FY 2013 STATEMENT OF NEED

Environmental Restoration (ER) Program Area

The overall objective of this Statement of Need (SON) was to solicit proposals for applied research to improve our understanding of how to assess and optimize treatment of complex contaminated groundwater plumes and to determine cost effectively the performance limitation s of a remedial approach. Specific objectives include:

  • Determination of which parameters or processes may be measured to quickly determine the feasibility of a treatment approach.
  • Development of field measurements or methodologies that provide predictive capability of performance to reduce the uncertainty associated with long-term performance so that decisions can be made early in their remedial process to avoid years of suboptimal operation.
  • Development of field measurements or methodologies that provide data to optimize treatment if current operations are not expected to meet performance objectives.
  • Development of assessment procedures and methodologies that aid in the decision to discontinue operation of a technology and implement an alternative technology.

The projects listed below were selected to address the objectives of this SON. Additional information on individual projects can be found by clicking the project title.


    • Lead Investigator: Dr. Paul Tratnyek, Oregon Health and Science University

    • Lead Investigator: Dr. Alison Cupples, Michigan State University

    • Lead Investigator: Dr. Jack Parker, University of Tennessee

    • Lead Investigator: Dr. Linda Abriola, Tufts University

    • Lead Investigator: Dr. Frank Löffler, University of Tennessee

    • Lead Investigator: Dr. Michael Kavanaugh, Geosyntec Consultants

    • Lead Investigator: Dr. Thomas Boyd, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

Research should lead to an improved understanding of how to assess and optimize treatment of complex contaminated groundwater plumes and to quickly determine the performance limitations of a remedial approach will improve our ability to manage such sites in a cost effective manner. Once procedures and methodologies are developed for assessment and optimization of the more difficult contaminated sites, more cost-effective management and treatment approaches can be implemented, substantially reducing the life cycle costs for managing these plumes.