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

Emergency Removal
Phase I Environmental Site Assessment
Phase II Environmental Site Assessment
Remedial Investigation and Feasibility Study (RI/FS)

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 - 11 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:
   1. EPA RI/FS Guidance: EPA guidance on Remedial Investigations/Feasibility Studies & Treatability Studies & Costing (Off-Site)
      Contact:  David Wright (207) 287-2651
   2. ITRC Guidance:  Interstate Technical & Regulatory Council (ITRC) Guidance documents and education materials on site characterization and remedial technologies. (Off-Site Website)
      Contact:  Iver McLeod (207) 287-2651
      
   3. Maine DEP Sampling & Data Validation SOPs
      Contact:  Brian Beneski (207) 287-2651
   4. Low Flow Groundwater Sampling 6/96
   5. Vapor Intrusion Guidance: Investigation procedures to determine if contaminants have volatilized from contaminated soil or water into indoor air, & associated risk-based evaluation guidance.
      Contact:  Nick Hodgkins (207) 287-2651 or Pete Eremita (207) 822-6300
      • Vapor Intrusion Evaluation Guidance 1/14/2010 (pdf format)
      • Vapor Intrusion Evaluation Guidance Tables B1 through B10 1/14/2010 (MS Excel format) (pdf 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 format)
      • MEDEP Standard Operating Protocol for Collecting Soil Gas Samples 2/2/09 (pdf format)
      • MEDEP Standard Operating Protocol for Collecting Sub-Slab Soil Gas Samples 3/12/09 (pdf format)
      • Soil Gas Sample Collection Method Utilizing Hand Tools (pdf format)
      • Trial Guideline for Protecting Residents from Inhalation Exposure to Petroleum Vapors TRIAL PERIOD FINDINGS (pdf format) 1998

      Vapor Intrusion Study for Petroleum Sites, January 2012. Appendix A, individual site reports
      Typical Concentrations of Petroleum Compounds in Maine Residential Indoor Air, April 2012.

   6. 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 April 30, 2002
      
      
   7. 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:
   1. 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)
      • 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: Andrew Smith (207) 287-5189
      • New: Proposed Revisions: Maine DEP and CDC February 2011, Revised Guidance For Human Health Risk Assessments for Hazardous Substance Sites in Maine. Comment period closes April 10, 2013. Contact: David Wright (207) 287-2651
   2. Soil Remedial Action Guidelines (RAGs): Maine Remedial Action Guidelines (RAGs) for Soil Contaminated with Hazardous Substances: Updated January 13, 2010. These risk-based RAGs are consistent with the Maine Risk Assessment Manual in terms of protecting public health. They provide an alternative approach to the Maine Risk Assessment Manual for determining contaminant specific clean-up goals for soil contaminated with hazardous substances. It applies to sites that have been contaminated with hazardous substances or mixtures of petroleum and hazardous substances. These guidelines, effective January 13, 2010, supersede the Maine Remedial Action Guidelines of May 20, 1997:
      • Maine Remedial Action Guidelines (RAGs) for Soil Contaminated with Hazardous Substances: Narrative & Basis Statement (Appendix 4) (pdf format)
      • Appendix 1-3: Remedial Action Guidelines (MS Excel format) (pdf format)
        

      ** Proposed Revisions to the Remedial Action Guidelines - comments due April 10, 2013.

      • Proposed revisions to The Maine Remedial Action Guidelines (RAGs) for Sites Contaminated with Hazardous Substances (MS Word format)
      • Excel Workbook of proposed contaminant specific guidelines for soil, indoor air and groundwater
      • Draft Excel Risk Calculators for Soil
      • Draft Excel Risk Calculators for Indoor Air
      • Draft Excel Risk Calculators for residential groundwater and construction worker exposure to groundwater
      • Basis statements, The PAH & Metals Background Study, RAG comparison tables over time, revised RAG calculations, RAG text with revision marks, toxicity data and other background materials are all available on DEP's FTP site

   Contact: David Wright  (207) 287-2651.

   ** Proposed Revisions to Environmental Covenant Templates - comments due April 10, 2013. An "Environmental covenant" is a deed restriction on a parcel of land that meets Maine’s Uniform Environmental Covenant Act (“UECA”), 38 M.R.S.A.§ 3001 et seq.. Environmental covenants are often used as part of a remedy at a site that has been contaminated, but clean-up for unrestricted site use is not feasible. In order to protect public health, limits on land use are placed on the site, so that there will be less exposure of people to the contamination

   • Cover Memo Explaining Environmental Covenants and how to comment (pdf format)
   • Draft Environmental Covenant Template for the Voluntary Response Action Program (VRAP) (MS Word format)
   • Draft Environmental Covenant Template for the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) Program (MS Word format)
   • Draft Environmental Covenant Template for the Superfund or Uncontrolled Sites Program (MS Word format)
   • Draft Subordination Agreement Template for mortgage (MS Word format)
   • Draft Subordination Agreement Template for Easement (MS Word format)

   Contact: David Wright  (207) 287-2651.

   3. Oil Clean-up Guidelines:  Remediation Guidelines for Petroleum Contaminated Sites in Maine: Updated November 20, 2009 (Effective December 1, 2009) (PDF) - These risk-based guidelines apply to the investigation and clean-up of petroleum contaminated sites. These guidelines go into effect on December 1, superseding on January 1, 2010 the Department’s “Procedural Guidelines for Establishing and Implementing Action Levels and Remediation Goals for the Remediation of Oil Contaminated Soil and Ground Water in Maine” (December 5, 2008), which are based on gasoline  range organics (GRO) and diesel range organics (DRO). Both sets of guidelines were in effect for one month to allow for the transition to the Volatile Petroleum Hydrocarbons (VPH) and Extractible Petroleum Hydrocarbons (EPH) approach used in the new guidelines.
      Contact: George Seel - (207) 287-2651
      
   4. Approximating VPH & EPH from Historic GRO & DRO results: 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 April of 2010. This report presents correlations between diesel range organics (DRO) and gasoline range organics (GRO) to Extractible Petroleum Hydrocarbons (EPH) and Volatile Petroleum Hydrocarbons (VPH). These guidelines complement, and do not replace, the petroleum site clean-up guidelines (above), by in some cases allowing the use of DRO/GRO sample results with the EPH/VPH soil clean-up guidelines.
      Contact:  Nick Hodgkins (207) 287-2651
      
   5. Oil Discharge Notification: Notification of Environmental Evidence of an Oil Discharge. These interim guidelines provide guidance on the Department’s expectations for reporting evidence of petroleum contamination based on soil and ground water sampling and analytical results conducted in the course of environmental site assessments at underground and above ground oil storage facilities.
      Contact: George J. Seel (207) 287-2651.
      
   6. AAGs:  Ambient Air Guidelines - Maine Center for Disease
      Control’s Risk-based guidelines for ambient air.  (Off-Site Website).
      Contact: Andrew Smith (207) 287-5189.
      
   8. 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:
      1. EPA Guidance:  EPA’s overview of the RI/FS process and its detailed guidance.  (Off-Site Website)
         Contact:  David Wright (207) 287-2651
      2. ITRC Guidance:  Interstate Technical & Regulatory Council (ITRC) Guidance documents and education materials on site characterization and remedial technologies.  (Off-Site Website)
         Contact: Iver McLeod (207) 287-2651
      3. 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: David Wright (207) 287-2651
         
   9. Site Closure
      1. DEP Guidance: Guidance for Well and Boring Abandonment (pdf format) - the proper abandonment of monitoring wells that are no longer needed.
         Contact: Rob Peale (207) 287-7679 or 446-5417