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  Maine Field Office
Environmental Contaminants 		 
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Technical Assistance and Cooperative Projects

Contaminants biologists in the Maine Field Office provide technical assistance to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel in other programs (e.g., Endangered Species, Private Lands, Federal Projects) and to staff of National Wildlife Refuges.  As the Nation's primary fish and wildlife resource agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also cooperates in programs and projects with other federal agencies, state partners, academic institutions, industry, and non-government organizations.

Contaminants in Atlantic Salmon Rivers 
In 1999, the Atlantic salmon was listed as an endangered species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, and several rivers were designated Distinct Population Segments (DPS) for the species.  The role of contaminants in the decline of Atlantic salmon is not known.  In Maine, rivers within the DPS may receive contaminants from agricultural operations, point sources such as Superfund Sites, or from non-point sources.   

IMAGE: Atlantic salmon (Photo by William Hartley, USFWS)

 

 The Service's Maine Field Office is currently working with the Maine Department of Marine Resource's Bureau of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat, Maine Department of Environmental Protection, and the Maine Field Office of the U.S. Geological Survey's Biological Resources Division in contaminant assessments of the DPS Atlantic salmon rivers. 

 
Superfund Biological Technical Advisory Group
Since 1992, the Maine Field Office has participated in EPA's Region 1 Superfund Biological Technical Advisory Group.  The multi-agency, multi-discipline advisory group, often referred to as the BTAG, provides technical assistance to EPA Remedial Project Managers during the development of remedial investigations and ecological risk assessments at Superfund sites.  Federal agencies involved in the BTAG include EPA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  State environmental protection agencies also serve on the BTAG.  The Maine Field Office is working with EPA and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection on the Superfund Sites at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Brunswick and the and the Callahan Mine Site in Brooksville.

Useful Superfund Links:

National Priorities List Superfund Sites in Maine
CERCLIS Hazardous Waste Sites in Maine

 
Surveys for Frog Malformations

Image: 6 Leg Frog (Photo by S. Mierzykowski, USFWS)

 Globally, amphibian populations have been in decline since the 1980s.  Interest in amphibians, particularly frogs, increased considerably in the mid 1990s after frogs with an extraordinary number of limbs were found in Minnesota.  The Maine Field Office has long been a cooperator the Service's region-wide project to assess frog populations and malformations on National Wildlife Refuges.  In 1997, a six-legged pickerel frog and several other frogs with malformations were found on Sunkhaze National Wildlife Refuge in Milford, Maine.  Surveys on National Wildlife Refuges in Maine have been conducted annually since 1997.  In 2007, the Maine Field Office collected and examined frogs from Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge.  The mainland parcels of Maine Coastal Islands NWR will be surveyed in 2008. 

   

Image: Mink frog (Photo by S. Mierzykowski, USFWS)


The Service has developed a brochure to help homeowners protect frogs.  The brochure is available in a portable document format (PDF; viewable with Adobe Acrobat Reader).  Download PDF file: Homeowner's Guide to Protecting Frogs - Lawn and Garden Care

 
   

Contaminants in Coastal Birds

Image: Atlantic Puffin (Photo by: Steve Mierzykowski, USFWS)

The Maine Field Office is working with the BioDiversity Research Institute, National Audubon Society, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge in the development of a contaminant monitoring program for coastal birds.  GOMSCAN (Gulf of Maine Seabird Contaminant Assessment Network) is being designed to assess contaminant exposure in seabirds within the Gulf of Maine. Eggs, blood, and feathers will be used to determine mercury content in eiders, cormorants, terns, puffins, and petrels.    

 
Maine EC Home | Recent & Upcoming Work | Programs | FAQs | Links
Contaminant Reports | Technical Assistance and Cooperative Projects