ELAP Certification: What is it, and why did AWI get certified?

In April 2022, the AWI Environmental Research Laboratory became certified under the New York State Department of Health’s Environmental Laboratory Approval Program (ELAP). ELAP was established in 1984 under Section 502 of the Public Health Law to certify labs performing environmental analysis on samples originating from New York State. ELAP is part of a national program that ensures that environmental testing laboratories produce high-quality data.

ELAP is particularly important for labs involved with testing tied to regulatory work, such as drinking water testing, testing for bacteria at public beaches, or monitoring industrial pollution. The program ensures the analyses being performed meet national standards and the data quality is sufficient for the intended use of the data. Academic research labs, like AWI, often do not operate as certified labs because their data are not used for these purposes, and they lack the staff necessary to maintain certification. Additionally, academic labs often push the boundaries of laboratory methods to advance our understanding of environmental chemistry and the lakes or streams they are studying. AWI does this work, but we also conduct research that directly informs the management and conservation of freshwater resources in the Adirondacks.

AWI laboratory analysts Lija Treibergs and Joline Hall conducting an analytical run in the AWI Environmental Research Laboratory.

Why did AWI get certified?

AWI decided to pursue ELAP certification for several practical reasons. First, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) require that any laboratory analysis using their funds be done by an ELAP-certified lab. In 2021, AWI won a large grant from the Lake Champlain Basin Program to sample and assess 50 water bodies on the NY side of the basin. A stipulation of that grant was the analysis needed to be conducted by an ELAP lab. Similarly, several of the partners with whom we’ve worked for many years have had to go to other labs for their analyses because their funding has stipulated ELAP certification. Changing labs was particularly challenging for our partners because they were forced to drive samples as far as Rochester for analysis. AWI certification increases our capacity to continue our work in the Adirondacks and save our partners time and money.

Second, AWI and Protect the Adirondacks run the Adirondack Lake Assessment Program (ALAP), the most extensive lake assessment and monitoring program in the Adirondacks. The data generated from this program have proven valuable to both lake associations and scientific researchers. The data have been less valuable to our state and federal partners because the analyses are not ELAP-certified. The lack of certification meant that the DEC could not use the data for their lake assessment and reporting efforts under the Clean Water Act. In turn, if an issue arose on a lake participating in ALAP, there would be delays in access to state and federal assistance because the data were not generated through an ELAP-certified lab. To be good partners and fulfill our mission, our lab needed to be certified. 

Samples collected and analyzed through the Adirondack Lake Assessment Program can now be used by state and federal partners for conducting lake assessments.

Third, since 2010 when our current building was constructed, our lab has followed the national TNI standards, which are the underpinning of certification. There were no fundamental changes required in how samples were analyzed in our lab to become certified. We had a quality manual and standard operating procedures that met the certification standards. The big lift for us to become certified was in reviewing and updating these documents and procedures to ensure they meet the specific standards and requirements of ELAP certification. In addition, our lab now participates in blind intra-lab proficiency testing twice a year. This testing ensures the comparability of our data with other labs in New York State. AWI invested in bringing on one additional full-time research technician, and our entire lab team focused on getting us through certification before the 2022 field season.

Becoming an ELAP-certified lab hasn’t changed our work or the quality of the data we produce, but it ensures that data can be used by all our partner organizations and agencies. We’re proud to be the only ELAP-certified lab in the Adirondack Park and one of a small handful of academic research labs in the state. 

FAQs

Why should my lake association care about ELAP certification?

The primary benefit to our lake association partners is that New York State can now use the data generated for your lake for assessment and reporting purposes. AWI will be submitting data to the DEC for their water body assessments required under the Clean Water Act. If the data from your lake indicates that it is stressed, threatened, or impaired, this could help your association obtain state or federal assistance.

Will historical data for a lake also receive ELAP certification?

No, only data from April 2022 onward and for the specific analytes we are certified for will be certified. However, AWI is committed to working with our partners to maximize the use of historical data and to demonstrate its quality.

What specific analytes is AWI certified for?

We are certified to run specific conductance, total phosphorus, nitrate-nitrite, ammonia, alkalinity, sulfate, and chloride. Our lab runs other analyses that are not certified: lab pH, apparent color, true color, CDOM, chlorophyll-a, total nitrogen, dissolved organic carbon, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and potassium. Some of these analyses are certifiable, and we may eventually add them.

Will ELAP certification affect ALAP sampling?

Not directly, though our ALAP volunteers may see small changes to the program focused on improving data quality and documentation.