- Success Stories, Uncategorized
- Environmental Resource Assessment & Management
Celebrating 40 Years of Monitoring Coastal Health
Since 1986, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Mussel Watch Program has been monitoring and documenting chemical contaminants in coastal waters using bivalves. Used for their ability to filter water and retain contaminants within their tissues, bivalves help quantify the presence of chemical contaminants within the waters in which they reside. The Mussel Watch Program has used this information to establish long-term baseline contaminant levels and track trends over the past 40 years.
Upon its inception, the program started with monitoring approximately 145 sites. Within these 40 years, the Mussel Watch Program built a network of regional and local partners, which has enabled the program to grow, expanding to additional collection sites to 425 in the Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf of America, and the Great Lakes. The program originally focused on legacy contaminants like DDT and PCBs and has increased the screening list to over 600 contaminants, including PFAS – forever chemicals found in items such as fire retardants, food wrappers, nonstick cookware, and other everyday items.
Through our contract with NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, CSS has supported this effort for many years, providing administrative, logistical, on-the-ground collection support, and writing technical reports summarizing their findings following the completion of the contaminant analysis for each region.
CSS employee owners are responsible for devising the yearly collection schedule, organizing missions, establishing local partnerships, shipping materials to each site, and writing reports to summarize the regional findings. This is a massive undertaking that requires strategic planning and organization – one that has ensured the Mussel Watch Program continued to operate efficiently and effectively.
Learn more about NOAA’s National Mussel Watch Program and the contributions of CSS employee owners.
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Assisting With Maui Wildfire Recovery
As part of our support to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9 Superfund Technical Assessment & Response Team (START)—for which we are subcontracted through Weston Solutions, Inc.—CSS employee owners have been on-site in three-week rotations to assist throughout the rigorous recovery process.
Contributing to Wind Energy Area Designations
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) recently announced two Wind Energy Areas (WEAs) in the Gulf of Mexico. The WEAs are located off the coasts of Galveston, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana and have the potential to power nearly three million homes. BOEM collaborated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to identify…
Organizing Teams to Monitor Coastal Contaminants
For nearly 40 years NOAA’s National Mussel Watch Program has been monitoring contaminants in coastal waters in over 400 sites around the U.S. by testing sediment and bivalves, such as oysters and mussels. A CSS employee owner organizes and coordinates the regional missions to collect and test samples. This includes developing a schedule and coordinating…