These are some well-known, and some less well-known, sources to obtain cleanup levels for remediation at hazardous waste sites. Sites with numeric values are in blue. Acronyms are here and linked in the text.
If you know of another source that readers should know about, just email us!
EPA GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS
USEPA Soil Screening Guidance - This is a great source for soil screening levels (SSLs), information on calculating site cleanup levels, and general guidelines for the use of cleanup levels at sites. GO
USEPA Region 3 Risk-Based Concentrations - This site presents the Risk-Based Concentrations (RBCs) tables along with guidance on Monte Carlo, groundwater exposure point concentrations and assessing dermal exposure to and risk from soils. This link is to a page listing the different formats available for the value tables to download (zipped Lotus and Excel files) GO. An online table is available here in Adobe format.
USEPA Region 9 Preliminary Removal Goals - This source, called Region 9 PRGs for short, not only gives you lots of soil cleanup values in table form but also has detailed technical information on calculating site-specific cleanup goals, including inhalation of volatiles methodology, info on calculating csat and cleach values, and those up-to-date and in demand toxicity values and chemical physical constants. Also has some drinking water values. GO
USEPA Risk Assessment Guidance For Superfund, Part B. Preliminary Removal Goals (RAGS Part B) - RAGS Part B is the holy grail of cleanup levels. Simple document that gives the general risk (intake) equations used in a quantitative risk assessment and the general equations for cleanup goals or PRGs (just a note: the acronym PRGs is used for preliminary removal goals AND preliminary remedial goals AND preliminary remediation goals....generally we are talking about the same thing). No actual soil levels but does have the exposure default values used in EPA risk assessments and general calculations of cleanup goals. Examines various pathways and media, though mostly for use with soil. Some of the inhalation defaults have changed since this was written, but it is still a must have for those attempting to determine their own cleanup levels. GO
Federal Drinking Water Standards and Health Advisories - This has the national primary (MCLs and MCLGs) and the secondary drinking water standards. A must-have for sites with possibly contaminated groundwater. GO
MTBE Groundwater Clean-up Levels for LUST Sites - This is a really cool map of the states on EPA's website that shows the current and proposed cleanup levels for MTBE in each of the states. GO
Human Health Medium-Specific Screening Levels - These are tables from EPA Region 6. They are very general and should be used as screening levels only (ok got that out of the way). Tables have toxicity info and physical parameters in addition to the soil screening levels. GO
STATE GUIDANCE DOCUMENTS
Arizona: Soil Remediation Levels - This is Title 18 Chapter 7 of the Arizona Administrative Code. Chapter 7 presents the Department of Environmental Quality's soil remediation levels (SRLs). Skip a third of the way down the page to the actual levels. GO
Delaware: Remediation Standards Guidance - This one takes a long time to load up but presents three options to addressing your site including soil standards. You might try this one last unless you live in Delaware. GO
Florida: Soil Cleanup Target Level Web Site - This is a great web site with lots of information. The University of Florida's Center for Environment and Human Toxicology has a site presenting draft (that is DRAFT) values in association with a new rule. Info on toxicity factors, exposure variables, physical parameters, csat, and the soil cleanup levels themselves for soil, groundwater, and surface water. GO
Maine: Remedial Action Guidelines for Contaminated Soils - This is from the Department of Environmental Protection. Has actual values for soil and groundwater. Soil levels are also scenario-specific (even has a trespasser value). GO
Minnesota: Voluntary Investigation and Cleanup Program Guidance Documents - This is guidance put out by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. There are a lot of documents listed here but our brief overlook did not find actual values. GO
Missouri: Cleanup Action Levels in Missouri (CALM) - This online document from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources gives a tiered approach to determining cleanup levels. Includes a Tier 1 lookup table. Although the process outlined in this document is pretty good, the numbers may be changing. Revision to this document, including correct soil cleanup values, is on its way. Also gives csat and cleach values. GO
Missouri: Any-Use Soil Levels (ASLs) - This is also from the Show-Me State. These are soil levels for use at Registry sites in Missouri. The ASLs are not available on the web at this time. I guess you have to call and say "Show Me" to the Missouri Department of Health at 1-800-592-7245.
New York: Determination of Soil Cleanup Objectives and Cleanup Levels - This is from New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation (publication #4046). Has some koc information, methodologies and look-up tables. GO
North Dakota: Cleanup Action Level Guidelines for Gasoline and Other Petroleum Hydrocarbons - These are released by the North Dakota Department of Health. Gives a benzene and TPH value for soils. GO
Oregon: Soil Cleanup Table - Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality has some guidance on cleanup levels. Appenidx A, with values, can be obtained here. Also, look at the bottom of the page for the link to the soil cleanup table.
Utah: Estimating Numeric Cleanup Levels for Petroleum-Contaminated Soil at Underground Storage Tank Release Sites - This document covers Utah's guidelines for Recommended Soil Cleanup Levels (RCLs) related to Underground Storage Tanks. Presents levels for TPH and BTEX. This site is hard to find. Try the link but if you have problems, go to the main state page and search for terms above then view throuh yeehaw. GO
Virginia: Voluntary Remediation Program Risk Assessment Guidance - Virginia's Department of Environmental Quality has a tiered procedure similar to other states. They have excel tables with information on toxity, exposure factors, etc. to use in your calculations. They also have etables for soil levels, groundwater values, and some surface water info. For the list of available tables and direct links, GO.
OTHER STUFF
Cleaning Up Former Methamphetamine Labs - Koch Crime Institute: This is a general guidelines to clean up former meth labs. No actual levels but it does address the cleanup. Pulls info from Kansas, Missouri, Washington State and others. GO
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR): This is the agency that assists EPA with health issues. They present obtained values for drinking water and air at GO. They also have their own dose levels termed minimum risk levels (MRLs): GO
Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS): This is the ultimate source for all your toxicity value needs (well most of them). This EPA-supported site can give you the following chemical-specific items (definitions for these terms are in the toxicological acronyms section here); Oral Reference Doses (RfDs), Oral Slope Factors (SFs), Health Effects, Synonyms and much more. IRIS also gives you the Inhalation Reference Concentrations (RfCs) and Inhalation Unit Risks (URis), which can be converted to Inhalation Reference Doses (RfDis) and Inhalation Slope Factors (SFis). Need help doing that? Send us an email and we will help you convert them. Here's your link: GO
RADNET: Need info on radiation values?? A good place to start looking for rad stuff is on RADNET. Here is a link that will get you started but don't let the name scare you off, it has some non-meltdown info too: RADNET Nuclear Accident Radiation Protection Guidelines
Now we need to break in for the commercial. Please click and visit some of our sponsors. They enable us to find and bring back the links for you and will allow us to keep building and finding the info you need. Plus they have some great stuff.
Need Chemical-specific Physical Parameters to calculate your levels??? Try these links:
SSG's Attachment C: Chemical Specific Parameters
EPA Region 9: Preliminary Remediation Goals (PRGs) Tables: Physical-Chemical Data: A-Di and EPA Region 9: Preliminary Remediation Goals (PRGs) Tables: Physical-Chemical Data: Ep-Tr
An industry-specific link that might prove valuable to some of us - Check it out!
More links and info to come.......Plus we are working on tables that will combine the major sources so chemical lookup will be a breeze. If you have other CONSTRUCTIVE suggestions for this work in progress, let us know. We want to make the complex world of finding cleanup levels easy for everybody (sorry regulators!!)
Need chemical-specific information?? Task us to do it. Just send an email to findit@cleanuplevels.com. Something like:
"Hey cleanup levels guys, I need to know the RfD for benzene!"
We will tell where you can easily find it or if it is a chemical with very limited OR hard-to-find information, we can respond with a cost and an ETA on the task, then you have the option to tell us to "Find It!" or not. It is just that simple. We also have readers who can calculate site-specific levels for you so we are working on providing two-way communication between those who can calculate the numbers and those who can not (or just don't want to). We hope to have that available soon.
Registered www.cleanuplevels.com, April 2001
Updated May 5, 2001
