ITRC Petroleum Hydrocarbon Workshop

Since 2014, the Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council (ITRC) has published three technical guidance documents to address hydrocarbon-impacted sites:

• Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (LNAPL): “LNAPL Site Management: LCSM Evolution, Decision Process and Remedial Technologies.”
• Petroleum Vapor Intrusion (PVI): “Fundamentals of Screening, Investigation and Management.”
• Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) Risk Evaluation: “TPH Risk Evaluation at Petroleum-Contaminated Sites.”

In 2021 and 2022, the ITRC Hydrocarbons team created a workshop, “Effective Application of Guidance Documents to Hydrocarbon Sites”, to help practitioners avoid the inefficiencies that occur when these documents are not used concurrently. Common data gaps include:

• Unnecessary field mobilizations.

• Delays in characterizing risks.

• An inaccurate conceptual site model (CSM).

• Delayed or inaccurate remedial decisions.

This new four-hour workshop provides a high-level review of concepts presented in the ITRC documents and a guided tour of each one’s contents. Then, one of five exercise scenarios are presented for the class to work on in small breakout teams. The teams are encouraged to avoid data gaps by using all three documents holistically and comprehensively. Each exercise requires teams to report their conclusions to the group and discuss alternative approaches and best practices for site assessment.

So far, this workshop has been presented at the September 2022 National Tanks Conference and at the October 2022 AEHS-East Coast conference. Each workshop session had 20-30 participants and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Several states have inquired about offering these training sessions for their staff.

ITRC trainers continue to improve the class offerings and materials. The ITRC Hydrocarbon Training is flexible in format and can be offered either virtually or in-person, on request. While the team finalizes its website, you can learn more by emailing itrc@itrcweb.org. We hope to see you soon!