DoD ELAP Accreditation Status

Columbia Analytical continues to be a front-runner in pursuing the new Department of Defense (DoD) Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program (ELAP) accreditations and implementing QSM v4.1.
Columbia Analytical's Kelso, WA laboratory is one of the first laboratories nationwide to have its assessment completed and accreditation granted by the ELAP accreditation body.

A summary of current DoD approvals and a schedule of DoD ELAP on-site assessments of our labs is shown below.

Columbia Analytical Lab	Navy Approval Expiration*	DoD ELAP Assessment Schedule
Kelso	-	Now accredited for DoD-ELAP program
Simi Valley	-	Now accredited for DoD-ELAP program
Rochester	-	Now accredited for DoD-ELAP program
Houston	-	Now accredited for DoD-ELAP program
Jacksonville	-	Now accredited for DoD-ELAP program

* Prior to DoD ELAP (effective 10/1/09) only the Navy DoD Component defined approval periods.  USACE and AFCEE approvals were on a project-specific basis.

 

DoD ELAP is a long-awaited program standardizing the laboratory testing requirements of the Navy, US Army Corps of Engineers, and the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment.  Laboratories that currently have DoD Component (Army, Navy, or Air Force) approvals will be subject to DoD ELAP requirements when those approvals expire or when scope changes are necessary. If a DoD project is a new project that begins after October 1, 2009, a laboratory must be DoD ELAP accreditated to provide services.

The DoD ELAP elevates the standard for laboratory operations and quality systems implementation.  Only four accrediting bodies, which must be signatories to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), have been identified for the program.  The foundation for the DoD ELAP is the DoD Quality Systems Manual v4.1, which is based on NELAP and ISO standards for testing laboratories.  Since NELAP standards are already established as the baseline for Columbia Analytical quality systems, implementation of the QSM and compliance with the DoD ELAP will not pose any significant changes in current systems. Columbia Analytical laboratories in Kelso, Houston, Simi Valley, and Rochester are well-versed in DoD QSM requirements as a result of providing testing services for DoD Components for many years.

Columbia Analytical Project Managers can also assist with questions on the implementation and requirements of the DoD QSM.  Assistance with generating Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPs), as required by the Uniform Federal Policy for Quality Assurance Project Plans (UFP-QAPP), is also available from Columbia Analytical. 

The DoD ELAP program only applies to environmental restoration (i.e. clean-up) projects and not to compliance monitoring programs.

More information on the DoD ELAP can be found in the DoD ELAP Fact Sheet.

LOD

Limit of Detection (LOD). The DoD QSM 4.1 requires detections reported to the Method Detection Limit (MDL). Values greater than the MDL and less than the Limit of Quantitation (LOQ) are flagged as estimates (J). Values less than the MDL and LOD are reported as non-detect (ND).  The LOD for each analyte is verified quarterly by the laboratory using procedures defined in Grey Box D-13 of the DoD Quality Systems Manual Version 4.1.

 

LOQ

The Limit of Quantitation (LOQ) is verified quarterly for each analyte using procedures defined in Grey Box D-14 of the DoD Quality Systems Manual Version 4.1.

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Now accredited for DoD-ELAP program...