polymerize PAHs in soil to create a dark brown substance with many of the characteristics of humic-bound residue. In a presentation at the In Situ and On-Site Bioremediation Symposium in New Orleans in April, Sims described experiments with soils from the Champion International Superfund site in Libby, Mont., a site currently undergoing bioremediation. In these soils, Sims has identified the transformation of the PAH pyrene to bound residue in laboratory experiments. He believes that these
reactions, assisted by manganese, are also occurring at the site. Understanding bound residues is important for sites where bioremediation or phytoremediation occurs, according to Larry Erickson, director of the Great Plains and Rocky Mountain Hazardous Substances Research Center at Kansas State University. "We know that we have compounds going into humic matter. We need to know under what conditions is this beneficial and under what conditions is it a cause for concern." Researchers hope that once
they understand the binding process, they can manipulate it to create bound residues in the amounts necessary to be considered a treatment technique. "The question we are asking," says Sims, "is can we, using organic contaminants, mimic the natural processes that create humic materials in soils?" Given that the breakdown products of many organic contaminants have structures similar to those of natural humic materials, he is optimistic that the strategy will work. —REBECCA RENNER
EPA toxics office to create "safe haven" for science policy, risk work The creation of a "safe haven" within EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) to develop science-based policies and risk assessment tools was announced in April by EPA Assistant Administrator Lynn Goldman. In a memo to agency staff, Goldman said the planned Office of Science Coordination and Policy will provide general direction, coordination, and oversight for issues such as endocrine disrupters, new policies required by the Food Quality Protection Act, harmonization of agency and international chemical classification and testing guidelines, and new toxicological applications of Monte Carlo modeling. The new office will also coordinate work on peer review policy, children's risk policy and ecological risk assessment valBut it will not perform or re~ view the science underlying programs such as premanufacturing notices or pesticide registration and reregistration she said The new office will serve as the principal liaison between OPPTS and other offices within EPA, notably the Office of Research and Development and the Science Policy Council, said Goldman. It will also deal with interagency, international, and domestic science concerns, she added. Penelope Fenner-Crisp, deputy director of the Office of Pesticide Programs, will set up the new office, which she envisions as a management tool to provide safe havens for scientists within EPA to work on basic science issues. "This agency has had great diffi-
culty in the past maintaining management support for work on basic science," she said, adding that the safe havens would consist of assignments releasing scientists from their routine agency responsibilities. However, she pointed out that the new office will not act as a research unit, and it will not allocate research funding. "It is a place for OPPTS to develop policies and risk assessment tools that apply to its programs," she said. The new office will also encour-
age collaboration between scientists working in different programs within OPPTS, said Fenner-Crisp, adding that where different projects look at similar issues, the new office might step in and suggest a collaborative effort. For nongovernmental scientists needing information about OPPTS science issues, the new office will be a "point of first contact" within EPA, said FennerCrisp. The new office could open its doors by October, she said. —VINCENT LECLAIR
REMEDIATION Fox River voluntary sediment cleanup plan stalled An agreement between the paper industry and Wisconsin to clean up sediments in one of the nation's most contaminated rivers is in jeopardy because of the the threat of federal legal action. The lower Fox River, which drains into Lake Michigan at Green Bay, is highly contaminated by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). A scientific study done in 1990 identified contaminant transport mechanisms and sources. Since then, a voluntary coalition of industry, state, and environmental groups has attempted to work out a cleanup plan, making the Fox River a test bed for the effectiveness of voluntary agreements (ES&T, Sept. .1995 p. 401A). On Jan. 30, the state and seven paper companies signed an agreement calling for the companies to spend $10 million to begin cleaning the river over the next two years. The companies are allegedly liable for PCB contamination from paper mill discharges during the 1970s. U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife (USFW) and environmental groups, however, were concerned that the agreement gives the paper companies too much control over the design and extent of the cleanup. USFW, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, EPA, and the companies were negotiating these issues when the agreement was announced. The next day, USFW declared its intent to sue the companies under the auspices of a Natural Resources Damage Assessment, which allows the government to evaluate the cost of restoration and then claim damages from potentially responsible parties. Negotiations, which resumed in March to resolve the dispute and head off legal action, are set to end this month. —REBECCA RENNER
VOL. 3 1 , NO. 6, 1997/ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY / NEWS • 2 7 1 A
