Luthy research group 2002:
Back row, left to right: Okyere Quarshie, Lei Hong, Pam McLeod, Sarah Rubinfeld, Martine van den Heuvel-Greve, Upal Ghosh. Front row, left to right: John Zimmerman, Sungwoo Ahn, Chris Higgins, Dick Luthy. And collaborators not pictured: Craig Criddle, Stephen Monismith, CEE, Dick Zare, Chemistry, David Epel, Biology, Scott Fendorf, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University; Richelle Allen-King, Washington State University; Jeff Talley, Notre Dame University; Todd Bridges, Army Corps of Engineers, Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS; Sam Luoma, US Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA.

Dick Luthy, post doctoral researcher David Werner, and PhD student Jeanne Thomaszewski collect sediment at Lauritzen Channel, Richmond, CA, adjacent to San Francisco Bay. This sediment is contaminated with DDT, which bioaccumulates in marine organisms. Although the site was dredged as part of a Superfund site cleanup, post-remediation monitoring found unacceptably high levels of pesticides remain in Lauritzen Channel. Our research group will assess the bioavailability of DDT in this sediment and evaluate in situ stabilization of DDT by addition of activated carbon sorbent to the sediment to reduce the availability of DDT to biota and the aqueous phase.

Sediment sampling at Hunters Point Shipyard, South Basin, San Francisco Bay. This is a closed Navy base undergoing environmental clean-up. The sediment samples are being used in tests to assess the geochemistry and availability of PCBs and in-place treatment of PCB-contaminated sediments.

Digging for clams in South San Francisco Bay. The clams are used in collaborative experiments at the USGS Laboratory, Menlo Park, CA, to assess the binding and bioavailability of hydrophobic organic contaminants in sediments.