Emerging Issue: Use of Biomarkers to Assess and Quantify Injury in Natural Resource Damage Assessments

Dr. Nicholas Gard and Ms. Linda Ziccardi

Feature

Natural resource damage assessments (NRDAs) focus extensively on methods to determine whether injuries (defined as measurable adverse changes in the quality or viability of natural resources resulting from exposure to oil or a hazardous substance) have occurred, and to quantify the service losses resulting from those injuries. A rapidly emerging trend is for trustees to rely on biomarker measurements in individual organisms as a short cut to determining population scale injuries/changes as an input to service reductions calculations. This trend adds convenience to the process, but at the same time it introduces significant uncertainties.

Under U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) NRDA regulations, determination of injury to biological resources primarily relies on measurement of sub-organism or organism-level (i.e., individual-level) endpoints. For example, 43 CFR §11.62(f)(1)(i) defines injury as occurring if a biological resource or its offspring have “undergone at least one of the following adverse changes in viability: death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological malfunctions (including malfunctions in reproduction), or physical deformations.” By contrast, for quantification of injury, the DOI regulations state, “the extent to which the injured biological resource differs from baseline should be determined by analysis of the population or the habitat or ecosystem levels” (43 CFR §11.71(l)(1)). Thus, there is an inherent mismatch between the level of biological organization at which injuries are defined and at which they are quantified. This mismatch creates problems in NRDA cases because of the difficulty in extrapolating data for injury identification (i.e., has injury occurred) to injury quantification (i.e., measuring the extent of the injury). This is important because injury quantification is the basic metric for determining the scope of liability (restoration or monetary compensation) in an NRDA claim.

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Evaluating Effects of Atmospheric Mercury Deposition

Factory

Market forces have led to a current boom in proposed new electric generating facilities, many of which would be coal-fired. According to recent figures from the Department of Energy, 153 new coal-fired power plants are currently proposed. Given the concurrent “boom” in general concern over mercury in the environment and, specifically, atmospheric emissions from coal-fired power plants, the transport, fate, and effects of mercury will be a significant issue for most proposed plants.

In our next issue, we will outline some of the key technical issues related to mercury emissions. We will first look at mercury in the atmosphere and where it is coming from. We will identify some of the key issues related to evaluation of the effects of increased mercury deposition on human health and the environment.

Exponent Scientist Awarded Fellow Grade of Membership

Julian A. Levy, Jr., Senior Managing Scientist in the Environmental practice, was recently awarded by the Air & Waste Management Association the Fellow Grade of Membership in 2006. The award recognizes professional attainment and accomplishments related to the mission and objectives of A&WMA based on a process, product, or regulatory development; project leadership; managerial achievement; the education of specialists; peerreviewed technical publications; patents; and research or theoretical developments.

Recent/Upcoming Conferences & Presentations

Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, North America 27th Annual Meeting
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
November 5–9, 2006

The efficacy of a constructed wetland for the pulp and paper industry: From the laboratory to a full-scale trial
T. Deardorff and J.H. Rodgers Jr.

Assessment of natural resource damages at the New Almaden Mercury Mining District, California
N. Gard, G. Bigham, and D. Drury

Using predictive risk assessment to evaluate aluminum smelter treatment options for protection of mammalian communities in Iceland
J. Salatas

Using predictive risk assessment to evaluate treatment options for aluminum smelter emissions,
J. Salatas

Ecological risk screening levels for total petroleum hydrocarbons: a review
L. Ziccardi, and D. Bodishbaugh

8th International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant
Madison, WI
August 6–11, 2006

Overview of remediation decisions at mercury-contaminated sites
B. Henry, and G. Bigham

25th Annual Conference on Managing Quality Systems
Austin, TX
April 24–27, 2006

Steps to take to ensure that data are usable, meaningful, and legally defensible
J. Mc Ateer

American Bar Association, Toxic Torts and Environmental Law Committee
Phoenix, AZ
April 8, 2006

Who spilled the chlorinated solvents?
B. Murphy

Workshop on U.S. Seawater Vaporization: Getting to Resolution
Houston, TX
January 25, 2006

An evaluation of the approaches used to predict potential impacts of open loop LNG vaporization systems on fishery resources of the Gulf of Mexico,
D. Nielsen

International Society for Exposure Analysis/ International Society for Environmental Epidemiology. ISEA/ISEE 2006 Conference
Paris, France
September 2–6, 2006

Oral bioavailability and dermal absorption of arsenic from soil: in vivo research and progress toward in vitro methods
Y. Lowney, S. Roberts, R. Wester

5th International Conference on Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds
Monterey, CA
May 22–25, 2006

Transport modeling to assist design of enhanced dechlorination system,
A. Ayyaswami and F. Mohsen

Mercury Global Problem, Local Solution, a Specialty Conference

Gary Bigham will lead the opening session at the jointly sponsored conference on September 19, 2006, offered by the Air & Waste Management Association, Oregon Chapter, and the Northwest Environmental Business Council. Other participants are K. Futornick/ Exponent/Chair, Air & Waste Management Association, Oregon Chapter.

Air & Waste Management Association/Pacific Northwest International Section.° Annual Conference, PNWIS 2006 Conference
November 8–10
Victoria, B.C. Canada

Sustainability—Habitat Restoration (will also be presenting on Alcoa project),
P. Booth, Session Chair

Sustainability—Decision-Making Tools,
P. Booth, Session Chair

Green Buildings and Development (will also be presenting on LEED ranking system),
K. Futornick, Session Chair

K. Futornick
Session Chair, Stormwater Management

What's in the Dust? The Answer Is In The Details
L. Benton (authors L. Benton, W. Shields, M. Edwards)

Health Effects and Risk Assessment
R. Kaetzel, Session Chair

Recent/Upcoming Publications

Sabaliunas, D., C. Pittinger, C. Kessel, and P. Masscheleyn. 2006. Residential energy use and potential conservation through reduced laundering temperatures in the United States and Canada. Integr. Environ. Assess. Manag. 2(2):142–153.

Sampson, J.R., J.E. Sexton, T.C. Ginn, R.A. Pastorok, A. Spielman, D.R. Young, and I. Taganov. 2006. Content of metals and some organic contaminants in environmental media of Lake Baikal. Proc. Russ. Geogr. Soc. 1:52–58 (in Russian).

Boehm, P.D., and D.S. Page. (In press.) Exposure elements in oil spill risk and natural resource damage assessments. Hum. Ecol. Risk Assess.

Bence, A.E., D.S. Page, and P.D. Boehm. (In press.) Advances in forensic techniques for petroleum hydrocarbons: The Exxon Valdez experience. Chapter 15. In: Petroleum Forensics. Z. Wang and S. Stout (eds.). Elsevier.

Nielsen, D., T.C. Ginn, L. Ziccardi, and P. Boehm. 2006. Study: Proposed offshore gulf LNG terminals will have minor effects on fish populations. Oil and Gas Journal 104:28, July 28.

Neff, J.M., A.E. Bence, K.R. Parker, D.S. Page, J.S. Brown, and P.D. Boehm. 2006. Bioavailability of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from buried shoreline oil residues 13 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill: A multispecies assessment. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 25, 947–961.

Page, D.S., J.S. Brown, P.D. Boehm, A.E. Bence, and J.M. Neff. 2006. A hierarchical approach measures the aerial extent and concentration levels of PAH-contaminated shoreline sediments at historic industrial sites in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Marine Pollution Bulletin 52:367–379.

Futornick, K., G. Bigham, and B. Henry. 2006. Mercury— global problem, local solution. Part I: sources, properties and chemistry. Oregon Insider, Issue 397, August 1.

Futornick, K., G. Bigham, and B. Henry. 2006. Mercury— global problem, local solution. Part II: Where is it found and how is it regulated? Oregon Insider, Issue 398, August 15.

Futornick, K., G. Bigham, J. McAteer and B. Henry. 2006. Mercury in a water environment. The Water Report, Issue 30, August 15.

New Faces

Susan B. Kane Driscoll, Ph.D.
Managing Scientist, EcoSciences, Maynard, MA
Dr. Driscoll is an aquatic toxicologist specializing in ecological risk assessments for RCRA, Superfund, and state hazardous waste sites nationwide, serving a variety of industrial, utility, and governmental clients. Dr. Driscoll has experience in the preparation of field sampling plans, quality assurance project plans, risk assessment work plans, and the negotiation of their acceptance with state and federal regulatory authorities. She has more than 10 years of experience as a field team leader, taking responsibility for coordination and management of staff for the collection of field samples, implementation of quality control procedures, and coordination with subcontractors. Dr. Driscoll is also experienced in the development of technically defensible, risk-based cleanup levels.

Todd E. Gift
Senior Managing Scientist, Environmental Sciences, Chicago, IL
Mr. Gift has more than 15 years of consulting experience with emphasis in the areas of environmental business solutions, litigation support, and risk management. His experience and education have been in the petroleum and railroad industries focusing on petrochemicals, chlorinated solvents, and heavy metal impacts to human health and the environment. Mr. Gift consults on total environmental lifecycle solutions, integrating business operations and the environment.

Dan Mueller, P.E.
Senior Managing Engineer, Environmental Sciences, Houston, TX
Mr. Mueller is a registered professional engineer with 25 years of experience in the environmental field, including water resources (surface water and groundwater), industrial waste treatment and disposal, and hazardous waste management. His experience includes surface water and groundwater resource management, drinking-water system evaluation and design, wastewater design and management (including treatment and permitting of industrial process water), and RCRA- and CERCLAdriven investigations and closure (including risk-based closure projects). Mr. Mueller has significant experience in complex site investigations, including transport and fate issues in soil, surface water, and groundwater. He has developed and conducted training courses on environmental regulatory compliance and has written and presented numerous papers on this subject.