Water quality, aquatic and environmental protection. Contaminated sediment is a prominent and serious problem in many watersheds in the U.S. and throughout the world.
Water bodies affected include streams, lakes, harbors, near shore areas, and oceans.
The risk posed by contaminated sediments must be identified, accessed, and remediated. The EPA has identified four critical research areas for sediments and water quality. Each of these areas will be addressed in the proposed project. Monitoring of pollutants in sediments and salt water remains very difficult. Most solvent extraction methods require multiple concentration and cleanup steps prior to detection.