Upcoming Meetings

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Scope and Purpose

The Plastic Pollution Action Team (PPAT) seeks to reduce the presence and impacts of plastic pollution on the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. The PPAT will begin to address this issue by overseeing research to determine the effects that microplastics have on the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem. This will be accomplished by the following actions:

  1. Providing oversight to the development of preliminary ecological risk assessments (ERAs) of microplastics for one or more subwatersheds to the Chesapeake Bay;
  2. Using the results of the preliminary ERAs to develop a strategy that identifies and prioritizes gaps in information concerning the effects of microplastics pollution on the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem, highlighting future research questions that need to be answered;
  3. Present results from ERAs to the Management Board in order to guide future action on addressing plastic pollution; and
  4. Monitoring policy advances at the state and federal level that could potentially impact, advance or complement this work to inform the science strategy and to identify potential policy or management options that could be utilized for source reduction strategies.

Publications

Microplastic Monitoring & Science Strategy for the Chesapeake Bay

The Plastic Pollution Action Team (PPAT) was formed at the directive of the CBP Management Board and was charged to develop a preliminary ecological risk assessment model (Appendix C), in addition to a size classification document (Appendix B), and this science strategy. Many of the topics from those first two documents are found in this document to formulate a strategy to address microplastics bay-wide.

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Members

Matt Gallagher (Chair), District of Columbia Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE)
Address:
1200 First Street NE
5th Floor
Washington, District of Columbia 20002

Email:  matthew.gallagher@dc.gov
Phone:  (202) 597-1040
Kelly Somers (Vice Chair), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Region 3
Address:
1650 Arch Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103

Email:  Somers.Kelly@epa.gov
Doug Austin, Program Assistant, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Region 3
Address:
1750 Forest Drive Suite 130
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  austin.douglas@epa.gov
Phone:  (410) 267-5772
Claire Buchanan, Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB)
Address:
30 West Gude Dr. Suite 450
Rockville, Maryland 20850

Email:  cbuchan@icprb.org
Phone:  (301) 984-1908 x112
Jonathan Cohen, University of Delaware
Address:
220 Cannon Lab, 1044 College Drive
Lewes, Delaware 19958

Email:  jhcohen@udel.edu
Shawn Fisher, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Address:
2045 Route 112 Building 4
Coram, New York 11727

Email:  scfisher@usgs.gov
Martin Gary, Potomac River Fisheries Commission
Address:
222 Taylor Street
Colonial Beach, Virginia 22443

Email:  martingary.prfc@gmail.com
Phone:  (804) 224-7148
Michael Gonsior, UMCES Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL)
Address:
146 Williams Street
Solomons, Maryland 20688

Email:  gonsior@umces.edu
Robert Hale, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)
Address:
PO Box 1346
Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062

Email:  hale@vims.edu
Linsey Haram, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC)
Address:
647 Contees Wharf Road
Edgewater, Maryland 21037

Email:  HaramL@si.edu
Kirk Havens, Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS)
Address:
PO Box 1346
Gloucester Point, Virginia 23062

Email:  kirk@vims.edu
Phone:  (804) 684-7386
Bill Jenkins, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency - Region 3
Address:
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Email:  jenkins.bill@epa.gov
Phone:  (215) 814-2911
Brooke Landry, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Address:
580 Taylor Avenue
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  Brooke.Landry@maryland.gov
Phone:  (410) 260-8629
Julie Lawson, Stakeholders' Advisory Committee
Address:
6548 Eastern Avenue NE
District of Columbia, District of Columbia 20012

Email:  lawson.julie@gmail.com
Phone:  (202) 347-0412
Alex Lopez, Pennsylvania State University (Penn State)
Address:
415 Walker Building
University Park, Pennsylvania 16802

Email:  axl5758@psu.edu
Donna Morrow, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Address:
580 Taylor Avenue, E-2
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  donna.morrow@maryland.gov
Bob Murphy, Tetra Tech
Address:
51 Franklin St # 400
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  Bob.Murphy@tetratech.com
Tish Robertson, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Address:
629 East Main Street
Richmond, Virginia 23218

Email:  tlrobertson@deq.virginia.gov
Matt Robinson, Life Scientist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Address:
1750 Forest Drive
Suite 130
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  robinson.matthew@epa.gov
Phone:  410-267-5756
Kristin Saunders, Cross Program Coordinator, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
Address:
1750 Forest Drive Suite 130
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  ksaunders@umces.edu
Phone:  (410) 267-5711
Peter Tango, Monitoring Coordinator, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
Address:
1750 Forest Drive Suite 130
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  ptango@chesapeakebay.net
Phone:  (410) 267-9875
Mark Trice, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Address:
580 Taylor Ave
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  mtrice@dnr.state.md.us
Phong Trieu, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
Address:
777 North Capitol Street NE, Suite 300
Washington, District of Columbia 20002

Email:  ptrieu@mwcog.org
Rebecca Whiteash, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Address:
-
-, Pennsylvania -

Email:  rwhiteash@pa.gov
Ryan Woodland, UMCES Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (CBL)
Address:
146 Williams Street
Solomons, Maryland 20688

Email:  woodland@umces.edu
Katie Morgan, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Address:
-
-
-, Maryland -

Email:  katie.morgan@noaa.gov
Carlie Herring, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Address:
1305 East-West Highway
Silver Spring, Maryland 20910

Email:  carlie.herring@noaa.gov