Newport, Oregon

This facility features the following green attributes:
Green Power
Water Management Plan

Pacific Coastal Ecology Branch

Total Facility Area: 38,851 gross square feet (GSF)
Estimated Personnel: 26 persons
Energy Consumption: 14,539,640,066 Btu per year
Btu per GSF per Year: 374,241
Total Water Consumption: 2,573,000 gallons per year
Gallons per GSF per year: 66.2

All energy and water data are reported as of FY 2008.

Description

The Coastal Ecology Branch (CEB) is the marine research group for the Western Ecology Division, a part of the National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory of the Office of Research and Development (ORD). The Newport facility studies the effects of human population-induced stresses on the habitats and species of the estuarine systems of the Pacific Northwest.

Unique Environmental Features

Energy Conservation

In FY 2006, EPA replaced aging heat pumps at the Newport facility with new, energy-efficient, gas-fired boilers.

Green Power

In FY 2008, EPA continued to support the renewable energy market by purchasing more than 212 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of green power through two separate Agencywide blanket contracts for renewable energy certificates (RECs), or “green tags,” from Sterling Planet, Luminant Energy Company, and FPL Energy . These purchases allowed EPA to offset 100 percent of electricity consumption for FY 2008 at the Newport laboratory, as well as many other EPA facilities across the Agency. Procured through the Defense Energy Support Center, these contracts support renewable energy generation from wind, biomass, and landfill gas resources in nine states.
In June 2006, EPA signed a contract to acquire 110 million kilowatt hours (kWh) in renewable energy certificates (RECs), or "green tags," from 3 Phases Energy Services over the period September 1, 2006 through September 30, 2007. This blanket purchase supplied EPA with enough RECs through FY 2007 to offset 100 percent of annual electricity consumption at the Newport laboratory and other EPA facilities not covered by separate green power contracts. Procured through the Defense Energy Support Center , this contract supported wind power generation in California, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

Water Conservation

In August 2004, EPA completed a water management plan for the Newport laboratory (PDF) (15 pp, 1.0MB,About PDF).

Stormwater Management

Two polyethylene tanks at the facility are being reused for stormwater capture. For more information, see Stormwater Management at EPA Facilities.

Other Features

The Pollution Abatement Facility (PAF) is a unique feature of the CEB research facility. Drain lines from any laboratory in the wing can be routed into the PAF. Unaltered seawater free from contact with non-indigenous species or chemical contamination can be routed to the seawater drain and returned to the estuary. Seawater contaminated in any fashion by experiments can be routed to the storage tanks, analyzed, treated as necessary to remove or detoxify contaminants, and can then be released to the City of Newport wastewater treatment facility.
All of the facility's chlorofluorocarbons were replaced by 1998.

For More Information

Primo Knight (knight.primo@epa.gov)
Hatfield Marine Science Center
2111 SE Marine Science Drive
Newport, OR 97365
Phone: (541) 754-4418

Web site: www.epa.gov/wed/pages/facilities/newportfacilities.htm