Demystifying Kerr Lab

Richard Barron, The Ada News, Okla.
·4 min read

May 25—"I know that with some folks in Ada, we are mysterious lab on the hill," Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Center Director Saba Tahmassebi said in a recent conversation with The Ada News.

"I want to demystify Kerr Lab."

Tahmassebi said the facility does state-of-the-art research that is helpful and useful to the people of Ada.

"We are an employer that is growing," he said. "There are certain things that we are planning that will increase our (employment) numbers substantially. I want people to know to what extent we are involved with the community, and the value we bring to the community."

Just outside Tahmassebi's office, construction noises were audible. He said the work was part of a plan to expand and grow the facility. He said an EPA analytical lab in Houston is in the process of moving to Ada by sometime in 2027.

"I love the banging noises," he said with a smile. "I call it the sounds of progress. With every hammer sound, we are one step closer to having the Houston lab here."

Consolidation of this nature is not new to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which aims to simplify operations.

"We want to do everything we can for people who move from Houston to here, for this to be a seamless, positive experience for them," he added.

Tahmassebi said that for job slots that staff from Houston decline, Kerr Lab will be offering some high-paying science jobs. He also said that Kerr Lab is not an analysis lab, but a research facility.

"For example, we are interested in knowing how contaminants move from the surface into the soil, then into the groundwater. So what we do is build a model, such as a material that simulates soils. We then add contaminants, and we add enough water to simulate precipitation. Then we see how those contaminants move through the soil," he said. "That's what we do here. So it's not site-specific. It's just general science."

Kerr Lab also employs specialists who develop mathematical and computer models.

"Another project that we have that is of great interest to the City of Ada is the aquifer storage and recovery process," he said. "This is where water from the surface is introduced to the ground, so when we have periods of high precipitation, instead of the water moving away to Texas, that water gets captured, gets introduced to the aquifer, improves spring flows, and there will be more water to be withdrawn from wells. So this will be phenomenally useful to the City of Ada as it expands and provides more water for its citizens."

Tahmassebi said that though Ada's water is hard (full of minerals), it is high-quality, meaning there are no toxins or anything harmful in the water.

Tahmassebi says that part of a pending new agreement provides that a Chickasaw Nation scientist will be on staff as a federal employee, and will work on areas of research that are of interest to both the EPA and the Chickasaw Nation. The lab will also have an Oka' Water Institute scientist on-site, providing research that benefits Kerr Lab, the City of Ada, the Institute, ECU, and the Chickasaw Nation.

"Another thing we are working on is an agreement with the University of Oklahoma, which calls for the sharing of instruments," Tahmassebi said. "There are some instruments that we have that they really get excited about using, and there are some things that they have that can really help us with our research. These are all very expensive instruments."

In addition to the Houston lab moving to Ada, Kerr Lab hopes to add six PhD-level positions. "The EPA believes Kerr Lab is a facility that needs to grow," Tahmassebi added.

"I attend almost all of the Ada City Council meetings," he said, "just to be engaged. I have a very close relationship with the Ada Jobs Foundation. We have a relationship with the Chamber of Commerce. We are here, and we are part of the community."

Kerr Lab was established in 1965. When the EPA was formed in 1972, Kerr Lab became part of it.