Facilities

	Driving Directions

EPA's Andrew W. Breidenbach Environmental Research Center (AWBERC) lies adjacent to the main campus of the University of Cincinnati and near major hospitals and medical research complexes. The center is one of two major EPA research centers in the nation, housing research laboratories, training facilities, and administrative offices.

International Leader. AWBERC is internationally recognized for water research and has become a leader in areas of bioremediation and pollution prevention. The National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL) uses the AWBERC facility for drinking water, water quality, land remediation, pollution control, and sustainability research.

Research Facilities Available for Collaboration. With its valuable and highly specialized research facilities located in laboratories and research centers across the country, EPA has opportunities for states, private sector companies, utilities, nonprofit organizations, and academic institutions to collaborate with EPA researchers. By making our research facilities and equipment available, EPA can serve as a catalyst for progress in efforts to identify, understand, and solve current and future environmental problems. AWBERC has several facilities used for collaboration:

• Advanced Materials and Solids Analysis Research Core (AMSARC)
• Biocontainment Suite. The Biocontainment Suite (BCS) is fully equipped to conduct research on detection and inactivation of bacterial biological agents (BioSafety Level-2), using both molecular and culture methods for organism analysis and quantitation. The BCS uses a standalone HVAC system and houses five individual laboratory rooms that are contiguously arranged and share a common use support area. Studies focus on rapid methods for concentration and identification of pathogens from large volumes of water. Pathogen identification is by both culture and molecular methods. Protocols to inactivate pathogens in water and protect public health also are conducted in the BCS. All rooms operate under negative air pressure and all laboratory modules are individually sealed and proximity-card locked, which aids in the physical separation and containment of the pathogens from the rest of the AWBERC facility.
• Drinking Water Pilot Plant. This large, two story open-bay laboratory is used for performing pilot- and bench-scale studies to examine the removal of contaminants from drinking water and conduct distribution system research. The laboratory contains pipe loops, safety ventilation hoods, fabrication space, oven, and designated bench-scale space. Source waters can be brought in from nearby rivers, reservoirs, and groundwater sources and stored in large tanks housed in the facility. The tanks are currently being configured to directly feed a pilot system designed to simulate coagulation, clarification, filtration, direct and biological filtration, and softening, although other pilot systems could also be used. Existing pilot systems can operate in series or in parallel, and disinfectant oxidants (such as chlorine, ozone, chloramine, and chlorine dioxide) can be introduced at several locations. Specific water compositions can also be created in-house and contaminants, chemicals, or microbes may be added to the raw water as needed to simulate problematic waters. There is also a model home plumbing system that will be used to study corrosion and biofilm in drinking water distribution systems.
• Full Containment Facility. The Full Containment Facility is a self-contained and environmentally isolated research facility designed for analytical and experimental research on highly toxic or hazardous materials, although additional water-related research is also conducted there. The facility is adjacent to the main AWBERC building and has one double and eight single laboratories with capacities to analyze and characterize unknown waste samples and for the conduction of laboratory-scale treatment and treatment-related research. Each laboratory is outfitted with standard exhaust hoods that contain air, water, and vacuum hook-ups and can be individually climate-controlled for temperature and humidity. Scientists can easily custom-configure the laboratories because they contain no fixed structures other than the exhaust hoods, sinks, and counter tops. In order to accommodate the sensitive microscopes included in AMSARC's electron microscopy laboratory (described above), the containment facility is situated over bedrock, which reduces floor movement to within instrument specifications.

Greening AWBERC. Aligned with EPA's mission to protect the environment, AWBERC has implemented environmental greening features such as green roofs; rain gardens; more energy-efficient equipment; elimination of the need to use once-through city water; and an enhanced recycling program that includes five different grades of paper, all fluorescent lighting, all petroleum products, all toner cartridges, and more.

Energy Efficiency. EPA Cincinnati and EPA Headquarters partnered with the General Services Administration and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to purchase green power from Community Energy, Inc. of Wayne, Pennsylvania. The fuel mix consists of 95 percent landfill gas and 5 percent wind power, and greatly reduces greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere. The three-year, power-purchase contract will satisfy 100 percent of EPA's electricity needs for the three Cincinnati, Ohio facilities that consume a total of 15.6 million kilowatts per year.

	Driving Directions

The Test and Evaluation Facility (T&E) is designed to support research on new treatment technologies for water and hazardous waste. This unique facility, utilized by the National Risk Management Research Laboratory, has a high-bay area for bench-, pilot-, and full-scale research, and is supported by analytical laboratories, chemical storage, and office space. On-site chemistry labs, and two water distribution system simulators, allow scientists the flexibility to study drinking water contaminants, biosensors, and small systems.

Ohio EPA Treatability Exclusion. Under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, T&E is a permitted treatment, storage, and disposal facility that holds an Ohio EPA Treatability Exclusion. This exclusion allows the facility to conduct treatability studies using quantities of all categories of hazardous waste. This is unmatched by any similar facility in the nation. As part of EPA’s Environmental Technology Verification Program, T&E also verifies water security monitoring and treatment technology testing.

Research Facilities Available for Your Use. With its valuable and highly specialized research facilities located in laboratories and research centers across the country, EPA has opportunities for states, private sector companies, utilities, nonprofit organizations, and academic institutions to use EPA's facilities for research. By making its research facilities and equipment available when not otherwise in use for Agency research, EPA can serve as a catalyst for progress in efforts to identify, understand, and solve current and future environmental problems. T&E Facility is available for collaborative R&D.

US EPA. (2008) "Test and Evaluation Facility." (PDF) (2 pp, 211 KB) Publication No. EPA/600/F-08/004.