Environmental Monitoring & CharacterizationAn Introduction

MSC-210 – Marine Environmental Sampling & Analysis

Environmental Monitoring: Why it’s important?

• Quality of our environment

• Researchers, Decision-makers, and the Community• How does the environment affect citizens?

• How do citizens affect the environment?

• What is the current state of our natural resources?

• How do we respond to environmental emergencies?

• What changes are necessary to preserve & sustain a healthy environment for the future?

• Continuum of biosystems & physio-chemical processes

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The Biophysical Environment

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• Biophysical Environment: • the biotic & abiotic setting of an organism or population, and

consequently, the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. (G. Tyler Miller)

• Can vary in scale

• Can be sub-divided according to its attributes

• May refer to a singular global environment

• Sometimes referred to simply as “the environment”

• Biodiversity

• Biocomplexity• the interdependence of elements within specific environmental systems, and

the interactions between different types of systems. (J. Artiola, et al)

• Natural Resources: Sustainable & Renewable vs. Non-renewable

Environmental Monitoring

• Environmental Monitoring:• Observation & study of the environment

• Rooted in the Scientific Method

• Data generated can be used in a myriad of ways:• Understanding short-term fates

• Defining long-term management & preservation strategies

• Regulating deleterious actions

• Other factors influencing decision-making: • Political

• Economic

• Social

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Define the Problem

Research & Gather Info

Construct Hypothesis

Experiment to Test Hypothesis

Did Methods Work?

Yes No

Analyze Data

Draw Conclusions

Conclusions Support

Hypothesis

Conclusions Don’t Support

Hypothesis

Communicate Results

Check Methods; Redesign as necessary

Benefits of Environmental Monitoring

• Protection of Public Water Supplies

• Management of Hazardous, Non-hazardous, and Radioactive Waste

• Maintenance of Urban Air Quality

• Protection & Management of Natural Resources

• Weather Forecasting & Planning for Weather-related Catastrophes

• Economic Development & Land Planning

• Enumeration, Discovery, and Protection of biological species

• Control of Pollution Emissions

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Environmental Remediation & Restoration• Remediation focused on removing or treating

contamination

• Restoration focused on rehabilitating the ecosystem

• Interdisciplinary approach:• Environmental scientists, engineers & technicians

• Soil & water scientists

• Hydrologists & oceanographers

• Microbiologists, chemists, biologists, toxicologists

• Computer scientists & statisticians

• The community

• Need to understand the major physical, chemical, & biological processes

• Need to characterize the nature & extent of the problem

Anthropogenic Activity

Change in the Natural

Environment

Environmental Response to

Change

(Potential)Negative

Environmental Impact

Anthropogenic Remediation &

Restoration

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En

viro

nm

enta

l M

on

ito

rin

g

Atomic

• Atoms, sub-atomic particles

• < 1 nm

Ultra-Micro

• Virus, molecule

• > 1 nm

Micro

• Soil particle, fungi, bacteria

• > 1μm

Macro

• Animal, Plant, Soil clod

• > 1 mm

Field

• Agricultural field, waste site

• >1 m

Intermediate

• Watershed, river, lake

• > 1 km

Meso

• Continent, Country, State, Ocean

• >100 km

Global

• Earth

• > 10,000 km

Scales of Observation: Spatial

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Instantaneous

• < 1 second

Hourly

• > 60 minutes

Daily

• > 24 hours

Seasonal

• > 4 months

Annual

• > 1 year

Generational or Lifetime

• 20-100 years

Geologic

• > 10,000 years

Scales of Observation: Temporal

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Comparison of Temporal Scales

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• How are measurements and scales related?

Statistics!

Monitoring AgenciesWho is responsible for Environmental Monitoring?

A Need for Regulation

Evolution of Our Environmental Policy

• 1962: • Silent Spring, Rachel Carson

• The Closing Circle, Barry Commoner

• 1969: Oil spill in Santa Barbara, CA

• 1970: • National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), President

Nixon

• First Earth Day Celebrated, April 22nd

• US Environmental Protection Agency created

• 1969-79:• 27 environmental protection laws passed, including the

CAA, CWA, & SDWA• Hundreds of administrative regulations enacted

• 1980s:• Reduction in funding for federal environmental

programs

• Relaxation in federal environmental policy enforcement

• Cutbacks in budgets for federal agencies

• Shift of environmental legislation from the federal government to the states

• 1990s:• Renewed public and governmental interest in

environmental policy

• Pollution Prevention Act passed

• Amendments to strengthen CAA & SDWA passed

• “Green” products became the fad for industry and major businesses

• Increase in policy enforcement

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Major U.S. Environmental Legislation

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Year Law Year Law Year Law

1899 Refuse Act 1972 Consumer Product Safety Act 1977 Clean Water Act Amendments

1918Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918

1972Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act

1980 CERCLA (Superfund)

1948Federal Water Pollution Control Act

1972 Clean Water Act 1984Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Amendments

1955 Air Pollution Control Act 1972 Noise Control Act 1986 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments

1963 Clean Air Act (1963) 1973 Endangered Species Act 1986Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act

1965 Solid Waste Disposal Act 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act 1986 Emergency Wetlands Resources Act

1965 Water Quality Act 1975Hazardous Materials Transportation Act

1987 Clean Water Act Reauthorization

1967 Air Quality Act 1976Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

1990 Oil Pollution Act

1969National Environmental Policy Act

1976 Solid Waste Disposal Act 1990 Clean Air Act (1990)

1970 Clean Air Act (1970) 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement

1970Occupational Safety and Health Act

1977 Clean Air Act Amendments 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act Ammendments

Major U.S. Federal Departments with Ties to Environmental Monitoring

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• U.S. Department of Commerce:

•NOAA• NWS

• NESDIS

• NODC

•USCB•ESA

• Dept. of Heath & Human Services:

•USFDA•CDC

• Department of Defense:

•USACE

• NASA

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

•Office of Solid Waste & Emergency Response•Office of Air & Radiation•Office of Water

• Department of Interior:

•USGS•BOEM

•USFWS

• Department of Energy:

• FERC

• U.S. Department of Agriculture

• And more…

Other Entities with Ties to Environmental Monitoring

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• State Agencies & Departments:• Environmental Protection Agencies

• Departments of Marine Fisheries

• Departments of Natural Resources

• Departments of Water Resources

• And more..

• Private Companies & Non-Profits:• CSA Ocean Sciences, Inc.

• Dial Cordy & Assoc., Inc.

• CZR, Inc.

• EcoAnalysts, Inc.

• Ecology & Environment, Inc.

• Gulf of Mexico Foundation

• Clean Gulf

• Cape Fear River Watch

• And many, many more…

• World Organizations:• The United Nations (U.N.)

• Food & Agricultural Organization (FAO)

• USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS)

• World Meteorological Organization (WMO)

• World Weather Watch (WWW)

• World Health Organization (WHO)

• Global Environment Monitoring System (GEMS)

• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

• Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW)

• U.N. Statistical Office (UNSO)

• International Energy Administration (IEA)

• World Conservation Monitoring Center (WCMS)

• And more…

“Marine environmental monitoring

has been successfully employed to protect public health through systematic measurement of microbial indicators of fecal pathogens in swimming and shellfish growing areas, to validate water quality models, and to assess the effectiveness of pollution abatement.

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Nevertheless, despite these considerable

efforts and expenditures, most environmental monitoring programs fail to provide the information needed to understand the condition of the marine environment or to assess the effects of

human activity…”

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What Does it Take to Understand the Marine Environment?

References

Lecture Content• Artiola, J., Pepper, I., & Brusseau, M. (2004). Monitoring

and Characterization of the Environment. In Environmental monitoring and characterization (pp. 1-9). San Diego, CA: Elsevier Academic Press.

• Hazardous Materials Training and Research Institute (HMTRI) Writing Team. (2002). Preserving the Legacy: Site Characterization, Sampling and Analysis. In Chapter 1 –Site Investigation and Chapter 2 –The Sampling Plan (pp. 1-43). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

• Kubasek, N. and Silverman, G. (2011). Environmental Law, 7th ed. In An Introduction to Environmental Law and Policy (pp. 118-155). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

• Miller, G. (1995). Environmental Science: Working with the Earth, 5th ed. California: Wadsworth Publishing Co., Inc.

• US EPA. (2013). Characterization and Monitoring: Innovative Technologies. US Environmental Protection Agency, 12 Mar. 2013. Accessed online 16 Aug. 2015 at: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/remedytech/char.htm

Images

• Slide 9: USGS Graph http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nc/nwis/rt

• Slide 15: Managing Troubled Watershttp://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=1439

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