Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (CCMA)

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), US Geological Survey (USGS), US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and coastal States along the northern Gulf of Mexico are engaged in a comprehensive interagency effort to assess human-health and environmental impacts of Hurricane Katrina in affected coastal waters. The combined effort will seek to characterize the magnitude and extent of coastal contamination and associated human-health and ecological effects resulting from this unprecedented storm. This report provides a summary of some preliminary results on microbial indicators of human-health risks from samples collected during two recent field surveys conducted as a part of this overall coordinated effort (see Figure).

The first of these surveys was conducted September 29 — October 10 at 20 shallow-water sites where NOAA's National Status and Trends (NS&T) Mussel Watch Project has a 20-year record of chemical contaminant concentrations in tissues of shellfish. This provides a critical long-term baseline for comparison of chemical contaminant levels in the region affected by Hurricane Katrina. Objectives of this post-hurricane survey were to:

1. Measure contaminant levels (DDT and other conventional chlorinated pesticides, PCBs, PAHs, metals) in tissues of oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and sediments collected from these historical sampling sites;
2. Measure contaminant concentrations in shallow coastal waters,
3. Measure human pathogen indicators at these sites;
4. Assist the FDA with the collection of oysters for analysis of additional chemical and microbial indicators of seafood safety; and
5. Perform bioassays (P450 and Microtox) on sediments to assess potential biological effects of contaminant exposure.

The second survey was conducted in partnership with EPA, from October 9-14, at 30 stations in deeper coastal waters of Lake Borgne and Mississippi Sound , using EPA's research ship the OSV BOLD. A focus of this survey was on the collection and analysis of water and sediment samples using protocols and indicators incorporated in EPA's National Coastal Assessment (NCA) program. Post-hurricane conditions measured from samples collected six weeks after the hurricane (and subsequently throughout the next year) will be compared to pre-hurricane conditions, based on prior NCA assessments in this same area, to provide a basis for assessing initial environmental impacts and recovery. A probability-based survey design, consisting of randomly selected sites, was used to support statistical estimates of degraded versus non-degraded condition relative to various measured indicators. These include sediment samples for the analysis of chemical contaminants as at the Mussel Watch sites, microbial/pathogenic indicators (Clostridium perfringens), condition of resident benthic fauna, and sediment toxicity (Microtox, P450 Reporter Gene, and sea-urchin fertilization/embryological development assays) as measures of contaminant exposure and biological effect. Water samples also were collected for standard hydrographic parameters (DO, salinity, temperature, pH, depth, turbidity), microbial/pathogenic indicators (Enterococcus , fecal coliforms, and viral indicators), nutrients, chlorophyll a, total suspended solids, dissolved organic carbon, and chemical contaminants (conventional organochlorine pesticides, PCBs, PAHs, oil and grease, metals). Additional samples were collected for analysis of newly emerging contaminants of concern, including flame retardants (PBDEs) in sediments, and pesticides fipronil and atrazine in sediments and water, respectively.

Additional information can be found at: http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/data/katrina/welcome.html