The Theodore Industrial Canal may not be the first place that comes to mind when thinking about manufacturing. Yet it is an important stop in Ed Harris's workday. As Environmental Bio Lab Supervisor, Harris spends part of the year collecting environmental data from the canal to monitor systems that support operations at the Mobile site in Alabama.
His work highlights an often-overlooked aspect of manufacturing: success depends on more than production equipment alone. It also relies on the people, scientific expertise, and environmental stewardship working behind the scenes every day.
An evolving career
Ed Harris has been part of the Mobile site since 1999. After earning a degree in Geology, he began his career in environmental testing, traveling across North America to conduct air-emissions tests at manufacturing facilities. When organizational changes created new opportunities, he transitioned to the site's Environmental Bio Lab, where he has spent several years supporting environmental monitoring and wastewater treatment activities.
Today, Harris oversees the daily operations of the Environmental Bio Lab, supporting laboratory personnel, troubleshooting equipment, maintaining monitoring systems, and ensuring environmental reporting requirements are met on time. While much of his work takes place behind the scenes, some of its most visible aspects happen out on the water.
What the data reveals
From May through November, Harris and his team collect environmental data from the Theodore Industrial Canal three times a week. Using specialized instruments, they measure key parameters including temperature, pH, salinity, conductivity, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen throughout the water column. Dissolved oxygen is particularly important because it directly affects aquatic life and plays a role in the Mobile Bay Jubilee, a unique local phenomenon in which low-oxygen conditions drive marine life into shallow shoreline waters.
The data provides a snapshot of environmental conditions on any given day while adding to a monitoring record that spans decades. This long-term dataset not only demonstrates environmental performance but also supports regulatory requirements tied to the Mobile site's operations.
For Harris, these trips offer a unique perspective on the site and its surroundings. "My favorite thing is coming out on this boat," he says. Along the way, the team often encounters wildlife native to the Gulf Coast region, making each trip a little different from the last.
But the information gathered serves a larger purpose than environmental observation alone.
The Environmental Bio Lab plays a vital role in supporting the Mobile site's wastewater treatment process. Through routine sampling, toxicity testing, and performance monitoring, the lab helps ensure that the site's biological treatment system remains healthy and effective. The system relies on naturally occurring microorganisms to treat wastewater before it is discharged in compliance with permit requirements.
Understanding and Reducing Environmental Impacts
Because the treatment process is biological in nature, consistency is essential. The data generated by the lab helps site units better understand the impact of their wastewater streams on the treatment system, creating opportunities for improvement across the site.
"The data and results we get from our effluent waters and the way we run our bio treatment process help different business units improve their waste streams based on how much load they put on our treatment process," Ed explains.
In this way, the Environmental Bio Lab serves as a critical link between environmental stewardship and manufacturing excellence. By monitoring system performance and providing actionable insights, Harris and his team help support reliable operations across multiple production units at the Mobile site.
Driven by people
When asked what has remained constant throughout his career, Harris points to the people around him.
"If you enjoy the people you work with, you enjoy what you do," he says.
During the annual “Manufacturing Month” in October, employees who contribute to Evonik’s success are recognized and celebrated across the United States. Harris's story underscores an important truth: manufacturing depends on far more than production processes alone. Behind the scenes, laboratories, treatment systems, and environmental monitoring programs help ensure operations run safely, responsibly, and effectively. Through his dedication to monitoring what matters, Ed Harris helps make that possible every day.
Jubilee: When the Water Runs Out of Oxygen
Among the many measurements collected in the canal, one of the most revealing is dissolved oxygen (DO), the amount of oxygen available in the water for fish, shrimp, crabs, and other aquatic life to breathe. DO levels can fluctuate considerably, influenced by weather conditions, water temperature, sunlight, wind, rainfall, and other environmental factors.
Periods of low dissolved oxygen are a common natural occurrence in the Mobile Bay area and are linked to one of the region's most remarkable environmental phenomena: a Jubilee.
A jubilee occurs when oxygen levels drop rapidly, forcing fish, shrimp, crabs, and other marine life into shallow water where oxygen concentrations are higher, making them easy to catch.
Although similar events have been observed elsewhere, Mobile Bay is one of the few places in the world where jubilees occur on a regular basis.
