Pacific Northwest
Ballast Water Research Facility
Andrea Copping
Marine Research Operations
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Sequim, WA
December 2007
Today….
PNW Ballast Water RDTE
Location at PNNL Marine Sciences Lab
Virtual tour of PNNL Sequim Labs
Explain PNNL to you
RDTE Facility
Pacific Northwest Ballast Water Treatment Facility
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Sequim WA
Sponsored by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
and United States Fish and Wildlife Service
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Northwest RDTE at PNNL Sequim
$1.25M Award by NOAA to build RDTE
Design and construction: October ‘07-January ‘09
Only commercial test bed on west coast; one of 2
in country
NRL Key West doing development work
Capabilities for testing at Sequim (ecotox,
species ecology, chemistry, etc.)
Rationale for Developing
RDTE Ballast Water
Facility at Sequim
High quality abundant seawater and freshwater
Reliable permitted wastewater treatment system
Adequate land to add facilities
Established facilities management and O&M
Secure facility
Scientific and engineering staff, experience in protocol
development, testing, ballast water testing
Marine Research Operations at Sequim
1965
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1965 - Battelle purchased Bugge
Clam Cannery site
1973 - Beach wet laboratory &
offices
1982 - Uplands analytical
chemistry labs and offices
1992 - Twenty new offices at
beach
2004 - New 44 office building
completed
2006 - New Biotechnology
Laboratory
1973
1982
Today
Tomorrow
PNNL’s MRO Focused in 3 Areas
Coastal assessment &
restoration
Protecting people
& the environment
Developing new
products &
energy sources
Marine
biotechnology/
ecotoxicology
Securing our
ports, coastlines
& waterways
Coastal
Security
Virtual Tour of the MRO
Sea Water Intake
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Two independent intakes
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Class AA seawater from Sequim Bay
Four separate distribution systems
•
Seawater and freshwater to testing
facilities
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Ambient seawater (9°C to 11°C) at a
rate of 250 gpm
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Seawater supplied to labs at 4°C to
38°C
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Up to 20 gpm freshwater from
uncontaminated groundwater from
11°C to 30°C
Waste Water Treatment Facility
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40,000 gal ground holding
tank comprised of four
separate cells
Removal of particulates sedimentation and filtration
Disinfection of biologic agents
- breakdown of organics using
ozonation
Removal of organics and
disinfection byproducts via
Treated Wastewater Discharge – permitted
granular activated carbon
through the NPDES process.
adsorption
Aquatic Wet Laboratory Facilities
Two wet laboratory facilities
Marine, estuarine, and freshwater
~5300 sq ft
bioassay testing
Over 40 species commonly tested
Tiered approach to environmental
characterization
Natural resource damage
assessment (NRDA)
Remedial investigation / feasibility
studies
Risk assessment
Good laboratory practice (GLP)
testing
Analytical and Biotech Support
 BSL 1 and BSL 2 Laboratories
 Flow Cytometer & Microscope (FlowCAM)
• continuously monitors of plankton
abundance
 Pulsed Amplitude Modulation (PAM)
chlorophyll fluorometer
 Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization
mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS)
• detection of large, intact biomolecules
 Digital imaging microscope
Marine / Estuarine Chemistry
Understanding the source and fate of chemicals in aquatic
systems
Standard Water Quality Parameters
Metals
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Ultra-Low (part-per-trillion) Detection Limits in Seawater
Arsenic Speciation & Methylmercury in Water, Sediment,
and Tissue
Organics
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Fuel Fingerprinting
Semipermeable Membrane Devices
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals
Methods Development
Sequim Marine Research Operations
Operating since 1966
Located on 140 acres of uplands and tidelands at mouth of
Sequim Bay, Strait of Juan de Fuca, 90 miles from ocean
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11,000 sq ft of office space
6000 sq. ft of analytical and general purpose laboratories
1500 sq ft biotechnology laboratory
7700 sq. ft. of wet/bioassay and support laboratory space
Uplands facility
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ten analytical laboratories and 35 offices
Beach area is comprised of four principal buildings
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office building with 44 offices,
a bioassay laboratory building
 two climate-controlled bioassay/culturing labs
 two isolation rooms and supporting analytical labs
biotechnology laboratory
seawater pumping and wastewater treatment facilities
HOW WILL TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES BE EVALUATED?
Protocol /Method Development, Evaluation,
Standardization and Validation
Project Example
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EPA’s Endocrine Disruptor Screening
Program
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$34 M research program
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Development of tools for screening &
testing chemicals that have potential
endocrine disruptor effects
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No standardized tests for evaluating
these compounds exist
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Final product: EPA-certified protocol
Expert Staff to meet the needs of the RDTE
The MRO has a total of 85 scientists and engineers in:
•biology
•chemistry
•physical oceanography
•biological oceanography
•ecological sciences
•environmental sciences
•ecotoxicology
Team Partners
•fisheries
•marine invertebrate
•carcinologist
•coastal engineering
•chemical engineering
•civil engineering
•marine engineering
•electrical engineering
PNNL in the Northwest
Sequim
Seattle
Richland
Portland, OR
Battelle operates PNNL for the US Department of Energy
Battelle’s purposes stem from the 1925 will
of steel industrialist Gordon Battelle
Non-profit charitable trust –
began operations in 1929
75 years of scientific
research and development
Creative activities of
a scientific nature
Application and licensing of
inventions, discoveries, and developments
Major business is R&D, laboratory
operations, and commercial ventures
$2.9 billion in annual R&D
19,000 employees worldwide
Continuous Operation of PNNL Since 1965
• Battelle won the contract in 1964 and
began operating PNL in 1965
• Original mission focused on nuclear
technology
FY05 PNNL Business Facts
Approximately $726 million in
business volume
4,200 staff
$288 million in purchases for
goods and services
Battelle Now Manages or
Co-Manages 5 National Labs
Idaho National
Laboratory
Brookhaven National
Laboratory (with
SUNY– Stony Brook)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Richland and Sequim, Washington
National Renewable
Energy Laboratory (with MRI)
Oak Ridge National
Laboratory (with the
University of Tennessee)
More than
$2 billion
15,000 staff
Thank you for opportunity to be here
We would like to invite you
to visit us at Sequim MRO
Andrea Copping
andrea.copping@pnl.gov