Kinnetic Laboratories, Inc

Scope Of Work

CENTRAL COAST LONG-TERM ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT NETWORK (CCLEAN), MONTEREY BAY REGIONAL MONITORING PROGRAM
This study (CCLEAN) is long-term a regional monitoring program in the Monterey Bay area focused on water quality issues, with an emphasis on measuring contaminant inputs from point and non-point sources and determining the effects of those contaminants, including exceedances of water quality and biological tissue criteria, effects on biological communities and effects on the health and mortality of sea otters. The program uses state-of-the-art sampling and analytical methods, such as solid-phase extraction techniques, to measure flow-proportioned concentrations of persistent organic pollutants in rivers and wastewater. Kinnetic Laboratories, Inc. is responsible for flow-composited determination of pollutant loads from four rivers and the treatment plants, for ambient water quality measurements from specially designed offshore moored samplers in Monterey Bay, and for concurrent measurements of bioaccumulation in resident mussels at key shoreline locations. Sampling these Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) require unique methods utilizing 30-day sampling by pumping through solid-phase extraction equipment consisting of a glass fiber filter cartridge for trapping particulate material and an XAD-2 (Amberlite) resin bead column that extracts dissolved organic material from the water. Additional measurement of POPs in mussels provides an indication of exposure of nearshore habitats to these chemicals. Pathogens are being addressed by monitoring indicator organisms. Total coliforms, fecal coliforms, and enterococcus are being monitored by the dischargers at locations along the 30-foot contour and in rivers and streams. These same indicator organisms are monitored in mussels.