Hazardous substances, pollutants and contaminants (MERLA) guidance

This page contains guidance pertaining to the investigation and cleanup of hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants. Hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants are defined in Minn. Stat. § 115B.02 under Minnesota Environmental Response and Liability Act (MERLA) and generally include everything except petroleum, nuclear waste, and agriculture products. MERLA programs include Site Assessment, Superfund, Voluntary Investigation and Cleanup, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Remediation Program, Closed Landfill Program, and Emergency Response Program. 

MERLA Framework

• MERLA remediation process and risk-based site evaluation guidance (c-rem3-33)
• Superfund vs. Voluntary Investigation and Cleanup (VIC) Programs (c-rem1-29)

Site investigation: groundwater

• Natural attenuation of chlorinated solvents in groundwater guidance (c-s4-05)
• Contaminated groundwater discharges
• Human health-based water guidance table (MDH)
• Drinking water regulations (U.S. EPA)

Site investigation: soil

• Soil reference value (SRV) technical support document (c-r1-05)
• Soil reference value (SRV) spreadsheet (c-r1-06)
• Background threshold value (BTV) evaluation (c-r1-08)
• Soil leaching values (c-r1-04)
• Remediation Division soil leaching pathway spreadsheet (c-r1-03)

Sediment

• Surface water and sediment evaluation at remediation sites (c-rem3-31)
• Contaminated sediment
• Dredged materials management

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)

• Site closure and institutional controls (c-rem3-28f)

Dense non-aqueous phase liquids (DNAPL)

Dense non-aqueous phase liquids are chemicals or mixtures of chemicals that have two major characteristics in common: They are heavier than water and immiscible. Examples include chlorinated solvents, coal tar, heavy petroleum (e.g., No. 6 fuel oil products), creosote, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). These documents provide information — based on Interstate Technology Regulatory Council guidance — on managing sites contaminated with these liquids.

• Key principles (c-rem3-22)
• Developing site strategy (c-rem3-23)
• Properties and behavior (c-rem3-25)
• Site characterization (c-rem3-27)
• Conceptual site model development (c-rem3-24)
• Remedial objectives, remedy selection, and performance monitoring (c-rem3-26)

Resources

• Integrated DNAPL site strategy (ITRC 2011) (Interstate Technology Regulatory Council) 
• Integrated DNAPL site characterization and tools selection (ITRC 2015) (Interstate Technology Regulatory Council)
• Characterization and remediation in fractured rocks (2017) (Interstate Technology Regulatory Council)
• Remediation management of complex sites (Interstate Technology Regulatory Council) 
• L 3 CIVE 532 Chemical Partitioning (c-s4-12)
• Remedial technologies appendix (c-s4-11)

Global: Remediation Division guidance

Remediation Division guidance

Divisional guidance applicable to all Remediation programs.

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