Gunnar Lauenstein and Mark Monaco Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA)

1. NOAA Mussel Watch Program Gunnar Lauenstein and Mark Monaco Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS)

2. NOAA Mussel Watch Program To support ecosystem-based management through integrated nationwide programs of environmental monitoring, assessment and research to describe the current status of and to detect changes in the environmental condition of our Nation’s estuarine and coastal waters

3. NOAA Mussel Watch Program Nation’s longest running coastal contaminant monitoring program (26 years) Mussels, oysters, and zebra mussels collected 300 Sites nationwide – 1/2 monitored annually 150 contaminants routinely analyzed in mussels, oysters, and sediments Mussels and oysters are collected in winter, with the exception of the Great Lakes Sediments monitored periodically, 10 yr intervals Background

4. Mussel Watch: Species • Blue mussel (Mytilusedulis) • Maine to Cape May (NJ) • American oyster (Crassostrea virginica) • Delaware south and throughout the Gulf of Mexico • M. species and M. californianus • West Coast • Oyster (Ostrea sandvicensis) • Hawaii • Smooth-edge jewel box (Chama sinuosa) • Florida Keys • Mangrove oyster (C. rhizophorae) • Puerto Rico • Zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha, D. bugensis) • Great Lakes

5. Dennis Apeti collecting oysters 2010

6. Mussel Watch Analyte Selection • Mussel Watch analytes started as subset of EPA priority contaminants list • Other contaminants are added to analyte list (e.g. butyltins, radionuclides, contemporary pesticides) as needed or recommended

7. Scope of Work • Current Analytes • Trace elements • Pesticides • PAHs • Industrial chemicals • Butyltins • Enhanced Analyses • Contaminants of Emerging Concern • Benthic (sediment) organism characterization • Sediment toxicity • GIS interpretation • POCIS • Caged mussels • Gene expression • Bivalve behavior • Ancillary Measurements • Reproductive stage characterization • Bacteria characterization • Parasite, pathology, and disease intensity characterization

8. Examples of Results on a National Scale

10. A Report to the Nation (May 2008) Chemical contamination in our nation's coastal waters is declining: DDT, TBT, hydrocarbons, and industrial contaminants such as PCBs Improvements credited to environmental laws – including the Clean Water Act , and specific laws banning the use of certain compounds Fossil fuel compounds from motor vehicles, oil drilling, power generation, and shipping activities continue to flow into and affect coastal waters http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/about/coast/nsandt/welcome.html

11. Examples of Results on a Regional Scale

12. NOAA EnhancedMussel Watch Program lMussel Watch sites lMusselWatch AOC sites AOC sites ( 2009/2010)

13. Mirex in the Great Lakes

14. WTC Site Total PBDEs (ng/g dry weight) World Trade Center Site Contaminant Assessment PBDEs in the Hudson-Raritan Estuary mussels

15. Examples of Results on a Local Scale

16. DDT Contamination off California Mussel Watch data Showed high levels of DDT in the Palos Verdes area (exceeding 1600 ppb) Data were used, along with other data to trace food web pathways to bird species that were being harmed Courtesy: USGS • 1,800 tons of DDT were discharged into sewer lines (1947-71) • Largest known DDT contamination in the world • Concern about injury to resources (eagles, brown pelican, etc.)

17. DDT in Palos Verdes Mussels Concentrations in ng/g, dry weight

18. Environmental Response

19. First Responders Use Mussel Watch Data • Exxon Valdez, 1989 • Pribilof Is., St. Paul 2000 • 9/11, 2001 • Athos 1, 2004 • Hurricane Katrina, 2005 • Cosco Busan, 2007 • T/V Eagle Otome, 2010 • Deepwater Horizon, 2010

20. NOAA National Status & Trends Program: Mussel Watch Images From The Post Hurricane Special Sampling Event

21. Oil Spills Requirements of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, have reduced the number and volume of spills in US waters. • - NOAA responds to about 200 spills per year • - Large spills are low probability, high consequence events Tanker Satilla with double-hull ripped on lost oil rig in Gulf of Mexico in 2009 - no oil was spilled

22. Baseline data used to measure impact: Cosco Busan, San Francisco Bay

23. Cosco Busan oil spill, San Francisco Bay

24. Baseline data helps measure impact: Athos I oil spill, Delaware Bay

25. Athos Spill Response In 2004, the M/T Athos I, a 750-foot tanker, hit submerged object spilling about 260,000 gallons of crude oil in the Delaware River

26. National Status and Trends Program Deep Water Horizon oil Spill Response Water Chemistry - PAHs - Alkanes - VOCs Sediment Chemistry Sediment Bioeffects - Infauna Oyster Chemistry Oyster Histopathology

27. Terry McTigue sorting infaunal sample

28. Specimen Banking

29. Collaborators • West Coast • Bristol Bay Native Association • University of Alaska Fairbanks • Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation • Chugach Regional Resources Commission • Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council • Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife • Snohomish County, Washington State • Stillaguamish Tribe, Washington State • Oregon Department of Environmental Protection • California State EPA • Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP)

30. Collaborators • Gulf Coast • NMFS Pascagoula, MS • Mote Marine Laboratory • Louisiana State University • Alabama Dept. of Environmental Management • Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission • Great Lakes • Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (NOAA) • US EPA • Old Woman Creek NERR

31. Collaborators • East Coast • Gulf of Maine Mussel Watch “GulfWatch” for Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts • Hudson River NERR • NOAA/CCEHBR/Southeast • GTM Nat. Est. Res. Reserve (NERR)

32. GulfWatch & NOAA Mussel Watch Collaboration

33. National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science Organizational Structure at a Glance Ocean Service NCCOS Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research (CSCOR) Geodetic Survey Sanctuary Program Center for Coastal Monitoring & Assessment (CCMA) Coast Survey Ocean. Products & Services Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research (CCFHR) Office of Response & Restoration Center for Coastal Env. Health & Biomolecular Research (CCEHBR) Coastal Services Center Hollings Marine Laboratory NCCOS-NIST-SCDNR-COFC-MUSC (HML) Ocean & Coastal Resource Management NOAA Fisheries Weather Service NOAA Research Satellite, Data & Information Program, Planning & Integration

34. Oxford, MD Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research (Laboratory and Staff) Kasitsna Bay, AK Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research (Laboratory & Staff) Silver Spring, MD NCCOS Headquarters Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment Honolulu, HI Center for Coastal Monitoring & Assessment (1 Staff Member) Charleston, SC Center for Coastal Environmental Health & Biomolecular Research Hollings Marine Laboratory Beaufort, NC Center for Coastal Fisheries And Habitat Research Monterey, CA Center for Coastal Monitoring & Assessment (1 Staff Member)

35. NS&T Core Analytes: Trace and Major Elements Aluminum Antimony ◊ Arsenic ◊ Cadmium ◊□ Chromium ◊ Copper ◊□ Iron Lead ◊□ Manganese Mercury ◊ Nickel ◊□ Selenium ◊ Silicon Silver ◊□ Thallium ◊ Tin Zinc ◊□ Vanadium# ◊ Trace elements contained in the EPA Priority Pollutants List □ Trace elements quantified by both the NS&T Program and the earlier EPA Mussel Watch Program (1976-1978) # Special FDA request in response to DWH oil spill

36. Participating Laboratories • Texas A&M University Trace Element Research Laboratory • Battelle (Sequim, Washington) • National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST) • Center for Coastal Fisheries and Habitat Research [MeHg] • Center for Coastal Environ. Health & Biomolecular Research • Winchester College, MD • Center of Coastal Monitoring and Assessment

38. Conclusions for the Mussel Watch Program • Established long-term contaminant database suitable for assessing temporal trends • Provides data for regional assessments of contamination for use by coastal managers • Provides baseline data for evaluation of the impacts of oil spills and other event-based releases