Scientists at the University of California Santa Barbara have been investigating deep ocean dumping of DDT waste for the past decade. Support from this award will be used to expand on this research topic by supporting additional studies that will act to increase capacity around this issue, strengthen institutional collaborations around this issue, as well as providing needed information about the offshore dumping associated with the offshore basins adjacent to San Pedro. Spatial mapping, analysis and experimentation with samples from these areas will further inform the contamination present and the potential of the sediment microbiome to decompose DDT and related compounds.