An environmental information company has put its library online, allowing subscribers -- such as real live consumers -- to sort through problems like "how to deal with leaking underground storage tanks" and find a number of useful alternatives.

Remedial Technologies Network, based in Reston, Va., primarily deals with large companies and contaminated EPA Superfund sites. But it's information is just as applicable to homeowners trying to sort though solutions for lead-based paint.

The library -- which can be found at http://www.remedial.com -- consists of academic papers, research reports and actual test site data on various solutions to various problems. As in any library, some of the reports are easy to read, some are fairly technical, many have costs analysis associated with them and just about all of them have contact numbers for experts.

Says Charles Corbin, president of Remedial, "Our primary clients are businesses, accounting firms, engineering firms, law offices and government agencies, but there is no reason why it couldn't be used by consumers who need more information about specific problems."

Communities nationwide are increasingly dealing with issues such as how to clean up manufacturing plant sites, how to deal with the seepage of contaminated ground water into new homes developments, and even leaky tanks from nearby gas stations.

"You may have a hazardous waste site and the government is suing the owner for cleanup," Corbin said. "The government may want ‘Technology X’ to be used, but maybe Technology Y or Technology Z is just as good but may have different costs associated with them.

"It's important to have informed citizens."

There are some 900 technologies in RTN's Remediation Information Management System (RIMS) -- the online library. During the ramp-up period subscriptions are free, but they will eventually cost around $100.

Multi-office real estate companies might find subscriptions useful so agents can be knowledgeable about questions that seem to be coming up more and more in transactions -- such as "how much does it cost to get rid of lead-based paint" or "how do I deal with asbestos."

Even a special "California filter" has been added to the online search system to provide documents that are adapted to that state's problems and laws.

"What we've found is that where there's a problem, there usually is an entrepreneur who has come up with a solution to it," Corbin said. "We try to put the two of them together."

RTN also recently added products by VISTA Information Solutions Inc., another environmental information company, to its web site. VISTA's databases help professionals identify contaminants at sites.

Corbin said VISTA's databases include topographical maps to identify water and potential contaminant flow and historical aerial photographs to see what was on a site in the past.

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Published: June 25, 1999

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