Environmental TechnologyDirectorateThe Environmental Technology Directorate is the steward of the Pacific NorthwestNational Laboratory’s environmental quality goal — to be the leading lab forexpedited cleanup and sustainable production. Our stewardship provides thebasis for missions to:

• restore the environment by cleaning up thelegacy of nuclear weapons production, andmilitary and industrial activities

• protect ecological and human health throughour safety work, our stewardship activities, andour focus on major threatening problems, and

• sustain the environment by providing methodsto effectively manage our natural resourcesand technologies that are economic andenhance the quality of life supporting ahealthy global environment.

Our 772 staff members work in four divisionsserving clients from the Department of Energy,other government agencies, and industry.

Health Effects and Risk SciencesThe Health Effects and Risk Sciences Division

supplies science-based solutions to complex environmental health and cleanupissues. Health Effects and Risk Sciences integrates solutions from the followingcapabilities:

• Health Physics – experimental and modeling expertise for assessing humanhealth consequences of radiological exposure, internationally recognizedin radiation dose reconstruction, development of thermoluminescent andoptically-stimulated luminescent dosimetry

• Chemical Toxicology – inhalation, developmental, and reproductive toxicol-ogy; chemical toxicology screening and analysis; toxicity and exposure kineticassessment

• Hazard and Exposure Assessment – assessment of radiological and chemicalhazards and exposure for facilities, wastes, and nuclear materials throughatmospheric fate and transport modeling and model development, andchemical degradation and characterization studies; meteorologicalforecasting of hazardous conditions; and non-destructive analyses

• Integrated Modeling and Analysis – process-based models of complexenvironmental and biological systems are combined to perform riskanalysis, decision analysis, and systems engineering; modeling incorporatesoptimization and visualization tools and can be used in science andtechnology road mapping and strategic planning

4-03 PNNL-SA-38502

For more information contact:

Mark S. Hanson

Pacific Northwest NationalLaboratoryP.O. Box 999, MSIN K9-02Richland, WA 99352

Telephone: (509) 375-6812Fax: (509) 372-4223Website: www.pnl.gov/etd

The Marine Sciences Laboratory has6,000 square feet of analytical andgeneral purpose laboratories and7,700 square feet of wet or supportlaboratories supplied with heated andcooled freshwater and seawater. TheMarine Sciences laboratory also has astate-of-the-art waste seawater treat-ment system; a 28-foot research vessel,the “Strait Science,” equipped with thelatest electronic equipment; a special-ized scientific diving boat; and a fullscientific scuba dive capacity with sixcertified divers.

Key contact: Dick Ecker (360) 681-3602

Process Science andEngineering DivisionOne of the more laboratory-intensivedivisions at the Pacific NorthwestNational Laboratory, the ProcessScience and Engineering Divisionis helping clients gain a better under-standing of chemical, radiochemical,and biological phenomena that under-lie environmental systems:

• Advanced Processing — novelprocesses, materials, and applica-tions for advanced processingprojects, including glass scienceand engineering

• Chemical and Biological ProcessDevelopment — chemical andbiological processes used inbioprocessing, microchemicalsystems, separations, and catalysisreaction and engineering

• Fluid and Computational Engi-neering — fluid dynamics, heattransfer, related transport phenom-ena, and liquid-solid systems forfluid and computational engineer-ing projects

• Radiochemical Science andEngineering — nuclear processengineering, radiomaterials charac-terization, and radiochemicalseparations and processing withlinkages to process modeling,inorganic materials, and chemicalseparations for radiochemicalscience and engineering projects.

The Process Science and EngineeringDivision manages the RadiochemicalProcessing Laboratory, a Category 2nuclear research and developmentfacility with hot cell, radioanalyticaland support services infrastructure.It also is home to the Applied ProcessEngineering Laboratory, a user facilityfor state-of-the-art engineering testingand demonstration.

The Process Science and EngineeringDivision generates the greatestamount of intellectual propertyrevenues at the Pacific NorthwestNational Laboratory.

Key contact: Rod Quinn (509) 375-2250

The field tests on In SituRedox Manipulation show itcan remove toxic chromatefrom the groundwater tolevels below drinking waterstandards and water qualitystandards for aquatic life.This technology, developed byPacific Northwest NationalLaboratory, won an R&D100 award in 1998.

The state-of-the-art thermogravimetricanalysis/differential scanning calorimeter/massspectrometer system, housed at the Radiochem-istry Processing Laboratory, is used to analyzemacroscopic samples to study mechanismsand kinetics of material reactions in variedatmospheres including static and dynamicconditions.

PNNL researchers are studying fungi to discover novel isolates and to find new biomassdegrading enzyme systems.

• Project Engineering and Technol-ogy Deployment– program integra-tion, systems engineering, projectmanagement, and planning to allowsuccessful deployment of complex,high-risk technology solutions.

This combination of capabilities isincreasingly being used for planningand analysis of emergency responseand emergency preparedness.

The Health Effects and Risk SciencesDivision offers a state-of-the-artChemical Testing Chamber for tracedetection of semi-volatile chemicalsand their degradation products. Thedivision also houses an EnvironmentalTesting Laboratory, offering a fullrange of instrument performancetesting and calibration. Several pro-grams within the division’s Radiologi-cal Calibrations Laboratory havenationally recognized accreditationsby the National Voluntary LaboratoryAccreditation Program (NVLAP)and the Department of EnergyLaboratory Accreditation Program(DOELAP).

Key contact: Ellyn Murphy (509) 375-5914

Natural ResourcesDivisionProjects conducted in the NaturalResources Division enable clients toachieve a balance between plannedactivities and resource stewardshipfor issues ranging from environmentalrestoration to fish and wildlife studies.Natural Resources capabilities include:

• Applied Geology and Geochemis-try — development and testing ofpractical soil and water remediationtechnologies and development ofgeophysical methods to monitorfield-scale and regional phenomenathrough contaminant transportmodeling, regional seismic moni-toring, and spatial and temporaldata analyses

• Ecology — identification andremediation of the impact of clientoperations on the environmentthrough evaluations of ecosystemhealth; assessments of land-useimpacts; and in-depth studies, some

of which assist clients in makingdecisions related to fish passageand hydroelectric dam operationsin the Pacific Northwest

• Environmental Characterizationand Risk Management — compre-hensive environmental monitoringprograms that provide data todemonstrate compliance withongoing operations and supportenvironmental restoration activitiesand stewardship of natural resourcesusing expertise in environmentalcharacterization, monitoring, andremediation design, as well as cul-tural and historical resource man-agement and risk assessment

• Field Hydrology and Chemistry— research and technologies thatcharacterize, monitor, and controlthe migration of contaminants inthe subsurface environment usingexperience in dealing with soils andgroundwater contaminated withradioactive and non-radioactivehazardous materials

• Hydrology – problem-solving thatinvolves the movement and qualityof water as it cycles through theenvironment, including watershedresponses to land use and climatechange, long-term landfill covers,vadose zone and groundwater flowand reactive transport predictions,performance and risk assessments,river flow and transport predic-tions, and river hydraulic effectsnear dams and other structures.

The Natural Resources Divisionmanages a number of specializedfacilities for Pacific Northwest Na-tional Laboratory, including aquaticlaboratories for rearing fish and otheraquatic organisms; a state-of-the-artMultifluid Research Laboratory fornonintrusive and nondestructivemeasurements of fluid saturations,salt concentrations, and porous mediadensities; and a closed-loop windtunnel for aerosol studies.

Key contact: Dennis Dauble (509)376-3631

Marine SciencesDivisionThe Marine Sciences Division, locatedat the Marine Sciences Laboratory inSequim on Washington State’s OlympicPeninsula is the Department ofEnergy’s only marine researchlaboratory. The Marine SciencesLaboratory helps clients understandthe effects of pollutants on marineand freshwater organisms; measuretrace substances in the marine envi-ronment and develop tests to deter-mine safe levels of the substances;assess and restore marine and coastalhabitats; and use satellite informationand other remote sensing techniquesto map, measure, and model whathappens in the ocean. MarineSciences capabilities include:

• Ecotoxicology — toxicity tests atdifferent temperatures, salinity, andflow regimes on over 30 differentmarine and freshwater organismsusing a large-capacity, wet-laboratoryfacility

• Chemistry — risk-based measure-ment of trace organics and metalsin the environment, with targetedexpertise in petroleum hydrocarbonfingerprinting and ultra-low trace-level analysis of contaminants intissues, sediments, soil, water, and air

• Coastal and MarineResources – identifica-tion and understandingof coastal processes,particularly the responsesof fisheries and wildlifeto coastal habitat resto-ration; wetlands ecol-ogy; environmentalresource assessment;habitat mapping; divesurveys; and benthiccommunity analysis

• Ocean Processes —remote sensing; GIS;side-scan sonar; oceancirculation modeling;sediment and contami-nant transport; oceandata analysis; instrumentdevelopment; and marinegeology for coastal andopen-ocean applicationsin environmental cleanup,natural resource surveys,national security, andemergency response.

• Biotechnology — remediation ofsoils and sediment contaminatedwith petroleum compounds, bacte-ria, and other toxic or hazardouswastes and development of en-zyme applications and beneficialuse of byproducts.

The information provided by the ChemicalTesting Chamber can provide analyses for awide range of issues, including environmentalcontaminants, indoor air concerns, industrialemissions monitoring and control, and sensortesting for homeland security applications.

The sensor-packed synthetic salmon making their waythrough turbines at hydroelectric dams measure theconditions that real fish encounter as they pass throughthe turbines on their way to the ocean.

Researchers successfully characterized a 14-mile section of Puget Sound shoreline using acombination of side-scan sonar and underwater videography to assist the King CountyDepartment of Natural Resources in determining the location for its new wastewatertreatment plant outfall.

The culvert testbed will help scientists understand the movement of juvenile salmon throughculverts, which may be blocking them from reaching thousands of miles of habitat.

Optically stimulated luminescence, a technology developed to measure a radiation worker’sexposure, may also be used for high-density data storage, detecting defects in materials, planning and testing radiation treatment for cancer, quality assurance in food irradiation,and medical imaging.