UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD
ENVIRONMENTAL MEASUREMENTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
REPORT
ON THE
RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, MONITORING,
AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT SYSTEM
OF THE
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
AUGUST 1977
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EPA NOTICE
This report has been written as a part of the activities of
the Agency Science Advisory Board, a public advisory group
providing extramural scientific information to the Administrator
and other officials of the Environmental Protection Agency, The
Board is structured to provide a balanced expert assessment of
scientific matters related to problems facing the Agency. This
report has not been reviewed for approval by the Agency and hence
its contents do not represent the views and policies of the
Environmental Protection Agency, nor does mention of trade names
or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation
for use,
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U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD
ENVIRONMENTAL MEASUREMENTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Dr. Lenore S. Clesceri
Professor of Biology
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY 12181
Dr. Ursula M. Cowgill
Professor of Biology
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Dr. Warren B. Crummett
Manager, Analytical Laboratory
Dow Chemical Company
Midland, MI 48640
Dr. Virgil H. Freed
Professor of Agricultural Chemistry
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331
Dr. Choo-Seng Giam
Professor of Chemistry and Oceanography
Texas ASM University
College Station, TX 77843
Dr. Edwin H. Lennette
Chief, Laboratory Services
State Department of Public Health
Berkeley, CA 94704
Dr, Lockhart B. Rogers
Professor of Chemistry
University of Georgia
Athens, GA 30602
Dr. Geoffrey S. Watson
Professor of Statistics
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08540
Dr. Frederick D. Rossini, Chairman
Professor of Chemistry
Rice University
Houston, TX 77001
Dr. John O. Corliss
Professor of Zoology
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
Dr. Eryce L, Crawford, Jr.
Professor of Chemistry
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Dr. Edward F. Ferrand
Assistant Commissioner
Department of Air Resources
New York, NY 10003
Dr. Henry Freiser
Professor of Chemistry
University of Arizona
Tucson, AR 85721
Dr. Joel O» Hougen
Professor of Chemical Engineering
University of Texas
Austin, TX 70712
Dr. James N. Pitts, Jr.
Director, State-wide Air
Pollution Research Center
Riverside, CA 92502
Dr. William C. Taylor
Professor of Civil Engineering
Howard University
Washington, DC 20059
Dr. George J. Zissis
Chief Scientist
Environmental Research Institute
of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48107
Dr. Alphonse F. Forziati
Staff .Officer
U.S. Environmental Protection
Washington, DC 20460
Agency
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REPORT ON THE
RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, MONITORING, AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT SYSTEM
OF THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
CONTENTS
I. Introduction
II. General observations
1. Philosophy and organization for research and
development,
2, Management at Headquarters and at the Laboratories.
3. Quality of the scientific personnel at the
Laborator ies.
4. Capabilities of the scientific personnel as related to
the tasks assigned.
5. The problem of measurement.
6. The problem of communication.
7. Tasks assigned to the Laboratories and their relevance
to the mission of the Agency.
8, Short-term responsive technical support, as related to
the regulatory responsibilities of the Agency.
9. Long-term anticipatory research, as related to the
mission of the Agency.
10. Extramural contracts and grants.
11. Transfer of measurement and monitoring technology to
the Regional Laboratories of the Agency and
thence to the local State and Community
Laboratories,
III. Specific comments
1. Introductory statement
2. National Enforcement Investigation Center, Denver,
Colorado.
3. Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory, Las
Vegas, Nevada.
4, Vint Hill Field Station, Vint Hill Farms, Warrenton,
Virginia.
5. Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory,
Cincinnati, Ohio.
6. Environmental Research Laboratory, Narragansett, Rhode
Island.
7. Environmental Research Laboratory, Duluth, Minnesota.
8. Monticello Ecological Research Station, Monticello,
Minnesota.
9. Large Lakes Research Station, Grosse lie, Michigan.
10 Environmental Research Laboratory, Research Triangle
Park, North Carolina.
11. Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory,
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
12. Environmental Research Laboratory, Athens, Georgia,
13. Technical Support Laboratory—Region IV—Atlanta,
Athens, Georgia.
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I, lOTROCUCTION
As an element of the Science Advisory Board of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency*, the Environmental Measurements
Advisory Committee provides the following services to the
Administrator of the Agency, in accordance with the
Administrator's Order 1 130. 40A: reviews the overall
environmental measurement activities of the Agency and assists in
identifying needs for research and development in environmental
measurements; recommends priorities for Agency response to these
needs; advises regarding the feasibility and objectives of the
Agency's current and projected measurement-research, work-plans,
and monitoring strategies, so as to avoid duplication of effort
from within and outside the Agency; evaluates the results of
specific research efforts of both in-house and extramural
projects, including on^site observations, as requested; assists
in identifying emerging environmental contaminant
characterization and monitoring problems and in anticipating
future research requirements; advises on basic research essential
to meeting future needs; advises on the philosophy fundamental to
the establishment of monitoring standards, including the
selection of appropriate pollution indices and the optimum number
and distribution of monitoring stations, the use of remote
sensing techniques, the assurance of the comparability and
quality of the data collected by the stations, the application of
advanced statistical theory in interpreting the data, and the
interfacing of monitoring and data storage systems; conducts
special studies identified by the Committee or requested by the
Executive Committee of the Science Advisory Board; and responds
to specific issues as requested by the Agency, The Committee
also considers long-range needs for environmental quality
monitoring and provides scientific advice on issues, problems,
and policies relating thereto.
* Here-in-after referred to as the Agency.
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Under date of May 27, 1975, the Administrator requested the
Chairman of the Science Advisory Board to have the Board, through
its several advisory committees, engage in a study to provide the
Administrator witlv an. independent: assessment of the quality of
the scientific and technical programs of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (SPA). To discharge its part of the
assignment, the Environmental Measurements Advisory Committee
(EMAC) received reports and briefings, both at Headquarters and
in the field, from officials of the Agency responsible for
various phases of research, development, monitoring, and
technical support, and made site visits to twelve laboratories in
the field.
Arranged in order of the time of the visitations, which
were made in the six-month period, July 1 to December 31, 1976,
these visits were as follows;
1. At Denver, Colorado: National Enforcement
Investigation Center; July 6, 1976;
2, At Las Vegas, Nevada: Environmental Monitoring and
Support Laboratory; July 7-8, 1976;
3, At Cincinnati, Ohio: Environmental Monitoring and
Support Laboratory; July 20-21, 1976;
4. At Narragansett, Rhode Island; Environmental Research
Laboratory; September 27-28, 1976;
5. At Duluth, Minnesota: Environmental Research
Laboratory; October 18-19, 1976;
6, At Monticello, Minnesota: Monticello Ecological
Research Station; October 20, 1976;
7. At Research Triangle Park, North Carolina:
Environmental Research Laboratory; November 1-3,
1976;
8. At Research Triangle Park, North Carolina:
Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory;
November 1-3, 1976;
9. At Grosse lie, Michigan: Large Lakes Research
Station; November 15, 1976;
10. At Vint Hill Farms, Warrenton, Virginia; Vint Hill
Field Station; November 22, 1976.
11. At Athens, Georgia: Environmental Research
Laboratory; December 20-22, 1976;
12. At Athens, Georgia: Technical Support Laboratory—
Region IV—Atlanta; December 21, 1976.
To maximize the matching of the expertise and knowledge of
the individual members of EMAC, and to minimize travel time and
costs, selected groups of two to seven persons visited seven
laboratories and the entire Committee visited five laboratories
(at three locations).
This report summarizes the conclusions reached by the
Committee, giving, in Part II, some general observations on the
entire systems, and, in Part III, specific observations on each
of the laboratories visited.
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i Part II of this report gives observations and comments on
the system of research, development, monitoring, and technical
support of the Agency, presented under the following topics:
1. Philosophy and organization for research and
development.
2 Management at Headquarters and at the Laboratories.
3. Quality of the scientific personnel at the
Laboratories.
14. Capabilities of the scientific personnel as related to
the tasks assigned.
5, The problem of measurement.
6. The problem of communication.
7. Tasks assigned to the Laboratories and their relevance
to the mission of the Agency.
8. Short-term responsive technical support, as related to
the regulatory responsibilities of the Agency.
9. Long-term anticipatory research, as related to the
mission of the Agency.
10. Extramural contracts and grants.
11. Transfer of measurement and monitoring technology to
the Regional Laboratories of the Agency and
thence to the local State and Community
Laboratories.
Part III of this report gives specific observations and
comments on the twelve laboratories which were the object of site
visits. These specific observations and comments relate to the
same topics covered in general under Part II for the entire
system, though a number of the topics are not relevant to some of
the sites visited.
The reader should keep in mind that this report is
presented from the standpoint of the needs of the Agency
regarding measurements of quantities and properties of substances
and systems important in the maintenance of an environment of
adequate quality. To paraphrase the famous Lord Kelvin, unless
we can really measure it, we know nothing about it.
The Committee is very hopeful that the general and specific
comments given in this report are presented in a constructive
manner that will result in their receptive study and appropriate
action by those in authority,
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II. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
PHILOSOPHY AND ORGANISATION FOB RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Given the knowledge -that certain substances appearing in
various media of the environment above given concentrations have
significant deleterious effects on human health, the Agency must
arrange for coordinated and valid measurements on the systems
involved. By means of appropriate environmental measurements,
the Agency must be provided with reliable and quantitative
information on the extent and concentration of such deleterious
substances in the environment. Assurance must be provided that
all data, wherever and whenever taken, are intercomparable,
accurate, representative, valid, and legally defensible. To
acquire such data, the efforts of scientists who are honest,
unbiased, experienced, skilled in analytical techniques, and
capable of making good judgments, are required. Significant and
representative samples must be obtained for analysis and all the
skills of science applied to the interpretation of the results.
The work of environmental measurements requires the
continual involvement of top scientists who are encouraged to
maintain their intellectual independence. Because of the nature
of the Agency, these scientists perforce operate under great
pressure from the Administrators of the Agency, who are pressured
by the U.S. Congress, special interst groups, the general public,
and others. The scientist's estimate of the time required to
obtain reliable data should be appropriately taken into account.
Care should be taken to assign reasonable uncertainties to the
numerical data obtained. Appropriate analytical tools and
procedures should be developed and validated before the relevant
data are obtained.
The impact of regulatory decisions, and their effect on the
people, animals, plants, and things in the real world in which we
live, should be properly assessed.
Decision-makers require that scientific judgments be made.
Law enforcement demands an immediate decision. Through its
administrators, the Agency should frankly admit when such
decisions must be made before full scientific information is
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available, Legal and scientific groups should be in constant
close communication. Lawyers need to know the facts and
scientists need to know what facts are needed.
Scientists of any one group can be fallible, even though
they are doing their best within their own limitations and the
constraints set by their situation. Academic, industrial, and
government agency scientists may differ significantly in their
interpretation of a given set of facts, though all may be seeking
the same truth. Strong and continuous interaction of scientists
from these groups should minimize this fallibility. There should
also be adequate interaction among scientists of the many
different government agencies to put problems into proper
pe r s pec ti ve .
The organization of research and development should be
designed so as to provide, in addition to the basic requirements
of any system of research, development, monitoring, and technical
support, for the development of scientists capable of exercising
a significant role in the decision-making process within the
Agency, identifying the relevant scientific problems, and
developing an appropriate program of research leading to their
solution.
The scientific core of the Agency should be so strong that
new appointments in the top administrative roles would have very
little effect on the role and performance of research and
development within the Agency, In fact, the top scientists of
the Agency should fill positions at least equivalent to deputy
assistant administrators. Thus, neither political appointees nor
legal counsel could dictate the position scientists should take
in order to get recognition. Following official reports to the
Agency, the top scientists should, at the appropriate time and
through proper scientific channels, make public disclosure of the
scientific information developed on any given issue, whether or
not it is in conflict with any decision or regulation of the
Agency.
To provide an environment conducive to the growth of
scientists, the Agency should continuously administer programs of
recognition and encouragement for excellent scientific
performance. Such programs should encourage greater
responsibility for scientists, provide awards for special
achievement, and ensure adequate involvement of scientists in
decisions based on scientific input. The scientists engaged in
environmental measurements should be encouraged to participate in
the definition of a problem, the devising of a method for its
solution, the making of the measurements, the interpretation of
the data, the reporting of the results to those having a need to
know, and in educating decision-makers on how the results apply
to the solution of the problem. Such involvement will greatly
increase the morale and productivity of scientists so involved.
Accountability is the essence of effective stewardship.
The scientists should be accountable to their conscience, the
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Agency, the scientific community, and the public. Interference
with such accountability results in confusion and a rapid
degradation of the credibility of the Agency, Strong ties with
the scientific community.of the ^country m-ust be encouraged *o
support this philosophy in an adequate manner.
The organization should provide a highly visible mechanism
which permits and encourages appropriate scientists to
participate in defining major problems and devising research
programs to obtain solutions. This should be done across
organizational lines and, in many cases, may include scientists
and engineers from academia, not-for-profit laboratories, and
industry, as well as government. The need for such cooperation
is so great that any organization of research and development in
the Agency should always provide for such cooperation,
To assure long-range scientific and technical excellence,
continuous self-examination of ongoing programs should be an
integral part of the duties of the scientists, In this way, one
can determine whether changes are needed to maximize the
intellectual advancement of its scientists and to obtain the best
possible solutions to our environmental problems in a reasonable
time.
The health and vigor of any scientific enterprise depends
on the morale of the members of the staff and maintenance of
their motivation, which depends in significant measure on the
system of rewards for meritorious work. Promotions in rank and
salary should be based on solid scientific accomplishment rather
than on self-propagated preferential visibility.
The Agency presently has an excellent nucleus of scientists
on which to build an organization capable of operating under the
philosophy outlined above. A dedicated commitment and strong
vision can implement these desiderata.
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2. MANAGEMENT AT HEADQUARTERS AND AT THE LABORATORIES
The successful operation of any large research and
development enterprise- is-inherently dependent upon the quality
of its management personnel and their ability to work effectively
with their scientific and regulatory staffs. A good working
relationship, one that is productive from the standpoint of
meeting the stated objectives of the organization and the needs
of the public served, requires rapport based on the understanding
of management on how science operates, how it derives its
information, and how accurate and sound are the conclusions
researched or end-results attained,
Managers of research and development should have much more
than a casual knowledge of the science and technology on which
the work is based. Ideally, and at all levels, the management
personnel should be comprised in high proportion of
administrators trained in science and the scientific method.
This is not to say that all scientists, because of their training
in a scientific field, are ipso facto able or competent
administrators. It is, however, a good foundation on which to
build, and scientific staff members with interest in, or a flair
for, administration should not only be encouraged to consider
management careers, but also to undertake the ancillary and
continuing training requisite to the development of a competent
and imaginative scientist administrator.
Administrators in the Laboratories, in general, have a
science background, but their competence and performance vary in
respect to administrative skills and in philosophical attitudes.
There is a need for higher management to choose, carefully and
judiciously, scientists with an interest or capability in
administration, and to support them by providing the continuing
managerial training requisite to competent leadership. Merely
appointing an individual to a managerial position, and then
essentially forgetting about him, is likely to create problems
and difficulties.
The Agency should take a more active role in developing its
own career administrators. To do this effectively requires an
understanding of the mission of the Agency, its role in achieving
the objectives, and knowledge of the sciences that provide the
basis for environmental measurements, together with proper
interpretation and translation of such data into the control and
regulatory functions of the Agency. In general, such
understanding seems lacking with respect to the role of top
management vis-a-vis the operating level in research and
development. The personnel in the top echelon of the Agency seem
to have more of a legal rather than a scientific orientation, and
a regulatory rather than an educational philosophy. The former
may reflect in large part the Agency's emphasis toward control
and regulation, although this may be open to debate. However,
the point is illustrated by one unit whose mission was explicitly
stated to be to "win cases in court," a purely legal motivation.
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More, uniform compliance with laws and regulations might be better
achieved by educational approaches rather than punitive measures.
The-Agency .is a mission-oriented organization and, as such,
its research and development work must perforce encompass both
long-term and short-term phases, Because of the sensitivity of
management to political pressures and public demands, policy
becomes expedient and hence erratic. This results in abrupt
changes in the problems and tasks assigned to the Laboratories
and gives rise to unrest on the part of the personnel and
discontinuity in the work. The need for productivity and prudent
use of financial and human resources dictates a careful analysis
of the major problem areas and judicious commitment of the
available resources to support the resolution of the proper
problems. Management must recognize and accept the need for
long-term research as well as short-term technical support, with
each commitment being properly controlled. These two areas must
be balanced properly as regards funding, personnel, and
administration.
Frequent changes in top-level management are undesirable
because they not only disrupt ongoing research operations but
also alter the policy governing such operations. When such
changes reach operational levels, they can seriously impair or
negate the value of a well-planned program, resulting in
significant waste of resources. The Committee notes with great
concern the deleterious effects of the changes in top-level
management that have taken place in the Agency within the past
several years.
Managerial procedures and management responsibilities are
not quickly learned and time and patience are required for their
acquisition. Much loss of time and effort can be avoided by
creating career type appointments within the Agency, at all
levels.
A frequent and justified complaint is the failure of
management to understand and fully appreciate the capability and
limitations of the science on which decisions must be made.
Squally, however, there is the failure of scientists to
appreciate the role of both management personnel and the
scientists and technologists. It would be desirable for the
scientists to comprehend the mission of the Agency and the subtle
nuances of the socio-political considerations involved, as well
as the science, in establishing objectives and making decisions.
Laboratory scientists must come to understand the need to
apportion limited resources on a basis of priorities established
from these considerations and to appreciate the role of
management in making decisions, The Committee found some
understanding of these matters by some scientists of the Agency,
but much more needs to be done along these lines.
Perhaps too little is made in science of the complexity and
dynamics of group activities and the need for assigning
specialized roles to individuals within the group to achieve the
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desired purpose. It is recommended, therefore, that more
attention be given by the Agency to acquainting scientists at the
non-managerial level with these complexities. Additionally, once
the mission and objectives are specified, efforts should be made
to give the scientists a comprehensive view of the program and to
help the scientists identify where his or her activities
contribute in the overall picture.
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3. QUALITY OF THE SCIENTIFIC PERSONNEL AT THE LABORATORIES
On the basis of the visits made to 12 Laboratories of the
Agency, located i.n different parts of the country as .outlined, in
Part I of this Report, the following conclusion is reached: By
and large, the quality of the scientific personnel in the
Laboratories is good; some of the scientists are superior in
ability and performance, a few are at the low end of the scale,
but the majority can be classed as average or somewhat above
average.
The best characteristics of the scientific personnel at
hand can be brought to blossom by improvement in the ambience of
the laboratory and the organization in which they work. It
appears that the overall quality of the scientific personnel in
the Laboratories of the Agency is not the factor that limits the
guality and strength of the contributions made in research,
development, monitoring, and technical support to the operation
of the Agency, The quality of the scientific personnel,
considered to be adequate on the average, can be very
significantly upgraded in a number of ways: by a viable system
of rewards for superior accomplishment; by their appropriate
involvement in planning their work and analyzing their results;
by their interaction with scientists on related work, both inside
and outside the Agency; by periodic updating in their training
through special courses; and by enhancement of their stature as
important entities in the overall structure and work including
the regulatory facets of the Agency. The Committee believes that
the Agency can profit enormously by putting adequate effort and
support on these matters.
Other factors which lead to improvement in the creativity
and productivity of the scientific personnel include: adequate
facilities for access to the relevant scientific literature,
including on-line connections to computer-readable files;
opportunity for intra-laboratory discussions and inter-laboratory
conferences on relevant topics within the Agency; and opportunity
to participate in local, national, and international seminars and
conferences dealing with appropriate environmental problems. In
many cases, high quality performance derives from stauch
dedication to the assignment in spite of the lack of the
conditions enumerated above.
Because of the extremely short time scale involved in the
establishment of the Agency, and its obligation to proceed
expeditiously with enforcement of the laws put on the books by
the U.S. Congress, the Agency has had to recruit personnel in a
hurry under the U.S. Civil Service regulations. As a result,
there has not been time nor opportunity to locate and recruit the
experienced engineering talent needed for conducting the inhouse
work and monitoring the extramural work, related to large-scale,
engineering—oriented studies which the Agency has to do to
monitor compliance of industrial and manufacturing operations
with the environmental regulations of the Agency. Inexperienced
engineers of the Agency are at a disadvantage in their
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interaction with extramural contractors, so that it is difficult
for them to monitor properly the work being done, to judge its
merit and to assess the quality of performance of the
contractors.
The successful acquisition of data in plant-testing on an
engineering scale depends very much on the art, as well as the
science and technology, of the engineer, and requires a personal
dedication and committment, as well as insight and perseverance.
Young engineers lacking adequate experience in such work
should be assigned to attend the many available short courses
being given by universities and professional societies covering
topics of plant-testing, engineering-problem solving techniques,
and related areas. Also, experienced consultants having
expertise in particular areas could be engaged to assist in the
evaluation and monitoring of both inhouse and extramural work of
this kind. The Committee feels that the Agency should carefully
review its situation in these matters and take appropriate action
for improvement.
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4. CAPABILITIES OF THE SCIENTIFIC PEBSCNNEL
AS RELATED TO THE TASKS ASSIGNED.
In any scientific enterprise,, it is important..to
distinguish between the quality of the scientific personnel and
their capabilities and productivity in the tasks assigned. It is
not usual for the productivity of scientific personnel to exceed
the expectations based on knowledge of their capabilities,
However, it can easily be, and most frequently does occur, that
the productivity of the scientific enterprise falls far short of
what can be properly expected for a given level of capability.
The latter means that the human resources available are not being
utilized adequately.
It is the responsiblity of the management for research,
development, monitoring, and technical support to ensure that the
capabilities of the scientific personnel are fully utilized and
challenged. It is important to bring about a reasonable match of
scientific capabilities with the tasks assigned to a given
Laboratory, and, within a given Laboratory, to match the
capabilities within a unit to the requirements of the task
assigned to that unit. Successful matching of this kind requires
great skill on the part o.f the management.
It has been noted that a given Laboratory may have an
obvious lack of specialized expertise in a scientific area basic
to the mission of that Laboratory, while another Laboratory may
possess specialized expertise outside its mission, Bringing
about a proper balance of mission and capabilities requires
careful but firm relocation of personnel,
The Committee suggests that the Agency could benefit
considerably from a careful and serious review of its position in
these matters and take appropriate action to correct the obvious
and the not—so-obvious mismatches that exist.
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5. THE PROBLEM OF MEASUREMENT
The Agency has the mission of protecting and enhancing the
quality of. the environment. To .accomplish this,, the Agency
issues regulations that include statements of the quantities of
given pollutants which will be tolerated in a given media.
Amounts in excess of such quantities call for regulatory action.
From the foregoing, it follows that the Agency must depend
heavily upon precise and accurate environmental measurements of
assured reliability. To discharge such responsiblities properly,
the Agency must possess intellectual capabilities equal to the
best existing in the science of measurements. These intellectual
resources must be supported with the best available measuring
apparatus and equipment, to provide reliable and authoritative
data, with results acceptable to the scientific-technical
community,
To arrive at an assured result in the system of
measurements, the sequence is as follows; (a) provision of
intellectual resources of adequate capabilities; (b) provision of
apparatus and equipment capable of yielding the desired
measurements; (c) collecting authentic representative samples of
the medium to be tested; (d) calibrating the measuring apparatus
and equipment with appropriate standard reference materials; (e)
making measurements on the "unknown" samples; and
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only on a part-time basis. Where two Laboratories each have less
than full-time need for some highly specialized and costly
apparatus, consideration should be given to sharing to reduce
costs. It is-important that the Laboratories of the Agency be
maintained fully competitive with their academic and industrial
counterparts. Where the continued, routine use of certain
apparatus and equipment requires appreciable amounts of service,
consideration should be given to inhouse maintenance of such
apparatus and equipment, when the availability of such service
directly from the manufacturer deteriorates in quality and
timeliness.
One of the biggest barriers to success in environmental
measurements is the matter of obtaining an authentic sample,
identified as one which truly represents the environment in
question, with respect to the pollutant itself, its
concentration, and its location in the given environment. If the
medium in which the pollutant is resident is completely
stationary and immobile, with no change in concentration of
pollutant with location and time, the problem of obtaining a
valid sample for analysis is greatly simplified. On the other
hand, if the medium is a fluid, gaseous or liquid, slow-moving or
fast-moving, involving changes of concentration of the pollutant
with location and time, the investigator must assure himself of
the validity of any sample which he obtains for analysis. If the
system under investigation is well defined, samples can be
collected in a random fashion. Whenever available, prior
information regarding the system can be used to advantage.
An example of the complexity of the problem of obtaining
valid samples of a given environment is that of taking samples
from a body of water containing a given pollutant. In such a
case, one must consider in separate categories, small lakes,
large lakes, shallow lakes, deep lakes, slow-moving water, fast-
moving water, thermal stratification, seasonal changes, etc., and
establish a protocol of sampling the particular system which will
yield meaningful results. Here again, the question of location
and time of sampling looms large.
One of the obvious, but easily overlooked, snares in the
problem of sampling arises from contamination of the samples by
constituents external to the particular environment being
examined.
To ensure comparability of the results obtained by the
Agency, vis-a-vis those obtained on an identical environment by
the organization being monitored, the- Agency should prepare or
have prepared a series of handbooks on acceptable methods of
sampling of various environments.
To provide for necessary uniformity and comparability of
measurements on identical samples of material subjected to
analysis in different laboratories, with different apparatus, and
by different investigators, it is imperative that the apparatus
used be calibrated with appropriate standard reference materials.
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Such standard reference materials should be available for every
test method. Where needed standard reference materials are not
already available, the Agency should arrange for their provision,
preferably from an establishedragency of the government already
engaged in such work, such as the National Bureau of Standards.
In any case, the Agency should maintain a central
Laboratory for standard reference materials to serve all
Laboratories of the Agency and other interested organizations.
Such centralization leads to enhancement of the intellectual
level of the operation and improvement in the efficiency of
service to all the Laboratories.
The reliability of measurements can be enhanced by having
measurements on identical "unknown" samples made by several
laboratories in a "round-robin" program with apparatus calibrated
with the same standard reference materials. Such measurements
should cover all categories of measurements made by the
Laboratories of the Agency, in the several media and kinds of
environments encountered.
For internal consistency and comparability of analytical
results, between different units of the same Laboratory and of
different Laboratories, and between analytical and monitoring
operations, the use of uniform standard methods of test is an
absolute necessity.
In making systematic measurements en a particular
environment, the plan of measurements should conform to a
protocol which is amenable to proper statistical treatment of the
data obtained. The protocol should of course take cognizance of
the proper method of obtaining valid samples, the calibration of
the measuring apparatus with standard reference materials, and
the "round—robin" comparison of measurements on selected
"unknown" samples. Careful consideration should be given to the
design of a set of experiments to maximize the fruitfulness of
the results obtained.
When the data are finally obtained from a set of
measurements on a given system, proper statistical treatment
should be employed to yield not only the "best" value from the
data but also the magnitude of the uncertainty associated with
that "best" value. We should note that a given numerical value
without indication of its range of uncertainty has little value.
It is important to have adequate statistical treatment of
design of experiments and reduction of experimental data, for all
cases where such treatment can yield fruitful results. The
Agency could profit significantly by having a central unit at its
Headquarters available to provide advice and consultation on such
matters.
One of the very useful things that the Agency can do in the
realm of measurements is to arrange for the preparation of a
series of standard methods of test for each kind of measurement
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that the Agency is called upon to make to support its regulatory
responsibilities. The present efforts of the Agency along these
lines are laudable but are far short of the needs. Significant
increase in support of this work is needed. Also, coordination
is required to bring into focus the needs for biological
measurements along with the physical-chemical measurements,
Another area of measurements which is vital to the
successful accomplishment of the mission of the Agency is that of
large-scale, engineering-oriented studies, These are being
conducted both inhouse and under extramural contracts. It is
important that such work be properly supervised inhouse and
monitored extramurally. However, the proper supervision of such
work requires established engineers with experience and know-how
picked up on the job, not from books, supervisors of such work
should be thoroughly familiar with the basic elements of the
science and technology of measurement and with the best available
equipment for making the needed large-scale measurements.
There is a tendency for many persons to fall victim to the
syndrome of "hardware hypnotism" of commercially available
measurement systems, which are expensive and not easy to operate.
Occasionally, the choice is such that, for the given
investigation, the equipment turns out to be of marginal utility
and sometimes even intractable. There is over-emphasis on
computer systems which combine acquisition of data with its
reduction to usable form. Frequently, some significant
information may be lost in the process. The acquisition and
reduction of data is an onerous task. Reducing this task by
means of on-line computation is a laudable objective so long as
the investigator really knows what is going on inside the "black
box" on which he has "pushed the designated keys," There is no
better way to assure successful interpretation of data than to
have the experimenter personnally once go over every calculation
in detail, and thus assure himself that no relevant information
is being overlooked by the computer routine.
The Committee recommends that the various aspects of the
problem of measurement discussed in this section be reviewed
carefully at all levels in the Agency as appropriate, and
compared with existing practices in the Laboratories, with
justifiable action taken to correct deficiencies. The Committee
feels strongly that the problem of measurement is basic to the
entire enterprise, because, to paraphrase the famous Lord Kelvin,
unless we can really measure it, we knew nothing about it.
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6, THE PROBLEM OF COMMUNICATION
By its very nature, the Agency has the responsibility to
communicate information concerning the natural and social
sciences to a broad and diverse audience. This problem of
communication, both internally among the several components of
the Agency and externally to other government organizations and
to all the segments of our society, is critical to the successful
accomplishment of the mission of the Agency.
The multidisciplinary nature of the Agency creates an
enormous challenge, as does the need to translate reliable "hard
science" information, frequently related to complex trace
contaminants, into a form easily understood and useful for
decisions of public policy. The encumbant responsibilities
generate unique needs in communication. For example, not only
must scientists communicate within and among their individual
disciplines (such as mathematics, physics, chemistry,
engineering, biology, and medicine) but also the results of their
investigations must be communicated on a horizontal level to
their colleagues in the social sciences who are concerned with
economic impacts and cost-benefit analyses. Furthermore, the
resulting information also must be translated and transmitted
vertically through the Agency to individuals involved with
development and implementation of control strategies and
associated legislation. Lawyers constitute a very significant
segment of the high-level policy makers in the Agency, and an
important task of those administratively responsible for the
research, development, monitoring, and technical support work of
the Agency is to insure that the scientists not only communicate
among their peers but also present their data and translate their
information into formats which, in fact, can be used to develop
and defend cost—effective control options by lawyers and ethers
not trained in the natural sciences.
The Agency has a responsiblity and need to communicate its
policies, and the scientific, technical, and legal rationales
behind them, to the Congress, to industry, to the news media, and
to the public. Communication is the essence of coordination and
efficiency at all levels of an organization, such as this Agency,
which deals with a multiplicity of interrelated problems. Proper
operation of any Laboratory, from management to bench operations,
requires an active and continuous effort to keep all channels of
communication open. Without such open channels, the enterprise
is destined for total failure, or, at best, delayed or partial
success.
The personnel within a single section of a Laboratory of
the Agency may often come from diverse backgrounds of education
and training. Their former professional or special interests may
not be shared by others in the Laboratory, although that very
unrecognized expertise may represent a valuable source of input
to a given problem which has been assigned to the Laboratory.
The scientist needs to make known to the management his special
capabilities. The failure of the director of the Laboratory, or
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the leader of a group in it, to become aware of the knowledge and
specialized abilities of all the scientific personnel under his
cognizance can serve as a serious detriment to efficient
progress;.
The problem is compounded when there are several major
divisions, each with a number of sections, in a Laboratory of the
Agency. Here again, without adequate communication, special
expertise may be overlooked if the person with such knowledge
happens to be in a section other than that to which a given
problem has been assigned. It is important to emphasize the
sharing, not only of the intellectual resources, but also the
instrumental resources dispersed in a given Laboratory, when such
sharing can lead to better results. For example, an under-
utilized electron microscope located in the basement of a
Laboratory might be profitably made available on occasion to an
investigator on an upper floor who could use it fruitfully,
The responsbility for the improved communication that is
needed in many of the Laboratories of the Agency rests with the
administrators, from the director down to division/ section, and
group leaders. Communication within a Laboratory between
management and the operating scientists at the bench, once
established and maintained, will yield mutually beneficial
results.
There are excellent, but rare, examples of "cooperative"
communication between separate Laboratories of the Agency.
General knowledge and specific information needs to be exchanged
on a systematic basis among all Laboratories of the Agency. In
addition, consideration should be given to the proper exchange of
personnel and the sharing of the use of very specialized
eguipment too costly to be resident in every Laboratory, Such
systematic communication among the Laboratories of the Agency
will not only yield positive beneficial, results but will also
lead to avoidance of unnecessary and costly duplication of the
same work in different laboratories. Consideration should be
given to selected short-term interchange of scientists not only
among Laboratories of the Agency but also between these and
Laboratories in industry, not-for-profit research institutes, and
university Laboratories.
Systematic intercommunication among the Laboratories of the
Agency can be greatly benefited by arranging regular seminars or
colloquia on topics of mutual interest to a number of the
Laboratories, This is already being done on a limited basis, but
more is needed. Such seminars or colloquia allow information
exchange, at both formal and informal levels, on a face-to-face
basis by the operating scientists. The meetings can be held at
appropriate intervals at different Laboratories on a rotating
basis. Obviously, the budgets of the Laboratories should make
provision for the cost of such seminars. Consideration should be
given to inviting several top-flight experts of the appropriate
disciplines from academia and industry to participate in these
seminars. Such experts from outside the Agency could be selected
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on a rotating basis, to provide contact with many sources of
basic research and know-how in the appropriate disciplines.
Some Laboratories of the Agency are located near
universities or scientific laboratories of other organizations
(government, industry, not-for-profit research) in which
scientists are working who may share interests and special
expertise with scientists of the Agency. There usually is not
adequate communication among such neighboring groups. Great
benefit can be derived by arranging systematic invitations on a
reciprocal basis to the seminars held by the several
Laboratories.
In addition to fruitful interaction with the local
scientific community, the scientists of the Laboratories of the
Agency need to maintain contact with the entire scientific-
technical community of the country. Such necessary broad contact
can be brought about in several ways: (a) By arranging for
appropriate attendance of scientists of the Agency at national
meetings of the societies of their respective disciplines, with
the privilege of attending such meetings carrying with it the
obligation to inform their colleagues at the Laboratory of the
formal and informal information picked up at the meetings, and
with provision made in the budget of the Laboraory to support
such travel; (b) By encouraging and, if necessary, requiring, the
scientists in the Laboratories of the Agency to prepare their
scientific findings in a form suitable for publication in an
outside journal subject to review by peers in the given
discipline. (Such publication should be made timely, will
redound to the benefit of the Agency as well as the individual
scientists, and will help elevate the status of the Agency in the
eyes of the scientific-technical community of the country.)
A substantial reservoir of experience and talent exists
within the scientific-technical community associated with the
manufacturers of modern analytical apparatus and instruments.
Two-way communication between the scientists and engineers of the
Agency and those involved with the design, production, and use of
environmental measuring instruments should be encouraged.
One of the important supports of any scientific-technical
enterprise consists of adequate facilities to provide access to
the recorded literature of science and engineering. It is very
important for scientists of the Agency to know what has already
been done. Unnecessary repetition of scientific work should be
avoided. As has been said many times, we do not need to
"reinvent the wheel." Because of the rapidly accelerating cost of
maintaining a complete library to support the scientific work, a
given Laboratory may have simply a complete file of abstracts and
several basic journals and supplement this with facilities such
as the following: (a) a system of borrowing, on a rapid
schedule, holdings from a complete central library; and (b)
provision of terminals for direct access to remote computer-
readable files of abstract services of various disciplines.
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7. TASKS ASSIGNED TO THE LABORATORIES AND THEIR RELEVANCE
TO THE MISSION OF THE AGENCY
By reason of its formation -from existing units of the
government, the Agency represents a splintered organization. The
Laboratories assigned to the Agency were located in different
parts of the country and were originally under the Department of
Agriculture, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare,
and the Department of the Interior, The original missions of
these separate Laboratories were quite specific: one was
concerned with sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides in air; another
with pesticides in water; and so on.
It appears that the definition of the mission of each
Laboratory of the Agency has changed toward a broad and more
general basis, such that each Laboratory tends to be responsible
for all environmental problems indigenous to its geographical
area. However, this supposes that each Laboratory will be
supported with intellectual and material resources adequate to
cover many environmental problems of diverse nature, small and
large. The task of protecting the environment is so huge and
challenging that the specialized resources necessary to attack a
particularly difficult problem cannot be dispersed, but must be
concentrated to make significant progress toward solution of the
problem. This means that the Agency must organize its resources
in the separate Laboratories in a manner to maximize fruitful
attack on all problems, small and large, siirple and complex.
Consideration should be given to a plan that identifies, in
a logical manner, the significant environmental problems being
encountered and likely to be faced in the future. Seme of these
problems are more of a routine, ubiquitous nature requiring
modest resources for their solution. The several Laboratories of
the Agency should each be provided with the intellectual and
material resources necessary to handle such problems. However,
other environmental problems will be of a magnitude and time
scale as to require the mounting of a large, concentrated attack
with top-notch intellectual and material resources. Since the
supply of such intellectual resources is limited and the cost of
the required supporting material resources is very great, it
follows that each of these Laboratories cannot be provided with
all the resources needed for solving environmental problems of
such magnitude, What can be done, however, is to assign one
Laboratory the responsiblity for the entire Agency for the
solution of one kind of such large environmental problem and
another Laboratory yet a different one, etc. Each such
Laboratory must then be provided with the necessary specialized
top-notch intellectual and material resources necessary to do the
particular job assigned. That is to say, each Laboratory will
thus be equipped to handle many, routine, repetitive,
environmental problems, and one kind of large specialized,
environmental problem for the entire Agency. Such disposition of
resources, both intellectual and material, will maximize the
productivity obtainable with a given amount of resources, and
will avoid unnecessary duplication of scarce intellectual
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resources and costly material resources. Following are some
observations resulting from the visitations to different
Laboratories which support the suggestions and comments made
above.
The relevance of the tasks at the Laboratories should be
based upon the mission of the Agency and reflect its
organization. However, the tasks encountered in the Laboratories
do not seem to correspond with the structure of the Agency or any
logical derivative of its organization. Many of the tasks are
derived from the history of the Laboratories and the individual
scientists located there. New tasks appear to be placed in
structures each of which has a life of its own,
There is need to evaluate the type of work being done in
the Laboratories to insure its relevance to the mission of the
Agency. It appears that some of the work being carried on is of
questionable value and not properly related to the mission of the
Agency. This is not necessarily a result of the capability of
the investigators but is due to the poor choice of problems.
The responsibility for making a careful analysis of problem
areasj for assigning proper tasks to given Laboratories, and for
providing the necessary resources to support such assignments
rests upon the management for research, development, monitoring,
and technical support.
The need for careful assignment of tasks to the
Laboratories is further emphasized by the fact that, in the
initial stages of protecting the environment, one could be
concerned simply with a given pollutant in air, another pollutant
in water, etc., but today we encounter the problem of the same
pollutant occurring in more than one medium.
with the increased emphasis on the deleterious effects of
certain pollutants on biological systems, the problem of
assigning tasks to the Laboratories becomes even more important
and complex.
Several Laboratories were noted to be working on the same
general problem. Although some limited competition is desirable,
unnecessary duplication is a luxury that the Agency cannot
afford. The tendency to build "empires," and to maintain them,
has resulted in duplication of the same work by two different
divisions in the same Laboratory complex at one physical
location. Coordination among the several programs of the Agency
Vis-a-vis related work in the Laboratories is essential to good
overall management,
In some cases, the appearance of duplication has apparently
been minimized by attempting to adhere to functional statements
that define the scientific areas and capabilities of each
laboratory. However, the growing overlap of areas in which a
problem falls, such as the sulfate one, where a pollutant may
start in air but migrate to the ground, water, crops, and lungs
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of animals (including humans), is rapidly outmoding the
traditional boundaries. It was noted that work was directed
toward problems relating to chemical pollutants while there was
virtually complete .-neglect of biological pollutants, a subject .
also covered in the original enabling act of the Agency.
Each branch or section of a given Laboratory has a
statement of functions which defines the responsibilities of each
unit of the laboratory. It has been noted, however, that in many
cases the actual activities of a given unit seem to be self-
initiated, or dictated by crisis situations, or resulting from
directives from the Headquarters of the Agency. It would appear
desirable not only to have the statement of functions of each
Laboratory be properly related to the mission of the Agency but
also to have the work actually being performed in each unit of
the Laboratory be properly related to the tasks assigned to that
Laboratory. It is essential to have a clear and current
statement of the tasks assigned to each Laboratory and that these
be relevant to the mission of the Agency. Here again is an
urgent task for management.
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8, SHORT-TERM RESPONSIVE SUPPORT AS "RELATED TO THE
REGULATORY RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE AGENCY.
The. problems involved at the local level in measuring and
monitoring environmental situations are not only many and
complex, but vary significantly from one location to another,
Even though standarized methods of test, supported adequately
with standard reference materials, may be available (and, of
course, should be), the meshing of such tests into the myriad of
local situations always poses considerable difficulties, which
require immediate and judicious technical support by the Agency.
To assist the Regional Laboratories, and through them the local
Laboratories (of the State and Communities), the Agency must
maintain a strong and efficient capability and capacity for what
may be called short-term responsive technical support to cope
with the immediate environmental problems that arise from day to
day.
Following are some suggestions for the conduct by the
Agency of short-term responsive technical support:
a. All short-term responsive technical support
should be limited to the immediate day to day problems arising
under the several programs constituting the legal responsibility
of the Agency;
b. The direction of such short-term responsive
technical support, and its funding, should be under the
cognizance of the Program of the Agency requiring the work, so
that responsibility for its success or failure falls on that
direction.
c, The scientific-technical personnel engaged in
such short-term responsive technical support should have a level
of capability, scientific-technical and inter-personal, adequate
for the problems faced.
d. It is important that the short-term responsive
technical support be adequately coordinated among the several
programs of the Agency to avoid unnecessary duplication and waste
of resources.
e. As needed, the scientific capabilities resident
in universities, not-for-profit research institutes, industrial
laboratories, and other governinent laboratories should be called
upon, as appropriate.
f. Arrangements should be made to maintain and
upgrade the technical capabilities and breadth of the personnel
engaged in such short-term responsive technical support, by
conferences, seminars, meetings, etc,, relating to environmental
problems, involving similar workers in other short-term
responsive technical support, workers in the development of
standard methods of test and standard reference materials, and
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workers in long-term anticipatory research, all both within and
outside the Agency.
g, Arrangements•should be made for personnel engaged
in sucn short-term responsive technical support to have
reasonably ready access to the scientific technical literature of
their field, as well as access to the new on-line retrieval of
computer-stored bibliographic and related information.
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9. LONG-TERM ANTICIPATORY RESEARCH, AS RELATED
TO THE MISSION OF THE AGENCY
The problems associated with maintenance and improvement of
the quality of the environment in our highly developed society
have generated whole new areas of science and technology in the
engineering, physical, chemical, mathematical-statistical, earth,
life, and medical sciences. New methods for identifying the
components of the many systems involved, with adequate precision
and accuracy, have to be developed; new schemes for assaying the
effect of suspected deleterious components on human health,
without too great uncertainty, have to be generated; and new
methods for assessing the relative costs and benefits of
alternative actions are required. In some cases, the laws
enacted by the U.S. Congress anticipate future findings and
developments in science and technology, often establishing and
requiring actions which exceed the measurement capabilities
presently available on a practical working basis. All of this
creates an overwhelming burden on the Agency in carrying out its
legal mandate of protecting and enhancing the quality of the
environment, and requires the Agency to maintain a strong and
effective capability and capacity in the science and technology
related to environmental measurements.
Data on the physical, chemical, and biological properties
of substances and processes relating to environmental problems
need to be available on the shelf at the time of need, for
adequate support of any regulatory action taken by the Agency.
The Agency cannot depend upon being the beneficiary of needed
data acquired at the right time by researchers in university,
government, or research institute laboratories, The acquisition
of such data requires not only top-level expertise but also
significant time, and the reliability of the data obtained must
be assured. The solution of an important emergency problem
usually cannot wait the time required to obtain reliable new
data, and hasty estimates have to be made, resulting in costly
errors and an occasional disaster.
From the foregoing discussion, it follows that the Agency
should maintain an adequate inhouse program of long-term
anticipatory research,, solely aimed at providing a basis for the
solution of environmental problems appearing on the horizon,
continually and unexpectedly.
Management of such long-term anticipatory research,
involving a mix of scientific disciplines, calls for a special
kind of talent, a scientific generalist, schooled in the
fundamentals of the several disciplines, who is a good
administrator and organizer, has the ability to handle and work
well with persons at all levels, and understands the practical
aspects of environmental problems.
In order to ensure the viability and uninterrupted progress
of the long-term anticipatory research, the funding of the work
must be firmly insulated by appropriate budgetary structure from
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the always needy short-term responsive technical support and
other parts of the Agency, The Icng-term anticipatory research
must be placed on an assured time schedule consonant with the
nature°bf' the':problems being investigated, Further/ it is
important that the direction of such research be fully separated
from the direction of the short-term responsive technical
support, in order to maintain the integrity of the long-term
work, free from the "fire-fighting" demands of the short-term
work.
For investigators in the long-term anticipatory research,
it is absolutely necessary that their scientific competence and
creativity in the domain of environmental science be maintained
at a high level and upgraded as opportunity presents itself.
This involves ensuring opportunity for intellectual interaction,
both within and outside the Agency, through conferences,
seminars, meetings, etc. , with other long-term research
investigators, with the scientific community at large, and
particularly with workers in short-term responsive technical
support, so that each category of worker can benefit from the
experience and knowledge of the other, sharpening their
intellectual tools in the process.
For an enterprise such as this, it is essential that the
research investigators be provided with adequate facilities for
convenient and ready access to the literature relating directly
and indirectly to environmental science and technology. Because
of the increasing and burdensome cost of maintaining a complete
file of all relevant journals, one can maintain a full set of
abstract journals, together with the essential, basic other
journals, and provide access to the remainder through a large
library nearby or by arranging for loan of desired journals from
more distant central depositories. Also, advantage should be
taken of the new services becoming available for on-line
retrieval of bibliographic and related information via remote
computer-storage facilities.
One of the most important areas of responsibility of the
Agency lies in the development, and bringing to fruition for
acceptable use "at the bench" at the local level, of standard
methods of test, supported by standard reference materials. At
present, such needs are very far from being met, except in a few
special cases. Such a program should be centered in one place,
not splintered by location in several laboratories and weighed
down by the resulting costly and unnecessary duplication,
Consolidation of the intellectual capacity and facilities in one
place not only achieves signficant savings in costs of operation
but also results in an elevation of the intellectual capabilities
of the personnel through the increased interaction made possible
by proximity. The work should be organized by chemical species
rather than program, so that a totally separate center for each
program,—air, water, soil, etc., is not set up, but rather one
center to serve all needs. Certain pollutants are found
simutaneously in air, in water, and in soil. The fundamentals of
analysis of a certain component are basically the same whether
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that component occurs in air, in water, or in soil, hence the
need to centralize and operate by function. All such work should
be carried through to the provision of standard methods of test,.
•supported-by-standard reference materials,- readily usa'ble >»at the
bench" at the local level.
Two final comments relating to the long-term anticipatory
research are as follows:
1. Long-term anticipatory research, involving
experienced investigators and specialized apparatus, cannot be
turned on and off at will, like a water faucet; and
2. Closing down an established complement, large or
small, of experience investigators, along with their specialized
apparatus, is easily done, with a temporary saving of the current
operating costs, but the cost of replacing the enterprise at a
later time, after the experienced investigators and the
specialized apparatus have been dispersed to other work and other
locations, becomes very great in both money and time.
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10. EXTRA-MURAL CONTRACTS AND GRANTS
Because of the ubiquitous nature of environmental problems,
and the complexity/ :both in depth', and breath, of the scientific-^
technical knowledge required for their proper solution, it is not
possible for a single organization, even as large as the mission-
oriented U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, to maintain a
total inhouse capability and capacity to provide the needed
short-term responsive technical support and long-term
anticipatory research.
The maintenance and improvement of the scientific-technical
base of our country lies in its universities. It is, therefore,
very much in the national interest to cultivate and nourish this
base by appropriate involvement of the intellectual capabilities
and material facilities resident in the universities in the
solution of environmental problems, particularly those appearing
on the horizon, which require long-term anticipatory research.
Similarly, we need to maintain, in proper relation and
perspective, the intellectual capabilities and material
facilities available in the not-for-profit research institutes
and the industrial research laboratories of our country,
particularly for work on the immediate problems requiring short-
term responsive technical support,
Each of the foregoing sources of talent and facilities need
to be appropriately meshed, in quality and quantity, with the
inhouse capabilities and facilities of the Agency, to work on the
short-term responsive technical support and the long-term
anticipatory research. The ideal arrangement appears to be one
in which the Agency maintains, in a manner consistent with the
resources available, that minimum inhouse capability and capacity
necessary to conduct relevant inhouse short-term responsive
technical support and long-term anticipatory research, and to
monitor and appraise the quality and productivity of the related
extramural work, both short-term responsive and long-term
anticipatory.
Considering the foregoing comments and those made in the
two preceding sections relating to short-term responsive
technical support and long-term anticipatory research, the
following suggestions are made for the conduct of the program of
extramural contracts and grants:
a. All extramural work should have appropriate
relevance to the mission of the Agency.
b. The extramural work should be placed in two
categories: short-term responsive technical support and long-term
anticipatory research.
c. The Agency must have inhouse capabilities fully
appropriate to cover the problems being investigated under the
extramural program, both for the short-term responsive technical
support and the long-term anticipatory research,
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d. The extramural short-term responsive technical
support should be;
•!•. .Related to the .immediate,.-problems associated with
the current regulatory responsibilities of the Agency;
ii. Supported through contracts under the established
regulations;
iii. Appropriately coupled with the inhouse short-term
responsive technical support being conducted under the
Agency's Program Directors;
iv. Monitored by inhouse scientists of appropriate
capabilities, who are engaged in related work,
supported in special cases by qualified private
technical consultants.
v. Conducted through contracts managed by the
relevant Agency Program Directors, having the related
inhouse work, in close contact with the extramural
work and leading to more expeditious solution of the
immediate problems.
e. The extramural long-term anticipatory research should
be:
i. Related to environmental problems appearing on
the horizon, anticipating the need for regulatory
action;
ii. Supported through research grants or contracts
under conditions reasonably consonant with those
employed by other agencies of the U.S. Government
which support long-term research and provide for
adequate indirect costs to the grantee organizations;
iii. Appropriately coupled with the inhouse long-term
anticipatory research being conducted by the Agency;
iv. Managed on a national basis, as distinguished
from regional offices, under the cognizance of those
managing the long-term anticipatory research program
of the Agency;
v. Managed from a central office, adequately staffed
in terms of the professional competence appropriately
related to the problems under investigation, with
appropriate monitoring by inhouse scientists who are
engaged in related long-term anticipatory research,
vi. Arranged to provide access to the top-level
scientific talent of the country in the environmental
area, both as grantees and peer reviewers cf projects;
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vii. Arranged to enlist the intellectual resources and
facilities resident in the universities in the
country, with reasonable assurance of appropriate
lo;rig-term -support'; 'in order to. bring these resources'
to bear on the problems and to help maintain the
quality of university inquiry into the long-term
problems of the environment,
viii,Arranged to include the full cost of managing and
monitoring, by appropriate inhouse scientists;
ix. Aim to strike an appropriate balance of resources
devoted to long-term anticipatory research, between
the inhouse work and the extramural work, starting
from consideration of an equal distribution of funds.
Under the plan suggested above, the long-term anticipatory
extramural research program of the Agency would involve top-level
scientists and engineers, would be mutually beneficial to the
Agency and the scientific-technical community, and would elevate
the status of the Agency within the eyes of the scientific-
technical community of the country. Further, such a national
top-level program would concentrate a maximum amount of available
resources on a given long-term problem, rather than having a
splintered and diffuse attack on it by separate offices in
different parts of the country. Finally, it is clear that the
involvement, through research grants, cf university faculty,
posdoctoral investigators, and graduate students, will provide a
continuing reservior of high-caliber scientific capabilities for
work on environmetnal problems for government and industry.
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11. TRANSFER OF MEASUREMENT AND MONITORING TECHNOLOGY
TO THE LOCAL LABORATORIES
The Agency operates on the principle that 'the environmental
problems of States and local Communities should be controlled by
the local enforcement bodies. The role of the Agency is to
provide incentives, through financial and technical assistance,
to help enforcement of laws and regulations designed to control
the release of pollutants in air, water, and land.
The front-line for measuring and monitoring environmental
situations, to determine conformity or non-conformity with
Federal and State laws and regulations covering such situations,
lies in the State Laboratories and certain Community Laboratories
(hereafter all called Local Laboratories), which are provided
with technical support by the Regional Laboratories of the
Agency.
The Local Laboratories have the task of conducting the
measurements and monitoring at the local level in support of the
Federal and State laws and regulations. But these Local
Laboratories are at present under an almost insurmountable
handicap, for two reasons: (a) because the U.S. Congress has in
a number of cases passed laws with technical requirements beyond
the measurement and monitoring capabilities of current
technology; and (b) because -we do not have an efficient and
expeditious mechanism for the transfer of scientific information
from the Agency's research, development, monitoring, and
technical support laboratories through the Agency's Regional
Laboratories to the Local Laboratories.
As presently arranged, the Regional Laboratories of the
Agency have no really direct line to the research, development,
monitoring, and technical support Laboratories of the Agency.
Hence the Local Laboratories are even farther removed from access
to the standard methods of test and standard reference materials
needed for operations on the local environmental front.
The Agency is decentralized into ten automonous Regions,
each under a Regional Administrator who is responsible only and
directly to the Administrator of the Agency. The ten Regional
Laboratories, under their respective ten Regional Administrators,
operating autonomously, constitute the channel for transmitting
to the local front the measurement and monitoring technology that
may be generated by the research, development, monitoring, and
technical support Laboratories of the Agency.
The question is: How well is the transfer of measurement
and monitoring technology to the local front being carried out?
The visits made by the members of our Committee to twelve
Laboratories of the Agency, in different parts of the country,
revealed only minor commitment to the important mission of
transferring in a systematic manner the needed measurement and
monitoring technology to the local front.
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There are various reasons for the existing deficiences in
the transfer of measurement and monitoring technology to the
local front. The most evident is the overly important role
played' by th:e'Lpe'rsotial element -arising from 'the existing
organizational structure of the Agency, including its autonomous
Regional Laboratories, An underlying cause is the inclination of
the management of the Agency to think in terms of program rather
than functions. Notwithstanding the statements of function
received by our committee, there appears to be a strong tendency
to operate within compartmented structures based upon programs,
with a resulting serious and unnecessary duplication of the same
function in different programs. Preoccupation with the
initiation of programs, and their subsequent preservation, has
seriously distracted the attention of many staff members of the
Agency from the mission of developing needed information about
analytical methods, apparatus, and procedures usable in the
field, and transferring this measurement and monitoring
technology to the Local Laboratories responsible for gathering
field data and implementing the technology.
The pressing problem is to open up the Agency's channel of
transferring the needed measurement and monitoring technology to
the Local Laboratories. Once fully operable, so that such
transfer can take place efficiently and systematically, the
channel can serve the additional purpose of feed-back, in
returning to the Agency important information about the
usefulness and effectiveness of the transferred technology.
To have such a viable operational structure, the major
responsibilities and tasks are recommended as follows:
a. A Responsible Unit of the Agency must develop the
needed measurement and monitoring technology in the proper form
for field use and pass it on to the Regional Laboratories of the
Agency, in a manner that guarantees that each Regional Laboratory
can maintain an acceptable level of competence for its local
clients.
b. The Regional Laboratories must have staff,
facilities, and procedures adequate to maintain an efficient and
rapid transfer of the needed measurement and monitoring
technology to the Local Laboratories, as well as the
corresponding trarismittal back to the Responsible Unit of the
Agency of appropriate information generated at the local front,
concerning the quality and usefulness of the transferred
technology, and any special needs which may have developed,
c. The Regional Laboratories must develop the
capability of training and maintaining at a proper level the
technical expertise of the professional workers in the Local
Laboratories,
d. The Regional Laboratories must have staff
adequate to operate a quality assurance program to insure the
validity of the scientific data and information generated by the
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Local Laboratories. The Regional Laboratoreis should cooperate
with the Responsible Unit of the Agency to achieve, throughout
all Regional Laboratories, uniformity in the various methods and
procedures foir measuring and -monitor ing the quality of' the
environment.
To achieve an efficient, expeditious, and systematic
transfer of measurement and monitoring technology to the Local
Laboratories, the basic elements needed by the Agency are the
following:
a, The Responsible Unit of the Agency must review-
all new scientific-technical information relevant to the mission
of the Agency, interpret the significance of such information for
the protection of the environment, and arrange for this
information to pass in a lively and timely manner to the
appropriate units of the Agency.
b. The Responsible Unit of the Agency must be
dedicated to the development of methods, apparatus, equipment,
procedures, models, etc. , into operable systems readily usable by
the Local Laboratories.
c. The Responsible Unit of the Agency must have a
Coordinating Group to arrange for the transfer through the
Regional Laboratories, to the Local Laboratories, of the approved
measurement and monitoring technology- Such a Coordinating Group
should involve scientific-technical personnel from the
laboratories of the Agency, from the Local Laboratories, and from
the Responsible Unit of the Agency.
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III. SPECIFIC COMMENTS
1. INTROCUCTORY STATEMENT
Specific observations are made on the 12 sites visited,
which are identified as follows: one was the National Enforcement
Investigation Center, at Denver, Colorado, one was the Technical
Support Laboratory—Region IV—Atlanta, at Athens, Georgia; three
were Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratories, at Las
Vegas, Nevada, at Cincinnati, Ohio, and at Research Triangle
Park, North Carolina; four were Environmental Research
Laboratories, at Narragansett, Rhode Island, at Duluth,
Minnesota, at Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and at
Athens, Georgia; two were field stations associated with the
Environmental Research Laboratory, Duluth, Minnesota, at
Monticello, Minnesota, and at Grosse lie, Michigan; and one was a
field station associated with the Environmental Monitoring and
Support Laboratory, Las Vegas, Nevada, at Vint Hill Farms,
Warrenton, Virginia.
The specific comments presented here follow more or less
the order of the topics listed in Part II above, insofar as a
particular topic is applicable to a given site, It is important
to note that not all topics are appropriate for a number of the
sites visited. In order to minimize the length of this report,
no specific comments are made on any matter which appeared to be
in good order at a given site, in light of the knowledge and
experience of one or more members of the Committee having
expertise on that matter. It is suggested that the Director of
each site visited review all Sections of Part II of this report
which are applicable to his site.
The reader should keep in mind that the specific comments
made here are with reference to the science and technology of
environmental measurements.
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2, NATIONAL ENFORCEMENT INVESTIGATION CENTER
DENVER, COLORADO
This site was visited on July 6, 1976, by Drs, Cowgill,
Ferrand, Giam, Rogers, Zissis, Rossini (Chairman) , and Forziati
(Executive Secretary).
The major function of the National Enforcement
investigation Center, originally known as the National Field
Investigations Center, with the present name becoming official in
July 1975, is to provide technical information and evidence in
support of enforcement actions of the Agency. Emphasis is placed
on quick response in emergencies, often requiring field
investigations on short notice, Another function is to provide
large-scale technical support for short-term problems beyond the
resource capacity of other units of the Agency, A legal staff
provides witnesses and technical evidence during foriral
regulatory proceedings.
The center has about 100 professional permanent and
temporary or part-time employees. '
The purpose of this visit was to become acquainted with a
unit of the Agency outside the area of research and development.
For this visit, the Director of the Center arranged for the
presentation of seven reports, followed by inspection of the
laboratories and their facilities,
Following are some comments:
In addition to its work on chemical measurements,
biological monitoring, and air and water sampling, the Center
operates a remote sensing program and a computerized information
research system.
Regarding the legal aspects of field studies, emphasis is
placed on "chain of custody" procedures to maintain the "legal
purity" of evidence, especially with regard to remotely-sensed
data. These special procedures were emphasized and justified in
light of the claimed unsatisfactory level of attention paid to
this aspect of remote sensing by the Agency's Environmental
Monitoring and Support Laboratory at Las Vegas, Nevada.
It was somewhat disturbing to hear emphasized that the aim
of the Center is to win cases in court by whatever means are
legal. It would appear to be in the best interests of the Agency
if it would aim to reduce the number and severity of violations
of its regulations by helping individuals, industries, states,
and local communities to understand the regulations better, to
install needed instruments for measurements and control, and to
learn how to maintain the equipment in good order. This wculd
place the Agency in the more desirable role of cooperator rather
than adversary.
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In spite of somewhat liirited resources, and inadequate
coordination with other units of the Agency, this Center is
performing satisfactorily, with a well-motivated staff eager to
carry out the scientific aspects of the enforcement
responsibilities of the Agency. It was noted especially that the
Center has developed expertise in collecting needed information
from the literature and other records through its computerized
information search system, Other Laboratories and Offices of the
Agency could benefit sigificantly from greater use of this
expertise.
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3. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING ANE SUPPORT LABORATORY
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
This site was visited on July 7-8, 1976, by Drs. Cowgill,
Crawford, Ferrand, Freiser, Giam, Rogers, Zissis, Rossini
(Chairman), and Forziati (Executive Secretary).
The major function of this Laboratory is to provide
environmental monitoring and analytical support for the program
offices and laboratories of the Agency. This includes planning,
coordination, and implementation of a multi-media and remote
sensing monitoring ,and measurement program. Also, this
laboratory provides emergency monitoring response and other
technical support as requested, conducts a multi-media program of
quality assurance, is responsible for the operation of the
aircraft fleet of the Agency, provides aircraft support for other
activities of the Agency, and serves as the coordinator for the
Agency on the EPA-ERDA Interagency Agreement on Nuclear Test Site
Activities.
For this visit the Director of the Laboratory arranged for
the presentation of five reports, together with a complete tour
of the facilities.
The total personnel of this Laboratory, including regular
and temporary or part-time employees, is about 300 in number.
Following are some comments:
The organization of this Laboratory includes the following
units: Information Services; Health and Safety; Regional
Services; Program Management and Support; Monitoring Operations;
Systems Research and Development; and Remote Sensing.
At the time of this visit, there appeared to be lack of
assurance of the security of a number of positions on the Staff,
occupied by persons whose work was considered satisfactory.
This Laboratory has apparatus and expertise for measuring
radio-nuclides and ionizing radiation, for measuring the elements
lead, cadmium, and mercury in environmental systems, and for
using air-borne instrumentation to monitor air pollutants,
It is suggested that the development of devices for remote
sensing be provided continued support. Remote sensing is very
important where applicable.
This Laboratory needs to use standard methods for obtaining
valid samples for analysis and standard methods for analysis. It
is suggested that this laboratory review Part II, Section 5, of
this report covering the entire problem of measurement.
Regarding the National Euthrophication Survey of Lakes,
carried on by remote sensing, the following points should be
noted,: It is known that the most serious aspects of
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eutrophication occur at depths greater than six meters; remote
sensing is not very helpful for eutrophication studies at such
depths.
It is suggested that the officials of this Laboratory
review Part II, Section 6, of this report, on the problem of
communication, covering in particular the following points:
communication of the "bench" scientists with similar
"specialists" outside the Laboratory needs to be improved; the
scientific findings of the Laboratory should appear in reports to
the Agency in a timely manner, with final publication in
recognized scientific journals following as soon as possible; the
library facilities need to be improved to provide adequate
background for the several fields of research in which the
Laboratory is involved; the young and inexperienced members of
the staff should be encouraged to gain more knowledge of the
scientific literature in their fields of specialization; more use
should be made of existing literature and data bases via remote
terminals,
The staff exhibited high morale and enthusiasm for their
work.
This Laboratory has special expertise in the following
areas: measuring radio-nuclides and ionizing radiation;
maintaining and operating excellent animal facilities; analytical
determinations for lead, cadmium, and mercury; air-borne
instrumentation for monitoring air pollutants; and developing and
operating remote sensing devices, including the use of air-to-
ground laser systems.
The remote sensing technical assistance program appears to
be valuable and welcome at the regional level.
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4. VINT HILL FIELD STATION
VINT HILL FARMS, WARRENTON, VIRGINIA
This site was.visited on November .22, 1976, by .Drs. Zissis
and Forziati (Executive Secretary).
The function of this station is to provide support for
remote sensing to the Agency through the utilization of archival
data, inter-agency data collection capabilities, and the
technology of other Federal departments and agencies. This
Station was created to provide the Agency access to major Federal
facilities that are potentially supportive of the remote sensing
programs of the Agency,
The number of personnel at this Station is about 16.
Following are some comments:
It is interesting to note that this Station reports to the
Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory-Las Vegas,
Nevada, its contracts are handled by the offices of the Agency in
Cincinnati, Ohio, and its payroll is processed through the
offices of the Agency in Washington, B.C.
The remote sensing data of this Station are gathered by
contractors, by some Federal agencies, and fcy the aircraft of the
Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory-Las Vegas,
Nevada. Over 75 percent of the work of this Station consists of
technical support for the Regional Offices of the Agency. In a
sense, this provies a limited version of operational remote
sensing for the Regions of the Agency. The remote sensing
activities coordinated by EMSL-Las Vegas, Nevada, range from
rather sophisticated research of their own and that done by
workers at the Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory-
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, to the more mundane but
importance tasks, such as providing aerial photography and its
interpretation to the Regions of the Agency.
Although limited In scope, the activities of this Field
Station appear to be well carried out.
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5. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND SUPPORT LABORATORY
CINCINNATI, OHIO
This site was visited on July 20-21, 1976, by the entire
Committee, including Drs. Clesceri, Corliss, Cowgill, Crawford,
Crummett, Ferrand, Freiser, Giam, Hougen, Lennette, Rogers,
Taylor, Watson, Rossini (Chairman), and Forziati (Executive
Secretary) -
The major function of this Laboratory is to develop,
improve, and validate methodology for the collection of physical,
chemical, radiological, microbiological, and biological data on
water quality, including the development of standard methods of
test and the preparation of standard reference materials,
primarily for water systems. This laboratory also evaluates
automated monitoring instrumentation, operates an Agency-wide
Assurance Program for Water Quality, and provides technical
support to the Regional Laboratories and other units of the
Agency, on matters under its cognizance,
The total personnel of this Laboratory is about 100 in
number.
For this visit, the senior Official of the Laboratory
arranged a presentation of a number of reports describing certain
projects and work of the Laboratory, together with tours of the
laboratories. Individual conferences were arranged between
members of the Staff and members of the Committee,
Following are some comments:
This Laboratory has neglected two needed areas: mycology
proto-zoology. Additional manpower is needed here.
The new biological laboratories appear to be over crowded,
affecting productivity unfavorably, More space is needed.
Consideration shold be given to converting the little used
microbiological preparation areas into laboratory space for
microbiology.
It was noted that the program of standard reference
materials at this laboratory is focused primarily on water
systems. Consideration should be given by the Agency to
combining the program of standard reference materials for
biological systems at the Environmental Monitoring and Technical
Support Laboratory-Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, with
the program of standard reference materials at this laboratory.
Following this, consideration should be given to the
establishment, probably at this laboratory, of an Agency-wide
Center for Standard Reference Materials, covering all systems of
concern to this Agency. It is suggested that the officials of
this Laboratory review Part II, Section 5, of this report,
dealing with the many aspects of the problem of measurement.
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Some of the "bench" scientists gave the impression that
they were somewhat isolated from similar work outside this
Laboratory, The scientific staff needs to be strongly encourgaed
to develop a fully up-to-date awareness of the current state of
the scientific literature in their respective areas. The
Laboratory should provide needed support for access to remote
computer-readable, bibliographic, and data files related to the
work of the Laboratory. The Laboratory should publish its
scientific findings promptly, in the form of Agency reports and
then in appropriate scientific journals. In particular, the
biological group should be encouraged to prepare additioal useful
taxonomic guides to follow the ones on diatoms, chironomids, and
mayflies, to cover zooplankton, phytoplankton, and other groups
of aquatic insects. It is suggested that the officials of this
Laboratory review Part II, Section 6, of this report, dealing
with all aspects of the problem of communication.
The work on the protozoan, "Giardia", should be vigorously
pursued. This enteric organism lives in apparent harmony with
beavers. It is presently not known whether this protozoan
infects other mammals living in or near beaver ponds. However,
it is a possible danger to the vacationing public, some of whom
have been affected by drinking water from such infected areas.
The quality of the research being done on problems facing
this Laboratory could be significantly enhanced by enlisting the
support of qualified outside scientists in universities, not-for-
profit institutes, and industrial laboratories, through the
avenue of extramural contracts and grants. This is particularly
true in the area of biological methods, It is suggested that the
officials of this Laboratory review Part II, Section 10, of this
report, dealing with extramural contracts and grants.
The staff is doing a competent job, and with encouragement
could perform in an outstanding manner.
The Director of this Laboratory has a good understanding of
the basic principles relating to the preparation and use of
standard reference materials, the development and use of standard
methods of test, and the precision and accuracy of environmental
measurements. He has demonstrated good management on systems
relating to water and gave evidence that his Laboratory could
serve as an Agency-wide Center for Standard Reference Materials,
for all systems, air, water, and land.
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6. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY
NASRAGANSETT, PHODE ISLAND
This site was visited on September 27-28, 1976, by Drs.
Clesceri, Cowgill, Freed, Glair., Crummett, Rossini (Chairman), and
Forziati (Executive Secretary).
The major function of this Laboratory is to conduct work
related to the maintenance of the quality of marine water and the
preservation therein of desirable forms of animal and plant life.
The personnel of this Laboratory is about 130,
For this visit, the Director of the Laboratory arranged for
the presentation of seven reports, and for tours of the
laboratories, including a special facility, MERL, Marine
Ecosystems Research Laboratory.
Following are some comments:
The work of this Research Laboratory is performed by
organized teams covering the following topics: Oil Team, develops
legally defensible criteria relating amounts of oil to effects on
marine organisms; Culture Team, studies environmental
requirements for maintaining desirable marine organisms;
Shellfish Team, develops criteria data relating microbiological
activity of shellfish-growing waters to the risk of human disease
from ingestion of these shell fish; Recreational Water Team,
develops legally defensible criteria to judge the microbiological
hazard to persons using marine waters for recreational purposes;
Analytical Team, performs chemical analyses and quality control
on samples generated by other teams; Ocean Dumping Team, studies
the environmental impact of various types of materials dumped at
sea; Response Parameters Team, investigates indicators of
biological effect to select responses significant for the
survival of test organisms; Bioassay Methods Team, utilizes
organisms and parameters provided by other teams to develop test
systems and methods for different pollutants; Ecosystems Analysis
Team, examines the response for inter-dependent groups of
organisms to pollutant stress.
It was noted that this Laboratory employs many consultants
and staff on a part-time basis, to avoid the constraints imposed
by man-power ceilings for full-time employees. Only US percent
of the employees are permanent. An equal number are part-time
graduate students and 10 percent are temporary.
Several of the ongoing projects would benefit greatly from
expert ecological advice. Expertise in virology and microbiology
would be helpbul in a number of places in the Laboratory,
The Marine Ecosysystem Research Laboratory, consisting of
land-based tanks filled with water, sediment, and benthos from
Narrangansett Bay, is a complex system being used to study the
effects of pollutants on natural communities. The main problem
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in such work is the reproducibility of a "natural ecosystem". It
is suggested that the scientific participants and advisors in
this project be in good communication with groups elsewhere
operating similar facilities, such as those in British Columbia,
Canada, in Scotland, United Kingdom, and in Germany,
The scope of analytical science in this Laboratory is
limited by the highly specific nature of the projects. To grow
as problem solvers, the analytical scientists must operate on a
broad base, with freedom to use other available analytical
apparatus and techniques, such as high-pressure liquid
chromatography, ultracentrifugation, etc.
In the analytical work, there appears to be an imbalance of
effort in favor of bioassays over chemical analyses.
Sediment samples, in sealed containers, should be stored in
cold rooms to minimize microbial activity, rather than being kept
on the floor at room temperature.
It is not clear how acid digestion of sediment
preferentially "washes out" material, anthropogenic in origin,
which is added to the sediment by pollution.
The infrared spectrophotometric method for the
determination of hydrocarbons, while suitable for monitoring sea
water from laboratory tanks, is not precise and sensitive enough
for use in open sea water. Methods for this purpose are
described in the scientific literature.
The use of adenosine triphosphate to measure biomass is
worthy of pursuing, but care needs to be exercised tc avoid
certain pitfalls associated with its use.
Some effort should be made toward microbiological study of
sediments, including the effects of fungi and bacteria and their
viral relationships.
In the modelling of Narragansett Bay, the analyses are
presently confined to natural sediments within the Bay itself.
It is suggested that data need to be obtained from land drainage
studies as well as from the two rivers tributary to the Bay to
develop a more reliable model.
It was noted that the gas-chromatography mass-spectrometer,
used for the analysis of mixtures of hydrocarbons, produced
numerous peaks which were difficult to interpret. It is
suggested that a preliminary fractionation of the mixture of
hydrocarbons being examined would yield more definitive results.
It is important to see that any idle large apparatus in one
part of the Laboratory be made available for use by scientists in
other parts of the Laboratory when needed. It was noted that an
automatic monitoring platform was idle when it could have been
used fruitfully by several biological scientists.
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It is recommended that the work on the chemical analyses of
trace organic material be developed to as good a stage as the
work on the chemical analyses of trace inorganic substances in
this Laboratory. In the analysis of trace organics, the state-
of-the-art is far ahead of the work in this Laboratory,
In the analysis of sediments from Narragansett Bay, the
standards used for neutron activation are Samples No. 26, 34, and
54 of "Marine Mud" from the U.S. Geological Survey. This "Marine
Mud" is apparently obtained from the harbor of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. Since this harbor is heavily polluted, such
standards may produce results that are too high.
The Laboratory is trying to set up standards for quality
control of analyses with little or no collaboration with the
Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory—Cincinnati,
Ohio, or with the National Bureau of Standards. It is suggested
that this Laboratory review carefully Part II, Section 5, of this
report, covering the problem of measurements in all of its
principal aspects. The Laboratory needs to develop, on a
continuing basis, broad competence in analytical expertise.
The Laboratory needs to promote much more intra-laboratory
communication among its scientists so that they may benefit from,
and be encouraged by, each others experiences and knowledge. The
analytical scientists are very limited in their interactions with
fellow scientists outside this Laboratory and the neighboring
University of Rhode Island. The scientists of this Laboratory
should know that much can be learned from the work being done in
university and industrial laboratories on the analyses of marine
water and its organisms. Those engaged in the analysis of
petroleum at this laboratory appeared to be unaware of the nearly
1000 man-years of work done and published on the analysis of
hydrocarbons in petroleum. The entire staff may benefit from a
greater realization of the need to learn what is already know
before embarking on a new investigation. It is suggested that
the officials of this Laboratory review Fart II, Section 6, of
this report, dealing with the principal aspects of the important
problem of communication.
The extramural program on "mussel watch" consists of many
projects for analyzing mussel from various ocean waters for trace
metals and trace organisms. The work is constrained by an
insufficient number of samples for analysis and the problem of
depuration by mussels. The unit costs of the analyses appear to
be too high. Lesser unit costs would make possible more data,
leading to more reliable conclusions. Time will tell if this
project is worthwhile as a "sentinel of ocean pollution"- It is
suggested that the officials of this Laboratory review Part II,
Section 10, of this report, dealing with extramural contracts and
grants.
This Laboratory has special expertise in the analyses of
trace inorganic substances in water.
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As one of the two large marine Laboratories of the Agency,
this Laboratory has a Director with the ambition and energy to
establish and operate good programs relating to marine water
systems.
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7, ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY
DOLUTH, MINNESOTA
This site was visited on October 18-19, 1976, by Drs.
Clesceri, Cowgill, Crummett, Rogers, Sprugel*, Watson, Rossini
(Chairman), and Forziati (Executive Secretary),
The major function of this Laboratory has been to conduct
research on ecological systems, particularly to determine the
exposure-effects relationships in fresh water systems. This
Laboratory has under its cognizance three field stations:
Monticello Ecological Research Station, Monticello, Minnesota;
Large Lakes Research Station, Grosse lie, Michigan; and Newtown
Fish Toxicology Station, Newtown, Ohio, Site visits were made to
the first two of these stations, as reported later.
The personnel at this laboratory numbers about 90.
For this visit, the Director of the Laboratory arranged for
the presentation of a number of reports on the work in progress,
tours of the laboratories, and conferences between members of the
staff and members of the Committee.
Some comments follow:
Until recently , this laboratory, operating under the name,
"National Water Quality Laboratory-Duluth", had a well defined
mission, namely, to develop basic data on biological effects in
fresh water from which environmental standards could be
developed, The Laboratory is now another "Environmental Research
Laboratory" of the Agency. Change from the former specific
mission to the present more general mission has produced an
undesirable effect on the personnel of the Laboratory, who seem
now to lack their former strong motivation. Formerly, they could
look upon themselves as being the scientific specialists on
certain unique problems assigned to the Laboratory, Now they are
one of many scientists engaged on general problems similar to
those in other laboratories of the Agency, Two of the site
visitors, who were at this laboratory three months earlier,
noticed a significant lowering of morale of the staff, seeming to
indicate inadequate explanation to them of the change in
organization that was brought about, what it really consisted of,
and what its purpose was.
*Dr. George Sprugel, Jr., Chief of the State of Illinois Natural
History Survey, Urbana, Illinois, Consultant to the Committee.
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An important constraint on the development of the
intellectual level of analytical science in the laboratory arises
from the above-mentioned reorganization of the laboratory, which
involved dispersal of the personnel of the former centralized
Section of Analytical Services into various research groups.
This dispersal impedes the growth of the analytical scientists as
analytical problem solvers and as investigators of new analytical
methods and instruments being developed in the world outside the
Laboratory,
It is true that the perinanent dispersal of analytical
specialists among groups oriented toward different chemical
problems may be advantageous for the short-term, by reason of
improving the communication between the person with the
analytical expertise and the person with the problem to solve.
Unfortunately, the information that the analytical specialist
acquires while working with one group alone has little chance to
be carried ever to other groups that could benefit from such
information. A better long-term approach is to maintain a
centralized Section of Analytical Services, from which, from time
to time, individual analytical specialists can be assigned, for
short periods, to work with given groups on particular problems.
The absence of a central reservoir of analytical expertise often
results in a painstaking repetitive "reinvention of the wheel",
each time by a different investigator involved on a slightly
different but related problem.
Concern for the proper collection and preservation of
samples for analyses was indicated by the Quality Assurance
Program of tiie Laboratory. However, the entire area of the
optimum design of experimental programs, and the proper
statistical treatment of the data resulting from them, could
benefit significantly by a competent expert in statistics, who
could be hired as a part-time consultant if not as a full-time
employee. For example, a great deal of effort is being put into
"fish coughing" work, although the results seem not to be
reproducible.
The scientists involved in the analytical work appear to be
not always adequately informed about the program for which the
analyses are done. For example, they may receive samples of fish
from different regions for complete analyses for organic
contaminants and heavy metals. These samples often appear to be
the result of a desire on the part of the Agency to "zero in" on
some particular product rather than finding out what is happening
to the environment from a scientific monitoring point of view.
For example, octylchlorostyrene was discovered in Saginaw Bay,
Lake St. Clair, and Lake Ontario, but no effort was made to
determine whether the material was present in Lake iMichigan or
Lake Superior, Nor did any one know whether any other samples of
fish from anywhere else in the country had been examined for this
material. It would help very much to include in the process of
deciding for what purpose and how the samples are to be
collected, the analytical scientists responsible for the
analysis.
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For consistency and comparability of results, between
different units of the same laboratory and other laboratories and
between the. analytical and monitoring operations, the use of
uniform methods is mandatory, Following are some simple
examples: (1) Cadmium was being determined with more finely
filtered samples than were nitrogen and phosphorus; (2) the
method used to determine elemental concentrations in water is not
the same as the method eventually used in monitoring. Such
situations are likely to create intellectual, scientific, and
legal problems for the Agency.
In studying the effect of given substances on living
matter, it is important to be aware of the effect of other
substances on the effect being studied. For example, in the
study of the toxicity of cadmium in various species of fish, it
is known that the toxicity of the cadmium is dependent on the
concentration of selenium in the water and in the tissue of the
fish. It follows that the concentration of both cadmium and
selenium should be determined in the water and in the fish, with
the toxicity levels of cadmium being reported in relation to the
concentration of selenium in the water and in the fish.
Some of the analytical methods in this Laboratory could
benefit significantly by modernization of the relevant equipment.
This is expecially true for the mass spectrometric apparatus,
With some exceptions, communication and interaction of the
scientific-technical personnel at this Laboratory with other
Laboratories of the Agency and with the outside scientific-
technical community was minimal. The entire problem of
communication is one which should be carefully reviewed at this
laboratory, to insure adequate communication and inter-action
along the follow lines: (a) with other units of the same
Laboratory, to benefit from related experience and knowledge and
to develop an understanding of the overall mission of the
Laboratory; (b) with personnel of other Laboratories of the
Agency engaged on similar and related problems; (c) with the
scientific-technical community outside the Agency, including
other government laboratories, university laboratories, not-for-
profit laboratories, and industrial laboratories. The experience
and knowledge of these other groups is essentially free for the
asking and represents a valuable resource. Such interaction
would eliminate a lot of unnecessary work in repeating things
already done and "discovering" facts already known.
Microbiological data of a systematic type are lacking for
the Great Lakes Region, The enormous amount of physical data
being produced by various research workers is not being properly
coordinated with the chemical and biological data being gathered.
A panel of physical, chemical, biological, and microbiological
limnologists could review the situation and make recommendations
that would be helpful in the program and in enlisting the support
of top-flight scientists through appropriate extramural research
grants.
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In view of the many biological studies involving fish that
are underway in this Laboratory, the absence of a microbiologist
on the staff was particularly noticeable.
The library facilities of this Laboratory need review.
There is a serious lack of limnological journals. The absence
was particularly noted of "Archiv fur Hydrobiologi", because this
is not only the oldest such journal but is also the one with the
largest circulation,
The research findings of this Laboratory should be more
promptly made public, first by way of official reports to the
Agency, and second by way of expeditious publication in
appropriate journals of the scientific-technical community of the
world.
The staff includes a number of capable scientists bearing
favorable recognition by their peers in several areas of
environmental science.
This Laboratory has scientists with special expertise in
electron microscopy and electron diffraction, as related to the
problem of asbestos in -water.
The Director of this Laboratory is a scientist of
established high repute in his field, and under an appropriate
regime, he could restore the excellent reputation which this
Laboratory once enjoyed in the field of fresh water sysems.
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3. MONTICELLO ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH STATION
MONTICELLO, MINNESOTA
This site was visited, on October 20, 1976, by Drs.
Clesceri, Cowgill, Crummett, Rogers, Sprugel*, Watson, Rossini
(Chairman) , and Forziati (Executive Secretary) .
The major function of this Research Station, which is
associated with the Environmental Research Laboratory-Duluth,
Minnesota, is to conduct research on semi-natural ecosystems to
verify the utility of laboratory data and methods for predicting
the effects of water quality on aquatic life in fresh water
systems. This Research Station is coupled with the large nuclear
power plant at Monticello.
For this visit the Director of the Station gave a report
summarizing the work and conducted a tour of the facilities.
The number of personnel at this Research Station is 17,
Following are some comments:
Because of its location, remote from its parent
Environmental Research Laboratory at Culuth, Minnesota, this
Research Station, with its small number of personnel, is
handicapped by lack of on-the-spot expertise in analytical
chemistry, radiobiology, and statistics. The Station could also
benefit significantly from more equipment and added laboratory
space.
If the program at this Station leads to the study of
elemental cycling, the work should include chemical analyses of
the organisms being studied.
This Station is studying the effect of increase in water
temperature on the growth of aquatic organisms. Some scientists
believe that raising the water temperature results in an increase
of growth which could become so rapid as to eradicate the
reproductive cycle of particular organisms. This Research
Station has nearly ideal facilities and location for studying
this question.
*Dr. George Sprugel, Jr. , Chief of the State of Illinoise Natural
History Survey, Urbana, Illinois; Consultant to the Committee.
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It appears that the nuclear power plant has to shut down at
unexpected times, without sufficient advance notice, causing
significant problems to the studies underway involving the water
effluent from the power plant. Perhaps some solution to this
difficulty can be worked out with the plant management.
The staff has demonstrated resourcefulness in carrying on
their tasks with very limited resources.
The report presented by the Director on the work carried on
at this Station was very well organized and most informative.
The Agency should provide this Station with the much needed
help to conduct its important work. The alternative is to close
down the Station, rather than let it limp along without adequate
support.
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9, LARGE LAKES RESEARCH STATION
GROSSE ILE, MICHIGAN
This site was visited on November 15, 1976, by Drs.
Cowgill, Kummler*, and Fisher**.
The major function of the Research Station, which is
associated with the Environmental Research Laboratory-Duluth,
Minnesota, is to conduct research on the ecosystem of the Great
Lakes, including the development of methods for measuring,
describing, and predicting the time-space distribution of
pollutants, and the resulting effects on the water quality of
large lakes. This Station conducts monitoring and modelling of
the physical, chemical, and biological aspects of the Great
Lakes,
The personnel of this Research Station is about 19 in
number.
Following are some comments:
There are no limnologists on the staff of this Research
Station even though the program is heavily slanted to that area
of science.
Those scientists involved in the chemical analyses
concentrate almost exclusively on determinations of nitrogen and
phosphorus in the lake waters, The view point of the modellers
here appears to be that control of nitrogen and phosphorus will
exclude undesirable organisms. It is possible to approach the
problem from a more realistic point of view by asking what type
of physical and chemical environment would produce the optimal
conditions for the desirable organisms.
The research projects could be designed to incorporate more
data with more sophisticated components.
*Dr, Ralph H, Kummler, Department of Chemical Engineering, Wayne State
University, Detroit Michigan.
**Dr. Joel Fisher, Executive Secretary of the Advisory Committee on
Pollutant Movement and Transformation, science Advisory Board, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency,
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Some of the Staff could benefit considerably by becoming
fully aware of the present status of science in the world
relating to the particular problems they are studying,
The extramural contract and grant work accounts for more
than half of the funds of this Research Station. The manner of
expending these funds in order to enlist the best available
scientific talent in the country on the problems under study
needs a thorough-going review, as in Part II, Section 10, of this
report.
With proper coordination with appropriate other units of
the Agency, this Research Station could make valuable
contributions to our knowledge of the ecosystem of the Great
Lakes.
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10. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NORTH CAROLINA
This site was visited on November 1-3, 1976, by the entire
Committee, including Drs, Clesceri, Corliss, Cowgill, Crawford,
Crummett, Ferrand, Freiser, Giam, Hougen, Lennette, Rogers,
Taylor, Watson, Zissis, Rossini (Chairman), and Forziati
(Executive Secretary).
The major function of this Laboratory is to conduct
research in the physical sciences to detect, define, and quantify
the effects of air pollution in urban, regional, and global
atmospheres, arid the subsequent impact on water quality and land
use. This Laboratory conducts research, both in the laboratory
and in the field, on the relationships between emissions of
pollutants in air from all sources and the quality of the air
environment. Also, under its cognizance, is the Regional Air
Pollution Study, including the operation of the regional
aerometric data gathering facility in St. Louis, Missouri. The
research of this Laboratory is conducted under the following
Divisions: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics; Meteorology and
Assessment; Emissions Measurement and Characterization,
The personnel of this laboratory numbers about 161.
For this visit, the Director of the Laboratory arranged for
the presentation of general reports, tours of the laboratories,
and individual conferences between members of the staff and
members of the Committee.
Following are some comments:
This Laboratory is one of four more or less independent
Laboratories of the Agency constituting the complex cf units at
Research Triangle Park. The present organization at Research
Triangle Park is such that the four independent Laboratories
report, not to a local Diector, as there is none, but to four
different persons at the Headquarters of the Agency in
Washington. Such a system is obviously counter-productive.
There is lacking necessary unification of purpose and supportive
program. There is unnecessary duplication cf effort and
expertise in some areas. There is developing a lack of trust and
respect of accomplishment between two or more of the Laboratories
at Research Triangle Park, and a significant lowering of morale
throughout, including this Laboratory. The situation that has
developed is most unfortunate as it handicaps the productivity
and recognition of the competent scientists at this site,
It was quite evident that significant friction exists
between the staff of this Laboratory and its close neighbor the
Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory. Resentment
centers on differences in the level of funding of the two
Laboratories, on the problems assigned to them, and on intra-
Agency recognition, etc. Open fueding was noted on one or two
occasions. Overall morale is relatively low. This unhappy state
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of affairs must be laid at the doer cf upper management of the
Agency.
Also noted was a direct conflict between a section of this
Laboratory and a Section in the adjoining Environmental
Monitoring and Support Laboratory, working on substantially the
same problems. A similar conflict was noted between two other
groups, who should have been working in a cooperative rather than
an adversary manner. Such situations inevitably result in severe
curtailment of productivity.
Another undesirable situation encountered was that in which
this Laboratory possessed a particular expertise and another
Laboratory had the problem which that expertise could solve. The
reverse situation was also encountered. In those cases where it
is not possible to shift scientific personnel from one laboratory
to another, in order to eliminate an undesirable situation cf
this kind, it should be possible to arrange for healthy
cooperation and a matching of the expertise with the problem,
Another situation that management must work out
satisfactorily is that of insulating and protecting the progress
of the long—term anticipatory research from the short-term
technical support work, so that the former is net continually
being "snuffed out" by reason of the authentic «fire-fighting"
reguirements for many chemical analyses to solve the day-to-day
problems. Several instances of such conflict were noted.
This Laboratory needs to review the entire problem of
communication as discussed in Part II, Section 6, of this report.
It appears that, in seme cases, extramural funds are being
used by this laboratory to check the quality of the analytical
work being done inside the laboratory.
The staff includes a number of scientists of established
repute in atmospheric chemistry and physics as related to
environmental measurements.
Scientists of this Laboratory have special expertise in
methods of air sampling, photochemistry, spectroscopy, and chemi-
luminescence, and are working on a number of excellent long-range
research problems.
The Director of this Laboratory is a scientist of
established high reputation, as evidenced by his many
publications, scientific awards, and recognition by his peers.
With a more favorable external organizational ambience,
this Laboratory could develop into an outstanding environmental
scientific enterprise.
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11. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND SUPPORT LABORATORY
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NORTH CAROLINA
The site was visited on November 1-3, 1976, by the entire •
Committee, including Drs. Clesceri, Corliss, Cowgill, Crawford,
Grummet, Ferrand, Freiser, Giam, Hougen, Lennette, Rogers,
Taylor, Watson, Zissis, Rossini (Chairman), and Forziati
(Executive Secretary),
The major function of this Laboratory is to provide
specialized monitoring and analytical support to the following
units of the Agency: Office of Air and Waste Management; Regional
Offices; Office of Enforcement; Office of International
Activities; other program offices; and the research and
development laboratories, This Laboratory also operates an
Agency-wide Program of Quality Assurance for Air Pollution,
evaluates standard analytical methods, develops monitoring
methods for the sampling and analysis of ambient, source, and
hazardous air pollutants, evaluates commercially available
instruments for monitoring the quality of air, and operates the
Fuels and Fuel Additive Registration Program of the Agency.
The number of personnel in this laboratory is about 107.
For this visit, the Director of the laboratory arranged for
the presentation of several reports, tours of the laboratories,
and individual conferences between members of the staff and the
Committee,
Following are some comments:
The first three paragraphs appearing under the comments in
the preceding Section 10 for the Environmental Research
Laboratory-Research Traingle Park, North Carolina, apply equally
well to this Laboratory, and due note of them should be taken.
The Quality Assurance Program of this Laboratory needs
improvement, through better application of the skills known to be
available on the Staff.
Some of the chemical analytical methods under way in this
Laboratory need to be reviewed from the standpoint of utilizing
the best procedures and apparatus available in the world for the
particular analyses.
Consideration should be given to the interchange of
personnel of this Laboratory with personnel in the field
laboratories on a rotating basis, in order to broaden their
outlook and increase their awareness of the total program.
It was noted that routine chemical analyses are being made
at the rate of near 12,000 per year per person.
Care should be taken that expensive specialized scientific
analytical equipment is not left idle for lack of expertise in
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its adjustment and operation. Such equipment should either be
put into proper use or moved to another Laboratory that can
handle it properly and use it to advantage.
One unit of this Laboratory is engaged in repairing
components of gas-chromatographic apparatus shipped in by mail
from government Laboratories around the country, at the rate of
50 components per month and a cost of $30,000 per month. Some
review of this work is in order.
Consideration should be given to combining the program of
standard reference materials at this Laboratory with that at the
similar Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory,
Cincinnati, Ohio, covering standard methods of test, standard
reference materials, etc,
The entire problem of modelling and monitoring is such that
much intellectual work is required to bring it to a state of
usefulness in the real world. Recommended methods and
instruments need to be tested in the field at the locale of the
problem in order to arrive at a sensible error variance in each
case. The entire problem of measurement at this laboratory needs
to be reviewed by the officials of the Laboratory along the lines
discussed in Part II, Section 5, of this report.
The entire problem of communication needs to be reviewed by
the officials of this Laboratory along the lines discussed in
Part II, Section 6, of this report.
It was evident -that there is no real, clear cut, official
channel for the transfer of measurement and monitoring science
and technology from the research laboratories to the monitoring
laboratories, to the Regional Laboratories, to the local State
and Community Laboratories, as discussed in Part II, Section 11,
of this report.
The staff appeared, on the whole, to be well motivated.
The Los Angeles Catalyst Study, which was monitored by this
Laboratory, is an excellent example of a fruitful cooperative
enterprise, involving Federal, State, County, and industrial
support.
With a better external relationship with appropriate other
units of the Agency, this Laboratory could produce important
results for the control and maintenance of the quality of the
environment.
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12. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY
ATHENS, GEORGIA
This site was visited on December 20-22, 1976, by the.
entire Committee, including Drs. Corliss, Cowgill, Crummett,
Ferrand, Freed, Freiser, Giam, Hougen, Rogers, Taylor, Watson,
Zissis, Rossini (Chairman), and Forziati (Executive Secretary),
and on January 26, 1977, by Dr. Clesceri.
The major function of this Laboratory is to carry on
research in the following areas; on rural land use, including
agriculture and silviculture; on water quality; on analytical
chemistry, including the development of new techniques for
identifying and measuring chemical constituents of water and
soil; on environmental processes, to define microbiological and
chemical impact of pollutants in water and soil; on environmental
systems, to conceive, construct, and verify models of
environmental transport, transformation, degradation, and impact
of pollutants in water and soil; on technology development and
applications, to develop tools for water quality management and
fcr control of adverse environmental effects on non-irrigated
rural land. This Laboratory is perceived as having the mission
of investigating the influx of chemicals into the soil and water
compartments of the ecosystems, their transport, fate, and
effects, and the modelling of these processes, with the emphasis
to date being on fresh water systems and pesticides.
The personnel of this laboratory numbers about 123-
For this visit, the Director of the laboratory arranged for
the presentation of a number of reports, tours of the
laboratories, and conferences between members of the Staff and
members of the Committee,
Following are some comments:
This Laboratory has a delineated mission within the context
of the overall responsibilities of the Agency, However, in a few
areas, the mission may be construed too narrowly, The goal of
each project underway should be stated clearly in a way that
makes it relevant to the real world, where the regulatory
responsibilities of the Agency lie. This is a responsibility of
upper management.
In the conduct of the many projects which require
interdisciplinary work for the successful attainment of
objectives, management policies and strategies can be devised to
ensure the necessary interdisciplinary cooperation.
Consideration can be given to some budgeting by project and to
the provision of appropriate rewards and recognition.
The six branches of the Laboratory each have a defined
role, with the primary responsibility for the effectiveness and
quality of the environmental measurements resting with the
Analytical Branch. This Branch emphasizes analyses for specific
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organic pollutants, multi-element analyses, and speciation, and
is organized according to the technical expertise of the
personnel. This has the advantage of developing in-depth
technology but has the disadvantage of discouraging scientific
broadening, making the program less flexible. There results a
high degree of specialization in one technique and one class of
instruments, and exclusion of consideration of other techniques
and instruments that may be more powerful for the particular
problems being investigated.
The following analytical areas were in operation;
chromatography, extraction, mass spectrometry, molecular
spectroscopy, neutron activation, emission spectrometry, X-ray
fluorescence, and electron microscopy. Electro-analytical
techniques and high-pressure liquid chrcmatography were being
developed.
Maintenance of high quality scientific and technical
capabilities on the Staff requires avoidance of in-breeding and
the resulting insularity of Staff. Pecruitment of new staff
should include a reasonable number of personnel trained outside
the area local to this Laboratory.
The productivity of the staff could probably be increased
significantly by provision of some additional space in
appropriate areas of work.
On the general problem of measurements, it is suggested
that the officials of this Laboratory review the discussion
presented in Part II, Section 5 of this report, which may have
some benefit for the following areas of measurement under way:
Determination of Asbestiform Fibers in Water, where the need is
to obtain valid samples, and to develop a mere reproducible
method that is operable in a routine manner, without need of a
high degree of skill, expensive equipment, or controlled
atmosphere in clean rooms; Aquatic Biology, where the need is for
expertise in taxonomy and an appreciation that the microcosm
study is a very complicated problem and should be expanded to
include anaerobic as well as aerobic data; Model Stream, designed
to measure diffusion coefficients, behavior of nutrients, and
fluctuation of water parameters, but which lacks sufficient depth
to simulate a deep, natural pond or stream; iMicrobiology,
concerned with how organisms break down organic pollutants, could
benefit from consideration of identifying the organisms to the
species level, discovering the effect of the organic compound on
organisms not involved in the degradation process, culturing
organisms in sterilized water from the lakes or rivers from which
they were taken, employing different types of water from
different types of lakes and rivers from different geographical
regions, isolating intermediate degradation products to discover
the effect of the community of organisms, examining particulate
material in a water sample to ascertain what organisms adhere to
the material, and discovering whether a given organism will do
the same in a natural system where it may have other compounds to
attack; Model Ecosystems, using "natural populations" in a
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relatively simple system, where the organisms should be
identified in order to evaluate differences in response to given
chemicals and where more rapid development and extended
application should be supported; Mass Sepctrometry, where more
laboratory space is needed.
It also will be helpful for the officials of this
Laboratory to review Part II, Section 6, of this report, covering
all aspects of the problem of communication: intra-Laboratory
interaction; inter-Laboratory interaction, both within the Agency
and with laboratories in industry, academia, and not-for-profit
institutes; expeditious publication of scientific techical
findings, both as reports to the Agency and as papers in the
appropriate scientific-technical journals of the world;
maintenance of adequate library facilities; conduct of regular
seminars and colloquia; inter-change of personnel, with other
laboratories of the Agency, and with laboratories in industry and
universitie s,
The funds available at this Laboratory for extramural
grants and contracts can be used beneficially to support ongoing
technical support and monitoring work and long-term research work
being carried on in the Laboratory, Such contracts and grants
should be handled as described in Part II, section 10, of this
report. A proper balance in the distribution of funds should be
made between the inhouse work and the funded extramural work.
Also, care should be taken not to penalize the inhouse work by
shouldering it with the full cost of monitoring the extramural
work,
This Laboratory can benefit from a thorough review of Part
II, Section 11, of this report, covering the transfer of
measurement and monitoring science and technology from the
research, development, monitoring and technical support
Laboratories of the Agency to the Regional Laboratories and
thence to the local State and Community Laboratories.
The staff of this Laboratory exhibited excellent morale and
esprit de corps.
The Analytical Branch has particularly strong capabilities,
with special expertise in the following areas: computer-coupled
gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry; molecular spectroscopy;
electron microscopy; and electrochemistry.
This Laboratory is very well managed and possesses
excellent capabilities in basic research, It could serve as a
nucleus for long-term anticipatory research in environmental
mea su re me n t s .
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13. TECHNICAL SUPPORT LABORATORY—REGION VI—ATLANTA
ATHENS, GEORGIA
This site was visited on December 21, 1976, by the entire
Committee, including Drs. Corliss, Cowgill, Crummett, Ferrand,
Freed, Freiser, Giam, Hougen, Rogers, Taylor, Watson, Zissis,
Rossini (Chairman), and Forziati (Executive Secretary).
The function of this laboratory is to provide technical
support to the Agency's Region IV-Atlanta, Georgia,
The number of personnel in this laboratory is about 83,
For this visit, the Director of the Laboratory presented a
report on the work of the Laboratory, but there was no
opportunity to visit the Laboratories or talk with any of the
personnel.
The purpose of this visit was to become acquainted with one
of the Regional Laboratories of the Agency.
Some comments follow:
It appears that this Laboratory should have more input in
the decisions being made by the Office of the Regional
Administrator regarding measurements to be made in support of the
regulatory process, by whom, how, where, when, with what
reliability, and so forth,
It is recommended that the officials of this Laboratory
review carefully the discussion presented in Part II, Section 11,
of this report covering the transfer of measurement and
monitoring science and technology frcm the research, development,
monitoring, and technical support Laboratories of the Agency to
the Regional Laboratories and thence to the local State and
Community laboratories.
It appears that this Laboratory is carrying out its
assigned functions satisfactorily.
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD
ENVIRONMENTAL MEASUREMENTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
SUMMARY
OF THE REPORT ON THE
RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT, MONITORING,
AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT SYSTEM
CF THE
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
AUGUST 1977
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SUMMARY
At the request of the Administrator of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency,, through his Science Advisory
Board, the Environmental Measurements Advisory Committee has
prepared a report on the research, development, monitoring, and
technical support system of the Agency.
The Committee consists of seventeen experts in the various
areas of environmental measurements, and come from twelve
universities, three state laboratories, one city laboratory, and
one industrial laboratory, in different regions of the country.
In the preparation of this report, begun in July 1976, the
Committee had the benefit of reports and briefings by many
officials of the Agency, at Headquarters and in the field,
together with site visits to twelve Laboratories and Field
Stations of the Agency in the northern, southern, middle western,
and southwestern parts of the country.
The report is in three parts: I, an Introduction- II,
General Comments on the system as a whole; and III, Specific
Comments on the sites visited. The comments are presented in
such a manner as to elicit, hopefully, receptive study and
appropriate action.
The General Comments relate to measurement science and
technology and cover the following topics:
1. Philosophy and Organization for Research and
Development. Emphasizes the need to develop a harmonious,
efficient, and effective blend of legal requirements, scientific
and technical knowledge, human resources, and material equipment,
to achieve and maintain the desired quality of the environment.
Targets, as an important objective, the development and
maintenance of a high quality of scientific and technical
personnel at all levels, from the working bench to the
Administration at Headquarters,
2. Management at Headquarters and at the Laboratories.
Emphasizes the need for management at Headquarters to have a good
basic understanding of environmental science and technology, to
be able to define clearly the work needed to be done in support
of the short-term and long-term needs of the Agency, to
communicate these needs to the Administrator for support and to
the Directors of the Laboratories for execution, and to have the
ability to work harmoniously and firmly with the Directors of the
Laboratories in achieving the goals set.
3. Quality of the Scientific Personnel at the
Laboratories. Points out that, by and large, the quality of the
scientific personnel at the Laboratories is good, with some being
superior in ability and performance, a few at the lower end of
the scale, and the majority as average or somewhat above average.
Emphasizes the importance of good interpersonal relationships at
all levels, and the necessity of maintaining open lines of
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communication between the working bench and the administration of
the Laboratory, stresses the point that the quality of
performance and the productivity of the scientific-technical
personnel of the Laboratory depends greatly on the administration
of the Laboratory.
4. Capabilities of the Scientific Personnel at the
Laboratories as Related to the Tasks Assigned. Emphasizes the
responsibility of management to see that (i) the capabilities of
the scientific and technical personnel are fully utilized and
challenged, (ii) there is a reasonable match of the scientific
capabilities with the tasks assigned to a given Laboratory, and
(iii) that careful but firm relocation of personnel may be
reguired to attain the desired objective,
5. The Problem of Measurement. Emphasizes the basic role
played by the science of measurements in achieving and
maintaining the desired quality of the environment. Stresses the
importance of the following basic elements: collection of valid
samples, development and use of standard reference materials,
development and use of standard methods of test, and maintenance
of a quality assurance program through intercomparison of results
by different laboratories via round-robin measurements. Points
out the need for uniformity in testing the same pollutant,
whether it be in detection, monitoring, control, assaying, or
whatever. Suggests the establishment o± an Agency-wide Center
for Standard Reference Materials for all media, whether in air,
water, or land. Points out that the problem of measurement is
basic to the entire enterprise, and, to paraphrase Lord Kelvin,
unless we can measure it, we know nothing about it,
6, The Problem of Communication. Emphasizes the great
importance of communication at all levels in both directions,
within one Laboratory, among different Laboratories of the
Agency, between Headquarters and the Laboratories, and between
Laboratories of the Agency and the scientific-technical community
in other government laboratories, in university laboratories, and
in industrial laboratories. Stresses the need for prompt
publication of scientific-technical findings, first in reports to
the Agency and then expeditiously in appropriate scientific-
technical journals, Points out the importance of supporting the
scientific enterprise with adequate library facilities, including
access to computer-readable files, abstracts, bibliographies,
etc. Suggests the need for attendance by scientists and
engineers of the Agency at properly arranged conferences and
seminars on topics important to the Agency.
7- The Tasks Assigned to the Laboratories and Their
Relevance to the Mission of^ the Agency. Emphasizes the
importance of properly coordinating the tasks assigned to the
different Laboratories, as by providing each Laboratory with the
necessary material and intellectual resources to handle (i) many
routine, repetitive environmental problems and (ii) one kind of
large, specialized environmental problem for the entire Agency,
Points out that such a disposition of material and intellectual
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resources will maximize the productivity obtainable with a given
amount of resources, and will avoid unnecessary duplication of
scarce intellectual resources and costly material resources,
8, ^kort-te_rm Responsive Technical Support as Related to
the Regulatory Responsibilities of the Agency. Emphasizes the
need for the Agency to have a strong and efficient capability for
short-term responsive technical support to cope with the
immediate day-to-day environmental^problems, comprising inhouse
capability supplemented by capabilities resident in universities,
not-for-profit-institutes, industrial laboratories, and other
government laboratories, Stresses the need for adequately
coordinating all short-term responsive technical support to avoid
unnecessary duplication and waste of resources,
9. Long-term Anticipatory Research as Related to the
Mission of the Agency. Points out that the problems associated
with maintenance and improvement of the quality of the
environment in our highly developed society have generated whole
new areas of science and technology in the engineering, physical,
chemical, mathematical, statistical, earth, life, and medical
sciences, States that, in some cases, the laws enacted by the
Federal Government anticipate future findings and developments of
science and technology. Emphasizes the need for the Agency to
maintain an adequate inhouse program of long-term anticipatory
research, solely aimed at providing a basis for the solution of
environmental problems appearing on the horizon, continually and
unexpectedly.
10, Extramural Contracts and Grants. Points out that,
because of the ubiquitous nature of environmental problems, and
the complexity of the scientific-technical knowledge required for
their proper solution, it is not possible for a single
organization, even as large as the mission-oriented U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, to maintain a total inhouse
capability and capacity to provide the needed short-term
responsive technical support and long-term anticipatory research.
Suggests an appropriate meshing, with the inhouse capabilities
and facilities of the Agency, of the intellectual capabilities
and material facilities resident in the universities, not-for-
profit institutes, and industrial organizations. Points out that
the involvement of university faculty, postdoctoral
investigators, and graduate students will provide a continuing
reservoir of high-caliber scientific capabilities for work on
environmental problems for government and industry. Emphasizes
the need for long-term anticipatory research to be operated from
a coordinated Agency-wide central office on a national basis,
11. Transfer p_f Measurement and Monitoring Technology to
the Regional Laboratories and thence to the local State and
Community Laboratories. Points out that the front-line for
measuring and monitoring environmental situations, to determine
conformity or non-conformity with Federal and State laws and
regulations, lies in the State Laboratories and certain Community
Laboratories, which are provided technical support by the
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Regional Laboratories of the Agency. States that there are
serious^deficiencies in the present transfer of measurement and
monitoring technology to the local front. Emphasizes the need to
have an Agency-wide coordinated system for the transfer of
measurement and monitoring technology to the State and Community
Laboratories. Presents a comprehensive plan for a formal system
of transfer of the needed measurement and monitoring technology
to the local front.
The Specific Comments relate to measurement science and
technology and arise from visits by Members of the Committee, as
given in some detail in Part III of the report, to the following
sites:
a. National Enforcement Investigation Center, at
Denver, Colorado. In spite of somewhat limited resources
and inadequate coordination with other units of the Agency,
this Center is performing satisfactorily, with a well-
motivated staff eager to carry out the scientific aspects
of the enforcement responsibilities of the Agency,
b. Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory,
at Las Vegas, Nevada. The staff has high morale and
enthusiam for their work, and possesses special expertise
in the following areas: measuring radio-nuclides and
ionizing radiation; maintaining and operating excellent
animal facilities; performing analytical determinations for
lead, cadmium, and mercury; developing air-borne
instrumentation for monitoring air pollutants; and
developing and operating remote sensing devices, including
the use of air-to-ground laser systems. The technical
assistance program appears to be valuable and welcome at
the regional level.
c. Vint Hill Field Station, at Vint Hill Farms,
Warrenton, Virginia. Although limited in scope, the
activities of this Field Station appear to be well carried
out,
d. Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory,
at Cincinnati, Ohio, The staff comprises a competent group
which needs encouragement to do even better than they are
doing, The Director of this Laboratory has a good
understanding of the basic principles relating to the
preparation and use of standard reference materials, the
development and use of standard methods of test, and the
precision and accuracy of environmental measurements. He
has demonstrated good management on systems relating to
water and gave evidence that his Laboratory could serve as
an Agency-wide Center for Standard Reference Materials, for
all systems—air, water, and land.
e. Environmental Research Laboratory, at
Narragansett, Rhode Island. This Laboratory has special
expertise in the analysis of trace inorganic substances in
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water. As one of the two large marine Laboratories of the
Agency, this Laboratory has a Director with the arrbition
and energy to establish and operate good programs relating
to marine water systems,
f. Environmental Research Laboratory, at Duluth,
Minnesota. The staff includes a number of capable
scientists bearing favorable recognition by their peers in
several areas of environmental science. This Laboratory
has scientists with special expertise in electron
microscopy and electron diffraction, as related to the
problem of asbestos in water. The Director of the
Laboratory is a scientist of established high repute in his
field, and under an appropriate regime, could restore the
excellent reputation which this Laboratory once enjoyed in
the field of freshwater systems.
g. Monticello Ecological Research Station, at
Monticello, Minnesota. The staff has demonstrated
resourcefulness in carrying on their tasks with very
limited resources. The report presented by the Director on
the work carried on at this Station was very well organized
and most informative. The Agency should provide this
Station with the much needed help to conduct its important
work. The alternative is to close down the Station, rather
than let it limp along without adequate support.
h. Large Lakes Research Station, at Grosse lie,
Michigan, fcith proper coordination with appropriate other
units of the Agency, this Research Station could make
valuable contributions to our knowledge of the ecosystem of
the Great Lakes,
i. Environmental Research Laboratory, at Research
Triangle Park, North Carolina. The staff includes a number
of scientists of established repute in atmospheric
chemistry and physics as related to environmental
measurements. Scientists of this Laboratory have special
expertise in methods of air sampling, photochemistry,
spectroscopy, and chemi-luminescence, and are working on a
number of excellent long-range research problems. The
Director of this Laboratory is a scientist of established
high reputation, as evidenced by his many publications,
scientific awards, and recognition by his peers. With a
more favorable ambience, this Laboratory could develop into
an outstanding environmental scientific enterprise.
j, Environmental Monitoring and Support Laboratory,
at Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The staff
appeared, on the whole, to be well motivated. The Los
Angeles Catalyst Study, which was monitored by this
Laboratory, is an excellent example of a fruitful
cooperative enterprise, involving Federal, State, County,
and industrial support, With a better external
relationship with appropriate other units of the Agency,
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this Laboratory could produce important results for the
control and maintenance of the quality of the environment,
k. Environmental Research Laboratory, at Athens,
Georgia, The staff of this Laboratory exhibited excellent
morale and esprit de corps. The Analytical Branch has
particularly strong capabilities, with special expertise in
the following areas: computer-coupled gas-chromatography
mass-spectrometry; molecular spectroscopy; electron
microscopy; and electrochemistry. This Laboratory is very
well managed and possesses excellent capabilities in basic
research. It could serve as a nucleus for long-term
anticipatory research in environmental measurements.
1. Technical Support Laboratory - Region IV -
Alanta, at Athens, Georgia, It appears that this
Laboratory is carrying out its assigned functions
satisfactorily.
In Part III of the report, the Committee gives some
detailed comments regarding matters encountered during the site
visits, These are constructive suggestions intended to give the
personnel of the relevant site the benefit of the knowledge and
experience of the Members of the Committee who have special
expertise in the cited matters. The Committee is hopeful that
the appropriate personnel at each of the sites visited and at the
Headquarters of the Agency will review the suggestions made for
each site and take such action as may be justified.
Careful analysis of the General Comments and the Specific
Comments given in the report lead to the following requirements
for maintaining an effective, efficient, and productive system of
research, development, monitoring, and technical support for the
Agency:
1. Firm and strong leadship, well grounded in the basic
principles of environmental science and technology, and
adequately trained in matters of organization and in handling
scientific-technical personnel,
2, Complete coordination of all relevant activities
throughout the system of research, development, monitoring, and
technical support, as well as with the programs requiring the
output of these efforts, with clearly defined objectives
throughout.
3. Assignment of missions to the several Laboratories of
the Agency in such a way as to provide for each Laboratory the
intellectual capabilities and material resources necessary to
handle (a) many routine problems and (b) one kind of large
specialized problem for the entire Agency, with the view of
maximizing the productivity of given intellectual capabilities
and material resources, and minimizing unnecessary duplication of
these scarce intellectual capabilities and costly material
resources.
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4, Development and maintenance of a scientific-technical
staff of high quality at Headquarters and at the Laboratories,
through well planned programs for recruitment, continuing
education, conferences and seminars, scientific-technical
meetings, appropriate involvement in planning the work, and
adequate rewards for superior accomplishment.
5. Judicious utilization, meshing, and challenging of the
varied capabilities of the scientific-technical personnel at all
levels, at all Laboratories.
6, Maintenance of a coordinated central analytical system
for valid methods of sampling, standard reference materials,
standard methods of test, quality assurance of analyses, optimal
design of experimental programs, and statistical treatment of
results obtained,
7- Maintenance of a coordinated system of communication,
covering all relevant matters at all levels of staff, in both
directions.
8. Maintenance of the library facilities necessary to
support the scientific enterprise, including provision of access
to computer readable files, abstracts, bibliographies, etc.
10. Maintenance of a system of short-term responsive
technical support necessary to handle the day-to-day problems
associated with the regulatory responsibilities of the various
units of the Agency.
11, Maintenance of a coordinated program of long-term
anticipatory research necessary to handle the environmental
problems appearing on the horizon,
12, Maintenance of a system of extramural contracts in
support of the inhouse capabilities of the Agency for short-term
responsive technical support,
13, Maintenance of a system of extramural grants in
support of the inhouse capabilities of the Agency for long-term
anticipatory research, particularly with universities so as to
provide a continuing source of scientific talent on environmental
problems for work in government and industry, with the program
operated from a central office on a national basis.
14, Maintenance of a coordinated, formal system for
transferring measurement and monitoring technology from the
research and development Laboratories to the Regional
Laboratories and thence to the local State and Community
Laboratories.
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