposure pathways to fish in the Spokane River. The work group would like to determine the source(s) and avenues of exposure to focus future efforts on controls that will likely lead to a reduction in concentrations of PCBs in fish tissue.
Work also includes designing a monitoring plan that can demonstrate reduction of PCBs in fish tissue, beginning with providing adequate baseline data to detect measurable changes along with identifying additional information needed to provided answers on causes and pathways for PCB concentrations in fish to improve study conclusions. Data collection efforts are coordinated with Washington State Department of Ecology’s Environmental Assessment Program (EAP).

TSCA Work Group (Toxics Substance Control Act)
The Spokane River Regional Toxics Task Force (SRRTTF) Toxics Substance Control Act (TSCA) Workgroup seeks to find technical, legal and regulatory solutions to the federally allowable inadvertent generation of PCBs in consumer products that can be 38 billion times greater than WA State’s water quality standard. The PCBs in these consumer products such as can be found in inks, paints, pigments, dyes, personal care products and clothing can find their way to the Spokane River through municipal and industrial treatment plant discharges, stormwater and ambient deposition.

The TSCA work group has been successful in finding lower PCB alternatives to typical chlorinated chemical processes that produce these inadvertently generated PCBs. In 2018, the WA Department of Transportation adopted a procurement specification that excludes the use of known PCB containing yellow road paint processes. Municipalities with a nexus to the Spokane River also followed suit in adopting similar ordinances.

Members of the TSCA workgroup have been working with manufacturers of packaging and printing materials to lower the threshold for PCB in their products below the federal allowance of 50 parts per million (ppm). In 2018 both Hewlett Packard (HP) and Apple adopted specifications that lowers the threshold for allowable PCBs in their products to less than 0.1 ppm.

PCBs in Building Demolition and Renovation Work Group
Fixed building sources have been identified as one of the largest source areas of PCBs in the Spokane watershed. Building demolition and renovation activities provide the potential to mobilize these fixed PCBs, making them more amenable to transport to the Spokane River. This Control Action consists of providing educational materials that inform contractors of proper methods of management of PCB‐containing materials and waste during building demolition and renovation.

Worker Training: proper identification, handling and disposal of PCB-contaminated materials
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): protection of human health and limit the spread of
contaminated materials
Work Area Containment: prevention of the spread of contaminated dust
Tools and Equipment: selection of appropriate tools that minimize dust generation
Demolition: includes dust management, discharge of wastewater, and removal of other hazardous
materials
Site Erosion and Sediment Controls
Work Area Housekeeping and End of Project
Transport and Disposal

The specific actions to be implemented by the Task Force relative to Building Demolition and Renovation Control are:
1. Adapt available documents addressing PCB’s in building demolition and renovation activities to make it suitable for use as a guidance document for Spokane-area building contractors.
2. Work with relevant local government agencies responsible for permitting to ensure that the
guidance document be distributed as part of all building permits related to building demolition
and renovation.

*Spokane County staff assessing PCB data from points along the County sewer collection system.*

Data Management Work Group
The Data Management Work Group focuses on the collection, storage, and distribution of PCB data related to the Spokane River Watershed. The group is currently working with the consulting firm CDM Smith on a custom Microsoft Access database that will allow the uniform storage of PCB data and include reporting functions that will facilitate use of the data for analysis.

PMF Work Group (Positive Matrix Factorization)
The Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) Workgroup is working with Dr. Lisa Rodenburg, Rutgers University, to conduct a PMF analysis of Method 1668C PCB data collected for the Spokane River Watershed. PMF analysis is a mathematical source apportionment model that allows the identification of the components that comprise a mixture. In the application of this tool to the Spokane River, the PCB data that the SRRTTF has collected from the Spokane River represent a mixture of individual PCBs sources and the PMF analysis will be used to characterize those sources.

Groundwater PCB Upgradient of Kaiser
The purpose of the Groundwater PCB Upgradient of Kaiser work group is to conduct on-site reconnaissance of existing monitoring well locations in the Kaiser Trentwood facility area and look at other potential sources to determine groundwater PCB loading inputs to the Spokane River. Work includes compiling all available data on Kaiser’s five upgradient monitoring wells and available data on any groundwater locations (monitoring/production) in the associated river reach, validate Kaiser’s on-site groundwater PCB data (EPA Method 1668), and provide input to two technical memoranda: 1) Evaluating the usability of groundwater data collected for determining PCB flux rate to the river and 2) Evaluating the efficacy of other potential PCB flux rate determination methods, if appropriate. The two memoranda are being proposed for acceptance by the full Task Force at the October 2018 meeting.

The work group will continue to work on developing a recommendation in consultation with LimnoTech, the Task Force’s technical consultant, on next steps for identifying/quantifying groundwater loading into the Barker Road to Plantes Ferry reach of the Spokane River.

Mass Balance Work Group
The purpose of the PCB Mass Balance Work Group is to oversee the preparation of a sampling plan for low flow river conditions from Plantes Ferry to Nine Mile that identifies locations and sampling frequency, work with Washington State Department of Ecology’s Environmental Assessment Program (EAP) and LimnoTech, the Task Force’s technical consultant to implement the sampling plan and prepare PCB mass balances for each sampled river segment. Data collection occurred in August 2018 and the samples are currently being analyzed. The next step is to prepare a PCB mass balance report for acceptance by Task Force in early 2019.