Photo of the Week – EPA | What's Past is Prologue

Before I introduce today’s “Photo of the Week”, I’d like to share the video recorded at the HMSC Reunion in April. The oral interviews were recorded by Mike Dicianna from OSUs Special Collections and Archives Research Center. The direct link is at https://media.oregonstate.edu/media/t/0_9xmm51p2

and previously recorded oral histories are in this earlier blog post:

http://blogs.oregonstate.edu/hmschistory/2015/03/21/photo-of-the-week-ole-driving-redi/

For today’s post I’ve highlighted a series of photos from one of our federal partners, the Environmental Protection Agency. According to the Oregon State University’s Hatfield Marine Science Center, A Celebration of the First 25 Years, a 1988 downloadable PDF:

The Environmental Protection Agency began conducting marine research at the Hatfield Marine Science Center in 1966. The early focus was on the fate of waste materials discharged in estuarine and coastal waters. In 1972 the research scope was expanded to include the effects of pollutants on marine organisms living in the vicinity of dump sites and pipeline discharges. Currently the mission of the Newport laboratory is to provide a scientific foundation for marine and estuarine ecological risk assessments conducted in support of EPA’s regulatory activities.

The laboratory is responsible for

-developing and validating methods that describe the transport, transformation, bioaccumulation, and effects of ocean-disposed pollutants

-developing methods for assessing sediment toxicity and establishing criteria for sediment quality

-conducting research on the impact of increased UV radiation on marine waters

EPA facilities at the Marine Science Center are expanding dramatically with the addition of a new laboratory, a 21,000-square-foot library, and a two-story, 800,000-gallon saltwater storage tank. Construction of the additions began April 1, 1989.

Thank you to Christina Folger for sending me these gems from the EPA archives! As always, comments, corrections or additional information are welcome at maryann.bozza @oregonstate.edu.