Environmental Assessment

Projects

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: