DNREC opens a new environmental research facility in Smyrna.
The new lab in Smyrna is outfitted with equipment to make research easier and more consistent. Laboratory Manager Chris Main sees a significant improvement in his work now that the new facility is in operation.
“So in our previous laboratory, it was built in the late 1800s- originally as a cannery. So, it was time for us
to have a new lab that was more modern and fit our actual analytical needs” he said.
Main also works studying noxious algae in the facility- work he says has been positively affected by the new building.
He says the old lab was refurbished in 1983 with the methodologies of that time in mind- which introduced the possibility of sample contamination and tainted analysis.
One form of testing the facility does is for PFAS, or “forever chemicals”, a growing concern considering their effects on human health.
DNREC analytical chemist Danielle Jacoby says the new facility gives her team more confidence in their results.
“Everything is new, it’s not like old things that have been repaired or anything like that. So it’s very much like, we have now this top of the line building to support what we do, which is already a very sensitive technique to begin with.” she told DPM.
Several labs in the facility are adding new instruments or machines. Some are functionally the same but add redundancy measures so tests can be more reliably run.
"It's mostly so that we never have a stoppage in work. So [before]... if something was wrong with [an] instrument, we weren't able to report out anything. Us having a second one allows there to be a continuous flow of work." Jacoby said.
One of the facility's main partners -and customers- is the Delaware Center for the Inland Bays and its director Christophe Tulou.
“Science is the foundation of the work that we do, just as it is here at DNREC. So, we have a lot of environmental challenges with water quality and we’re very curious about what's going on in the sediments and our bays. We need great labs like this one in order to see whether our work is working.” he told DPM.
The new facility received nearly $30 million dollars from the America Rescue Plan Act, with funds coming from both federal and state pots.
Leaders note the new lab’s proximity to the nearby Public Health laboratory promotes further collaboration between experts and shared use of materials.
