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Volpe Center Highlights - March/April 2002

Human and Natural Environment

Director's Notes | Focus | Safety | Mobility | Human and Natural Environment
Economic Growth | National Security | Papers and Presentations

Supporting Asbestos Air-Monitoring Program (California DTSC)

High school with serpentine-covered road in foreground.

The Volpe Center is recognized as a technical leader in the investigation and remediation of asbestos contamination. Since January 1999, the Environmental Engineering Division has supported the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in investigating potential ongoing asbestos exposure of residents in Libby, Montana; more recently, investigations have encompassed associated sites in seven other states. As a result of Volpe's expertise in this area, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) requested Volpe's assistance in support of its asbestos air-monitoring program.

The community of Garden Valley in California has many unpaved roadways known to contain naturally occurring asbestos within the road bed. The community is concerned about potential exposure to toxic asbestos fibers from vehicular traffic on these roads, which are covered with serpentine rock containing the asbestos mineral chrysotile. During the next 8 to 9 months, the Volpe Center, in collaboration with Roger Wayson, associate professor at the University of Central Florida, will conduct a focused air-monitoring study along sections of two unpaved roadways.

Typical serpentine rock containing the asbestos mineral chrysotile.

The first section is part of a localized roadway in the immediate vicinity of a high school and community park; sampling along this section will assist DTSC in determining if there is a potential for an ongoing asbestos exposure of concern related to attending and/or participating in activities at the school and park.

The second study section is part of one of the community's more heavily traveled roadways, which is more representative of the region's many unpaved, asbestos-containing roadways. The purpose of sampling along this roadway is to determine the airborne asbestos concentration as it relates to variation with time, distance, and traffic volume. This data will be used to create an Asbestos Exposure Screening Tool that will assist DTSC in making remediation and investigation decisions related to similar asbestos-containing roadways located throughout California. Volpe team members include Mr. Mark Raney and Ms. Amishi Joshi from the Environmental Engineering Division and Messrs. Gregg Fleming, Brian Kim, and John McDonald from the Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division.

Assessing Aviation-Related Emissions (FAA)

Aviation-related emissions pose a significant threat not only to the air quality in and around airports, but around the world. In support of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Office of Environment and Energy, Volpe's Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division improves, enhances, and validates air-quality modeling tools, and evaluates and assesses instrumentation and procedures for the measurement of airport air quality and aircraft-exhaust emissions. In support of the development of the System for Aviation Global Emissions (SAGE), a new computer model for assessing the global emissions from aircraft, the Center acts as system integrator; provides coordination with other technical organizations; develops a comprehensive system design, related algorithms, and coding; prepares documentation; conducts training; and performs analyses.

The Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division recently performed carbon monoxide measurements at 25 locations at a major international airport in the U.S. This data collection effort is one of several planned to support validation of the FAA's Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System.

The Division is conducting a series of studies for validation of the FAA's Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System (EDMS), which assesses local air quality. As part of this effort, from January 7 through January 11, 2002, Mr. Gregg Fleming, Division Chief, and supporting Division staff collected data at a major international airport in the United States. The team performed carbon monoxide measurements at 25 airport locations, measuring emissions from aircraft, aviation ground support and general vehicular traffic, and parking lot activities. In addition, the Volpe team obtained data on meteorological conditions and data from a Differential Geographic Positioning System survey. Similar EDMS validation efforts are planned for other U.S. airports over the next 5 years.

Measurement, Analysis, and Abatement of Railroad Noise (FRA)

Railroad noise is a major transportation issue in the United States. The Volpe Center provides extensive support to the Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) Office of Research and Development in this area. A current project involves updating the Handbook for the Measurement, Analysis, and Abatement of Railroad Noise. This handbook provides an introduction to acoustics and describes the measurement and analysis procedures and abatement techniques required to meet railroad noise regulations. The update will incorporate improvements and changes in noise measurement instrumentation technology and field measurement techniques as well as U.S. noise policy that have occurred since the release of the document in 1982.

As part of this effort, on February 11 and 12, 2002, Mr. Eric Boeker of the Environmental Measurement and Modeling Division traveled in a locomotive cab from Boston, Massachusetts, to Selkirk, New York, to gather information on sources of noise. Subsequently, on February 21, he visited Washington, D.C., to report the results of his observations to Mr. Rob Castiglione, FRA Office of Safety Analysis. The Volpe Center's Acoustics Facility will be conducting more detailed measurements and analysis of railroad noise in the future using specialized recording and analysis equipment.

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