Assessment and Restoration Division

At first glance, the blue surface of the open ocean seems like an empty place. But if you look closely, life teems just beneath the surface. Tiny, transparent fish eggs, larval invertebrates, and other planktonic organisms float and drift at the mercy of wind and ocean currents. 

In this Q&A series, NOAA intern Abisola Ajayi interviews three scientists in NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration. In this first interview, she talks with OR&R Regional Resource Coordinator Reyhan Mehran about the restoration of industrial waste sites, and how NOAA handles the waste with lingering complications that continue to affect natural resources. Check out the full interview to learn more!

The Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., was a poster child for America’s degraded urban waterways. Years of industrial land use on the waterfront and floating trash scared many people away from recreating on or by the river. However, in recent years local advocates, government agencies, and water utilities have made great strides in restoring this urban river

Imagine the perfect day at the beach, lying in the sand, fishing from the pier, maybe taking a boat out on the water. Then an oil spill occurs, and the beach is no longer a fun place to be. When an oil spill or other pollutant keeps people from enjoying a natural area, it’s up to agencies like NOAA, acting as public trustees of affected areas, to determine the impact of pollution on public recreation. 

2021 marks 30 years of NOAA’s Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP) working to hold polluters accountable for the impacts of oil spills, hazardous waste, and ship groundings in waterways. When oil spills and hazardous waste pollution impact protected species like sea turtles, whales, and dolphins, NOAA experts use leading science to assess the impacts and hold polluters accountable. 

Measuring the sediment concentration of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at hazardous waste sites, and its impact on aquatic life, is an important way for scientists to determine how much damage pollution has caused to the environment. These data are critical to analyze injury to biota, make decisions about cleanup, and hold polluters accountable through Natural Resource Damage Assessments.