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New York Media Interested in Special Mussel
Watch Studies Performed to Determine the Effects of the Collapse of
the World Trade Center
NOAA’s Mussel Watch Project findings about the amount of contaminants entering the Hudson-Raritan Estuary as a result of the attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC) were published in Marine Pollution Bulletin and described in a press release, which was subsequently highlighted on the NOAA webpage. There has been renewed interest in the long-term consequences of contaminants released due to the collapse, and reporters from WNYC’s National Public Radio and the New York Daily News contacted National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science scientists with follow-up questions. The both asked similar questions about why polychlorinated biphenyls and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have not increased in either sediments or mussels after the attack on the WTC (the background levels were already high). One interviewer was also interested in whether NOAA would continue the Mussel Watch monitoring effort, which had been monitoring the Hudson-Raritan Estuary for over a decade prior to 9/11/01. NOAA will continue to do so, including monitoring the site closest to “ground zero” at the Statute of Liberty. For more information, contact Gunnar Lauenstein at (301) 713-3028 x152 or Gunnar.Lauenstein@noaa.gov. [02M00019]
Participation in Workshop Designed to
Address Endocrine Disruption in the Environment Leads to Proposals
for Future Projects
The National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA) recently helped organize and run a workshop on endocrine disruption in the environment, which resulted in proposals for future work to address this problem. Workshop goals included measuring progress made over the last 10 years in understanding endocrine disruption in wildlife and humans, and identifying specific areas of potential endocrine disruption research and monitoring collaboration and cooperation. In addition to the organizational roles CCMA played, a CCMA scientist also presented an overview of NOAA research to about 75 workshop attendees, which included NOAA Fisheries scientists from the Northwest Fisheries Science Center, Northeast Fisheries Science Center, and the Office of Protected Resources, and scientists and managers from a number of other federal agencies. Outcomes included proposals to: expand current work to assess endocrine disruption in fish in the Potomac Basin (which CCMA is involved in), conduct an integrative assessment of reproductive health in wildlife and possibly humans, refine risk assessment techniques for endocrine disruption endpoints, and collaborate better on the development of analytical methods. The workshop, which was part of the activities of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, Toxics and Risk Subcommittee, was held February 20-22, 2007 at the U.S. Geological Survey headquarters in Reston, Virginia. For more information, please contact Tony Pait at (301) 713-3028 x158 or Tony.Pait@noaa.gov.