Incremental sampling is an unbiased, structured soil sampling protocol that reduces data variability and increases sample representativeness. It accomplishes this through careful up-front planning that defines what the soil samples are intended to represent, and through use of specialized sample collection and processing procedures in both the field and laboratory.

The Incremental Sampling Subcommittee was established in 2017 as a special focus workgroup within the Engineering Forum, one of the EPA Technical Support Project’s (TSP) three technical forums. The primary objectives of the Incremental Sampling Subcommittee are to: 1.) establish a national incremental sampling community of practice, 2.) develop incremental sampling expertise in every EPA Region , 3.) Educate state and federal environmental professionals, and 4.) provide information on current and new incremental sampling topics and procedures.

Presentations are specifically designed for EPA staff including RPMs, OSCs, Corrective Action Managers, Superfund and Technology Liaisons, Chemists, Biologists, Physical Scientists, and Engineers from within EPA regions, program offices, laboratory system, and headquarters personnel as well as environmental professionals from state agencies, tribes, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Dept. of Energy, and other federal agencies of all experience levels. THIS TRAINING IS NOT OPEN TO ACADEMIA, CONTRACTORS, CONSULTANTS OR OTHER PRIVATE ENTITIES.

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The Danang airport in Vietnam was used heavily by US forces in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2018, the remediation of dioxin contamination at the airport resulting from Agent Orange use and management was completed by the US government. Generation of reliable, defensible, and cost-effective confirmation sampling data over large areas and for large volumes was a significant challenge. Traditional discrete and composite sampling methods were utilized to assess dioxin concentrations and the extent of contamination present at the airport prior to remediation. Confirmation sampling was performed after excavation of contaminated soil and sediment across the entire 28-ha site to demonstrate that remaining concentrations met the Vietnamese standards for the airport site. The volume of excavated soil and sediment was 162,567 m3. Incremental Sampling Methodology (ISM) was used for confirmation sampling to provide a defensible estimate of the mean concentration of dioxin remaining after excavation. The use of ISM revealed that traditional methods underestimated the volume of material requiring treatment. ISM also decreased sampling variability dramatically and provided more reliable estimates of true mean concentrations in an area when compared with traditional methods. The use of ISM: 1) better captured distributional heterogeneity and decreased variability between samples from the same DU by 64%; 2) resulted in low variability between duplicate analyses of the same sample (12%), indicating a reduction in compositional heterogeneity; 3) did not underestimate contaminant levels; and, 4) increased the frequency that excavation boundaries met project goals by 61%, when compared with traditional sampling.

Presenters: Alexis López (Independent Environmental Consultant) and Jamey Watt (U.S. Department of Interior)

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