About OSPR
Scientific Branch
Analytical
Laboratory Support Services

Analytical Laboratory Support Services: This subunit is made up of four major laboratory support facilities that have been consolidated administratively to operate more efficiently under one point of management as required under the Department’s Strategic Plan.

Contact Information

(1) Petroleum Chemistry Laboratory: The primary responsibility of the Petroleum Chemistry Laboratory (PCL) is to provide analytical support for the other units within OSPR, specifically enforcement, scientific, planning, regulations, and administration especially for providing the necessary link between the spilled material and the RP. The majority of analyses performed are related to oil spill enforcement actions taken under the jurisdiction of OSPR. Other analyses are performed to support resource damage evaluations, regulatory studies or when backup is required by one of the other lab facilities. The unit also provides support in the form of literature reviews and determinations of potential OSPR regulatory jurisdiction for hydrocarbons, other chemicals, or mixtures from unknown sources. Chemists from the PCL respond primarily to oil spill incidents. They act as coordinators for spill investigation and damage assessment sampling and analysis. The PCL also provides expertise for preparation of study plans for quantitative determination of spilled petroleum hydrocarbons.

(2) Water Pollution Control Laboratory: DFG’s Water Pollution Control Laboratory (WPCL) was established by the State Legislature in 1967 to provide laboratory services to DFG and other public agencies. The WPCL maintains a staff of Analytical Chemists and Environmental Specialists who provide technical support to all of the Department’s other functions including: Wildlife Protection, Wildlife Management, Fisheries, and Water Quality.. In addition, the WPCL, through interagency agreements and contracts, provides services to other federal, state and local agencies which require environmental monitoring and resource assessment services. This facility contains a full-service analytical chemistry laboratory and aquatic biological assessment (direct biological or bioassessment monitoring) capabilities.

The Laboratory is capable of analyzing environmental contaminants in water, sediments, and tissue. The lab is equipped for clean sample preparation, analyses of petroleum hydrocarbons, semi-volatile organic compounds, pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, creosote compounds, trace elements, nutrients and oxygen demand. The facility provides statewide sampling and analytical support to DFG units for Fish and Game Code 5650 (Water Pollution) enforcement, wildlife loss investigations, and for several state and national monitoring programs and studies. The WPCL is certified/registered as a State environmental testing laboratory pursuant to the provisions of the California Environmental Laboratory Improvement Act of 1988 (Health and Safety Code, Div 1, Part 2, Chapter 7.5, Section 1010) and participates annually in the NOAA/NIST/NRC intercomparison studies for both trace metals and organic compounds in sediments and biological tissues and participates semiannually in the U.S. EPA Water Pollution Laboratory Performance Evaluation Studies.

The Aquatic Biological Assessment Section is capable of conducting bioassessment (direct biological monitoring) studies using a wide array of aquatic insects and other organisms. This technique provides the Department with the capability to directly measure biological impacts from a spill and to predict recovery rates and to estimate biological damage (Aquatic Bioassessment Laboratory).

(3) The Pesticide Investigation Unit (PIU) and the Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory: The activities of the Pesticide Investigation Unit (PIU) fall into five general categories: (1) Investigation of fish and wildlife incidents involving pesticides; (2) Assessment of the hazards of pesticides to fish and wildlife resources; (3) Protection of threatened and endangered species with regards to the use of pesticides; (4) Assessment of pest control and eradication programs on fish and wildlife resource; and (5) Coordination and approval of Department pesticide uses and training of CDFG personnel. PIU staff work closely with Department of Food and Agriculture, Department of Pesticide Regulations, and County Agriculture Commissioner staffs.

The Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory (ATL) constructed in 1986 is part of the DFG’s commitment to preserve and restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary and the striped bass population. This is a full-service freshwater bioassay laboratory. Facilities include the sample collection and data analyses operations of the Pesticide Investigations Unit. These facilities are used to investigate and assess the extent and biological effects of contamination in the freshwater and estuarine environments. The ATL is state certified/registered as an environmental testing laboratory pursuant to the provisions of the California Environmental Laboratory Improvement Act (Health and Safety Code, Div 1, Part 2, Chapter 7.5, Section 1010).

(4) The Marine Pollution Studies Laboratory Group: The Marine Pollution Studies Laboratory (MPSL) facilities were established in 1974 to conduct marine toxicological studies (Granite Canyon Marine Bioassay facility) and to operate the California State Mussel Watch, a long-term water quality trends monitoring program which was initiated in 1975 (Moss Landing facilities). Since that time, DFG has operated the California State Mussel Watch and its freshwater equivalent, the Toxic Substances Monitoring Program, under interagency agreement with the California State Water Resources Control Board. Numerous other contractual monitoring has been conducted at this complex, including Cal Fed’s Mercury Study, the SWRCB’s Bay Protection and Toxic Cleanup Program.

The Marine Pollution Studies Laboratory team combines the staff and facilities of the DFG and University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) Toxicology Department into a unique cooperative program to investigate the extent and biological effects of contaminations in the marine environment.