The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Environmental Contaminants Program includes contaminants specialists stationed at more than 75 locations around the country. Service contaminants specialists are on the front lines in the fight against pollution. They specialize in detecting toxic chemicals; addressing their effects; preventing harm to fish, wildlife and their habitats; and removing toxic chemicals and restoring habitat when prevention isn't possible. They include experts on oil and chemical spills, pesticides, water quality, hazardous materials disposal and other aspects of pollution biology. The Contaminant Program's operations are integrated into all other Service activities and the Service's contaminants specialists often work in partnership with other agencies and organizations which have come to rely on our expertise.
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:
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, Department of Defense, 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.
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 Patuxent Analytical Control Facility (PACF), part of Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Maryland. Staff at PACF 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.