Introduction
". .
. synthetic pesticides have been so thoroughly distributed throughout
the animate and inanimate world that they occur virtually everywhere.
They have been recovered from most of the major river systems and even
from streams of groundwater flowing unseen through the earth. Residues
of these chemicals linger in soil to which
they may have been applied
a dozen years before. . . They have been found in fish in remote mountain
lakes, in earthworms burrowing in soil, in the eggs of birds--and in
man himself."
- Rachel Carson, Silent Spring
Pollution is one of the
American public's greatest environmental concerns. Like the proverbial "canary
in the coal mine," fish and wildlife often signal pollution
problems that ultimately affect people and their quality of life.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is the main federal
agency dedicated to protecting wildlife and their habitat from
pollution's harmful effects, helping to create a healthy world
for all living things.
WHAT WE DO:
Contaminants Prevention. Contaminants
specialists review environmental documents, legislation, regulations,
and permits and licenses with pollution potential to ensure that
harmful effects on fish, wildlife, and plants are avoided or minimized.
Some examples include:
- analysis of documents
and permits related to control of nonpoint source pollution
from agriculture and urban runoff, point source pollution
from industrial and municipal waste treatment facilities,
and discharges of dredge and fill material;
- review of proposed
Federal projects related to mining, agricultural irrigation,
range management, and oil and gas development to ensure that
habitat quality concerns are adequately addressed;
- review of EPA pesticide registration
proposals to ensure that potential impacts to fish and wildlife
are considered; and,
- review of pesticide
use on FWS lands to ensure these chemicals are properly applied
and, in some cases, to recommend the use of acceptable alternatives.
|
Contaminants Identification
and Assessment. Service environmental contaminant specialists
conduct field studies to determine sources of pollution, to investigate
pollution effects on fish and wildlife and their habitat, and
to investigate fish and wildlife die-offs. Sites typically assessed
include those impacted by pesticides, industrial wastes, oil
and hazardous waste spills, and drain water from agricultural
irrigation and mining, as well as Superfund sites
and other sites contaminated at some time in the past. Contaminants
specialists have also developed tools such as the Contaminants
Assessment Process (CAP), which was developed in cooperation
with the US Geological Survey's Status and Trends of Biological Resources Program to assist
in evaluating contaminant threats to national wildlife refuges,
as well as other Service lands. In addition, field specialists
conduct contaminant surveys prior to the Service buying new lands.
Contaminant Cleanup
and Resource Restoration. Data collected in contaminant assessments
is often used to secure compensation for resources lost or degraded
by hazardous waste releases or spills. These efforts are part
of the Natural Resource Damage
Assessment and Restoration Program (Restoration Program).
The Service also takes part, through contaminants identification,
assessment, planning and restoration, in the Department of Interior's National
Irrigation Water Quality Program (NIWQP). Contaminant specialist
are often called in by the US Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), US
Coast Guard, or various other Federal or State agencies responsible
for cleaning up a contaminated area, to ensure that fish and
wildlife and their habitat are adequately protected during, and
upon completion of, the cleanup. Contaminants specialists also
work closely with National
Wildlife Refuge managers to design and implement actions
to cleanup oil and hazardous material on refuge lands.
Technical Support. Training
field office staff, analyzing contaminant samples, and managing
information are all key to the Contaminants Program's success.
A large part of the Program's technical support comes from the Analytical
Control Facility (ACF), part of the National
Conservation Training Center in Sheperdstown, West Virginia.
Staff at ACF are responsible for such things as overseeing all
Service chemical analysis and managing the Environmental Contaminants
Data Management System. This system is designed to electronically
store, analyze, and create reports on the vast amount of analytical
information obtained from fish and wildlife tissue samples collected
by FWS biologists.
|