TDI-Brooks was awarded a $3.1 Million, five-year, General Services Contract GS07F5388R entitled “National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program, Mussel Watch and Bioeffects Programs Analytical Chemistry.” The award is from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA), National Ocean Service (NOS) Office with a performance period of 21, September 2009 to 20, September 2014. The project is a continuation and extension of two previous 5-year projects for the NOAA NS&T Mussel Watch Program. The Mussel Watch Program is the longest continuous, nationwide contaminant monitoring program in U.S. coastal waters. The program analyzes sediment and bivalve tissue chemistry for a suite of organic contaminants and trace metals to identify trends at over 300 selected coastal sites from 1986 to present. TDI-Brooks and our affiliate B&B Laboratories will conduct the field sampling and trace organic contaminant portions of this project. The histopathology segment of the award is subcontracted to Rutgers University and the trace metal and nutrient analyses is subcontracted to Texas A&M University.
The purpose of the Mussel Watch Project is three fold:
1) to describe the spatial distribution and temporal trends of trace elements and organic contaminants nationally;
2) provide the coastal resource managers with data to compare their region’s resource condition with the nation as a whole; and
3) through the use of archived samples, provide a capability for retrospective analyses and assessment of emerging contaminants of concern.
The purpose of the Bioeffects Project is three fold:
1) provide intensive chemical analysis of contamination in selected estuaries and offshore waters in order to describe the nature and scale of biological effects;
2) provide regional resource managers with date information useful to evaluate the success of coastal resource management strategies; and
3) complement the programs of other federal and state agencies in providing the data and information needed for recurring national assessments of coastal conditions.
These programs are the two premier long-term coastal environmental monitoring programs in the nation. Many of TDI-Brooks personnel have been involved in this project since its inception in 1986 and this award represents the third, consecutive five-year contract to TDI-Brooks for the NOAA NS&T Program.
