GRA Presents the 18th Symposium in its Series on Groundwater Contaminants

“Emerging Contaminants in Groundwater:
A Continually Moving Target”
June 7 – 8, 2006 * Concord, CA

Symposium Announcement & Call for Abstracts
Submittal Deadline March 31, 2006

Unregulated and emerging chemical contaminants present numerous technical and institutional challenges to society and to environmental and public health professionals. Over the past four decades, increasingly sensitive analytical techniques have chronicled the emergence of specific chemicals in actual or potential sources of drinking water. As our ability to detect these agents has improved, the number of contaminants regulated under various environmental statutes has also increased, and the universe of regulated agents has grown dramatically. Despite these advances, many contaminants remain unregulated, and the number of such regulated contaminants will continue to grow slowly over the next several decades. Thus, environmental professionals must make difficult risk management decisions regarding water resource and water supply management issues in the face of considerable regulatory uncertainty. Emerging chemical contaminants such as industrial solvent stabilizers (1,4-dioxane), fuel oxygenates (MTBE and TBA), disinfection byproducts (NDMA), pharmaceuticals (antibiotics/drugs), personal care products (polycyclic musks), pesticides/herbicides (1,2,3-trichloropropane), other persistent compounds such as flame retardants (PBDEs) and phthalates illustrate many technical and institutional challenges. While technologies are available to remove many of these contaminants from water, such technologies are often expensive, and water treatment costs may not balance the estimated reduction in risk. Risk management decisions in the future will require more complex assessments of the vulnerability of a water supply source to unregulated contaminants, and an analysis of the appropriate combination of treatment processes in the context of water quality uncertainties to meet both current and future hazards arising due to these contaminants taking cost into consideration.

Starting on June 7, 2006, GRA will hold a one and a half day symposium in Concord, CA, on emerging groundwater contaminants. The Symposium will feature presentations on the technical and institutional challenges posed by the presence of these chemicals in the environment. Background information including chemical history of use, sources in the environments, nationwide occurrence, analytical methods, physical and chemical properties, behavior in the environment and technologies for removal from soil and groundwater will be presented. In addition, standard of care issues and federal and state drinking water standards will be discussed.

Specific Symposium sessions will cover a variety of chemicals and topics, including the following:

Emerging Chemical Classes
> Pesticides/herbicides (1,2,3-TCP)
> Gasoline additives (MTBE, TBA)
> Pharmaceuticals (antibiotics)
> Phthalates
> Personal care products (polycyclic musks)
> Disinfection byproducts (NDMA)
> Industrial additives (1,4-dioxane, 1,2,3-TCP)
> Persistent organic compounds (PBDEs)

Topics
> Overview of emerging contaminant classes, and physical and chemical properties of key contaminants
> Occurrence and sources of emerging contaminants in water
> Regulation of emerging contaminants in the United States and Europe
> Environmental fate and transport of emerging contaminants
> Analytical techniques for quantifying emerging contaminants in environmental samples
> Modeling tools
> Natural attenuation of emerging contaminants
> Human health effects from exposure to emerging contaminants
> Environmental and human risk assessment and management
> Innovative and cost-effective remediation and treatment technologies

Experts from academia, regulatory agencies, consulting, industry, and the legal arena will participate in moderated speaker sessions, posters sessions, and a closing panel discussion. The combination of invited speakers and experts from key areas, along with talks chosen from submitted abstracts, will make this an important event for all water quality professionals interested in emerging contaminants.

Abstracts for Platform and Poster Presentations

GRA welcomes submittals of abstracts for platform and poster presentations on the topics listed above. The deadline for submitting an abstract for either a platform or a poster presentation is March 31, 2006. Please feel free to contact Rula Deeb (510-735-3005), Elisabeth Hawley (510-735-3027) or Tom Mohr (408-265-2600) if you would like to discuss your topic for this Symposium before submitting your abstract, or if you have any questions.

Guidelines for submitting an abstract for a platform or poster presentation are as follows:

> Word 9.0 documents are preferred.
> Identify if you are submitting an abstract for a platform or poster presentation.
> Abstracts must be one page in length or less, and should be titled and include all contributing authors' names and affiliations. Please identify the name of the person who will be presenting the platform or poster, and add biographical sketches of the authors as a second page. The sketches should be 50 words or less in paragraph form, and full mailing and e-mail addresses and phone and fax numbers must be included.
> Please indicate the topic for which the abstract is being submitted.
> Margins should be 1-inch top, bottom, and right side and 1¼-inch left margin. The text should be single-spaced, 10-point size, Times New Roman font, with no pagination, footers and headers. Paragraphs should be justified.
> Major headings should be 12-point bold; minor headings should be 10-point italicized not bolded. There should be one blank line above and below all headings, except above major headings, which should have two blank lines.
> Graphics should not be used in the abstract.

By virtue of submitting an abstract, the submitter(s) grants GRA the right to publish any accepted abstract or the right to decline any abstract. Please submit your abstract by email to Mary Megarry, Groundwater Resources Association, mmegarry@nossaman.com no later than March 31, 2006. A team of volunteers made up of GRA members will review abstracts and make the final selections.

Exhibitors and Sponsors

If you are interested in exhibiting your organization's services or products, or being an event sponsor, please contact Mary Megarry at mmegarry@nossaman.com or 916-446-3626. GRA welcomes co-sponsors, lunch, refreshment and reception sponsors.

> Sponsor Exhibitor Information Packet - http://www.grac.org/se.pdf