About GWERD

Overview

The Ground Water and Ecosystems Restoration Division (GWERD) in Ada, Oklahoma, is one of six research Divisions of EPA's National Risk Management Research Laboratory. The Division Director is Stephen G. Schmelling (580-436-8510). GWERD conducts research and provides technical assistance to support the development of strategies and technologies to protect and restore ground water, surface water, and ecosystems impacted by man-made and natural events. The Division's research programs include basic studies to enhance understanding of the physical, chemical, and biological processes that control the transport of mass and energy in surface and subsurface ecosystems through the movement of water; laboratory and field studies to develop and evaluate the means to protect and restore ground and surface water; studies to evaluate the benefits of efforts to restore and manage ecosystems; and studies of the impacts of concentrated animal feeding operations on water quality. The Division has an active technical assistance program to provide support and transfer research results to the EPA Regional Offices, state and municipal environmental organizations.

The National Risk Management Research Laboratory is the Agency's center for investigation of technological and management approaches for reducing risks from threats to human health and the environment. The focus of the Laboratory's research program is on methods for the prevention and control of pollution to air, land, water, and subsurface resources; protection of water quality in public water systems; remediation of contaminated sites and ground water; and prevention and control of indoor air pollution. The goal of this research effort is to catalyze the development and implementation of innovative, cost-effective environmental technologies; develop scientific and engineering information needed by EPA to support regulatory and policy decisions; and, provide technical support and information transfer to ensure effective implementation of environmental regulations and strategies.

The Ground Water and Ecosystems Restoration Division addresses areas of investigation which are part of ORD's strategic plan and the mission of the National Risk Management Research Laboratory. GWERD is the Agency's center of expertise for investigation of the soil and subsurface environment and ecosystem restoration nationwide. To support and carry out its mission, the Division is divided into four Branches: Subsurface Remediation Branch, Ecosystem and Subsurface Protection Branch, Applied Research and Technical Support Branch, and Technical and Administrative Support Staff.

GWERD’s Science Research Council oversees or guides the overall scientific focus of the Division and is supported by individual Research Teams and Principal Investigators who provide direction for approved projects and specific efforts. Areas of expertise and professional and scientific disciplines represented at GWERD include engineers, chemists, geochemists, biologists, microbiologists, geologists, hydrologists, mathematicians, soil scientists, modelers, physicists, geophysicists, and computer specialists. Research results are presented at scientific and technical meetings and are published in peer reviewed journals, EPA reports, project summaries, environmental research briefs, and issue papers, all of which are available to the public either in hard copy or accessible via the Internet.

EPA's Ground Water and Ecosystems Restoration Division is housed within the Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Center situated on a 16-acre tract, located three miles south of Ada, Oklahoma. Completed in 1966, the three-story structure provides 50,000 sq ft of laboratory and office space in the building proper. An addition to the facility in 1993 provides another 20,000 sq ft for the library, computer support services and a conference center. The nearby 10,000 sq ft annex building contains a machine shop and storage facilities for field equipment and supplies. Separate facilities have been constructed for storing bulk chemicals, compressed gases, and hazardous waste.

GWERD's 110 acre Gaar Corner field site, located 9 miles west of Ada, is the setting for both in-house research and collaborative efforts with academic and commercial partners. The site is primarily used for ecosystem research studies, but also contains unique facilities for determining the mechanical integrity of underground injection wells. A 2,000 sq ft building housing both laboratory and computer facilities and a 1,000 sq ft shop/storage building are located on the site.

Analytical / Field Equipment

GWERD is a multidisciplinary facility with excellent resources for environmental research and analytical chemistry support for environmental research. Analytical and field support is provided by two mechanisms: access to selected EPA equipment by the individual researchers, and analytical services provided by the GWERD On-site Laboratory Support Contract. In total, laboratory personnel have access to a diverse array of state-of-the-art analytical chemistry equipment, including:

• Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) by Flame, Graphite Furnace, and Cold Vapor Hydride Generation,
• Inductively Coupled Argon plasma emission spectrometer (ICA),
• ICP/Mass Spectrometer (ICP/MS),
• Gas Chromatograph Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (GC/FTIR),
• Gas Chromatographs(GC),
• Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometers (GC/MS),
• Gas Chromatograph/Liquid Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer/Mass Spectrometer (GC/LC/MS/MS),
• Isotope Ration Mass Spectrometer (IRMS)
• Ion Chromatography-Hydride Generation-Atomic Fluorescence Spectrophotometer (IC-HG-AFS),
• Ion Chromatographs (IC),
• High-Pressure Liquid Chromatographs (HPLC),
• Capillary Ion Analyzers (CIA),
• Accelerated Solvent Extractors (ASE),
• Solid-Phase Extraction systems (SPE),
• and carbon and nitrogen analyzers, autoanalyzers, concentrators/evaporators, scintillation counters, centrifuges.

Instrumentation for solid-phase and colloid characterization available at GWERD includes:

• X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometer (XRF),
• X-ray Diffractometer (XRD) with Fe and Cu anode,
• Thermogravimetry-Calorimetry with Evolved Gas Analysis by Mass Spectrometry (TG/DSC-MS),
• Scanning Electron Microscope with Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (SEM-EDS),
• BET Surface Area Analyzer,
• Zeta Potential Analyzer,
• Particle Size Analyzers,
• UV-Vis Diffuse-Reflectance Spectrophotometer,
• Carbon Coulometer,
• and Sulfur Coulometer.

To carry out a vast array of research in subsurface remediation and ecosystem restoration, GWERD operates and maintains the following field equipment:

• mobile laboratories,
• CME-55 drilling rig with hollow-stem augers,
• borehole geophysical logging tools (including an electromagnetic borehole flowmeter),
• Truck-Mounted GeoProbe,
• Hydrotraxx Mounted GeoProbe,
• Van-Mounted GeoProbe,
• SIMCO drilling rig,
• Cone Penetrometer truck (CPT),

along with support trailers, boats, and the necessary supplies and equipment for site characterization, acquisition of core samples, installation of monitoring wells, and field sampling and analyses.

History

In 1961, amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1956 directed federal government to establish field laboratories in various parts of the United States, as research facilities to combat increasing water pollution problems nationally. One of these field laboratories was placed in Ada, Oklahoma. By joint resolution of the U.S. Congress, it was named for Robert S. Kerr, a long time U.S. Senator from Oklahoma, in honor of his dedication and concern for the conservation and development of our natural water resources and his pioneering legislation in environmental protection.

With its beginnings as a regional U.S. Public Health Service laboratory under the U.S. Department of Interior, Kerr Laboratory provided technical assistance, presented training, and conducted research to solve water pollution problems indigenous to the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

In 1970, the Kerr Laboratory became one of fifteen research laboratories administered by the newly created U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through its Office of Research and Development in Washington, D.C. Missions assigned to the Kerr Laboratory between 1970-1980 included research on the environmental effects of mining, irrigation, petroleum and petroleum-related areas, animal wastes, water quality, land treatment and ground water, all directed toward solving environmental problems which were both national and international in scope and importance.

In the spring of 1995, a realignment of EPA's Office of Research and Development saw the establishment of three national laboratories and two centers, incorporating EPA's fifteen research laboratories nationwide. As a result of this realignment, the Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory became the Subsurface Protection and Remediation Division of EPA's National Risk Management Research Laboratory, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. From 1995 until 1997 the Division's mission was to conduct research to support Agency efforts to protect and remediate the subsurface environment. In 1997, the mission was expanded to include research on ecosystem restoration in addition to its well-established subsurface research programs. In 2002, the name of the Division was changed to the Ground Water and Ecosystems Restoration Division to reflect the change in its mission.

Accomplishments / Achievements

During the approximately 40 years that GWERD and its predecessor organizations have been in existence, the Division's mission has evolved to what it now is in response to changing national needs and Agency priorities. Early research on wastewater treatment, petroleum and petrochemical waste products, and agricultural production evolved into an internationally recognized research program on subsurface protection and remediation which has, in turn, evolved into today's research program with the development of a growing ecosystem restoration research program.

GWERD researchers have been responsible for many innovations which have been applied to a variety of environmental concerns throughout the United States and abroad. GWERD scientists were among the first anywhere to recognize the potential use of in-situ bioremediation as a method to restore contaminated ground water. They also were among the first to recognize the existence and implications of nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs), and still maintain a lead role in finding ways to clean them up. Other GWERD researchers have been in the forefront of research on the use of permeable reactive barriers to remediate contamination from metals and chlorinated solvents. Since its inception in 1987, GWERD's technical support program has provided site specific technical support at over 300 Superfund, RCRA, and Brownfields sites. GWERD scientists are now embarking on several efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of ecosystem restoration efforts on streams in several different states across the country.

GWERD information transfer activities, exemplified by practical, user-oriented handbooks as well as journal articles, reports, research briefs and issue papers, along with a variety of workshops and symposia, assist the Agency and the user community at large in protecting and restoring public health and the environment. GWERD's Center for Subsurface Modeling Support (CSMoS) provides public domain ground water and vadose zone modeling software and services along with direct technical support to EPA and State decision-makers in subsurface model applications.

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