Guiding Wildfire Response and Recovery
CSS supports communities following catastrophic wildfires to ensure that items discarded during site cleanup are properly identified, sorted, and sent to an appropriate disposal facility.
Air Monitoring and Household Hazardous Waste Removal Help Devastated Communities During Recovery Efforts
Homes are filled with hundreds of items that are safe in normal conditions but pose significant environmental and health risks after being engulfed in fire. CSS supports communities following catastrophic wildfires to ensure that items discarded during site cleanup are properly identified, sorted, and sent to an appropriate disposal facility. In the aftermath of the recent North Bay/Sonoma, Camp, and Santa Cruz/Carmel wildfires in California, we led teams conducting household hazardous waste (HHW) collections, environmental and asbestos assessments, and multimedia sampling. We also performed on-site air monitoring to protect the health of workers and returning residents, checking for unsafe levels of asbestos, volatile organic compounds, and other airborne hazards that may have been released in the fire. Our staff oversaw safety compliance, prepared daily Incident Command System (ICS) reports, coordinated with senior EPA leaders, and handled requests for special services. We also performed quality assurance reviews of completed removals and assisted with data management.
Additional Projects
HABs Interagency Research and Action Plans
Our scientists helped set the standard for coordinated research and action to reduce the impacts of HABs.
Audit and Inspection Support for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
For more than 35 years, CSS has provided quality control assessment support to the National Toxicology Program (NTP) on studies relating to the toxicological effects of chemicals in the environment.
Analytical Chemistry Support for the US EPA National Aquatic Resource Survey
CSS chemically analyzes hundreds of water samples collected annually from the US EPA’s National Aquatic Resource Survey (NARS), a critical contribution to the EPA assessments of the condition of the nation’s water bodies.
Service Areas
Human Health Risk Assessment
We help advance the understanding of chemical effects on people and the environment.
Safety, Health, & Environmental Compliance
We provide our clients with tools to protect their workforce, the public, and the environment.
Emergency Preparedness & Response
We help our clients prepare for and protect the health and environment of communities after disasters and hazmat releases.
Space Science Application Support & Operations
We deliver scientific support to advance our clients’ research goals.
Satellite Science & Environmental Intelligence
Helping create a more environmentally sustainable, weather-ready, and secure nation through application of earth observation data
Environmental Resource Assessment & Management
We apply science to address challenges affecting the nation’s natural resources.
Get in touch
Contact us to learn more about our projects, capabilities, solutions, and service offerings.