ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT SERVICES
Our Environmental Assessment services focus on a wide range of topics, including various aspects of air, water, and soil pollution. These assessments have been conducted at locations throughout the United States.
Air Quality
E&S Environmental Chemistry provides services in many aspects of air quality and the effects of air quality on natural ecosystems. Our research and assessment activities focus on the following types of air pollution stressors:
- Atmospheric deposition of acidifying substances
- Atmospheric deposition of nutrients
- Atmospheric deposition of toxic materials
- Particulate concentrations in the atmosphere
- Light scattering and absorbing materials
- Ground-level ozone formation
We examine the effects of these stressors on a wide range of sensitive receptors, including those in remote wilderness and federal Class I areas (areas that receive the highest level of protection against air pollution degradation under the Clean Air Act). We monitor, assess, and/or model effects of air pollutants, including:
- Surface water acidification
- Soil acidification
- Nutrient enrichment (eutrophication) of fresh and estuarine waters
- Nutrient enrichment (and climate change effects) of plant communities
- Visibility degradation
- Ozone impacts on plants
Water Quality
E&S Environmental Chemistry provides water quality services for virtually all aspects of water quality work, from study design and protocols development to field sampling, data analysis, quality assurance, modeling, and interpretation. We assess the relative importance of point and nonpoint source pollutants and evaluate differences between natural conditions and ambient conditions, as influenced by human activities. Our water quality services include:
- Watershed assessments and analyses
- Monitoring
- Mathematical modeling
- Risk assessments
- Watershed planning
- Pollutant source identification
- Temporal trends analysis
- Interactions among water quality, land use, and watershed condition
We provide water quality services for lakes, streams, rivers, reservoirs, and estuaries. Our focus is on aquatic systems that range from pristine wilderness settings to surface waters that are influenced by urban, industrial, agricultural, and/or silvicultural land uses. We examine effects of the following types of water pollutants:
- Nutrients
- Acidifying substances
- Toxic materials
- Fecal bacteria
- Sediment
- Heat
