UNITED
STATES
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION
AGENCY
WASHINGTON,
D.
C.
20460
OFFICE
OF
SOLID
WASTE
AND
EMERGENCY
RESPONSE
Signed
on
September
18,
2002
MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:
Cross­
Program
Ground
Water
Working
Group
FROM:
Michael
B.
Cook,
Director
MElizabeth
Southerlandfor
Office
of
Emergency
and
Remedial
Response
TO:
Addressees
Purpose
I
invite
your
office
to
participate
in
a
proposed
cross­
program
 
Ground
Water
Working
Group. 
This
group
will
identi@
and
discuss
ground
water
issues
of
importance
to
multiple
EPA
programs
and
develop
creative
options
for
dealing
with
the
issues.
This
work
is
a
high
priority
for
OSWER
Assistant
Administrator
Marianne
Horinko
and
an
important
component
of
the
One
Cleanup
Program
Initiative.

Issues
of
Interest
to
Cleanup
Programs
As
you
know,
State
and
Federal
resources
available
for
ground
water
protection
and
remediation
programs
are
limited.
Cleanup
actions
for
contaminated
ground
water
typically
involve
very
long
time
frames
after
remedy
construction
activities
have
been
completed.
As
a
result,
cleanup
programs
are
devoting
more
and
more
resources
to
post­
construction
oversight
of
ground
water
cleanup
actions.
As
demand
for
staff
and
funding
resources
continues
to
increase,
cleanup
programs
must
look
for
opportunities
to
focus
available
resources
where
they
will
do
the
most
good.

We
would
like
assistance
from
your
office
in
developing
creative
solutions
for
cleanup
activities
especially
those
concerning
contaminated
ground
water.
We
believe
the
following
issues
are
of
interest
for
EPA
cleanup
programs,
and
expect
other
issues
of
interest
will
be
identified
by
the
 
working
group :

­
What
are
the
best
ways
for
States
and
EPA
to
agree
on
which
ground
waters
are
high
priority
where
 
active 
cleanup
is
especially
important
(
e.
g.,
source
water
2
protection
areas),
or
low
priority
where
 
active 
cleanup
is
less
important
(
e.
g.,
management
zones);

­
What
criteria
should
be
used
to
determine
when
an
ongoing
cleanup
action
should
be
terminated,
either
because
cleanup
goals
have
been
attained
or
because
cleanup
goals
are
not
attainable
(
Le.,
technically
impracticable);
and
­
What
criteria
should
be
used
to
determine
that
new
or
different
cleanup
technologies
should
be
deployed
(
e.
g.,
aggressive
source
removal)
to
enhance
or
replace
an
ongoing
cleanup
action
that
is
ineffective
or
inefficient?

Mission
of
Working
Group
This
group
will
be
charged
with
developing
ideas
to
solve
issues
of
interest
to
multiple
EPA
programs.
As
our
cleanup
programs
mature,
we
recognize
the
need
to
develop
tools
to
more
effectively
and
efficiently
move
sites
forward
through
the
cleanup
process
to
completion.
Therefore,
I
envision
that
the
mission
of
this
group
will
be
to:

0
0
seek
ways
to
incorporate
the
latest
science,
better
utilize
innovative
technologies,
and
integrate
past
experience
in
setting
realistic
cleanup
objectives.

Work
products
of
this
group
may
include
policy
interpretations,
new
policies,
case
studies
to
test
new
policies,
fact
sheets,
training
seminars,
research
recommendations
and
other
cross
program
products.

OERR
Representatives
I
have
asked
Dana
Tulis,
Director
of
the
Analytical
OperationsBIata
Quality
Center,
to
be
the
management
representative
fiom
OERR.
Ken
Lovelace,
leader
of
the
OEM
Ground
Water
Team,
will
be
OERR s
staff
representative.
I
propose
that
Dana
chair
the
kick­
off
meeting
and
serve
as
initial
chair
of
the
 
Ground
Water
Working
Group, 
with
support
and
assistance
fiom
Ken
Lovelace.
I
also
encourage
that
the
chair
rotate
among
OSWER
program
offices
or
as
otherwise
decided
by
the
group.

Initial
Meeting
My
office
will
be
scheduling
a
meeting
shortly
to
further
discuss
this
proposal
and
to
initiate
this
working
group.
Please
discuss
this
proposal
with
your
key
managers
and
staff,
and
be
prepared
to
send
at
least
one
representative
to
this
meeting
to
discuss
the
level
of
interest
and
degree
of
participation
by
your
office.
Since
we
are
looking
for
participants
to
bring
experience
and
insight
to
the
group,
I
suggest
your
oflice
be
represented
at
the
Branch
Chief
or
Senior
Staff
level.
0
3
Please
respond
by
October
4,2002
regarding
your
office's
interest
in
participating
in
the
working
group.
You
may
send
the
name(
s)
of
your
representatives
directly
to
Ken
Lovelace.
I
have
asked
Ken
to
work
with
your
representatives
in
setting
up
an
initial
meeting.

If
you
have
any
further
questions
regarding
the
formation
of
this
Task
Force,
you
may
call
Dana
Tulis
at
(
703)
603­
8993
or
Ken
Lovelace
at
(
703)
603­
8787.

Addressees:

James
Woolford,
FFRRO/
OSWER
(
5106G)
Robert
Springer,
OSW/
OSWER
(
5301W)
Cliff
Rothenstein,
OUST/
OSWER
(
5401G)
Walter
Kovalick,
TIO/
OSWER
(
5
102G)
Elizabeth
Cotsworth,
OWOAR
(
6601J)
Bany
Breen,
OSFWOECA
Cynthia
Dougherty,
OGWDW/
OW
(
4601M)
Steve
Schmelling,
NRMRL/
ORD
(
Ada,
OK)

cc:
Tim
Mott,
FFRRO/
OSWER
Betsy
Southerland,
OERIUOSWER
Dana
Tulis,
OERIUOSWER
Ken
Lovelace,
OEWOSWER
Matt
Charsky,
OEWOSWER
Guy
Tomassoni,
OSW/
OSWER
Mark
Mercer,
OSW/
OSWER
Hal
White,
OUST/
OSWER
Jeff
Heimerman,
TIO/
OSWER
Rich
Steimle,
TIO/
OSWER
Ron
Wilhelm,
ORVVOAR
Peter
Neves,
OSRFYOECA
Roy
Simon,
OGWDW/
OW
