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Report to the Congress
on Ocean Pollution
and Offshore
Development

October 1977 through September 1978

May 1980

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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Report to the Congress
on Ocean Pollution
and Offshore
Development

October 1 977 through September 1 978

Submitted in compliance with Section 202(c), Title II of the
Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1 972
(Public Law 92-532)

May 1 980

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Philip M. Klutznick, Secretary

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Richard A. Frank, Administrator

THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE

Washington, D.C. 20230

August 25, 1980

Dear Sirs:

I have the honor to submit to the Congress the
sixth annual report on NOAA research activities in
progress during Fiscal Year 1978 that contributed
to a better understanding of the marine
environment and the effect of human activities
upon it.

Sincerely,

Enclosure

Somraence

Secretary of Commence

President of the Senate

Speaker of the House of Representatives

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2013

http://archive.org/details/reporttOOunit

PREFACE

&
SUMMARY

The Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of
1972, in Section 202 of Title II, directs the Secretary of
Commerce, in consultation with other appropriate parts of the
U.S. Government, to "initiate a comprehensive and continuing
program of research with respect to the possible long-range
effects of pollution, overfishing, and man-induced changes of
ocean ecosystems."

Although funding for such a program did not become available
until fiscal year 1979, many research projects have been carried
out for other programs that nonetheless address "202-type"
problems. Indeed, careful consideration of just what might
characterize "long-range" problems as apart from "acute" problems
has found no firm boundary — the same massive oil spill that
kills fish today may, through its long-range effects on marsh
vegetation, effectively prevent them from coming back for
years. (See "Cape Cod Oil Spills" in Chapter IIIe)

One useful way of categorizing the research that is being
done is on the basis of a project's focus: whether it seeks to
understand an entire, complex ecosystem, or picks out one part
for close examination. Again, these types of studies blend
together so that an "ecosystem project" will almost certainly
include a number of "specific studies" — or at least the results
of previous such smaller studies. Finally, any of these studies,
whether large or small, may transcend the boundaries of the three
research areas used in earlier reports in this series: Ocean
Pollution, Overfishing, and Offshore Development.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
is organized to carry out these projects through its systems of
laboratories and other research facilities, and its special
project offices. In addition to its own in-house resources, NOAA
regularly calls on the expertise of researchers at academic
institutions and private organizations, and works in close
cooperation with other U.S. Government entities.

One example of this cooperative approach is the study that
NOAA carried out concerning the effects of disposing of millions
of liters of saturated salt brine into the Gulf of Mexico from an
underground storage cavity of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The study was funded by the Department of Energy, managed by the
Marine Environmental Assessment Division, Center for
Environmental Assessment Services of NOAA's Environmental Data
and Information Service, and carried out by scientists from the

National Marine Fisheries Service, the National Ocean Survey, and
other NOAA elements, as well as from Texas A&M University and
other organizations whose funding was passed through NOAA's
National Sea Grant Program.

In FY 78, "specific studies" addressed four principal areas
of concern: petroleum hydrocarbons, chlorinated (manmade)
hydrocarbons, metals, and biological hazards. Various studies
attempted to assess the levels of these potential contaminants in
selected natural environments, and their effects on specific
marine species held in laboratory tanks. An area of growing
concern is the potential for interactions of these types of
contaminants as can occur easily in places such as the New York
Bight Apex or the Great Lakes.

In a representative study aimed at assessing the effects of
contaminant interactions, cadmium and lead appeared to inhibit
fishes' biotransformation of naphthalene. Thus, fish exposed to
these two metals in the water, as they are in some areas, would
probably be more vulnerable to the effects of an oil spill than
fish in cleaner waters. Similarly, the study at the Northwest
and Alaska Fisheries Center, Seattle, showed that salmon suffered
more damage to their intestines when both hydrocarbons and
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were mixed into their food than
when either was added alone.

An important point brought out by many studies is that the
effects of contaminants may differ widely depending not only on
the kinds, numbers, and concentrations of contaminants present,
but on factors such as the marine species present, their life
stages, the time of year, water temperature, and location (rocky
coast, deep water, estuary, sand beach, etc.). A number of NOAA
efforts in FY 78 were aimed at producing "syntheses" - —
assemblages of all that was known about these and other factors
for specific areas -- both as a way of preparing information for
decision-makers and as a way of identifying the (often many)
problems needing further research.

One such synthesis was published by NOAA's Outer Continental
Shelf Environmental Assessment Program (OCSEAP) in August 1978 in
anticipation of an impending offshore oil lease sale in the
Beaufort Sea near the existing onshore Prudhoe Bay oil field.
The 362-page synthesis volume resulted from two meetings held at
Barrow, Alaska, that brought together OCSEAP and other scientists
with managers from NOAA and the sponsoring Bureau of Land
Management, and representatives of local communities and the oil
industry. In addition to presenting the results of NOAA's
extensive studies of the arctic area, the report attempts to
predict the consequences of oil and gas development in the
relatively pristine environment.

vi

A somewhat different synthesis report was being prepared in
FY 78 by the New York Bight Project office of the Marine
Ecosystems Analysis (MESA) Program. Beginning in 1973, the Bight
Project has supported a thoroughgoing, comprehensive study by
government and academic scientists of the natural
interrelationships in the 39,000 km^ (15,000 mi**) area, and of
the effects of human activities on them. The synthesis volume is
an attempt to pull together the knowledge gained for the benefit
of the people who shape public policy and make decisions on the
management of marine resources in the Bight. About 7 0
scientists, lawyers, engineers, managers, and planners
contributed to the manuscript, which will be published as a book
entitled "Perspectives on the New York Bight".

Another approach to synthesizing the results of research for
practical applications is the use of mathematical models (these
were also involved in producing the printed syntheses) to provide
direct answers to specific questions. The models, which are run
on computers, take into account large numbers of individual
influences on such things as water quality, water movement, or
the spreading of pollutant plumes. They are useful, for example,
in predicting the future location of spilled oil, or in back-
tracking from an observed spill to find its source.

In the Great Lakes, researchers at the Great Lakes
Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL) made use of one such
model that described the interactions of biological, chemical,
and physical processes to study phytoplankton productivity - the
base process in the aquatic food chain. Results showed that
productivity is controlled by different forces at different times
of the year. In turn, those forces may be influenced by human
activities. For example, increased atmospheric carbon dioxide
from fossil fuel burning may eventually alter the condition of
lake waters and, thereby, the production of the essential
phytoplankton.

A GLERL model aimed at predicting the consequences of waste
abatement and human development on phosphorus concentrations in
the Great Lakes found direct practical application in FY 78.
Results of a study using the model were provided to the State of
Michigan for use in consideration of a limit on phosphorus
content of detergents (a major source of the element to the
Lakes) , and the model was used to support the work of a committee
renegotiating the terms of the Great Lakes Water Quality
Agreement of 1972 between the United States and Canada.

An event that precipitated considerable activity at NOAA in
1978 was the passage of the National Ocean Pollution Research and
Development and Monitoring Planning Act (Public Law 95-273).
Efforts had been underway for some time within the Office of
Research and Development to plan for a program under Section 2 02

vii

of the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972,
pending an appropriation. Since this program now had to fit the
Federal Plan required under the 1978 law, further work on it was
suspended until the Plan was approved and submitted to the
Congress. Responsibility for planning and coordinating the NOAA
comprehensive ocean pollution program, as required by the new
legislation, was assigned to the Office of Research and
Development. The Assistant Administrator for Research and
Development established (pending formal approval) the Office of
Marine Pollution Assessment to carry out this responsibility
which includes the activities under Section 2 02 of the 1972 law.

In the meantime, the Office of Research and Development had
adopted, with slight modifications, priorities for its first year
2 02 program developed by an ad hoc Task Force on Technical Goals
and Objectives. The areas of research selected were: (1) fates
and effects of synthetic organic substances; (2) fates and
effects of petroleum products; (3) pathways, fates, and effects
of re-suspended particulates; (4) fates and effects of trace
metals and related compounds; and (5) basic understanding of
specific stressed ecosystems.

In this year's Report to the Congress, there is for the
first time no major section on "Overfishing" such as appeared in
previous volumes in the series. Some of the work that would have
been covered in such a section is included in the discussion of
the National Marine Fisheries Service's role and organization
within NOAA (see Chapter I); other fisheries-related research is
described throughout the report as appropriate.

The reason for the change is that the Fishery Conservation
and Management Act of 1976 now deals with overfishing. Fishery
Management Plans now provide catch quotas, established on the
basis of NMFS and other stock assessments, for each species that
once was in danger of being overfished. Under the MARMAP program
and other efforts, scientific assessment of marine living
resources continues, but with a new appreciation of the need to
consider much more than simply the numbers of fish or shellfish
present. Indeed, most of the research discussed in this report
has direct implications for the continued health of these
valuable, renewable resources.

viii

CONTENTS

Page

Preface and Summary v

Chapter I The Research Programs —

Rationale and Organization 1-1

Chapter II Activities and Results — Specific Studies . . . II-l

Petroleum hydrocarbons II-l

Chlorinated (man-made) hydrocarbons 11-10

Metals 11-13

Biological hazards 11-19

Chapter III Activities and Results — Ecosystem Projects . III-l

Alaska III-2

Pacific Ocean; deep ocean mining 111-12

Puget Sound; preparing for petroleum .... 111-16

Gulf of Mexico; Buccaneer oil field study III-18

Brine disposal 111-21

Industrial waste disposal 111-25

Apalachicola Bay 111-26

Atlantic Ocean; Sand mining 111-28

Ocean dumping 111-28

New York Bight Project 111-30

Ocean Pulse 111-34

Cape Cod oil spills 111-37

Great Lakes studies 111-39

Appendix A Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries
Act of 1972, Title II (as amended)

Appendix B National Ocean Pollution Research and

Development and Monitoring Planning Act of 1978

ix

Chapter I

THE RESEARCH PROGRAMS

— RATIONALE AND ORGANIZATION ~

Understanding the possible long-range effects of human
activities on the oceans and Great Lakes well enough to be able
to predict them requires the development of three general types
of knowledge: understanding of the natural systems or the
present state of the environment; identification and description
of the human past, present, and proposed future uses of that
environment; and identification and analysis of the many and
complex interactions of these human activities and the marine
environment.

In practice, of course, things are seldom this clearly
defined, and individual research projects and programs do not
stand alone, but interact with and contribute to each other.
Some examples of subjects or activities that fall under each of
these three categories may help to explain them.

Environmental characterization

o ocean and Great Lakes current studies - surface and

subsurface
o living resource population descriptions - species,

biomass, and habitats
o water chemistry - natural hydrocarbons, trace elements,

nutrients
o water structure - salinity-temperature-depth

measurements
o geology - sediments, faults, volcanism
o analysis of ecosystems - energy pathways, relationships

of species and populations
o geography - type of shore terrain, climate, location

Human uses/alterations

o offshore oil and gas activities

o disposal of wastes though seafloor outfalls

o fishing - commercial and recreational

o dredging and disposal of spoil

o swimming, sailing, or beachcombing

o transportation - shipping and pipelines, with attendant

accidents
o deep ocean mining
o establishment of refuges, and marine and estuarine

sanctuaries

I - 1

Prediction of consequences

o study the ways in which individual toxic substances
affect individual species

o make microbiological studies of suspected human upsets
of the natural bacterial and viral populations

o synthesize results of laboratory and field studies to
explain observed phenomena such as "red tide" and
shifts in species types and abundance in specified
areas

o develop mathematical models to predict the transport of
pollutants by water movements

o identify the forces and nature of the forces that are
exerted by Arctic ice masses and ice "keels" that plow
deep grooves in the ocean floor, and their potential
effects on human activities

o analyze the long-range capacity of the oceans to absorb
and/or break down society's wastes - sewage, synthetic
organic chemicals, metals, radioactive substances,
petroleum hydrocarbons

Studies of human uses lead directly into consideration of
their consequences, which, in many cases, may be quite difficult
to unravel. Some baseline studies may focus deliberately on
those aspects of the environment expected to be affected by a
particular planned human activity. Where people have occupied an
area for some time, or used it intensively, it becomes nearly
impossible to separate clearly some of the features of the
environment that are human-induced from those that may be natural
phenomena. Thus, reaching the point at which something
definitive can be said about the long-range effects of people on
the marine environment requires the consolidation of results from
a large number of carefully done studies, both large and small.

Within NOAA, a wide variety of groups and elements is
engaged in research work that addresses many of these subject
areas. In most cases, this work is an essential part of
fulfilling the agency's statutory missions; however, coincidence
of interests with other agencies or organizations has led to the
use of NOAA expertise "under contract" to conduct research
projects with funding passed through from the outside.

ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORIES (ERL)

NOAA's Environmental Research Laboratories, headquartered in
Boulder, Colo., house a number of programs that address "202-

1-2

type" problems. Among them are the Marine Ecosystems Analysis
(MESA) Program, the Outer Continental Shelf Environmental
Assessment Program (OCSEAP), and the program of limnological
studies at the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
(GLERL), Ann Arbor, Mich.

MESA, which was formed in 1972, serves as a focal point for
cooperative efforts among components of NOAA, other U.S.
Government agencies, State and local governments, universities,
industries, and various private organizations for investigating
regional problems arising from the use of marine and estuarine
resources. The program attempts to select projects that deal
with impacted or potentially impacted areas where a thorough
knowledge of the marine environment is needed, then to fund these
studies for the several years it typically takes to complete such
work.

In fiscal year 1978, MESA included on-going projects in the
New York Bight and Puget Sound, as well as the Deep Ocean Mining
Environmental Study (DOMES) . In addition, MESA scientists
participated in a symposium on the results of studies of the
effects of the Argo Merchant tanker grounding, which spilled
29,145,000 liters (7.7 million gallons) of No. 6 fuel oil in the
heavily fished waters off Cape Cod, Mass. The Bight Project also
organized a symposium entitled "Perspectives on the New York
Bight," which prepared a draft of a book summing up what the
Project had learned in its 5 years of existence. The MESA
Program Office, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), held a workshop in Anchorage, Alaska, in
March 1978 to ascertain development prospects for the Prince
William Sound region and the studies needed to enable prediction
of the effects. Proceedings of the workshop were published in
May 1978.

GLERL is one of the 11 major ERL facilities. It was
established in 1974 to conduct basic and problem-oriented
research that would produce an understanding of the lake-land-
atmosphere system sufficient to construct useful environmental
simulation and prediction models (mathematical models) . These
models, in turn, support resource management and environmental
services in the Great Lakes Basin. GLERL scientists work closely
with their counterparts in Canada, as well as other United States
agencies and organizations in furthering these aims.

OCSEAP was started by NOAA in 1974 to carry out
environmental assessments related to offshore oil and gas
development on the Alaska outer continental shelf (OCS). Funding
is provided primarily by the Department of the Interior's Bureau
of Land Management under an interagency agreement. OCSEAP
studies focus on nine identified offshore oil and gas lease areas
in the Northeast Gulf of Alaska (NEGOA), the Aleutian Islands

1-3

region, the Bering and Chukchi Seas, and the Arctic waters of the
Beaufort Sea.

For some years, OCSEAP studies were primarily baseline
environmental characterizations; little information was available
on the biota, geology, physical oceanography, and other aspects
of much of the Alaska marine environment, because of its
remoteness and extreme climatic and oceanic conditions. That
phase largely ended in 1977> and program scientists have turned
to analysis of the potential interactions of proposed human
activities and the complex Alaska coastal environment. However,
baseline observations are far from complete, as noted in this
excerpt from an OCSEAP "synthesis report" on the proposed Kodiak
lease area:

"The prediction of long-range population trends requires
several years' data on fecundity, mortality schedules, and the
age of first reproduction. .. .Without this information there is no
way that the variations in breeding success reported for
different years or localities can be used to estimate whether
Alaskan bird populations are stable, growing, or declining. .. .The
gathering of such data would take perhaps a decade of intensive
effort and probably would involve only a few species and

S 1L6S t • • o

In the face of shortages of both time and money, OCSEAP
scientists have opted to estimate the population characteristics
by extrapolating from data collected in other areas.

NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE (NMFS)

This is the principal organization charged with the complex
task of protecting and managing the Nation's living marine
resources, and of regulating and supporting the regulation of
commercial fishermen and others. In 1976, NOAA was given vast
new responsibilities under the Fishery Conservation and
Management Act (FCMA), most of which fell to NMFS to carry out
(fig. 1). These additional responsibilities have increased its
already broad interest in the short- and long-range condition of
the oceans and estuaries. Accordingly, NMFS supports a vigorous
"habitat investigations program" aimed specifically at analysis
of human impacts on the marine environment and the consequences
of these for fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and the ecosystems
that support them.

NMFS carries out a variety of studies -- at least some of
which fall into each of the categories mentioned before —
through its four major regional centers: the Northwest and
Alaska Fisheries Center, Seattle, Wash.; the Southwest Fisheries
Center, La Jolla, Calif.; the Southeast Fisheries Center, Miami,
Fla.; and the Northeast Fisheries Center, Woods Hole, Mass. In
turn, each of these centers comprises a number of component
laboratories (fig. 2) and working groups.

1-4

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By the end of calendar year 1977, the eight Regional Fishery
Management Councils established under the PCMA had completed
fishery management plans to replace 7 of the 13 preliminary plans
prepared earlier by the Department of Commerce. Another 35 to 4 0
plans were then in various stages of preparation and review.

To support these efforts under the FCMA, the Fisheries
Service operates a long-range, nationally coordinated Marine
Resources Monitoring, Assessment, and Prediction (MARMAP)
program. MARMAP has four components: resource surveys, fishery
oceanography, fishery engineering, and fishery analysis. MARMAP
cruises are multipurpose expeditions that go considerably beyond
the old-style fishery stock assessment cruises to encompass
studies of the plankton, water quality, biological and chemical
oceanography, and bottom conditions in addition to fishery
resource surveys. (The research ship that NMFS diverted to
gather data on the Argo Merchant oil spill was originally on a
MARMAP cruise.)

The MARMAP program produces several products: (1)
assessments of the size, composition, and structure of individual
stocks of fish and a "total biomass;" (2) analyses of the effects
of different management regimes on the stocks and biomass; (3)
yield curves and mathematical population models; (4) forecasts
and status-of-stocks reports; and (5) support for fishery
management decisions and the preparation and revision of fishery
management plans.

Information derived from MARMAP has been the basis for the
acceptance of the concept that fishery management should include
consideration of "total biomass" as well as the traditional
species-by-species approach. This concept takes into account the
fact that the removal of fish of one species affects the ability
of other species to survive. "Total biomass" is defined, in
practice, as the total weight of all the fish species present, or
all of the harvestable species. It provides a basis on which to
decide how much of this total biomass can be harvested without
depleting the stocks or causing imbalances among the various
species.

As a result of FCMA, the importance of our marine fishery
resources is getting more attention from all sides. The Act
provides a basis for effective stewardship of those resources.
All of the species of fish that had previously been overfished
either by foreign or domestic fishermen are now covered by
management plans which are designed to prevent further depletion
and allow for restoration of these resources. These efforts may
soon make the word "overfishing" obsolete as applied to the fish
in U.S. coastal waters.

1-7

Among other NMFS efforts that directly addressed the long-
range effects of human activities on the sea in FY 78 were the
Ocean Pulse Program, studies of the effects of brine disposal
from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and assessment of the
ambient environmental conditions in an active, fully developed
offshore oil and gas field in the Gulf of Mexico. These latter
two programs were principally funded by the Department of Energy
(DOE) and EPA, respectively.

Ocean Pulse is a Northeast Fisheries Center (NEFC) program
to assess, monitor, and study the health and well-being of the
living resources in the waters of the continental shelf between
Cape Hatteras and Canada. Its purpose is to provide continuous
information on the health of the marine environment, detect
natural and human induced changes, investigate the causes of
observed changes, and provide baselines from which damage
assessments can be made for unpredictable environmental problems,
such as spills of oil and toxic materials. In 1978, the program
fielded two major multidisciplinary operational test phase
cruises, one aboard the NOAA ship Researcher from April 14 to May
4, and another aboard the NOAA fishery research ship Albatross IV
from September 2 0 to October 9, 1978. A substantial supplemental
budget increase approved by the U.S. Congress at the end of FY 78
was to be used to begin the transition from the test phase to the
long-range monitoring and research program.

In the Gulf of Mexico, NMFS scientists were involved in two
studies of the impact of energy programs. 'As mandated by the
Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (Public Law 94-163),
DOE is establishing a Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), using
solution-mined cavities in underground salt domes near the
Gulf. (At this writing, DOE expected to have 39,700 million
liters (250 million 42-gallon barrels) of oil in storage by the
end of 198 0.) Under an interagency agreement begun in January
1977, NOAA has been studying the effects of dumping into the Gulf
the vast quantities of saturated brine produced by the solution
mining. The research project is managed by the Marine
Environmental Assessment Divison, Center for Environmental
Assessment Services, of NOAA's Environmental Data and Information
Service (EDIS), and involves other NOAA elements besides NMFS, as
well as universities and private organizations.

In the Buccaneer oil and gas field, 59 kilometers (32
nautical miles) south-southeast of Galveston, Tex., the NMFS
Galveston Laboratory (of the Southeast Fisheries Center-SEFC) has
been studying the impact on the environment of operating the 2
production platforms and 13 satellite structures. Study results
will include descriptions of changes in the marine environment
related to development of the field and production of oil and
gas, descriptions of existing conditions, and an ecosystem model

1-8

for predicting the probable fate and effects of oil- and gas-
field contaminants on the local marine ecosystem.

In December 1977, NOAA and EPA (which is funding the work)
reviewed the progress made to provide guidance for the third year
of the study. As a result, third-year work will focus on
sources, fate, and effects of offshore oil- and gas-field
contaminants.

In addition to these programs, In FY 78 NMFS scientists
studied the effects of various human impacts on the marine
environment, and the nature of that environment. Chapter III
reports the results.

MARINE MINERALS DIVISION

The Department of Commerce established a Marine Minerals
Division in NOAA in 1975 to help facilitate the commercial
development of marine hard mineral resources in an
environmentally acceptable way, and to serve as a focal point for
NOAA's expanding program in marine minerals. The Marine Minerals
Division (now part of the Office of Policy and Planning) is best
known for its overview responsibilities for the Deep Ocean Mining
Environmental Study (DOMES), the first phase of which began in
1975. The MESA program funds and manages DOMES. Phase I field
operations ended in November 1976, and a final report was
published by the MESA Program in December 1978 (Deep Ocean Mining
of Manganese Nodules in the North Pacific: Pre-mining
Environmental Conditions and Anticipated Mining Effects. NOAA
Technical Memorandum ERL MESA-33). DOMES Phase II monitoring of
the first at-sea prototype deep ocean mining test was carried out
from March to early May 1978. A progress report on this work was
drafted in late summer 1978. A second prototype systems test was
scheduled for October 1978.

The Division also began planning for a sand mining
environmental assessment project off the U.S. Virgin Islands in
November and December 1977. A workshop to identify the work to
be done was then held in St. Thomas under joint sponsorship of
NOAA and the Virgin Islands Territorial Government. The Virgin
Islands is facing a crisis in the availability of reasonably
priced sand for construction aggregate. Rather than mine their
beaches, an Important tourism resource, or continue to import
expensive sand by ship, the Territorial Government proposes to
mine a seafloor deposit discovered by the U.S. Geological Survey
about 2 miles north of St. Thomas. A 4-year study was planned in
FY 78 involving a year of pre-mining environmental studies (FY
79) > a year during which pilot mining occurs (FY 80), and 2 years
of post-mining investigations (FY 81-82).

1-9

OFFICE OF SEA GRANT

Unlike the other NOAA organizational elements in this
chapter, the Sea Grant Program is devoted entirely to supporting,
on a matching basis, work done in universities and other
nongovernmental institutions. An analysis of the overall program
at the end of FY 78 showed that Sea Grant was funding 69 projects
in 17 research categories under the general heading of marine
environmental quality (which accounts for 6.8 percent of the
overall Sea Grant budget). These projects complement those
carried out in-house or funded by other NOAA elements, as in the
case of a large grant (of funds provided by DOE) to Texas A&M
University for a study of the potential and actual effects of
disposal of brine from the Bryan Mound, Tex., salt dome oil
storage site of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. (See NMFS,
above.) Toxic substances studies represented 3 0 percent of the
environmental quality budget in FY 78, with 14 of 3 0 projects
concerned with metals, and an additional 10 projects aimed at
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). A newly emerging area of Sea
Grant research funding is marine microbiology, with 16 projects
representing about 2 0 percent of the environmental quality budget
at the end of FY 78.

NATIONAL OCEAN SURVEY (NOS)

The NOAA Ocean Dumping Program is carried out by NOS in
response to Section 2 01 of Title II of the Marine Protection,
Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (Public Law 92-532, see
App. B). Accordingly, the NOS Office of Oceanography, Ocean
Dumping Program Office (renamed the Ocean Dumping and Monitoring
Division in January 1979) submits a separate annual report to the
Congress, detailing their work in dumpsite characterization and
monitoring, and the study of the effects of dumped waste
materials .

NOS research and monitoring on ocean dumping in FY 78
focused oh three areas: chemical manufacturing wastes dumpsites
in the Gulf of Mexico, dredged material and sewage sludge dumping
in the New York Bight, and Deepwater Dumpsite 1 06 (DWD-106), a
6,500 km2 (2,500 mi2) area of open sea located 200 km (106 nmi)
southeast of New York's Ambrose Light. Work in all these areas
has emphasized not only the present conditions and consequences
of past dumping, but the prospects for the longer term as well.
In addition, FY 78 saw the start of studies concerned with
disposal of dredge spoil near the Mississippi Delta and dumping
of wastes from pharmaceutical manufacturing at a site 68 km (42
mi) north of Arecibo, P.R. NOS also has been involved in a 1-
year physical oceanographic characterization study of two
potential brine discharge sites along the Louisiana coast (West

I - 10

Hackberry and Weeks Island) in support of the DOE Strategic
Petroleum Reserve.

The Section 2 01 ocean dumping research is carried out in
cooperation with other Federal agencies such as the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S
Coast Guard.

I - 11

Chapter II
ACTIVITIES AND RESULTS
— SPECIFIC STUDIES ~

NOAA studies of long-range effects in fiscal year 1978
generally fall into two categories: studies of whole ecosystems
(sometimes emphasizing selected aspects) expected to be affected
by present or future human interactions, and studies of
individual pollutants or biological hazards. Such specific
studies may be part of larger overall projects, or may be done
independently, but produce results relevant to many larger
syntheses. For example, studies of the effects of crude oil
fractions on particular marine species are essential to larger
projects aimed at assessing the environmental consequences of
petroleum-related activities at sea or in bays and estuaries.

PETROLEUM HYDROCARBONS

Even in the "cleanest" of ocean-related petroleum
operations, some petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) may be released to
the marine environment, albeit inadvertently or even
unknowingly. Two of the "ecosystem projects" described more
fully in Chapter III illustrate the point.

Close examination, using gas chromatography, of the
sediments, waters, and zooplankton of the Bucaneer Oil Field off
Galveston in the Gulf of Mexico as part of a project managed by
NMFS revealed traces of PHCs in all of them. Nearly all of the
PHCs (alkanes), University of Houston researchers concluded, were
inevitably introduced in the discharge of brine that had been
separated from the crude oil and gas with which it was
produced. Although significant amounts were found on occasion,
most measurements were extremely low. Discharges from the two
production platforms were also low: a mean daily discharge of
95,400 liters (600 barrels) of brine contained 191 grams of
petroleum-derived alkanes. (The Buccaneer Field was chosen for
the study partly because of its record of very little crude oil
spilled — less than 1,000 liters in its 15-year existence.)

Concern with the potential effects of shipping petroleum to
the lower 48 States is one of the factors motivating the MESA
Program to consider a study of Prince William Sound, Alaska. The
kinds of problems they will have to deal with were suggested in a
presentation at the 1979 Oil Spill Conference by researchers from
Rockwell International Corporation and EPA. Port Valdez , the
southern terminal of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), is
on Valdez Arm at the head of Prince William Sound. The port is
equipped with a treatment plant that removes about 99.5 percent
of the oil in ballast water discharged ashore by tankers loading
oil there. Yet, the plant's average 38 million liters-a-day (10

II - 1

million gallon-a-day) discharge to Valdez Arm contains about 471
liters (124.5 gallons) of aromatic hydrocarbons and dissolved
petroleum-derived organic compounds. The plant is capable of
processing more than 114 million liters (3 0 million gallons) of
ballast a day.

Thus, since even under the best conditions some PHCs may
reach the marine environment, it is important to find out what
effects these compounds may have, and whether they will be
degraded or accumulated. In FY 78, several NOAA studies were
directed at these questions.

One major effort was directed at determining and comparing
the sensitivities of 39 Alaska marine species to the water-
soluble fractions (WSF) of Cook Inlet crude oil and No. 2 fuel
oil (home heating oil). The work was done at the NMFS Northwest
and Alaska Fisheries Center (NWAFC) Auke Bay Laboratory. Joint
funding was provided by NMFS and by the Interior Department's
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) through the NOAA Outer
Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment Program (OCSEAP).

This was the largest group of animals ever tested under
similar test conditions, using the same petroleum oils and
analytical methods. The 39 species (table 1) included 9 fish
species, 9 arthropod species (crustaceans such as shrimp and
crabs), 13 mollusc species (such as clams, mussels, and
scallops), 4 echinoderm species (such as starfish), and 2 species
each of annelid and nemertean worms. Sensitivities were
determined by 96-hour (4-day) static bioassays. Concentrations
of aromatic hydrocarbons, the most toxic fraction of crude oil,
were determined by gas chromatography. The study used adult or
juvenile animals, which are generally much less sensitive to
petroleum hydrocarbons than are eggs or larvae.

In general, the patterns of sensitivity for both Cook Inlet
crude oil and No. 2 fuel oil were the same. However, for the
sensitive species, No. 2 fuel oil was consistently more toxic
than the crude oil. Although sensitivity generally increased
from lower invertebrates to higher invertebrates, and from highei
invertebrates to fish (vertebrates), sensitivity was better
correlated to the animals' natural habitats. Pelagic (open
water) fish and shrimp were the most sensitive animals, and
benthic (bottom-dwelling) and some intertidal species ranked as
moderately tolerant. The most tolerant species were
predominantly from the intertidal zone. These did not die after
4 days of exposure to the highest concentrations of PHC generated
(8-12 milligrams per liter total aromatic hydrocarbons), although
many were obviously affected. (Starfish, urchins, and subtidal
snails could not remain attached to the glass test containers,
hermit crabs left their shells, and amphipods and mysids stopped
swimming but continued to move.)

II - 2

Although static tests are the most practical when used to
compare numerous species, such static tests (i.e., the water/oil
mixture in the containers was not replaced during the tests) are
not the best method for comparing the sensitivities of sensitive
pelagic species and tolerant intertidal ones. For example, the
oil concentrations in the containers declined during the 4-day
test to about 2 0 percent of their original levels. Thus,
tolerant species which simply "clam up" and reduce their
metabolic functions may not accumulate toxic levels of oil in the
96 hours allotted for the bioassay.

II - 3

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In the real world, the vulnerability of living organisms is
a complex question that requires consideration of the species,
the life stages involved, the amount and length of exposure, and
interaction of the oil and animal with the physical and
biological environment. For example, although pelagic species
were most sensitive to the oil in these tests, they are mobile
animals and can avoid oil spills in the ocean. On the other
hand, benthic and intertidal species might be more vulnerable
because of the potential for mixing and entrainment of oil in the
waters of their shallow, nearshore habitats, and for oil to coat
them or the substrates on which they graze or their larvae
settle.

Exposures to petroleum in these comparative bioassays are
acute (high-level) lethal exposures. There are no comparative
data on the sensitivity of pelagic, benthic, or intertidal
species to chronic (low-level, long-term) oil exposures.
However, chronic addition of oil to the marine environment
usually results in increases of hydrocarbon content of adjacent
benthic sediments, and therefore the effects of oil-contaminated
sediments on marine animals are important.

Some measure of the effects of contaminated sediments on
marine animals that live in contact with them was gained from a
study using English sole (Parophrys vetulus), rock sole
(Lepidopsetta bilineata) and starry flounder (Platichthys
stellatus) . In a BLM/OCSEAP-f unded study at the NWAPC, these
demersal (bottom-dwelling) fish were exposed to sediments
contaminated with varying levels of petroleum hydrocarbons.
English sole exposed to sediments having more than 5 00 parts per
million (ppm) hydrocarbons for 1 month developed severe liver
abnormalities and changes in their blood. When exposed to oiled
sediment for more than 4 months, the number of fish not gaining
weight was significantly higher than for fish on unoiled
sediment, and some of the exposed fish became severely emaciated.

The dangers of contact with oiled sediments were suggested
by other studies which demonstrated that the skin of salmonids
and flatfish (such as sole and flounder) is actively involved in
the uptake and discharge of naphthalenes (a major class of
petroleum hydrocarbons) and metabolic products of naphthalenes.
Starry flounder was found to have four times as much hydrocarbon
metabolites as parent hydrocarbons in the skin 1 week after an
exposure, indicating the fish's ability to metabolize
hydrocarbons rapidly.

The fish's ability to metabolize an important petroleum
hydrocarbon may seem all to the good, yet the resulting
metabolites, like the original naphthalenes, accumulate in the
flounder's body. (Similar results were shown for coho salmon,

II - 6

Oncorhynchus kisutch.) Thus, low concentrations of naphthalenes
in the water in areas of petroleum industry operations
nonetheless could cause substantial increases in body burdens of
these compounds and their metabolites in fish. Related work
using mammalian systems shows that metabolites of such
polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) constitute one group of
toxic factors that can lead to neoplasia (tumor growth) and other
deleterious biological changes such as liver abnormalities.
Lenses of the eyes of rainbow trout (a salmonid, Salmo gairdneri)
chronically exposed to a high level of petroleum in their diet
were found to hydrate and may form cataracts eventually. In the
wild, these "sublethal" changes could strongly affect the fishes'
chances of survival, although they might not kill the fish
outright.

Outside the laboratory, of course, fish often may be exposed
to a number of stresses at once, especially in areas of human
activity. Accordingly, NWAPC researchers attempted to determine
the combined effects of PAH with such other contaminants as
cadmium, lead, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) . The work
was funded under an interagency agreement between NOAA and EPA.

Starry flounders exposed to cadmium and lead, in addition to
naphthalene, were found to produce less of the metabolite (a
dihydrodiol) of naphthalene than those exposed only to
naphthalene. Cadmium was found to have a similar effect in coho
salmon, although concentrations of naphthalene metabolites in
livers of the two species differed markedly. Thus, these two
metals appear to interfere with the biotransformation of
naphthalene--reducing the fishes' capacity to respond to
petroleum contamination by metabolizing components of the oil.

In coho and Chinook (0_. tshawytscha) salmon exposed to
combinations of chlorobiphenyls (PCBs) and hydrocarbons in their
food for 3 to 4 weeks, structural changes were noted in gills,
skin, liver, and intestines. In chinook salmon, only the PCBs
caused changes in liver structures. However, the salmon's
intestines were more extensively damaged when hydrocarbons and
PCBs were administered together in the fishes' food than when
either was given alone. Data from laboratory studies using
excised liver cells suggest that the combination of PCBs and
hydrocarbons acts to negate the stimulating effect on liver
enzymes that would accompany separate administration of the two
compounds, and thus lowers the production of hydrocarbon
metabolites.

In addition to these direct effects on the adult and
juvenile fish, oil pollution can have serious consequences for
the long-range survival of marine species through inhibition of
their reproductive success.

II - 7

For example, a mixture of petroleum hydrocarbons in the
water at concentrations of 0.7 ppm and higher inhibited the
upstream migration of spawning adult salmon. Interestingly,
salmon migrating early in the run were more strongly affected by
the hydrocarbons than those arriving late in the run.- Outside an
experimental situation, however, this inhibition may not occur.
Depending on the time of migration and environmental factors such
as temperature and water siltation, a significant reduction in
salmon migration may be evident only at hydrocarbon
concentrations greater than 2 to 3 ppm. Considering the high
volatility of some of the hydrocarbons involved and their low
proportion in some crude oils (0.98 percent in Prudhoe Bay
crude) , the chances are small that a sufficient concentration for
a long enough time to inhibit seriously the salmon spawning runs
would be attained in the natural environment.

On the other hand, the same NWAFC/OCSEAP project found that
salmon exposed to lesser concentrations of (monoaromatic)
hydrocarbons than those that inhibited spawning runs nonetheless
delayed their return to their home stream by 2 days. Although
the significance of such an apparently short delay is unknown,
successful salmon migration is correlated with a variety of
reproductive physiological and environmental conditions. Thus,
at certain critical periods a disruption in migratory timing may
be enough to impair spawning success.

Some invertebrates may be even more vulnerable to minute
quantities of petroleum hydrocarbons in the water than are
fish. Exposure of mature dorid nudibranchs (molluscs) to a
seawater-soluble fraction of Prudhoe Bay crude oil for 1 to 14
days at concentrations of 1 0 parts per billion (ppb) and more
produced a notable drop in their reproductive success. This
appears to be due to a lessened capacity to find other
individuals of the same species to mate with, a decrease in the
number of eggs deposited, and to disruption of the development of
the hatched organisms.

These findings are particularly important, because the eggs
and spermatozoa of most commercial species of molluscs and of
many commercially important vertebrates are exuded directly into
the water where fertilization takes place. Coupled with last
year's findings that similar levels of PHCs strongly affect the
feeding behavior of spot shrimp, this suggests the potential for
harm of even very small amounts of petroleum in the natural
marine environment.

Similar results were obtained in a Sea Grant-funded study at
North Carolina State University of the effects of the water-
soluble fraction (WSF) of crude oil on harpacticoid copecods.
The minute animals were exposed to WSF at 2 00 ppm, 100 ppm, and
5 0 ppm. Whereas normal brood size was 14.41 eggs per female, the

II - 8

exposed copepods produced 8.37, 8.44, and 8.35 eggs per female,
respectively. However, there was no difference in the mean
lifetimes or mean number of broods for any of the groups.
Because zooplankton such as copepods are a major component of the
diets of almost all fish species during part of their cycles,
decline in zooplankton abundance might (especially over the long
term) be reflected in a decline in fish stocks.

But what about the oil itself? What is its long-term fate
once spilled into the marine environment? Two studies managed by
the MESA Puget Sound Project and funded by EPA contributed to
understanding of this "other side of the coin." (See also the
Buccaneer oil field project in Chapter III.)

The interaction of Prudhoe Bay crude oil and Puget Sound
area riverine sediments was examined by scientists from the NOAA
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) in Seattle. Under
optimum conditions, the sediments proved capable of accommodating
and settling from 17 percent to 100 percent of their own weight
in oil. The percentage varied with sediment texture, water
temperature, and the concentration of oil relative to that of
sediment. Knowledge of this mechanism is useful for the light it
sheds on the subsequent (after an oil spill, for example)
suspension and transport of the oil/sediment mixture in the water
column, and the redistribution and settling of the oiled
sediments, possibly making them more available to benthic,
detrital-f eeding organisms.

Among the organisms that might be faced with spills of
Prudhoe Bay crude are the microbial populations of the nearshore
water column and sediments of northern Puget Sound and the Strait
of Juan de Puca. University of Alberta workers examined the
interaction of these microbes with crude oil, again under the
MESA Puget Sound Project and with EPA funding. No degradation of
the oil by the microbes was observed after either a 28-day
incubation of oil and microbes at 8°C, or a 14-day incubation at
3 0°C. However, when nitrogen and phosphorus were added to the
experimental medium all samples proved to have bacteria capable
of utilizing the n-alkane fraction of the oil. Thus, in the
laboratory at least, about one-third of the oil was lost to
microbial action, one-third to weathering, and one-third remained
as a residue.

Carrying its studies of the interactions of oil and
organisms into the natural world, the MESA Puget Sound Project
late in FY 78 awarded a contract to Battelle Pacific Northwest
Laboratories to document the processes and rates of infaunal
(burrowing organisms) recolonization of experimentally oiled
sediments. Samples of intertidal sediments were given measured
doses of oil in the laboratory, then placed in semipermeable
boxes in beaches at Sequim Bay and Protection Island. At
intervals throughout FY 79, samples were to be taken from the
boxes and examined for loss of oil and recruitment of marine
organisms. The study is aimed at documenting the effects of

II - 9

crude oil on density and kinds of colonizers, rates of oil loss
from the sediment, rates of recruitment (recolonization) ,
characteristics of the new infaunal communities, and the
influence of factors such as season, tidal elevation, sediment
texture, and exposure.

CHLORINATED (MANMADE) HYDROCARBONS

Among the many and varied human alterations of the natural
environment, perhaps none has shown so great a potential for harm
as the introduction of massive quantities of chlorinated
hydrocarbons. Yet, these supposed "villains" of the chemical
world were introduced to solve some of mankind's most pressing
problems: PCBs enabled the production of highly efficient
electrical devices thanks to their superior electrical insulating
and heat transfer properties; DDT has been the foremost weapon
against the mosquitoes that transmit yellow fever; herbicides
such as 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T have found wide use in controlling
noxious weeds (and in war as defoliants) .

With annual U.S. production of chemical pesticides of more
than 726 million kilograms (1.6 billion pounds) as of 1975, it
has become clear that maintenance of the health of the ocean and
other aquatic ecosystems will require improved knowledge of the
effects and fate of chlorinated hydrocarbons, as well as other
toxic substances.

That chlorinated hydrocarbons detrimentally affect marine
phytoplankton (minute floating plants that are at the base of the
food chain) has been known for more than a decade. Several
studies aimed at determining how these substances act and what
the implications of their presence are for marine ecosystems were
completed in FY 78 with MESA New York Bight Project support. In
general, chlorinated hydrocarbons (CHCs) cause changes in both
cell division and photosynthesis, and this, in turn, may produce
changes in the nature of phytoplankton communities. The
organisms susceptible, the magnitude and nature of the effects,
and the cellular system impaired vary with pollutant type,
dosage, and environmental conditions.

On the basis of MESA-sponsored and other research, it
appears that halogenated hydrocarbons (the larger group that
Includes chlorinated compounds) may be divided into at least two
classes: high molecular weight compounds, including PCBs, DDT,
DDE, dieldrin, and endrin, which are acutely toxic to
phytoplankton even at low concentrations; and compounds with
smaller molecules, such as trichloroethylene (TCE) and
hexachlorobenzene (HCB), which are relatively low in toxicity to
algal populations.

Tests of the effects of DDE (a degradation product of DDT

II - 10

that is slow to break down in the environment) on the marine
dinoflagellate Exuviella baltica showed that concentrations as
low as 25 micrograms per liter ( g/1 ; roughly, parts per billion,
ppb) of seawater were sufficient to inhibit photosynthesis and
cell division. Lower cell reproduction rates result in reduced
cell densities, perhaps also thereby lowering the productivity of
a given volume of water. DDE also lowers cell productivity
directly by suppressing the carbon assimilation essential to
development of new cell structures.

Chlordane and heptachlor (insecticides) were found to
produce effects similar to those of DDE: both reduce cell
densities and carbon uptake. However, here, reductions in carbon
assimilation appeared to result from impaired chlorophyll a.
function. Chlordane, but not heptachlor, also causes cell
disintegration at concentrations at or above 5 0 g/1. Dieldrin
and PCBs have also been found to cause such disintegrations.

Chlordane, however, proved to have relatively short-lived
effects on a culture of mixed species of estuarine phytoplankton
compared with the impact of PCBs in a Sea Grant-funded study at
the State University of New York (SUNY), Stony Brook, Long Island
(also the site of MESA New York Bight Project headquarters).
Daily addition of chlordane or Aroclor 1254 (PCB) to a
phytoplankton culture reduced algal growth and carbon-14 uptake
per unit of chlorophyll _a. Inhibition by the chlordane lasted
for 24 to 48 hours, and the community cell-size distribution was
not much altered. The PCB, on the other hand, caused longer term
effects and inhibited the growth of larger phytoplankton (such as
large centric diatoms) more than that of smaller forms (such as
pennate diatoms and microf lagellates) . Thus, the PCB shifted the
composition of the phytoplankton community in favor of small-size
algae, a change that may affect the fish stocks used by
recreational and commercial fishermen.

In an overall assessment of the implications of increasing
PCB contamination of the marine environment, MESA New York Bight
Project workers concluded that the compounds threaten marine
resources in three ways: PCBs act to reduce primary
productivity; they are a toxic substance which is taken up by
food organisms; and they tend to change the structure of marine
food webs with a consequent reduction in the size of fishery
stocks .

The susceptibility of phytoplankton to cell disintegration
by PCBs varies from species to species and depends partially on
factors such as temperature and season. As a rule, however,
large phytoplankters such as diatoms tend to be affected more
severely than small ones, as found in the SUNY/Stony Brook
study. Independent scientists have suggested that, in general,
harvestable fish are supported by short food chains with

II - 11

relatively large species of phy top lank ton as a base. Pood chains
with small species of phytoplankton as a base tend to be longer
(that is, have more participants) and to support organisms not
usually harvested by humans such as jellyfish and ctenophores
(comb jellies) .

On the other hand, living phytoplankton can actively excrete
PCBs, unlike acutely toxic chlorinated hydrocarbons such as
DDT. This, MESA scientists think, may suggest the reason why
PCBs are not accumulated in the food chain as are other
chlorinated hydrocarbons. Some other reasons are suggested by
two Sea Grant studies which found, respectively, that one PCB
(Arochlor 1254) has very low solubility in seawater (28 ppb
average) and that PCBs can be degraded by some freshwater
bacteria. PCBs' low solubility, which gets lower with increasing
salinity, suggests that these compounds will be found almost
exclusively on suspended particles and in the bottom sediments
and rarely dissolved in the water column.

A bacterial strain, of the genus Alkaligenes, that was
isolated from a lake sediment was found to be able to metabolize
various PCB components in a Sea Grant-funded study at the
University of Wisconsin. The bacterium was able to degrade even
highly chlorinated PCBs through an oxidative route. The
degradation takes place in two major steps: first, yellow
metabolic intermediates are produced; then, these are broken down
to the corresponding chlorobenzoic acids. The bacterium appeared
to be able to further metabolize certain of these chlorinated
benzoic acids as well. In general, the study showed that
degradation of PCBs becomes increasingly difficult as the degree
of chlorination increases. The identification of such bacteria,
of course, is an important part of the effort to understand the
ultimate fate of these long-lived compounds in the environment.

The fungicide captan, on the other hand, proved to have a
relatively low toxicity for dungeness crabs and a high rate of
degradation (half-life of 23 to 54 hours) in seawater in tests at
Oregon State University. That would suggest that this one
chlorinated hydrocarbon, at least, may pose little or no threat
to crab populations when used on agricultural lands near marine
waters.

Captan appeared to accelerate hatching of crab eggs at
concentrations ranging from 100yg/l to 10,000 Mg/1 (the highest
concentration tested) and, in a 24-hour test, aid not inhibit
development from the prezoeae stage. However, at 3,300yg/l and
10,000 yg/1 the developing zoeae exhibited swelling and enlarged
carapaces, and were largely inactive. Zoea survival in a 69-day
test was unaffected by a captan concentration of 3 0 ug/1, but
that level delayed molting in later crab stages. Dungeness crab
larvae were killed in 9 days by concentrations of 45 0 yg/1, but

II - 12

juvenile crabs were able to withstand 510 vg/1 for 36 days or
290 yg/1 for 80 days. All adult crabs exposed to 340' yg/1 captan
in seawater for 75 days also survived.

But if captan is of little danger to the marine environment,
use of the herbicide 2,4,5-T may be a danger because of its
contaminant, introduced during manufacture, dioxin, (2,3,7,8-
tetrachlorodibenzo-p_-dioxin, or TCDD) . In a year-long study at
the University of Wisconsin, supported by the Sea Grant program
and the U.S. Public Health Service, eight female rhesus monkeys
were fed a diet containing 500 parts per trillion (10 ) of
dioxin for 9 months. All the monkeys became anemic within 6
months after the start of the experiment, and suffered widespread
cellular degeneration (pancytopenia) after 9 months. Five of the
eight monkeys died between the 7th and 12th months of the
experiment.

Death of the monkeys was attributed to complications arising
from the severe degeneration of all their bodily tissues. The
animals suffered widespread hemorrhaging and failure of their
bone marrow and lymph nodes (both important factors in resistance
to disease) . Their ability to generate white and red blood cells
appeared to be severely impaired, with levels of both kinds of
cells dropping drastically in most of the monkeys. Swelling and
overgrowth of some body parts, and drastic changes in bodily
tissues were found at autopsy; skin eruptions were common, and
the animals lost most of their hair.

2,4,5-T is a slightly water-soluble herbicide (278 mg/1 ) of
many uses. In 197 0, U.S. production was reported as 5,595,000 kg
(12,335,000 pounds). It was one of the principal ingredients in
"herbicide orange," the defoliant used in Vietnam. (The other
was 2,4-D; both were classed as phenoxy compounds rather than
chlorinated hydrocarbons in an American Chemical Society
report.) U.S. Air Force figures for the levels of dioxin present
in stocks of "orange" left over after the Vietnam war showed a
maximum concentration of 1.91 mg/kg (ppm) of TCDD. If that were
the case in presently available stocks of agricultural herbicide,
it would suggest that TCDD is being applied to unwanted foliage
at levels approaching 4,000 times those in the experimental diet
fed to the rhesus monkeys.

METALS

Metals are normally present in the marine environment in
varying amounts depending on such factors as geology of the
nearby shore and drainage basins of tributary streams, internal
ocean circulation, sea floor geothermal activity, and biological
activity that may either release metals in one form or another to
the water or bind free metals, perhaps delivering them to the
bottom sediments in fecal pellets or the remains of dead
organisms.

II - 13

Naturally occurring metal concentrations apparently play
important roles in the sea as suggested by one Sea Grant study at
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. There, laboratory
experiments have shown that the organism responsible for "red
tide" outbreaks in New England — the dinoflagellate Gonyaulax
tamarensis - is quite sensitive to copper (in the cupric form)
ions. Data from the study suggest that growth of G_. tamarensis
may be inhibited totally by the natural copper content of ocean
waters, although the copper had little or no effect on four other
algal species examined. It appears that only when the cupric
ions are organically chelated (chemically bound by a class of
ring compounds), thus lessening their availability in the water,
can G_. tamarensis cells multiply to the numbers involved in a
"red tide" outbreak.

That this sort of thing is not solely a saltwater phenomemon
was shown in a Sea Grant study at the State University of New
York. Nutrient enrichment analyses revealed that both chelated
and unchelated iron affect the photosynthetic rate of natural
phytoplankton communities in eastern Lake Erie. Depending on the
form, the concentration, and the time of year, the study found,
iron additions (such as from wastewater treatment plants were
iron is used for phosphorus removal) may either stimulate or
inhibit algal photosynthesis.

A good deal of attention has been paid to the problems, both
present and potential, of metals in the marine environment by the
MESA New York Bight Project, and by NOAA's Northeast Fisheries
Center (NEPC) laboratories at Milford, Conn., and Sandy Hook,
N.J., and Southeast Fisheries Center laboratory at Charleston,
S.C.

Heavy metals enter the New York Bight (NYB) through
estuarine outflow, ocean dumping, atmospheric transport, and
coastal runoff. That the metals are dispersed and transported by
ocean water movements, and possibly biologically accumulated, is
shown by their concentrations in fish and shellfish from the
entire Middle Atlantic Bight, far beyond the confines of the
areas where, presumably, they were introduced.

Principal component analysis of data on arsenic, cadmium,
chromium, copper, lead, mercury, selenium, silver, and zinc
concentrations in muscle and liver samples from NYB fish and
shellfish has shown concentrations generally consistent with
those in sediments. These are highest in areas where wastes and
runoff are concentrated. Metal concentrations were generally
highest in crustaceans, followed (in order) by molluscs, demersal
(bottom-dwelling) fish, and pelagic fish. However, averaged data
did not show concentrations of individual or combined metals that
exceed regulatory standards for human consumption or that are
known to affect the species themselves.

II - 14

Past studies have shown that scallops are capable of
attaining remarkably high concentrations of some metals in organs
such as kidneys or digestive glands. Since sea scallops
(Placopecten magellanicus) are a major commercial species in the
mid-Atlantic Bight, scientists from the NEPC Milford Laboratory
surveyed the concentrations of eight metals in samples collected
from 42 stations running the full length of the area (fig. 3).

Sea scallops ranked fifth in terms of weight landed in the
United States in 1975, after surf clams, American oysters, hard
clams, and soft clams. In the period 1971-75, total annual
scallop landings averaged 2,900 metric tons (about 3,200 short
tons), with an average value of $11.1 million. The two principal
stocks of sea scallops are on Georges Bank off Cape Cod in 4 0 to
95 m of water, and in the area south of Long Island and east of
New Jersey in 35 to 75 m of water. Landings were projected to
increase in the late 197 0's because of widespread recruitment of
young scallops in 1972.

The scallops were analyzed for concentrations of silver,
cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury, nickel, lead, and zinc in
muscle tissue (the edible part), gonads, and total visceral
mass. In muscle, most metal concentrations were below the
detection limits of the analytical method. Zinc levels, however,
ranged from 2 to 8 ppm, although there was no correlation of the
amount with geographic distributions. Mercury proved to be below
detection limits (0.08 to 0.18 ppm) and, therefore, well below
the "action limit" of 0.5 ppm established by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration. In gonads, silver, cadmium, copper, and
zinc were shown to be present, while chromium, mercury, nickel,
and lead were usually below detection limits. Again, there was
no evidence that concentrations varied with geographic
distribution of the scallops. In the viscera, only mercury and
lead were usually below detection limits; cadmium levels,
however, were several orders of magnitude greater than in gonads
or muscle. Here too, geography made no difference in the levels
of metals detected.

Some surprises turned up in a comparison of the results of
the sea scallop study with those of a recent similar study of
surf clams (Spisula solidissima) and ocean quahogs (Arctlca
islandica) by scientists at the NEPC Woods Hole, Mass., and
Milford, Conn., Laboratories. Sea scallops are usually found
farther offshore than the other two species, and one would expect
them to have lower levels of metals. Yet, except for silver and
cadmium, metal concentrations in the whole clams proved to be
quite similar to those in the whole visceral mass (deemed to be
the best comparison, whole scallops were not analyzed) of the
scallops. Silver, as expected, was found at levels two-to-five
times higher in surf clams and quahogs than in the scallops.
Cadmium levels, on the other hand, were less than 0.13 ppm in the

II - 15

42'

40'

38'

36'

New

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York

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Raritan

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Apex ,18 .17 ^S N^-.ioofm-^/w'
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Cape Hatteras

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ATLANTIC
OCEAN

74'

72'

70'

68'

66'

Figure 3. The Middle Atlantic Bight Region and locations of stations
where scallops were collected for trace metal analyses.

II - 16

surf clams, about 0.4 ppm in the quahogs, but from 2.7 to 27.0
ppm in scallop viscera. No obvious explanation for this offshore
cadmium concentration has presented itself, and further research
is likely.

The surf clam/ocean quahog study turned up another
interesting finding: concentrations of several of the metals
examined decreased from the north end of the study area to the
south. Average silver levels in the ocean quahogs, for example,
dropped from 2.62 ppm (wet weight) off Montauk Point on the
eastern end of Long Island to 0.58 ppm off the mouth of
Chesapeake Bay. This was not the case for all the nine metals
studied, but nonetheless suggests that a large offshore area is
affected by heavy metals, and the more so off the more heavily
populated coastal regions. With the surf clam and ocean quahog
fishery increasing in importance, because of depletion of other
clam species, further study seems warranted to determine the
long-range trends in heavy metal concentrations. For the
present, the levels found were all quite low compared to an
Australian standard (the United States only has a standard for
mercury; all samples were well below it), with the exception of
arsenic, which was found to average 2.1 ppm in surf clams and 3.0
ppm in ocean quahogs, compared with the standard's maximum of
1.14 ppm.

But scallops and clams are sedentary creatures living on the
ocean floor. What about metal levels in finfish? Milford Lab
researchers looked at the levels of nine metals in five fish
species: red hake (Urophycis chuss), smooth dogfish (Mustelus
canis) , white hake (U_. tenuis) , winter flounder

(Pseudopleuronectes americanus), and yellowtail flounder (Limanda
f erruginea) . The fish were collected from 3 locations in Long
Island Sound and 13 in the New York Bight.

With few exceptions, metal concentrations were quite similar
in the five species. In some cases, concentrations were quite
diferent from what would have been predicted based on where the
fish were caught. For example, winter flounder were collected at
two stations in Long Island Sound — one in the western sound in
waters considered heavily polluted, and the other just off the
shore of Long Island across the sound from New Haven, Conn.
Copper, manganese, and zinc concentrations in the livers of the
flounders, however, proved to be about twice as great for the
"unpolluted" station as for the one in the western sound. Other
metals were similar in magnitude.

Even in winter yellowtail flounders from a sampling site in
the disposal area for New York City's sewage sludge, metal levels
did not vary widely from those found in fish at several other
stations, including some that were relatively far offshore.
Thus, it appears that dumping sewage sludge has no demonstrable
impact on metal concentrations in winter yellowtail flounders.

II - 17

Despite this apparent good news, previous studies (see
earlier reports in this series) have clearly shown the potential
of heavy metals for harming marine biota. Even at low levels,
metals can be toxic, or may alter behavior in varying ways.
Metals have been clearly implicated in the drastic decline in
productivity of sport and commercial marine species in inshore
and estuarine waters in the New York City area. For .example, an
NEPC Sandy Hook Laboratory study found that copper levels in
waters of western Raritan Bay ranged up to 65 yg/1 (roughly,
parts per billion) -- the highest levels ever reported at the
time of the study. Other work has shown that copper levels of as
little as 2 0 yg/1 are fatal to at least one kind of fish
(sticklebacks), and far lesser amounts (2.4 yg/1) provoke
avoidance behavior in Atlantic salmon.

But pollutants do not often appear singly; mixtures of
various toxic and/or merely obnoxious substances are common,
especially in industrial harbors and areas affected by sewage
effluents. For example, in the same location in Raritan Bay at
which the unusually high copper levels were found, a separate
study found a concentration of long-chain (C]c+) hydrocarbons of
3,672 ppm (dry weight) in the sediments. For comparison, Lower
Bay waters sampled in a transect from Sandy Hook to Rockaway
Point had levels of 22 ppm, 10 ppm (midchannel) , and 6 ppm of
Cir+ hydrocarbons, respectively. This PHC survey was a joint
effort of the NEFC Sandy Hook Laboratory and Exxon Production
Research Co.

Thus, laboratory studies of the effects of combinations of
pollutants are particularly important. As work at NWAFC
(described earlier in this chapter under "Petroleum
Hydrocarbons") has shown, metals (lead and cadmium) affect
fishes' ability to metabolize naphthalene, an important PHC, and
the effect is not the same for the two species tested (starry
flounder and coho salmon). This suggests, as other studies have
done, that varying types and mixes of pollutants not only may
affect marine life directly, but can also alter the balance among
the numbers and distributions of different species (as may occur,
for example, when natural copper in the water becomes chemically
tied up, resulting in a "red tide"). Such an alteration could,
presumably, have an effect similar to that of overfishing a
particular species: other, possibly less-desirable species might
move in to fill the emptied ecological niche.

Eventually, knowledge generated in the many and diverse
studies of the effects of pollution and other man-induced changes
of ocean ecosystems may be brought together in overall
descriptions of the functioning of these ecosystems under both
natural and perturbed conditions. One useful form of

II - 18

environmental description is the mathematical model, a tool used
increasingly to enable prediction of the possible consequences of
a particular decision or occurrence. The development of models
that can predict the response of the ocean environment on a large
scale depends, to a considerable extent, on the availability of
effective submodels that deal with discrete parts of that
environment.

One such smaller model was developed at the University of
Maine, with Sea Grant funding, to predict the uptake,
accumulation, and loss of radionuclides by the American oyster
(Crassostrea virginica). Oysters for the study were grown in the
thermal effluent from the Maine Yankee nuclear powerplant at four
locations in the Montsweag Bay estuary of the Sheepscot River and
at a control station in the nearby Damariscotta River estuary. A
model was developed to predict, on the basis of the liquid
radionuclide effluent release schedule of the powerplant, the
specific radioactivity of the isotopes manganese-54 cobalt-58,
cobalt-60, cesium-134, and cesium-137 in the oysters. The model
takes into account such items as the physical half-lives of the
radionuclides, their biological half-lives (residence time in the
oysters' bodies), water temperature, and oyster shell growth.
Comparison of model predictions with actual measurements of the
oysters showed close agreement.

One direction for future research on the effects of metals,
as well as other pollutants, was suggested in an SEFC draft
report:

"While numerous studies of heavy metals in
tissues of marine organisms have been made,
generally the significance of increased body
burdens of toxic metals has not been
assessed. A recent (1978) report from the
International Council for the Exploration of
the Seas (ICES) states: 'Data are
accumulating on concentrations of pollutants
in sea water and on residues in organisms, and
much experimental evidence is available
relating water concentrations to effects, but
there are surprisingly few studies which
connect all three -- water levels, residues,
and effects in an unequivocal way.'... "

BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS

The effects of peoples' activities on ocean ecosystems are
not always obvious or immediate. They may manifest themselves
only slowly, perhaps in the gradual disappearance of a species of
fish, or the closing of more and more shellfish beds because of

II - 19

biological or chemical contamination. Scientists suspect that
some apparently acute events such as fish kills may have their
roots in years of increasing stress on the organisms from human
alterations of their natural environments. Tracing the
connections, however, can be a long and difficult process.

In September 1977, from 200 to 400 large (up to 67 lb)
striped bass turned belly-up in western Long Island Sound along
the Connecticut coast between Stamford and Norwalk. Connecticut
officials asked the NEPC Milford Laboratory for help in finding
the cause. The immediate cause turned out to be the gram-
negative bacterium Pasteurella piscicida — the same organism
that had caused a die-off of white perch and striped bass in
Chesapeake Bay in 1963 and which regularly plagues Japanese
aquaculturists. It had not previously been encountered as far
north as Long Island Sound, yet P. piscicida is normally present
in waters inhabited by the bass TMorone saxatilis) with no known
ill effects. The suggestion is strong that the fishes' defense
mechanisms may have been weakened by polluted waters of the
western Sound, but, again, finding out what triggered the
bacterial attack would require a large, separate study.

The MESA/NYB Project put a considerable effort into finding
the reasons for and the incidence of "fin rot" in fishes of the
New York Bight and adjacent waters. The 4-year effort ended in
FY 78, leaving some questions still unanswered.

Between 1973 and 1975, the incidence of fin rot (or fin
erosion disease) in the winter flounder declined from 12 percent
to 3 percent; the trend continued and by October 1978 was
observed to be less than 1 percent. The reason for the decline
is unknown, as is the reason for the disease in the first place.

In an attempt to determine if fin rot is related to the
discharge of toxic wastes, the NYB Project compared the incidence
of the disease in the Duwamish (Wash.) River estuary, the
southern California Bight, and the New York Bight. To narrow the
range of possible causative agents, trace contaminant levels were
measured in fishes with eroded fins and were compared with levels
in normal fish from the same area and from control areas;
sediments were also analyzed for contaminants.

Total PCB concentrations in the selected flatfish species
from the three regions were similar: median muscle levels
differed by less than a factor of 10; median liver levels by less
than a factor of 5; and brain levels were not statistically
different. Levels of total DDT differed by two-to-three orders
of magnitude. In the flatfish species tested, changes in liver
size or fat content appeared to be correlated with exposure to
chlorinated hydrocarbons.

II - 20

The findings were primarily negative, however. No causal
evidence was found, for example, linking PCBs to fin rot. And,
for the trace metals studied, no common patterns of accumulation
or depression were found among the three regions. The study did
not rule out the possibility that processes leading to fin rot
are mainly external and do not involve the uptake of toxic
substances.

"Black gill disease," which affects benthic crustaceans from
New York to Cape Hatteras, is another pathological syndrome whose
cause continued to elude investigators. The disease affects
creatures that walk, rather than swim, over bottom sediments and
which, therefore, are in direct contact with whatever is on the
seafloor. Blackening of the gills is accompanied by development
of nodules and other tissue abnormalities on the gill lamellae.
Scientists at the NEFC Oxford, Md., Laboratory (on the eastern
shore of Chesapeake Bay) have completed a 5-year study of the
disease, principally in rock crabs (Cancer irroratus) and
American lobsters (Homarus americanus) and plan to submit a final
report to the MESA program in FY 1979.

At first, examination of the crabs and lobsters suggested
that the disease might be associated with accumulation of
particles from dumped sewage and dredged material on the
crustaceans' gills. However, more recent data show that the
disease is present in animals from a wide area, far beyond any
dump sites. Although this does not eliminate dumped materials as
possible causative agents, it suggests that perhaps a more
general category of materials such as light, flocculent sediments
may be involved. The disease has not been observed in rock crabs
from waters north of New York; no explanation for this has been
found, or proposed.

In an effort to understand what natural diseases affect fish
living in a relatively pristine environment, NWAFC examined
130,000 bottom-dwelling fish (60 species) and 28,000
invertebrates (45 species) from Alaska waters for externally
visible abnormalities. As part of the 4-year study (1975-78),
the scientists recorded the prevalence, geographical
distribution, and biological and pathological characteristics of
diseased fish found. This monumental survey was partly funded
through OCSEAP with money from the Interior Department's Bureau
of Land Management.

In general, both fish and invertebrates turned out to be
overwhelmingly healthy. Of the approximately 6 0 species of fish
examined, only 9 species had visible pathological conditions; 25
of 35 invertebrate species examined from the Norton Sound-Chukchi
Sea area were disease-free; and 4 0 of 45 invertebrate species
from the Gulf of Alaska were also free of detectable

II - 21

abnormalities. In the fish, seven types of pathological
conditions were found: three types of tumorous growths, three
kinds of lesions presumably caused by microorganisms, and one
type of parasitic infestation. Abnormalities in the
invertebrates included parasitic infestations, fungal infections,
and two conditions whose cause is unknown.

The pathological conditions observed proved to have uneven
distributions, and a considerable variation in species
specificity was noted for some conditions. For example,
lymphocystis of yellowfin sole (Limanda aspera) and ring-shaped
lesions of Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephala) were found only in
the Bering Sea, whereas tumor-bearing flathead sole
(Hippoglossoides elassodon) were found only in the Gulf of
Alaska. Generally, the reasons for such distributions are not
known. However, for yellowfin sole, the diseased fish were often
part of massive schools where close contact among the fishes may
facilitate virus transmission. While the lymphocystis was
confined to yellowfin sole (very species-specific), other
conditions were more generalized such as trematode cysts in three
species of fish in the Norton-Chukchi area, and x-cell-containing
tumorlike growths found in five species of fish. ("X-cells" are
specific to tumors, but had not been scientifically classified at
the time of the study.)

NWAPC scientists emphasized that the pathological conditions
found in this study were chronic conditions. Animals with such
disorders would be expected to live longer (and, therefore, be
more likely to be caught in a survey) than fish with acute
disease. Thus, the conditions found are probably only a portion
of the total abnormalities in marine animals in Alaska waters.

Since completion of the Alaska survey, NWAPC pathologists
have turned to a similar, but more comprehensive, study of Puget
Sound. In the Sound, they aim to develop a better understanding
of the causes of pollution-associated abnormalities. In addition
to the kind of information collected in Alaska, this study will
involve analyses of animal tissues and bottom sediments for toxic
chemicals, and tests of blood samples for hematological
properties as well as their standard clinical chemical
properties. Scientists hope this will make a beginning toward
correlation of the multiple stresses imposed on fish by man and
nature, with the diseases that occasionally manifest themselves.

A more limited study by Washington State Department of
Fisheries scientists under MESA Puget Sound Project support
sought to use oyster larvae as indicators of water quality in
southern Puget Sound. Through a variety of field and laboratory
experiments, sufficient data were collected to Indicate that
toxic dinof lagellate blooms were a major cause of oyster larvae

II - 22

mortality. The dinof lagellates, primarily Ceratlum fusus and
Gymnodinium splendens, appeared to kill oyster larvae by an
unknown physical mechanism and caused mass mortalities among
Manila clams (Tapes philippinarum) as well. The dinoflagellate
blooms occurred mainly in shallow embayments with restricted
circulation and high levels of organics and nutrients; municipal
sewage outfalls in some embayments greatly accelerated the
blooms.

In an effort to develop a rapid and inexpensive test for
genetic damage as a tool for measuring effects of pollutants on
marine fish, the Puget Sound Project awarded a contract to the
University of Washington Fisheries Research Institute (PRI) near
the end of the fiscal year. PRI scientists were to continue
their efforts in FY 79. One of the more promising tests measures
the rate of "sister chromatid exchanges" (SCE) - a form of
genetic damage that has been observed in mammals after exposure
to mutagenic and carcinogenic chemicals. Successful adaptation
of the SCE technique to use with marine fish would provide
researchers with a powerful tool that would shorten and simplify
procedures needed to determine the effects of pollutants on fish.

Fatal genetic abnormalities in the eggs of Atlantic mackerel
(Scomber scombrus) were found by MESA/NYB project researchers to
be correlated witn contaminant concentrations in surface
waters. Mackerel eggs from two spawning seasons, 197M and 1977,
were sampled throughout the Bight, together with associated
pollutant concentrations in surface waters and in the very thin
neuston layers at the water/air interface. Both metallic and
organic contaminants are known to be highly concentrated in the
neuston layer, a part of the water column to which mackerel eggs
are frequently exposed.

The eggs and early larval stages were analyzed for gross
abnormalities, genetic abnormalities sufficient to cause death,
development rate, and chromosome abnormalities. Associated
measurements were made of physical/chemical attributes of the
water, such as several toxic metals, biphenyl, phenanthrene,
pyrene, PCBs, total hydrocarbons, and several other synthetic
organic compounds. Two independent statistical analyses of these
data were completed.

The highest degree of association was found in one analysis
to be that between genetic abnormalities and high concentrations
of total hydrocarbons or low salinities. A second association
was found between egg abnormalities and high concentrations of
metals in associated plankton. The analyses suggested an inverse
relationship between egg and larval health, and levels of
metallic and synthetic organic pollutants. Not surprisingly,
mackerel eggs and early larvae with fatal genetic abnormalities
were found most frequently in the most contaminated parts of the
inner Bight and near inlets to embayments.

II - 23

Although the pollutants severely affect eggs and larvae,
their overall effect on successful reproduction of mackerel
stocks is probably small. Atlantic mackerel spawn over very wide
areas, most of which now have much lower levels of pollutants
than the inner New York Bight. The chance that local stocks of
mackerel might be seriously affected is the subject of further
research.

II - 24

Chapter III

ACTIVITIES AND RESULTS

— ECOSYSTEM PROJECTS —

Major marine environment studies in which NOAA is involved
touch on all U.S. coasts, including the Great Lakes. These
larger projects, which typically encompass the ecosystems of
thousands of square miles of coastal waters, are very different
from the "specific studies" described in Chapter II.

For the specific studies, the problems to be addressed, or
the questions to be answered, can be specified in advance
(although other problems or questions may turn up in the course
of the study). Whether a laboratory or a field study (or both),
the specific study can usually be carried out by an individual or
a small group of scientists. And, there is usually a specific
result: a report describing what was done and what was learned.

"Ecosystem projects," on the other hand, are aimed at
finding out "What should we do?" They are intended to provide
the broad base of information and understanding needed to guide
future human interactions with the marine environment, and to
provide that knowledge in a form useful to those involved in
setting policy for, managing, and monitoring those
interactions. In contrast to the specific studies, these larger
efforts may have as an initial goal the identification and
definition of just what the problems are and what research or
exploration is needed to solve them. And, in order to address
the problems, ecosystem projects become primary sponsors of the
specific studies and consumers of the results.

The consequences of human alterations of the marine
environment can vary widely depending on managerial choices (or
the lack of management). In turn, those choices can be made only
on the basis of the available information, which tends to be
generated in response to the researchers' perceptions of
managerial needs. This situation leads to one of the principal
characteristics of these projects: the systematic involvement of
the many people doing the research with the many people
interested in the results. Through a series of presentations,
consultations, and meetings the results of the research can be
given quickly to those most in need of them, and the specific,
often changing, needs and comments of the users presented to the
researchers. Finally, these larger projects produce a variety of
scientific and technical reports, journal articles, data volumes,
and other publications detailing their findings for differing
audiences.

Ill - 1

ALASKA

In large projects with many avenues of exploration and
research, it is particularly important that the results somehow
be brought together in a form useful to the potential users -- be
they governmental regulators, environmental groups, corporate
executives, elected officials, or private citizens. In August
1978, the Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Assessment
Program (OCSEAP) published a 362-page "Interim Synthesis
Report: Beaufort/Chukchi" designed to accomplish just that.

The document represents only the "tip of the iceberg" of
years of scientific studies and technical assessments. It
results directly from two meetings: one held February 7-11, 1977
at Barrow, Alaska, that brought together OCSEAP and other
scientists with BLM and NOAA management personnel in a general
review of results and plans; and a second held January 23-27,
1978, at Barrow that included representatives from the local
community and the oil industry, and which was broadcast, in part,
by Barrow radio. The synthesis volume was written by the session
chairmen based on the discussions of the meetings. It is thus a
direct report from the scientists involved and does not
necessarily represent BLM, NOAA, OCSEAP, or other governmental
positions on any issue. Although the report is the best
available assessment to date of what is known about the arctic
OCS, it is clear that many questions remain unanswered — indeed,
the synthesis effort raised a number of new questions and
problems .

In addition to synthesis of the results of OCSEAP and other
studies, the volume makes a direct attempt to predict the
consequences of further petroleum development along the Beaufort
Sea coast, especially in the offshore area near Prudhoe Bay where
a lease sale was scheduled for December 1979 (fig. 4.) Thus, 5
of the 12 chapters address the "Interdisciplinary Aspects of
Likely OCS Impacts."

This effort was aided considerably by the presence at the
1978 meeting of residents of local coastal communities as well as
knowledgeable representatives of the oil industry. These people
provided specific information on the importance of fauna and
habitats to the native peoples of the arctic coast, and on the
likely methods of construction and engineering to be used in the
oil field and the hazards they may entail.

OCSEAP plans to pursue this same synthesis method for each
of the nine areas proposed for leasing on the Alaska OCS,
updating each interim report as new data and information become
available and analyses proceed. For convenience, the nine lease
areas can be grouped into three larger units: the Arctic Ocean,
including the Beaufort Sea and Chukchi Sea/Kotzebue Sound; the

III - 2

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Bering Sea, including Norton Sound, St. George Basin, and Bristol
Bay Basin; and the Gulf of Alaska, including Aleutian Shelf,
Kodiak, Lower Cook Inlet, and Northeast Gulf of Alaska.

In FY 78, work continued in each of these areas, although,
with the impending lease sale, emphasis was placed on the Arctic
Ocean areas. OCSEAP research takes in a variety of studies of
the natural environment (baselines), the nature of potential
human alterations (such as oil pollution or construction of
gravel pads for oil rigs in the Arctic) , and the likely
consequences of those alterations (both for the environment and
for the human activities) . Much of the current OCSEAP work falls
in the latter two categories; the baseline work, with some
exceptions, was completed by the end of FY 77. Results of the
many studies are reported in detail in the scientific literature
and OCSEAP documents. Some highlights of FY 78 work, however,
indicate the scope and direction of the work accomplished.

In the Arctic, field studies have shown that the strength of
sheets of ice may be quite different depending on the direction
in which forces are applied. Ice crystals in the sheets can
become aligned over tens of kilometers, giving the sheets up to
six times the compressive strength they otherwise would have in
the direction of the alignment. Not all ice sheets become
aligned this way, but, clearly, offshore structures would stand a
good chance of encountering one or more and should be designed to
cope with them. On the other hand, ice research also found that
some large areas of ice have statistically uniform behavior from
year to year. This means that the probability of damage to given
structures may be predictable for different geographic zones.

Studies of the behavior of oil in sea ice continued in FY
78, both in the laboratory and the field. There is some
indication that ice in which the crystals are aligned is able to
entrap more spilled crude oil than is nonaligned ice, although
the reasons for this are not yet clear. Work also continued on
modeling the possible modes of spilled oil entrainment in grease
ice (a sludge of crystals that gives the sea a greasy appearance)
and pancake ice (roughly circular pieces of ice from about 1/3 to
3 meters across) as an important input to efforts to predict oil
spill trajectories. Analysis of satellite images showed that
grease ice forms in long, narrow plumes parallel to the wind, so
that oil spilled in open areas would also likely be driven into
plumes and collect in rows parallel to the grease ice.

Should an oil spill occur in the Arctic, however, both
United States and Canadian workers have shown convincingly that
cleaning it up would be virtually impossible for most areas and
for most of the year. There is some hope for effective cleanup
in summer if not too much ice is present, as well as more limited
hope for success in tackling spills under fast ice. There is no

III - 4

method available for cleanup in the zone of moving pack ice —
which covers most of the Arctic continental shelf. And, although
oil can be burned when it moves to the surface of the ice (either
through wave action, or through pores in the ice), the effects of
burning on the biota are unknown, as are the likely effects of
dispersants .

If ice turns up as a consideration in nearly every study of
the Alaska marine environment, especially in the Arctic, it is
because ice conditions are crucial to life there (fig. 5). In
the Arctic, marine biota are closely associated with the ice edge
and leads, concentrating in the very places where spilled oil
might also concentrate. When the ice is far offshore, as it was
in the summer of 1977, its absence can pose problems for such
species as seals that live on the floes. For example, a single
ice remnant in Harrison Bay (about half-way between Point Barrow
and Prudhoe Bay) was found to attract a large portion of western
Beaufort Sea seals. If further study shows this to be repeated,
that ice remnant (or its successors) should be designated a
critical habitat.

Interdisciplinary studies of natural processes in Simpson
Lagoon (just west of the proposed December 1979 lease sale area)
have cleared up a number of points of considerable interest.
Consideration of the results strongly suggests that industry
should be encouraged to look for alternatives to continuous-fill
causeways in near-shore and lagoon areas. These causeways look
like attractive solutions to the problems of transporting
materials to drilling and other sites, because they can be made
fairly easily from gravel available in nearby deposits. However,
their construction will have physical and biological consequences
for water circulation patterns, water mass characteristics such
as temperature and salinity, the distribution of detritus (a
carbon source) and sediments, migrations of bottom-dwelling
organisms and fish, and habitat selection by some species of
birds .

Of major importance, the study indicates that the carbon
(which serves as a biological "fuel") available to the Simpson
Lagoon ecosystem (and, likely, other such areas) comes
overwhelmingly from the land and not from the sea. Of the
terrestrial detritus input to the lagoon system, an estimated 67
percent is from "old" carbon (mean age of 5,000 years) eroded
from coastal peat deposits. An additional 23 percent is
essentially modern carbon derived from runoff. Thus, Beaufort
Sea coastal ecosystems are apparently consumers of fossil fuels,
although at the end of FY 78 this conclusion was awaiting
verification by radiocarbon dating. If this proves to be
correct, implications for offshore development may be
significant. Major measures to stabilize eroding shorelines in
support of industrial facilities could drastically curtail

III - 5

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important sources of carbon for the relatively productive
shallow-water biota of the Beaufort sale area.

Farther offshore, OCSEAP divers were surprised to discover
sea floor boulder patches with a unique assemblage of flora and
fauna in the middle of the proposed lease sale area. The several
large boulder patches (with rocks up to a meter in diameter) are
in Stefansson Sound, an 18- by 7-km (11- by 4-mi) area between
Narwhal Island and the shore. The boulders are populated by both
brown and red kelps, and a variety of animals including sponges,
sea anemones, soft corals, jellyfish, worms, clams, seaspiders,
shrimp, kelp crabs, and starfish. To the extent that the kelp on
the boulders are perennial species, it would take years for this
community to re-establish itself following a disturbance. This,
and the uniqueness of these areas, strongly suggests that the
boulder patches should be given some sort of protection.

In the Bering Sea areas, examination of geological
conditions suggested that, although the area may have
considerable oil and gas resource potential, it also presents
some unusual hazards to offshore operations. Figure 6, taken
from the OCSEAP FY 78 Executive Summary, summarizes the
conditions that offer potential dangers for offshore structures
dependent on the ocean floor for support. Of particular concern
is the bottom cratering by gas apparently erupting from decaying
buried peat deposits, a condition that could literally "yank the
rug" from under bottom-mounted structures.

Again, in the Bering Sea, ice has been shown to have
important effects on the biota. As the winter pack ice breaks
up, loose ice near the retreating edge of the pack tends to
stabilize the wind-mixed ocean surface layer, greatly enhancing
the opportunity for rapid plant (phytoplankton) production. With
this calming effect, ample light, and a good nutrient supply, an
exceedingly intense, although short-lived, bloom of plant
production often occurs, and this band of production follows the
ice edge northward in the late spring. Studies show that cold,
ice-related water from this zone would have an important effect
on an oil spill. This water normally tends to sink, taking algae
with it, as the environment warms in spring; oil in the water
would likely be carried down along with the algae and perhaps
deposited on or in the sea floor.

The Gulf of Alaska area saw considerable NOAA activity in FY
78, spurred, in part, by the need to have information ready for
the preparation of environmental impact statements for three OCS
lease sales to be held in 198 0 and 1981: portions of the
Northeast Gulf of Alaska (NEGOA) east of Kayak Island; Kodiak;
and Lower Cook Inlet. Prince William Sound and its inner
extremity, Valdez Arm, were also of great interest because of the
southern terminal of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) at

III - 7

Ill - 8

Port Valdez and associated oil tanker operations in the
restricted, but pristine, waters.

OCSEAP efforts included additional work in defining and
modeling the general water circulation over the continental shelf
in the Gulf, and continuing assessments of the seismic regime.
Careful analysis showed that there is a remarkably coherent
along-shore flow toward the west, paralleling the coast for
hundreds of kilometers and separated from the similarly westward-
moving Alaska Stream by a band of weaker meandering currents. At
Cape St. Elias (the southwestern tip of Kayak Island), however,
the coastal current is deflected offshore, injecting coastal
waters into the Alaska Stream. Since this coastal current passes
through the proposed oil and gas lease area, any petroleum
spilled there runs a good chance of being carried farther
offshore and into the principal deepwater gyre of the Gulf of
Alaska.

Seismic studies continued to show instability in the
proposed NEGOA lease area, conditions with both immediate and
long-range potential consequences for oil operations. Comparison
of 1977 data with an earlier 2-year period found that a high
level of seismic activity continues in the area northeast of
Kayak Island and Icy Bay. Large-magnitude earthquakes also were
centered under the continental shelf southwest of Kayak Island.
In addition, large earthquakes were recorded in the area of Lower
Cook Inlet, and subsurface profiling revealed major near-surface
faults trending across young sediments on the Kodiak Shelf.

OCSEAP FY 78 biological studies continued to document the
life habits of the biota of the gulf area, although emphasis
shifted toward ecological process studies, and two major trophic
(food web) studies began in the proposed Lower Cook Inlet and
Kodiak lease sale areas.

Assessment of the potential consequences of oil spills in
these areas once again indicated that the effects could be
severe: organisms would either be killed outright by the
drifting oil or would likely suffer from the destruction of the
food webs on which they depend. Beyond the direct effects of a
spill, if the recovery times of aquatic organisms on which birds
feed were long, effects on the avian populations might be quite
long-lasting.

Some research also was directed toward characterization of
the microbial populations of Lower Cook Inlet, including their
potential for degrading hydrocarbons. Hydrocarbon degradation
potentials in Cook Inlet water samples were lower in November
than April, especially for non-nutrient-limited growth. This
suggests that the fate of spilled oil there will depend strongly
on the season. Pathological studies of living, as well as dead

III - 9

or dying marine mammals, found that predation and parasitism are
apparently the principal causes of natural illness or death, with
malnutrition a close third.

In general, in FY 78 OCSEAP began a strong move toward
filling in specific identified gaps in knowledge and synthesizing
what has been learned in an effort to understand and predict the
consequences of the interactions of human developments with the
complex Alaska marine environment. This trend was expected to
continue and be strengthened in FY 79 as needs for immediate use
of practical planning information come closer and become more
urgent.

MESA also considered entering the Alaska studies area in FY
78 with a proposed study of the Prince William Sound
bay/estuarine system that is now the marine highway that leads to
the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) terminal near Port Valdez
(fig. 7). In these restricted waters, there is concern not only
for the potential large oil spill from a grounding or collision,
but also for the cumulative effects of the discharge from the
ballast treatment plant at the marine terminal. On the one hand,
the treatment plant has proved to be capable of removing about
99.5 percent of the petroleum hydrocarbons from the ballast water
pumped ashore from arriving tankers, and its effluent would be
expected to be rapidly flushed away by the high turnover of the
waters of Port Valdez with Valdez Arm and, presumably, Prince
William Sound. On the other hand, because of the immense
quantity of ballast processed — about 38 million liters (10
million gallons) a day, with a capability of 114 million lpd (3 0
million gpd) — the plant was found in an EPA study to be
discharging an average of 471 lpd (124.5 gpd, or 2.96 42-gallon
barrels per day) of aromatic hydrocarbons and dissolved
nonvolatile organic compounds. (At full capacity, that would be
about 373.5 gpd or 8.89 bbl/day, 266.7 bbl/month, and 3,200
bbl/year . )

At the Auke Bay Laboratory of the NMFS/NWAFC, research on
the toxicity and effects of petroleum hydrocarbons (PHC) on
marine and anadromous fish and invertebrates of Alaska has been
underway since 1972. Funding has come from a variety of sources,
including OCSEAP, the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company (which
services TAPS and operates the Valdez marine terminal), the
Interior Department's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and
NOAA's NMFS. Despite considerable progress, there is still a
need to learn more about sublethal effects, interactions of
individual oil components, ecosystem changes from chronic oil
addition, and physiological and genetic adaptations to chronic
oil exposure.

In FY 78, the Auke Bay Laboratory and the National
Analytical Facility, NWAFC continued to monitor hydrocarbon

III - 10

Port Valdez

Dayville Flats

GULF OF ALASKA

Figure 7. Prince William Sound and the hydrocarbon sampling

locations established in a monitoring survey by the
Auke Bay Laboratory and the National Analytical
Facility, NWAFC.

Ill - 11

levels at intertldal sites in Port Valdez and Prince William
Sound (fig, 8). Concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons in the
sediments, mussels, and water were similar to those reported in
1977; no increases at the intertidal sites were attributable to
either tanker traffic or treated ballast effluent from the TAPS
marine terminal. PHC data from Port Valdez were also used as
baseline information in field studies designed to detect normal
variations in population distribution and abundance, and in
predator-prey relationships of specific components of the
ecosystems .

Integrated laboratory and field studies, funded by PWS,
focused on the effects of oil on biological interactions,
specifically predation by key predators. Studies of intertidal
communities in Washington State and elsewhere suggest that
starfish (Evasterias and Pisaster) may be key predators in the
waters of south-central and southeastern Alaska. Field work done
at Port Valdez and Auke Bay indicates that Evasterias probably
controls community structure in the lower intertidal region by
preying on a dominant bivalve, the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis),
but results in FY 78 were inconclusive and the work was to
continue in FY 79.

PACIFIC OCEAN — DEEP OCEAN MINING

In March, April, and May 1978, the Deep Ocean Mining
Environmental Study (DOMES) had its first chance to monitor
industry's first successful pilot efforts to mine deep-sea
manganese nodules. The pilot mining — at about one-fifth full-
scale operations — was conducted by Ocean Management, Inc. from
the offshore drilling ship SEDCO 44 5, which had been converted to
handle the mining system. The mining site was near DOMES site A
(fig. 9), about 1,600 km (865 nmi ) southeast of Hawaii in waters
5,000 meters deep.

During the operation, the mining ship tested two types of
lift systems for raising the collected nodules to the surface: a
submerged pump system and an air injection system. The submerged
pumps were mounted in the lift pipe a few thousand meters below
the mining ship. They provided an average flow of about 600
cubic meters per hour (m /h) . The air injection system pumped
compressed air into the lift pipe about 1,500 meters below the
ship, with a resulting flow of about 350 m /h (fig. 10).

As the mining ship moved forward at about 0.3 meters per
second (m/s; about 0.7 statute miles per hour), the collector
vehicle under test picked up nodules and other material from a
swath 3 meters wide. After separation of much of the fine
particles (which were discharged near the bottom, forming the
"benthic plume"), the nodules and coarser particles entered the
lift system. Aboard the SEDCO 445, the nodule material was
separated and saved, and the deep-ocean water pumped up with it

III - 12

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III - 14

was discharged, forming (with the fine particles still entrapped
in it) the "surface plume". Concern for the potential
environmental damage from mining systems has been centered on
these three effects: the scoured collector track, the benthic
plume and the surface plume.

Accordingly, a considerable effort was fielded to monitor
the test mining operations and to collect local environmental
data both before and after the mining. The NOAA research ship
Oceanographer (at 92.4m - 303 ft - one of the largest U.S.
research ships) supported these operations. This support
included taking water samples as well as making other
measurements at a network of established oceanographic "stations"
in and through the plume, collecting samples of disturbed and
undisturbed seafloor, photographic surveying of the collector
tracks on the bottom, and emplacing and removing arrays of
instruments moored to the bottom near the mining area. In
addition, scientists aboard the mining ship collected regular
samples of the surface discharge for analysis.

At the sea floor, the presence of the benthic plume and its
movement and dispersion was monitored by the four fixed
instrument arrays, regular lowerings of other instruments from
the Oceanographer, and underwater television aboard the mining
ship from a camera mounted on the collector. The benthic plume
was found to have a thickness on the order of a few tens of
meters and to be moving at about 3 to 4 centimeters per second
(0.03 to 0.04 m/s; or about 0.07 to 0.09 mi/h) . However, the
bottom photographs and observations from the TV monitor showed
that most of the heavy cloud of sediment kicked up by the
collector was redeposited almost immediately near the collector
track. The track itself was seen to be scoured several
centimeters deep in the sediments and as wide as the collector
head, with a narrow border of material pushed aside by the
passage of the collector. The benthic plume observed by the
instrument arrays apparently consisted of fine particles that
remained in suspension at a concentration of about 10 y g/1 above
the ambient levels of suspended particles (about 5 y g/1). The
plume monitored in the test persisted for at least 6 days, moving
16 km (the distance from the mining operation to the first
seafloor instrument array to detect it) or more in that time.

At the surface, the shipboard discharge consisted of bottom
water (warmed during ascent to about 7° to 10°C), pelagic silts
and clays, nodule fragments, and benthic biota. Particulate
concentrations varied with each test of the mining systems, with
a mean concentration for 50 samples from operation of the pumped
system of 12.66 +_ 9.56 g/1, and for 29 samples from operation of
the air lift system (which has a lower flow rate and smaller
collector head) of 6.82 +_ 5.6l g/1. Screening and use of a
settling tank on board the ship before discharge generally
prevented release of particles larger than several hundred
microns (10 m) .

Ill - 15

Studies of dissolved material in the surface plume found
only insignificant differences between the plume and surrounding
surface ocean waters. The concentration of particulates,
however, was another matter, and was judged to be the principal
characteristic of the mining discharge. Analysis of samples
collected on four transects of the plume at distances of
approximately 700 meters from the mining vessel and at depths of
3, 8, 12, and 17 m showed that at all sampled depths the
particulate concentration within the plume was as much as 10
times that in surrounding waters. The near-surface plume, as
defined by the increases in total suspended matter, had a width
of about 1 kilometer over much of its 5- to 10-kilometer length.

The plume was dissipated to nearly background levels of
particulate concentrations in a time on the order of 5 hours
after discharge. However, the surface plume was still detectable
chemically as an increased concentration of manganese in the
seawater even after 37 hours.

Effects of the mining discharge were found to be relatively
small in early results from some biological experiments. For
example, incubation of mining effluent in various concentrations
in clean seawater indicated that the discharge would not affect
primary productivity. Laboratory studies of the effects of
suspended particulates on two species of marine coastal copecods
(Undinula vulgaris and Labldocera madurae) found that even
concentrations three-to-five times ambient surface levels had no
effect on mortality over a period of 1 or 2 days.

Because the test was pilot-scale and brief, it is essential
that the test findings be validated during the mining systems
endurance tests that industry will conduct prior to embarking on
commercial mining.

PUGET SOUND — PREPARING FOR PETROLEUM

Much of the Puget Sound/Strait of Juan de Fuca marine
environment is relatively pristine; there is a notable absence of
litter, beached oil spills, or other signs of pollution, and the
area is, in large measure, sparsely populated. Yet, the Sound
and its entrance from the Pacific, the Strait of Juan de Fuca,
are strategically located for the reception of crude oil from
Alaska. A marine terminal on the southern shore of the Strait
and a pipeline to deliver the oil to inland States has been
proposed by the Northern Tier Pipeline Co. BLM was reviewing its
application (along with three others) in FY 78.

With this and other potential development in mind, the MESA
Puget Sound Project office funded a number of studies designed to
determine where oil would go and what effects it would have in
case of a spill, what - if any - oil is now in the Puget Sound

III - 16

marine environment, and what native fauna might be affected.
Funds for the studies have come partly from NOAA and largely from
EPA.

A considerable effort was made in physical oceanography,
including the use of coastal dynamics radar and the synthetic
aperture radar on the short-lived Seasat satellite to measure
surface currents. One notable study was the Eastern Strait
Surface Circulation Experiment, a joint United States-Canada
field effort that took place in August 1978. Data from this
massive collection effort were to be analyzed in FY 79, but
preliminary results showed the presence of a very complex
circulation pattern. A series of fronts, and eddies, and tidal
and mean flow combined to dominate the trajectories followed by
Lagrangian measurements (such as those obtained with the use of
current-following drifting buoys).

Other baseline physical oceanographic studies by NOAA's
Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) and a contractor
produced information useful in predicting oil spill trajectories
(such as by a circulation model being developed at PMEL). In
addition, the NOAA Administrator asked MESA and PMEL to
synthesize the available physical data for the Strait of Juan de
Fuca to delineate possible spill transport mechanisms.

Results of both efforts showed the strong possibility that
spills in the Strait likely would move eastward (i.e., toward
Puget Sound) and onto adjacent beaches, rather than westward
(toward the Pacific Ocean) as suggested by some earlier
studies. Further, the synthesis showed, the probability that an
oil spill would come ashore increases significantly the farther
into the estuarine system the spill occurs.

The complex and biologically rich ecosystem that these
studies of circulation and oil spills are concerned with was
described in a number of studies carried out by scientists from
the University of Washington, Western Washington State
University, PMEL, and the NMFS/NWAFC.

The diverse habitats along the Strait were found to support
a rich intertidal biota, with the greatest number of species and
the greatest number of organisms found on rocky intertidal
shorelines. Most of the communities studied were relatively
stable over the 2 years of the study. Year-to-year variability
appeared to be greatest in the more sparsely populated, more
highly stressed habitats and smallest in the most productive,
complex communities. Irregularities in occurrence and abundance
of plankton appeared to be linked to occasional inflows of warm
offshore water to the western end of the Strait. During these
events, the diversity and productivity of plankton increased, and
offshore species became abundant in the Strait. Some near

III - 17

bottom-dwelling plankton were found to be restricted from
entering Puget Sound by a shallow sill at Admiralty Inlet, which
formed a submerged physical barrier to deepwater species.

New biological baseline studies of marine mammals and marine
birds were begun in FY 78 in northern Puget Sound and the Strait
by the NMPS Marine Mammal Division and the University of
Washington, respectively. The area supporting the greatest
number and kinds of mammals appeared to be the eastern Strait.
Harbor seals were the most abundant species observed, with a
count of 1,6 00 seals made in summer 1978. Seal pupping began in
July along the Strait and in the San Juan Islands. While young,
the seal pups stayed onshore or very near shore, entering and
leaving the water often. Thus, July is a very critical period in
the vulnerability of seals to spilled oil.

Many thousands of migrant and resident birds were counted,
most of them in protected embayments. Much of the data collected
did not agree with previously published accounts of marine bird
distributions in the region, and a second year of research was to
be funded to try to clear this up.

Baseline studies of the presence of petroleum hydrocarbons
found none or barely detectable concentrations in most areas.
Sites near existing petroleum transfer facilities or in active
harbors yielded samples with relatively higher levels — in the
parts per billion range. On the other hand, a broad scan survey
for toxic substances near Seattle, Bremerton, Tacoma, and Olympia
found detectable amounts of a wide variety of substances. The
greatest total amount of these toxics was found at pier 5^ in
downtown Seattle. The results of the survey suggest that waters
near cities and industries cannot be considered pristine, but the
effects of these compounds at the low levels detected are
unknown.

GULP OP MEXICO

Buccaneer Oil Field Study

Considerable attention has been given to studies of major
oil spills, and of the potential for such spills and their
consequences. However, little effort has gone into ascertaining
the effects, if any, of relatively spill-free operation of an
offshore oil and gas field. Clearly, such information would be
valuable in determining the advisability of developing new
offshore fields, especially in environmentally sensitive areas.

Accordingly, in 1975, the Galveston Laboratory of NMFS/SEFC
began a study of the Buccaneer oil field, 59 km (32 nautical
miles) south-southeast of Galveston, Tex., with EPA funding (fig.
11). The Buccaneer field, owned and operated by the Shell Oil

III - 18

95°00'W

94°30'

29°30'

29°00'N

NMFS

Galveston

Laboratory

Platform
288-A

Platform •
288-B" ,

Well Jacket

GULF OF MEXICO

10

20
J_

30

J

BUCCANEER
FIELD

Kilometers

5 10
J L

15

Nautical Miles

Figure ll. Location of Buccaneer Field.

Ill - 19

Company, was selected because it had been in operation since
i960, long enough for a stable associated marine biota to
develop; it is isolated from other fields; it produces oil and
gas and releases brines, one of the major sources of
contamination; and further development of the surrounding Texas
OCS was anticipated in the near future. In addition, the field
had had no major oil spills, losing only about 1,000 liters
(about 6.1 bbl) of oil in its 15 years of operation.

In 1975, Texas A&M University did a pilot study that showed
the Buccaneer field to be a good place in which to achieve the
aims of the project. One of the initial findings was that a
reduction in macrobenthic population density was associated with
oily sediments near one of the two production platforms in the
field. Much of the hydrocarbon content of the sediments,
however, was attributed to biogenic origins (i.e., produced by
living organisms in the area) rather than to petroleum
discharges.

The first full year of research was directed toward
environmental characterization of the study area. Sediments were
found to have highly variable textural properties, reflecting
scour and redeposition by bottom current and reworking of ancient
sediments. High-resolution seismic profiling showed that the
area contains faults that play a critical role in the development
of surface sediment patterns. Magnetic surveying, along the same
tracks as the seismic work, found that pipelines in the field had
been displaced from a few tens of meters to more than 1 00 m from
their originally mapped locations. Chemical analysis of the
sediments found enriched concentrations of lead, zinc, and
strontium near the 2 production platforms and near 1 of 13
satellite well structures (jackets).

Analysis of Buccaneer crude oil showed that it contained 18
percent n-alkanes, together with branched alkanes and aromatic
hydrocarbons. Alkane concentrations in the brine discharge
(stemming from brine produced along with the oil and gas) ranged
up to nine parts per million (0.0009 percent). There was
evidence of petroleum-derived n-alkanes (up to 35 parts per
billion) in surface seawater samples. Most samples of whole
barnacles (shell and flesh intact) apparently contained
petroleum-derived alkanes, but only one of four species of shrimp
examined was found to contain alkanes.

The second year of study, ending in May 1978, focused on
investigations of the field area, stressing comparisons between
structures from which effluents were discharged (the production
platforms) and those with no discharges (the unmanned satellite
well jackets, whose oil and gas is pipelined to the production
platforms for processing) . Many of the previous studies were

III - 20

continued, and new ones including research on bacteria, shrimp
bioassays, and ecological modeling were started.

Sediments beneath the production platforms were discovered
to contain petroleum-derived alkanes. Workers from the
University of Houston reported that (1) the highest concentration
of alkanes (24.5 ppm) was found below the center of the northern
platform (Platform A), and the concentrations decreased with
increasing distance from the platform; (2) the alkanes derive
from Buccaneer crude oil; (3) oil in the sediments was relatively
fresh, with component concentration distributions comparable to
those in discharged brine; and (4) significant amounts of oil
(0.55 to 1.03 ppm) were found even in sediments collected 23 m
(75 ft) from the platform. Similar conditions were found at
Platform B, although the concentrations were somewhat lower.

Nonetheless, the contaminated areas are rather limited, and
it seems unlikely that the oil would threaten bottom-feeding
fauna. No convincing evidence was found for food-chain
biomagnif ication of petroleum hydrocarbons, and depuration of
contaminated animals was generally rapid. In fact, examination
of brown shrimp (Penaeus aztecus) in the Buccaneer field area
found only a few specimens that contained petroleum alkanes.

Examination of 16 surface and subsurface samples of plankton
found that 1, from near the center of the oilfield, was heavily
contaminated with oil (3,58 0 ppb alkanes). Two other samples
were considered slightly contaminated, and four more (two of
which came from as far as 15 km from the field center) appeared
to show signs of contamination. Further work is needed to
determine which species of plankton preferentially ingest the oil
and whether they may help disperse discharged oil, either by
incorporating it into fecal pellets which sink to the sea floor
or by being transported (along with ingested oil) away from the
field center by ocean currents.

In December 1977, NOAA and EPA held a progress review
workshop at Rice University in Houston that resulted in
guidelines for subsequent research. Third-year activities (1978-
79) were planned to focus on sources, fate, and effects of
offshore oil and gas field contaminants, and on integration of
all the data gathered during the first 2 years and part of the
third year.

Brine Disposal

A somewhat similar problem, although on a vastly larger
scale, to the discharge of petroleum hydrocarbons in produced
brine from offshore wells is the question of disposal of hundreds
of millions of liters of saturated brine from both development
and operation of the national Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).

Ill - 21

The SPR program, essentially an effort to Insulate the
United States from sudden massive fluctuations in the
international oil supply situation, was mandated by the Energy
Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, Title 1, Part B (Public Law
94-163). The Department of Energy (DOE) had planned to stockpile
as much as 39.7 billion liters (25 0 million barrels, MMB) of
crude oil by December 1978, and up to 159 billion liters (1
billion barrels) eventually. (A barrel of oil equals 159 liters
or 42 U.S. gallons.) As of March 1979, DOE officials were
reported (by the General Accounting Office) as saying that about
11.8 billion liters (74 MMB) were in storage, that the December
1978 goal of 39*7 billion liters could not be met until December
1980, and that the 1980 target of 79.4 billion liters (500 MMB)
In storage would likely not be met until 1982 or as late as 1985.

The most convenient and least expensive way of storing such
massive quantities of oil was determined to be the use of
solution-mined cavities (and one former salt mine) in
subterranean salt dome structures along the U.S. Gulf of Mexico
coast (fig. 12). Sixteen such cavities were already available,
since salt dome storage has been used by the chemical and
petroleum industries for some time, but additional caverns are
needed to accommodate all the oil to be stored. These are
created by pumping water into the dome and then pumping out the
nearly saturated brine (about 28 0 parts per thousand salt,
compared with seawater at about 35 ppt) . Either freshwater or
seawater can be used to leach the salt: to leach out 159 1 (1
bbl) of salt dome takes about seven times that volume of seawater
or six times the volume of freshwater. Thus, development of a
new 15.9 billion liter (100 MMB) storage cavity would require
disposal of as much as 111. 3 billion liters (7 00 MMB) of brine
over a period of several years. Disposal of brine from existing
cavities would entail discharge of an amount of brine equal to
the capacity of the storage cavity.

Once the underground cavity is ready, crude oil can be
pumped in on top of the heavier brine, forcing the excess brine
out. The process is reversed to get the oil out (fig. 13),
except that, having disposed of the brine, the cavity must be
filled with lower salinity seawater, with consequent growth of
the cavity as the water leaches the salt. This limits the number
of fill/refill cycles each storage cavity can undergo;
engineering design of the SPR has assumed a cavern lifetime of
five cycles over a minimum of 25 years.

Brine disposal was the number one environmental problem
facing SPR planners. The obvious answer was to pump the brine
out through pipelines and discharge it into the Gulf through
diffuser systems that would ensure rapid mixing and dilution.
However, such concentrated brine would clearly threaten any
marine organisms that encountered it before it was adequately

III - 22

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CROSS SECTION OF SALT DOME
SHALLOW INTERMEDIATE

DEEP

» f SURFACE

jCseoimentary LAYERS

AooOFT

10,000 FT.

BED OF SALT
DEPOSITED 225 MILLION YEARS AGO

30,000 FT.

TO
50,000 FT.

TYPICAL SOLUTION CONVERTED FOR
STORAGE OF CRUDE PETROLEUM

BRINE IN OR OUT

OIL IN OR

SJJRFACE

SALT DOME

Figure 13. Types of salt domes and the solution mining/oil
storage process.

Ill - 24

diluted, and each diffuser site would likely become a small sea
floor desert ■ — hopefully only temporarily. Under a 1977
interagency agreement with DOE, NOAA's Environmental Data and
Information Service (EDIS) was asked to manage a multi-agency,
multi-institutional study of the question, and also to ascertain
what would be the effects of hydrocarbons or other contaminants
dissolved or entrained in the brine effluent.

Work was continuing at the end of FY 78, but initial results
seemed encouraging. A number of reports were completed and
released, including analyses of brine disposal of the Bryan Mound
and West Hackberry sites, the two areas that were first to go
into operation; and analyses for the Weeks Island salt mine
expansion, Big Hill, and Chacahoula candidate sites. These
reports typically combined assemblages of all available
information on each area with computer modeling of likely brine
plume configurations and evaluations of likely effects on marine
organisms. A key part of each report was the recommendations for
further research to fill in identified data gaps.

Generally, modeling studies suggested that dilution would,
indeed, be fairly rapid under normal oceanic conditions:
concentrations would drop to about one or two parts per thousand
above normal seawater concentrations within 3 to 5 Ion (2 to 3 mi)
of the diffuser. Under conditions of prolonged stagnation,
however, both ambient turbulent mixing of the shallow waters (in
the 9- to 21-m (3 0 to 7 0 ft) depth range at the proposed diffuser
sites) and current strengths would fall off. This could result
in marked increases in salinity near the diffusers and greatly
increased exposure of planktonic or sessile creatures.

A particularly important recommendation was that, because of
the difficulty of confidently predicting the long-range effects
of SPR effluents on Gulf ecosystems, each diffuser site continue
to be monitored regularly, perhaps throughout the life of the
SPR. Such monitoring would also yield information useful in
evaluating the potential environmental hazards of other cavities
that may be proposed.

Industrial Waste Disposal

With a view toward assessing the general implications of
dumping of biological sludge at sea, especially the possible
long-range effects, the National Ocean Survey began a study of
waste disposal in the Gulf of Mexico in CY 1977. The study
examined the effects of the dumping of industrial biological
waste treatment sludge by the Shell Chemical Company of Deer
Park, Tex., at a site about 222 km (120 nautical miles) south of
Galveston.

Ill - 25

The sludge consisted of living and dead microorganisms
(primarily bacteria and protozoans) and a large variety of
organic compounds in suspension or solution. Bargeloads of the
sludge were dumped at weekly intervals during most of CY 77. An
EPA permit limited the rate of dumping to roughly 3,132 metric
tons (3,45 0 short tons) per week; by agreement with EPA, Shell
ended the dumping late in CY 77 and changed to land-based
disposal. Nonetheless, study of the operation was considered
justified, because very little scientific information is
available concerning the environmental fates of biological
sludges deposited in deep waters. In addition, study of the
Shell dumping was expected to help in estimating the fates and
effects of other industrial wastes dumped into the Gulf in years
past.

Analyses of water samples taken in the waste plume after a
dump showed that concentrations of the bioactive materials rose
measurably, but returned rapidly to ambient levels. Dispersion
studies found that the plume dispersed rapidly and that
particulates in the sludge did not sink more than 3 0 or 4 0 m
into the Gulf — the depth of the seasonal thermocline. Despite
this, dilution was so great that the plume was only barely
detectable a day after a dump.

Biological waste tolerance studies found that weak
concentrations of the wastes did affect some types of marine
organisms. The degree to which they would affect natural
populations of these organisms, however, appeared to be difficult
to estimate. Since few organisms inhabit the test site, and the
wastes were rapidly diluted, the scientists concluded that the
Shell dumping probably had not affected the local environment
significantly. A comprehensive report on the findings was in
preparation at year's end.

Apalachicola Bay

The Apalachicola Bay and River system drains into the Gulf
of Mexico from northwest Florida, about 8 0 km (5 0m) east of
Panama City. Despite some use for transportation and the
presence of commercial logging upstream, the system has retained
much of its pristine quality and ability to support a rich and
varied marine/estuarine ecosystem. It was this quality that 7
years ago led to the start of a comprehensive study of the system
by investigators at Florida State University with funding through
the Florida Sea Grant program. And it was the study's
demonstration of the ecosystem's Immense productivity and
unspoiled character that led to the proposal that the system be
designated one of the Nation's estuarine sanctuaries.

In FY 78, studies of the blue crab confirmed that the
Apalachicola system is a major spawning ground for the crabs -

III - 26

not just local crabs, but those from the entire Gulf shore of
Florida. A look at the effects of acid runoff from clear-cut
timber lands upstream found that large adult crabs avoid areas in
which Bay waters were made more acid (lower pH) by the runoff.
On the other hand, small crabs appeared to congregate in these
areas, perhaps putting up with the acidity as a sort of price for
protection from predation by the big crabs. The reason for this
behavior, however, has not been scientifically established.

Basic to understanding the workings of an ecosystem is the
need to understand its energy relations: where energy inputs
come from; how they are passed from one area to another, or one
species to another; and where, when, and in what way the energy
is finally dissipated or flows out of the ecosystem. Efforts to
delineate these relations and relate them to the productivity of
Apalachicola Bay formed a principal activity in FY 78.

Major physical and chemical variables were found to change
over space and time with changes in river flow, local rainfall
(i.e, land runoff), basin configuration within the Bay, and
meteorological phenomena. For example, Apalachicola River
discharge was found to be the primary factor controlling nutrient
concentrations in the estuary. The availability of nutrients,
whose concentrations varied with the seasons, and changes in
water temperature proved to be the major limiting factors for
phytoplankton productivity. However, that productivity was shown
to be higher than in other areas along the coast and was
considered to be a major source of organic carbon (an energy
source) for various organisms in the estuary.

In a study of the sources and role of detritus (such as
leaves or wood debris), project scientists found that its
movement and availability in the Bay appeared to be closely
associated with the seasonally pulsed patterns of river flow and
flooding. Micro- and macroparticulate matter reached peak levels
only when river flooding exceeded 1,7 00 nH/s (60,000 ft^/s).
Estimates of the contribution of particulates to the energy
budget of the Bay suggested that such detritus is comparable to
phytoplankton productivity as a source of energy.

Careful examination showed that biomass in the Bay varied
widely with location and season. Biomass distribution ranged
from 0.065 to 56.378 grams (ash-free dry weight) per square
meter. Overall, peak animal biomass occurred in spring and late
fall, apparently related in a general way to spring peaks of
epibenthic organisms and fall Increases in macrophyte-derived
detritus (such as tree leaves or dead aquatic grasses). Thus,
the study managed to link various biotic components with the
seasonal succession of energy inputs.

Ill - 27

ATLANTIC OCEAN

Sand Mining

On the Caribbean islands, the traditional source of sand for
construction has been the beaches. These deposits are still used
in some places, but beach mining has been prohibited in the U.S.
Virgin Islands since 1976 • The stringent policy was adopted to
protect the Islands' tourist-based economy from the likely
effects of beach destruction. As a result, the V.I. construction
Industry has been Importing sand by ship, a practice growing ever
more expensive, especially with rising fuel costs.

At the request of Islands' government, the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGS) conducted an offshore survey and found three
deposits of sand apparently suitable for dredging. NOAA was then
asked to make an environmental assessment of the proposed mining,
including pre-minlng baseline studies, monitoring of a pilot
mining effort, and 2 years of post-mining Investigations intended
to shed some light on the long-range effects of removal of the
deposits. This effort was planned In FY 78, as was a joint NOAA-
USGS-Virgin Islands workshop which was held at St. Thomas, V.I.,
in November 1978. The plan called for work through PY 1982, if
approved by all parties and if funding could be made available.

Ocean Dumping

As it did in the western Gulf of Mexico with Shell Chemical
Company wastes, the NOAA/NOS Ocean Dumping Program Office (see
Chapter I) studied the effects of dumping pharmaceutical wastes
at a site north of Puerto Rico and of a variety of industrial and
municipal wastes at a site about 196 km (106 mi) southeast of
Ambrose Light in the New York Bight. Work at the Puerto Rico
site was scheduled to begin in 1978, with results becoming
available in subsequent years.

Deepwater Dumpsite 1 06 (DWD-106) has been used for disposal
of toxic wastes since 1972; before that it was used for disposal
of radioactive wastes, munitions, and small amounts of Industrial
materials. In 1977, about 785 million liters (207 million
gallons) of toxic wastes were dumped within its 2,5 00-mi2 area.
These, and other dumps in 1976 and 1978, were monitored by
Federal and university scientists funded through the Ocean
Dumping Program office. In addition, laboratory studies
attempted to assess the degree and nature of toxicity of the
various wastes.

Wastes dumped into the ocean at DWD-106 in 1977 came from
five sources: (1) the du Pont Grasselli organic chemical plant
in Linden, N.J. --an alkaline solution containing sodium

III - 21

hydroxide, sodium sulfate, and mixed organic compounds; (2) the
du Pont titanium dioxide plant in Edge Moor, Del. (beginning in
March 1977) — a strongly acidic solution of hydrochloric acid
with l-to-5 weight percent iron, a variety of other metals, and
some organic compounds; (3) the American Cyanamid chemical plant
in Linden, N.J. -- slightly acidic liquid wastes, less dense than
seawater, with l-to-2 percent organic material; (4) Modern
Transportation Corporation — wastes from a number of small
companies; and (5) the City of Camden, N.J. (from March 1977 to
June 1978) — organic sewage sludge containing lead
concentrations about 5,000 times of seawater, plus lesser
concentrations of copper and zinc. For 1978, the du Pont plants
and American Cyanamid were expected to account for 9 0 percent of
the wastes dumped.

The concentration of iron in the du Pont Edge Moor waste was
more than 10 million times that measured in DWD-1 06 ambient
seawater. Concentrations of copper, lead, and cadmium were
smaller, but still detectable. Analysis of seawater samples
taken after the July 1977 Edge Moor dump found a maximum iron
concentration about 2 0,000 times that in seawater samples taken
before the dump. After 27 hours, concentrations still were as
much as 4 00 times higher than in the surrounding ocean. There
was also evidence of adsorption on the flocculent particles of
both waste- and ocean-derived cadmium and lead.

Waters in DWD-1 06 generally move slowly toward the
southwest, with a residence time in the dump area of 1 to 3
weeks. Prevailing currents are such that no impact on shore
areas would be possible. Until the start of dumping of Edge Moor
waste, there was no evidence of persistence of dumped materials
on site. However, with a bargeload of waste containing 2 0,000 kg
or more of iron (compared to about 100,000 kg normally contained
in the upper 100 m of seawater over the site) arriving twice a
week, that situation appears to have changed, although no major
effects were noted.

Biological studies emphasized low-level effects of wastes on
phytoplankton and bacteria. The studies were especially designed
to provide a more sensitive assessment of effects than would be
possible from acute mortality tests, and to yield quantitative
observations of what happens at sublethal concentrations of waste
materials.

Although the biological community at DWD-1 06 is very diverse
because of the complex and changing water mass structure there,
the total number of invertebrates and fish taken in net tows was
very low. After a dump of the Edge Moor waste, those collected
in the plume showed more evidence of damage than those from
outside the plume. The number of fish eggs and larvae sampled
also was low, but, again, the incidence of pathological

III - 29

conditions and genetic disorders was significantly higher than
normal in those from the Edge Moor plume.

Laboratory toxicity studies of the several wastes sugggested
that different populations of marine organisms may have important
differences in sensitivity to wastes. It appeared .that the
toxicity of both du Pont Grasselli and American Cyanamid wastes
was due to their organic components . Study of the Edge Moor
waste indicated that Its toxicity could be reduced by the
addition of chelators (which chemically tie up metals) or —
interestingly — by the addition of Grasselli wastes.

Overall, information on the biological consequences, both
acute and long-range, of dumping at DWD-106 remained sketchy.
However, the dumping did not appear to have a dramatic short-term
effect on the biota in the area. Organisms, and particularly
microorganisms, may be killed when exposed directly to a fresh
waste plume, but the community at large was affected minimally.
Exposures that kill certain phytoplankters may actually enhance
the physiological activities of other microorganisms such as
bacteria. However, these high exposure levels generally persist
for less than an hour.

Inconclusive evidence was found that suggested the
possibility of long-range impacts on higher organisms, including
both genetic and pathological damage (such as lesions) to eggs,
larvae, and adults of a variety of different animals.
Nonetheless, observations through FY 78 indicated that the net
biological impact of dumping at DWD-106 was minimal.

NEW YORK BIGHT PROJECT

One of the most comprehensive ecosystem studies ever
undertaken by NOAA began in the New York Bight in 1973 as the
first project established under the Marine Ecosystems Analysis
(MESA) Program. (See preceding reports in this series.) In
pursuit of a thorough understanding of the natural
interrelationships in the 39,000 km2 (15,000 mi2) area, and the
effects of human activities on them, the Project has supported an
extensive data collection and analysis effort by both government
and university scientists.

Perhaps the central accomplishment of the Project in FY 78
was the bringing together of what had been learned in the first
draft of a book, "Perspectives on the New York Bight." The book,
which is now being readied for publication, is an attempt to
synthesize the knowledge gained for the benefit of the people who
shape public policy and make decisions on the management of Bight
resources. For each of seven core issues, the book gives the
scientific and technical framework, analyses of the issue's
importance, alternative management responses and their

III

implications, historical trends, case histories of environmental
problems, perspectives (on recreation and esthetics, human
health, resources and ecosystem well-being, and economic
development), and the future outlook for the Bight. About 7 0
scientists, lawyers, engineers, managers, and planners
contributed to the manuscript.

A series of five periodic expanded water column
characterization (XWCC) cruises were made during FY 78 to
describe the physical properties of water masses and to monitor
the concentrations of dissolved oxygen, nutrients, dissolved
organics, and other substances of interest. Information from the
XWCC cruises was used to: augment the water column
climatological data base; monitor the "health" of the Bight
including the potential development of anoxic conditions; and
provide fundamental inputs to diagnostic circulation models,
studies of carbon/oxygen/nitrogen (C/O/N) cycling, and attempts
to understand the causes of the 1976 anoxic episode.

An analysis of temperature and current records from the
long-term mooring (LTM) site was submitted in FY 78. The LTM
site has been maintained at the northern alternative dumpsite on
the intermediate shelf since June 1974. Results show an average
flow toward the south-southwest (computed over total record) at
about 5 cm/s near the surface, diminishing to about 1 cm/s near
bottom. Short-term temperature and current fluctuations show
clear seasonal patterns, but monthly mean flows do not form
simple seasonal patterns due to significant variations among
years in winds that affect water movements.

Work on two diagnostic models of water circulation in the
Bight was sponsored during FY 78. A completely formulated,
reasonably well-tested, steady-state diagnostic model was applied
to specific problems such as understanding the 1976 anoxic event
or analyzing C/O/N cycling in the Bight.

Several attempts to survey the macrobenthos of the New York
and Middle Atlantic Bights have been undertaken by both
governmental and private organizations during the life of the New
York Bight Project. The Project began a study during FY 78 to
determine whether existing data bases are adequate to identify
the effects of pollution on communities and individual species;
to recommend and carry out any necessary additional benthic
sampling; and, with the benefit of an augmented data base, to
examine what relationship exists between the distribution of
pollutants and macrobenthic assemblages in the Bight.
Preliminary findings revealed that although extensive data sets
are available for the region, most are not directly comparable.
Nevertheless, qualitative comparisions can be made of communities
from disparate portions of the Middle Atlantic Bight.

Ill - 31

A report entitled "Chemical Pollutants of the New York
Bight: Priorities for Research" was edited and readied for
publication as a NOAA MESA Special Report. (It was published in
June 1979.) Existing information was used to categorize
contaminants expected to occur in the Bight or adjacent waters as
major perceived threats, potentially significant threats, or
other substances identified by EPA as toxic. Categorization was
based most heavily on hazards to human health, then to commercial
or recreational marine species, and finally to other marine
biota.

A principal recommendation of the report is that the
concentrations of key synthetic organic compounds and fractions
of oil should be measured in samples of biota, sediments, the
water column, and inputs to the Bight. The report also calls for
a relatively small but representative set of samples to be
analyzed for the broadest practicable spectrum of organic
compounds to ensure that the concentrations of these substances
in the ecosystem are not greater than presumed.

In 1978, the Project began to carry out these
recommendations. Analyses were completed for 153 samples of
sediments, sewage sludge, dredged material, fish eggs, plankton,
water, and several species of fish and shellfish. The samples
were analyzed for a wide variety of petroleum hydrocarbons,
chlorinated hydrocarbons, and other synthetic organic
compounds. Modifications of standard analytical techniques were
required for this effort, and were developed by the NOAA National
Analytical Facility, Seattle, Wash., which did the analyses for
the Project.

Several publications appeared during FY 78 on the fate of
sludge at the sewage sludge dumpsite. Data collected after a
spot dump (i.e., from a stationary barge) confirmed previous
observations that sewage sludge disposal at sea can cause strong
short-term local perturbations in water column properties. Only
a 2 0-fold dilution of sludge was observed 110 minutes after it
had been dumped. This was considerably less dilution than was
observed in previous experiments when the sewage sludge was
discharged from a moving vessel. Despite a slow horizontal
dissipation of the plume, the sludge was able to penetrate the
thermocline and rapidly reach the bottom. Laboratory studies
suggest that aerobic conditions at the sewage sludge dumpsite can
promote rapid decomposition of dumped waste if it is distributed
evenly over an area of 5.2 km (2 mi2).

Little is known about the physical and chemical processes
that occur Immediately after dredged material is dumped, so plans
were prepared for an experiment to track dredged material
acoustically, to be sponsored in conjuction with NOAA's Ocean
Dumping Program. The experiment, which was scheduled for June

III - 32

1979, was to use acoustic tracking and chemical sampling
methodologies already proven during similar studies of dumped
sewage sludge.

Another MESA-sponsored investigation concerns the extent of
remobilization and subsequent release of heavy metals at the
dredged material dumpslte. Coring and seismic profiling were
undertaken at the dumpsite during FY 78. Bulk metal analyses
show that the concentrations of metals in the sediments are
highly variable, but greatly elevated - in some cases up to three
orders of magnitude higher than concentrations observed outside
the dredged material mound and in natural sediment underlying the
mound. Preliminary work indicates that the dumpsite contains at
least five major layers (facies), one of which consists primarily
of anthropogenic materials, (cinders with glass slivers, concrete
aggregates, plastic material, and bits of cloth). First results
from a bathymetric survey indicate substantial shoaling, 1.5 m (5
ft) or more, since the 1973 survey.

The Inner Shelf Sediment Transport Experiment Project
(INSTEP) is an ongoing effort to investigate the dynamics of
sediment movement on the inner shelf of Long Island and New
Jersey and to assess the role played by sediment transport
mechanisms in dispersing pollutants in the coastal zone. In
1978, considerable effort was devoted to deploying state-of-the
art instrumentation to observe directly the sediment transport
off Long Island. One such piece of gear, a bottom current and
velocity (BCV) probe, was developed especially for this study and
was deployed for the first time during FY 78.

A multidisciplinary effort, the Synoptic Investigation of
Nutrient Cycling (SINC), began in 1977 in the Apex of the Bight
(the area nearest New York Harbor). The aims of this effort are
to determine how the factors affecting primary productivity and
food chain dynamics interact and regulate the flow of energy and
materials within the inner Bight. One SINC cruise was undertaken
during 1978; this was the last of four seasonal efforts to make
synoptic measurements.

Since phytoplankton production accounts for 7 0 to 8 0 percent
of the particulate organic carbon input to the Apex, it is
necessary to understand the factors regulating phytoplankton
productivity and the fate of the biomass produced in order to
evaluate the consequences of human nutrient inputs on water
quality and the ecosystem. Copepods assimilate 10 to 5 0 percent
of the phytoplankton productivity during the spring and summer
compared to less than 5 percent in the fall and winter. Most of
the phytoplankton produced in summer enters pelagic food chains,
and relatively little sinks to bottom waters. However, most
winter and spring phytoplankton production sinks out of the water
column, contributing to the oxygen demand on bottom waters.

Ill - 33

Data from the SINC efforts, together with data from XWCC
studies, and information from independently funded research form
the data base for two related efforts to model C/O/N cycling in
the Bight. One study is to evaluate the mechanisms influencing
dissolved oxygen levels in the Bight, and provide an engineering
evaluation of potential schemes to prevent and alleviate low
dissolved oxygen situations. The other study is to provide a
quantitative analysis of the interactions of those ecosystem
components that influence dissolved oxygen levels, and to assess
their relative influences on oxygen depletion and
replenishment. Both efforts realized significant progress during
FY 78, with the latter effort contributing valuable insights to
the volume on the 1976 anoxic event.

During the summer of 1976, the New York Bight underwent an
extensive, long-lasting anoxic episode. Realizing the
seriousness of this event, and the possibility of recurring
events, the Project undertook Joint efforts with EPA Region II
and the NMPS Northeast Fisheries Center to monitor dissolved
oxygen concentrations during the critical summer months of 1977
and 1978. Widespread anoxia did not occur in either summer
season, although oxygen was partially depleted along the New
Jersey coast in 1977. The potential causes of the 1976 event are
analyzed in an extensive volume entitled "Oxygen Depletion and
Associated Benthic Mortalities in the New York Bight, 1976."
This analysis was to be published early in 1980.

OCEAN PULSE

The ocean waters over the continental shelf between Cape
Hatteras and Canada are among the most productive in the world.
Primary production through photosynthesis is high, ranging from
50 g (average for the open ocean) to 100 g of carbon "fixed" per
square meter per year (gC/m2/yr), and up to 400 gC/m2/yr in areas
that are especially productive of fish such as Georges Bank.
This, in turn, supports a vigorous fishery that brings in an
average annual catch of about 1 million metric tons (1.1 million
short tons) .

These same waters, however, border the country's most
heavily developed coastal region, with resorts, industrial
plants, subdivisions, and cities crowded together along the
shoreline and in bays and estuaries. From all this human
activity comes a long — and only partially known — list of
effluents, some relatively benign, some dangerously toxic. These
reach the ocean in many ways — through ocean outfalls, via
rivers and streams, from direct ocean dumping, or by way of the
atmosphere.

Ocean Pulse is a research and monitoring program put
together in 1977 by the NMFS Northeast Fisheries Center (NEFC) to

III - 34

study the health and well-being of the living resources in
northeast coastal waters. Its goals are to provide continuous
information on the health of the marine environment, to detect
natural and human-induced changes, to investigate the causes of
the observed changes, and to provide baselines from which damage
assessments can be made for unpredictable environmental problems
such as spills of hazardous substances.

In pursuit of this rather ambitious set of goals, the Ocean
Pulse Program (OP) is necessarily multidisciplinary and multi-
institutional. For example, on its second operational test phase
(OTP) cruise from September 2 0 through October 9, 1978, the
scientific party comprised 31 researchers from NEPC laboratories
(at Sandy Hook, N.J.; Milford, Conn.; and Narragansett, R.I.);
the U.S. Pood and Drug Administration laboratory at Davisville,
R.I.j the Osborn Laboratory of the New York Zoological Society;
N0AA/N0S; the State of Maryland Water Resources Administration;
and several universities.

A similar group went to sea on the first OTP cruise from
April 17 to May 4, 1978 (fig. 14), aboard the NOAA ship
Researcher, a large "floating laboratory" capable of supporting
work in a variety of disciplines. A good deal of effort was
expended on this cruise in evaluation of research techniques and
shipboard procedures appropriate for the Ocean Pulse Program.

In biological studies, for example, species availability
data from plankton net tows, benthlc and epibenthic sampling, and
otter trawls was cataloged for each of the 27 stations.
Laboratory work included physiological studies of the oxygen
consumption of gill tissue and hematological studies of various
bivalves, crustaceans, and finfish; biochemical studies of
enzymes in flounders, scallops, and Cancer crabs; and the
beginning of baseline studies of Clostridium and Vibrio bacteria
in water, sediments, and selected animal species of importance to
commercial fisheries.

The data obtained underscored the importance of accumulating
baseline information for seasonal profiles of indicator species
from each station. What may be "normal" at one station is likely
not to be the case at another, nor for a different season at the
same station. Continued collection of data (as often as monthly
at some stations) will make it possible to describe these
variations and, perhaps, understand them.

Preliminary results also suggested that future sampling of
the water column should give particular attention to the surface
microlayer, because of the great number of bacteria observed
there. In addition, it became clear that there should be more
inshore-to-offshore transects to detect any effects that inshore
bacteria of various origins may have on offshore areas.

Ill - 35

Second Segment

Station No. 28 — Southern Gulf of Maine
27 — Jeffreys Ledge
26 — Central Gulf

25 — Northern edge of Georges Bank
24 — Northern peak, Georges Bank
23 — Central Georges Bank
21a — Argo Merchant
21 — Argo Merchant control
20 — Southern New England OCS
19 — Southern N. E. mid shelf
18 — Block Island Sound

First Segment

Station No. 17 — N J anoxia area

16c — NY dredge spoils dump
16b — NY sewage sludge dump
16a — Sludge dump
15a — NY Bight Apex control
15 — Industrial acid dump
14 — NJ anoxia control
13 — Oil drilling (BCT)
12 — Delaware OCS
11 — Delaware mid shelf
10 — Delaware Bay mouth
9 — Delaware dump site
8 — Chesapeake OCS
7 — Chesapeake mid shelf
6 — Chesapeake Bay plume
5 — Chesapeake Bay mouth

Figure 14.

The Ocean Pulse operational area with the cruise
track from the first operational test phase cruise of
the R/V Researcher, April 17 to May 4, 1978.

Ill - 36

The second cruise, aboard the NOAA fishery research ship
Albatross IV , was divided into two parts: a tour of 25 Ocean
Pulse monitoring "strata" (individual habitats) between Virginia
and Canada from September 2 0 through October 5; and a shorter
cruise including an intensive bacterial contaminant survey of the
Philadelphia sewage dumpsite and a preliminary survey of the
impact of ocean clam harvesting on the benthlc community off Cape
May , N.J.

Zeroing in on one particular stratum, a group of 21
diver/scientists worked from September 24 to October 3 0, 1978, to
define physical and biological characteristics of a seafloor area
in the western Gulf of Maine (Pigeon Hill, Jeffreys Ledge, and
Cashes Ledge) . Studies included assessment of the abundance of
proposed key indicator species, photographing biological and
geological features of the area, and collection of key species
for analyses of their heavy metal and PCB content. One
physiological experiment involved baseline in situ (seafloor)
bell jar respiration studies with starfish. This
intercalibratlon work is expected to be helpful in appraising the
efficacy of surface laboratory respiration experiments as
conducted on Ocean Pulse Program cruises.

The Ocean Pulse Program and other efforts also benefit
substantially from data collection and analysis programs such as
the NMFS Microconstituents Resource Survey and the resulting data
bank maintained by the Southeast Fisheries Center (SEFC)
Charleston Laboratory. This Survey began in 1971, and a report
was published in 1978. Its purpose was to determine the
concentrations of 15 metals in edible muscle and liver tissues of
more than 2 00 species of marine fish and shellfish. The fish,
selected for their recreational and commercial importance, came
from seven major geographical areas: North and Mid-Atlantic,
South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, California, Pacific Northwest,
Alaska, and Hawaii.

CAPE COD OIL SPILLS

The consequences of spills of petroleum hydrocarbons (PHC)
into the ocean and coastal environment apparently vary
considerably, depending on the kind of PHC spilled, weather and
oceanic conditions at the time, whether the spill is a single
massive one or a slow trickle from a fixed source, the marine
organisms present, the temperature. . .the list is long. That the
results can be quite serious and long-lasting has been shown in
two Sea Grant-funded projects at Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution (WHOI) .

On October 9, 1974, a barge loaded with 11.6 million liters
(73,000 bbl) of No. 2 fuel oil (home heating oil) struck a
submerged object in Buzzards Bay, tearing a hole in the hull.

Ill - 37

The wind drove oil from the barge eastward onto the western end
of Cape Cod where it was visible on the surface for about 10
days. The oil accumulated in Red Brook Harbor and in Winsor Cove
off that harbor, where WHOI scientists established permanent
stations in the marsh to observe the long-range effects of the
oil.

Other studies have suggested that marshes are able to
withstand or recover rather quickly from a single dose of oil.
However, Winsor Cove was actually subjected to repeated doses of
oil from the same spill as a result of tidal oscillations and
wind direction. The marsh's peat substrate then became heavily
impregnated with oil, because of its porosity and ability to
absorb oil between sediment grains. The slow, chronic discharge
of this buried oil, with its toxic aromatic fractions, produced a
continuous source of stress on plants attempting to regenerate
themselves.

As of 1978, the oil was still present in the marsh substrate
and grasses were unable to re-establish themselves, whether by
re-seeding or rhizome (spreading roots) growth. Erosion rates in
the now-denuded marsh were 24 times greater than in an unoiled
nearby marsh over a 3-year period. In the spring of each year
since the spill, researchers found that some species sparsely
regenerated a few seedings or stems, but by late summer most of
these were either gone or remained as seedlings or dwarfed
specimens.

In one area of the Winsor Cove marsh, however, water seepage
continually passed over the sediments in the lower marsh during
low tide, apparently washing the oil off and preventing any heavy
impregnation of the substrate. It is significant, however, that
the substrate in this area was not peat, but sandy mud mixed with
coarse gravel, a material that more easily gave up oil on its
surface and in its pores. In this area, regeneration of marsh
grass (Spartina alternlflora) was only marginally affected by the
spill and growth exceeded that found elsewhere in the marsh.
Also, in this one spot, the strong odor of oil present in the
rest of the marsh was absent.

A separate study in a different marsh where an oil spill
occurred in 197 0, found that the fish still contained elevated
levels of three metabolic compounds. These compounds are known
to play an important role in metabolizing foreign substances and
removing them from the bodies of both fish and land animals.
Careful examination of the cell structure of the fish also showed
that low-level chronic hydrocarbon contamination possibly can
lead to changes in cell membranes. The effects of these changes
on membrane functions were not clear; however, proper functioning
of membranes is essential to the existence and well-being of the
cells, and to the tissues made up of them.

Ill - 38

GREAT LAKES STUDIES

NOAA has been active in Great Lakes research since at least
1972 when it provided much of the support for the U.S. studies
under the International Field Year for the Great Lakes (IFYGL).
Work in the Lakes is essentially one vast ecosystem project,
because they are all connected and waters of the upper Lakes pass
through the lower ones on their way to the St. Lawrence River and
the sea. In FY 78, the Great Lakes Environmental Research
Laboratory (GLERL) made a number of advances in the effort to
understand Lakes processes and problems and their long-range
effects.

The pathways by which pollutants and enriching substances
(such as phosphorus, a plant nutrient that is at the root of a
major water quality problem In the Lakes) move from nearshore
waters to the open lake were the subject of a multiyear study
under the water chemistry program. The work, which focused on
southeastern Lake Michigan, identified four major pathways. In
one of these, a cloudy ( "nepheloid") layer, more than 10m thick
at the bottom of the lake, concentrations of small particulates
can be more than twice those in water layers immediately above .
This bottom layer concentrates phosphorus, organic chemicals, and
trace metals — substances that adhere to particulates and can
affect significantly the condition of the lake. And, experiments
showed, a large part of this suspended material easily can move
into overlying waters where it holds greater potential for
causing trouble. A second significant pathway is reflected by an
organically enriched microlayer at the lake surface, indicative
of atmospheric transport of pollutants to the Great Lakes.

Knowledge of surface waves is important to understanding the
ecosystem, since the waves mix the various constituents in the
water column and act to resuspend bottom sediments with their
adhered nutrient and toxic substances. Although instruments on
buoys can measure waves effectively at one spot, collecting the
needed lake-wide wave data has always been a problem, especially
during storms when such data are of great interest,,

In November 1977, GLERL undertook a cooperative effort with
the NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory
(AOML) to remotely measure surface waves during a storm with an
airborne laser. This was the first time such wave measurements
had been made over an entire lake (Lake Michigan) . Results from
the laser agreed reasonably well with those obtained from a
buoy. They showed that for that particular storm, waves in the
southern part of the lake had considerably different
characteristics from those in the northern part where Islands and
rocky shores complicated the picture.

III - 39

Even with airborne lasers and other such advanced
instruments, it is impossible to sample or measure all variables

— even in these relatively small "oceans" — often enough to
understand the processes at work. It is important, however, to
be able to understand the structure and functions of the Great
Lakes in order to predict the properties of these precious bodies
of water. Thuss mathematical models are used to combine much of
what is known about the theory of aquatic ecosystems —
Interactions among biological, chemical, and physical processes

— with empirical data into a mathematical framework that can
simulate basic features of the ecosystem. One such model
developed at GLERL simulated seasonal changes in Lake Ontario and
was tested against data from IPYGL. Typically complex, the model
addressed changes in five types of phytoplankton, six types of
zooplankton, detrital carbon and silica, organic nitrogen,
ammonia, nitrate, available phosphorus, soluble reactive silica,
dissolved oxygen, and the carbonate system.

Use of this model enabled a detailed study of the forces
that control phytoplankton productivity — the base process in
the aquatic food chain. Results showed that different natural
forces control phytoplankton production, depending on the season
of the year. In turn, those natural forces may be influenced by
human activities, especially over the long term.

One of those forces, natural precipitation of calcium
carbonate in near-surface waters, seems likely to be strongly
affected by human-induced increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide
(COp) content. The precipitated carbonate, known as "whitings",
plays a significant role in both nutrient transport within the
lake and control of sunlight penetration into the upper layers of
water. However, a GLERL chemical model indicates that whitings
will virtually cease in the Great Lakes within 5 0 to 100 years if
atmospheric CO2 levels increase to three times the present
values, as is now predicted. The full effects of this long-range
alteration were to be the subjects of further study.

Consumptive use of water is a problem not faced by saltwater
scientists and planners, but can pose problems in the Great Lakes
where the supply of freshwater is limited. A major study of the
potential for and effects of consumptive use in the Lakes Basin
was begun in June 1977 with the establishment of a study board by
the International Joint Commission (IJC) The purpose of this
study is to estimate the present and future consumptive use of
water in the Great Lakes Basin by the various water users —
municipal, industrial, and agricultural. Using a hydrologic
response model, GLERL researchers will be able to assess the
effects of consumptive use on the Lakes' water levels and flows,
and, later, the effects on the users of the Great Lakes system.

Ill - 40

Another model that received attention in FY 78 was one aimed
at predicting the consequences of waste abatement programs and
human development of the basin on phosphorus concentrations in
the Lakes. Results of this study have had immediate practical
applications: they were provided to the State of Michigan for
use in consideration of a proposal to limit the phosphorus
content of detergents (a major source of phosphorus to the Lakes,
through sewage treatment plants); and they were used to test
scenarios postulated by a working committee renegotiating the
terms of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement of 1972 between
the United States and Canada.

Ill - 41

86 STAT. 1061

Pub. Law 92-532

October 23, 1972

TITLE II— COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH OX OCEAN

DUMPING

Report to Sec. 201. The Secretary of Commerce, in coordination .with the

Congress. Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating

and with the Administrator shall, within six months of the enactment
of this Act, initiate a comprehensive and continuing program of
monitoring and research regarding the effects of the dumping of
material into ocean waters or other coastal waters where the tide ebbs
and flows or into the Great Lakes or their connecting waters and shall
report from time to time, not less frequently than annually, his
findings (including an evaluation of the short-term ecological effects
and the social and economic factors involved) to the Congress.

Sec. 202. (a) The Secretary of Commerce? in consultation with
other appropriate Federal departments, agencies, and instrumentali-
ties shall, within six months of the enactment of this Act, initiate a
comprehensive and continuing program of research with respect to
the possible long-range effects of pollution, overfishing, and man-
induced changes of ocean ecosystems. In carrying out such research,
the Secretary of Commerce shall take into account such factors as
existing and proposed international policies affecting oceanic prob-
lems, economic considerations involved: in both the protection and the
use of the oceans, possible alternatives to existing programs, and ways
in which the health of the oceans may best be preserved for the benefit
of succeeding generations of mankind.

(b) In carrying out his responsibilities under this section, the Sec-
retary of Commerce, under the foreign policy guidance of the Presi-
dent and pursuant to international agreements and treaties made by

the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, may act
alone or in conjunction with any other nation or group of nations,
and shall make known the results of his activities by such channels of
communication as may appear appropriate.
Annual report (c) In January of each year, the Secretary of Commerce shall report

to Congress. to the Congress on the results of activities undertaken by him pursuant

to this section during the previous fiscal year.

(d) Each department, agency, and independent instrumentality of
the Federal Government is authorized and directed to cooperate with
the Secretary of Commerce in carrying out the purposes of this sec-
tion and, to the extent permitted by law, to furnish such information
as may be requested.

(e) The Secretary of Commerce, in carrying; out his responsibilities
under this section, shall, to the_extent feasible utilize the personnel,
services, and facilities of other Federal departments, agencies, and
instrumentalities (including those of the Coast Guard for monitoring
purposes), and is authorized to enter into appropriate inter-agency
agreements to accomplish this action.

Sec. 203. The Secretary of Commerce shall conduct and encourage,
cooperate with, and render financial and other assistance to appropri-
ate public (whether Federal, State, interstate, or local) authorities,
agencies, and institutions, private agencies and institutions, and indi-
viduals in the conduct of, and to promote the coordination of. research,
investigations, experiments, training, demonstrations, surveys, and
studies for the purpose of determining means of minimizing or ending
all dumping of materials within five years of the effective date of this
Act.
Appropriation. Sec. 204. There are authorized to he appropriated for the first fiscal

year after this Act is enacted and for the next two fiscal years there-
after such sums as may be necessary to carry out this title, but the
sums appropriated for any such fiscal year may not exceed $6,000,000.

Inter-agency
agreements.

Federal-State
cooperation.

A - 2

APPENDIX B

PUBLIC LAW 95-273— MAY 8, 1978

NATIONAL OCEAN POLLUTION RE-
SEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AND
MONITORING PLANNING ACT OF
1978

B-l

92 STAT. 228 PUBLIC LAW 95-273— MAY 8, 1978

Public Law 95-273
95th Congress

An Act

May 3, 1978 np0 establish a program of ocean pollution research, development, and monitoring,
[S. 1617] an(i for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
National Ocean United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may
Pollution 0e cited as the "National Ocean Pollution Kesearch and Development

Research and and Monitoring Planning Act of 1978".

Development and "

Monitoring SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

Planning Act of (a) Findings.— The Congress finds and declares the following:

vk ijef 1701 ^ Man's activities in the marine environment can have a pro-

found short-term and long-term impact on such environment and
33 USC 1701. greatly affect ocean and coastal resources therein.

(2) There is a need to establish a comprehensive Federal plan
for ocean pollution research and development and monitoring,
with particular attention being given to the inputs, fates, and
effects of pollutants in the marine environment.

(3) Man will increasingly be forced to rely on ocean and coastal
resources as other resources are depicted. Our ability to protect,
preserve, develop, and utilize these ocean and coastal resources is
directly related to our understanding of the effects which ocean
pollution has upon such resources.

(4) Numerous departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of
the Federal Government sponsor, support, or fund activities relat-
ing to ocean pollution research and development and monitoring.
However, such activities are often uncoordinated and can result
in unnecessary duplication.

(5) Better planning and more effective use of available funds,
personnel, vessels, facilities, and equipment is the key to effective
Federal action regarding ocean pollution research and develop-
ment and monitoring,
(b) Purposes. — It is therefore the purpose of the Congress in this
Act—

(1) to establish a comprehensive ,r)-year plan for Federal ocean
pollution research and development and monitoring programs
in order to provide planning for, coordination of, and dissemina-
tion of information with respect to such programs within the
Federal Government ;

(2) to develop the necessary base of information to support,
and to provide for, the rational, efficient, and equitable utilization,
conservation, and development of ocean and coastal resources;
and

(3) to designate the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin-
istration as the lead Federal agency for preparing the plan
referred to in paragraph (1) and to require the Administration
to carry out a comprehensive program of ocean pollution research
and development and monitoring under the plan.

33 USC 1702. SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

As used in this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

(1) The term "Administration" means the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration.

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PUBLIC LAW 95-273— MAY 8, 1978

92 STAT. 229

(2) The term "Administrator" means the Administrator of the
Administration.

(3) The term "Director" means the Director of the Office of
Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the
President.

(4) The term "marine environment" means the coastal zone (as
denned in section 304(1) of the Coastal Zone Management Act
of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1453(1) ) ) ; the seabed, subsoil, and waters of
the territorial sea of the United States; the waters of any zone
over which the United States asserts exclusive fishery manage-
ment authority ; the waters of the high seas ; and the seabed and
subsoil of and beyond the Outer Continental Shelf.

(5) The term "ocean and coastal resource" has the same mean-
ing as is given such term in section 203(7) of tbe National Sea
Grant Program Act (33 U.S.C. 1122(7) ).

(6) The term "ocean pollution" means any short-term or long-
term change in the marine environment.

SEC. 4. COMPREHENSIVE FEDERAL PLAN RELATING TO 33 USC 1703.
OCEAN POLLUTION.

(a) Lead Agency for Plan. — The Administrator, in consultation Responsibility,
with the Director and other appropriate Federal officials having
authority over ocean pollution research and development and monitor-
ing programs, shall prepare, in accordance with this section, a compre-
hensive 5-year plan (hereinafter in this Act referred to as the "Plan")
for the overall Federal effort in ocean pollution research and develop-
ment and monitoring. The Plan shall be prepared and submitted to
Congress and the President on or before February 15, 1979, and a
revision of the Plan shall be prepared and so submitted by February 15
of each odd-numbered year occurring after 1979.

(b) Content of Plan. — The Plan shall contain, but need not be
limited to, the following elements :

(1) Assessment and ordering of national needs and rrcoi?-
lems. — The Plan shall —

(A) identify those national needs and problems, which
relate to specific aspects of ocean pollution (including, but
not limited to, the effects of ocean pollution on the economic,
social, and environmental values of ocean and coastal
resources) , which exist and will arise during the Plan period ;

(B) establish the priority, based upon the value and cost
of information which can be obtained from specific ocean
pollution research and development and monitoring programs
and projects, in which such needs should be met, and such
problems should be solved, during the Plan period; and

(C) contain, if pursuant to the preparation of any revi-
sion of the Plan required under subsection (a) it is deter-
mined that any national need or problem or priority set
forth in the preceding version of the Plan should be changed,
a detailed explanation of the reasons for the change.

(2) Existing federal capability. — The Plan shall contain — Existing Federal
(A) a detailed listing of all existing Federal programs capability.

relating to ocean pollution research and development and
monitoring (including, but not limited to, general research on
marine ecosystems) , which listing shall include, with respect
to each such program —

(i) a catalogue of the Federal personnel, facilities, ves-
sels and other equipment currently assigned to, or used
for, the program, and

Submittal to
President and
Congress.

National
priorities.

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92 STAT. 230 PUBLIC LAW 95-273— MAY 8, 1978

(ii) a detailed description of the existing goals and
costs of the program, including, but not limited to, a
categorical breakdown of the funds currently being
expended, and planned to be expended, to conduct the
program ; and
(B) an analysis of the extent to which each such program,
if continued on the basis and at the funding level described
pursuant to subparagraph (A) (ii), will assist in meeting the
priorities set forth pursuant to paragraph (1) (B) during the
Plan period.
(3) Policy recommendations. — If it is determined, as a result
of the analysis required to be made under paragraph (2)(B),
that the priorities set forth pursuant to paragraph (1)(B) will
not be adequately met during the Plan period using the existing
Federal capability described pursuant to paragraph (2) (A), the
Plan shall contain those recommendations for changes in the
overall Federal effort in ocean pollution research and develop-
ment and monitoring which would ensure that those priorities are
adequately met during the Plan period. Such recommendations
may include, but need not be limited to —

(A) changes in the goals to be achieved under various exist-
ing Federal ocean pollution research and development and
monitoring programs;

(B) suggested increases and decreases in the funding for
any such existing program consistent with the extent to
which such program contributes to the meeting of such
priorities ;

(C) specific proposals for interagency cooperation in cases
in which the pooling of the resources of two or more Federal
departments, agencies, or instrumentalities under existing
programs could further efforts to meet such priorities or
would eliminate duplication of effort ; and

(D) suggested legislation to establish new Federal pro-
grams considered to be necessary if such priorities are to be
met.

Budget review. (4) Budget keview. — The Plan shall contain a description of

actions taken by the Administrator and the Director to coordinate
the budget review process for the purpose of ensuring interagency
coordination and cooperation in (A) the carrying out of Federal
ocean pollution research and development and monitoring pro-
grams; and (B) eliminating unnecessary duplication of effort
among such programs.

"Plan Period." (c) For purposes of this section, the term "Plan period" means —

(1) with respect to the Plan as required to be submitted on
February 15, 1979, the period of 5 fiscal years beginning on
October 1,1978; and

(2) with respect to each revision of the Plan, the period of 5
fiscal years beginning on October 1 of the year before, the year in
which the revision is required to be prepared under subsection (a) .

33 USC 1704. SEC. 5. COMPREHENSIVE OCEAN POLLUTION PROGRAM

IN THE ADMINISTRATION.

Establishment. (a) Estabetshment of Program. — The Administrator shall estab-

lish within the Administration a comprehensive, coordinated, and
effective ocean pollution research and development and monitoring
program. The Administrator shall carry out all projects and activities
under the program in a manner consistent with the Plan.

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PUBLIC LAW 95-273— MAY 8, 1978

92 STAT. 231

(b) Content of the Program". — The program required to be estab-
lished under subsection (a) shall include, but not be limited to —

(1) all projects and activities relating to ocean pollution
research and development and monitoring for which the Admin-
istrator has responsibility under provisions of law (including,
but not limited to, title II of the Marine Protection, Research, and
Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 1441-1444) ) other than para-
graph (2) ;

(2) such projects and activities addressed to the priorities set
forth in the Plan pursuant to section 4(b)(1)(B) that can be
appropriately conducted within the Administration; and

(3) the provision of financial assistance under section 6.

SEC. G. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.

(a) Grants and Contracts.- — The Administrator may provide
financial assistance in the form of giants or contracts for research and
development and monitoring projects or activities which are needed
to meet priorities set forth in the Plan pursuant to section 4(b) (1) (B),
if such priorities are not being adequately addressed by any Federal
department, agency, or instrumentality.

(b) Applications for Assistance. — Any person, including institu-
tions of higher education and departments, agencies, and instrumen-
talities of the Federal Government or of any State or political
subdivision thereof, may apply for financial assistance under this sec-
tion for the conduct of projects and activities described in subsection
(a), and, in addition, specific proposals may be invited. Each applica-
tion for financial assistance shall be made in writing in such form and
manner, and contain such information, as the Administrator may
require. The Administrator may enter into contracts under this section
without regard to section .'5709 of the Revised Statutes of the United
States(41U.S.G5).

(c) Existing Programs. — The projects and activities supported by
grants or contracts made or entered into under this section shall, to the
maximum extent practicable, be administered through existing Fed-
eral programs (including, but not limited to, the National Sea Grant
Program) concerned with ocean pollution research and development
and monitoring.

(d) Action by Administrator. — The Administrator shall act upon
each application for a grant or contract under this section within six
months after the date on which all required information is received
by the. Administrator from the applicant. Each grant made or con-
tract entered into under this section shall be subject to such terms and
conditions as the Secretary deems necessary in order to protect the
interests of the United States. The total amount paid pursuant to any
such grant or contract may, in the discretion of the Administrator, be
up to 100 percent of the total cost of the project or activity involved.

(e) Records. — Each recipient of financial assistance under this sec-
tion shall keep such records as the Administrator shall prescribe,
including records which fully disclose the amount and disposition by
such recipient of the proceeds of such assistance, the total cost of the
project or activity in connection with which such assistance was given
or used, the amount of that portion of the cost of the project or activity
which was supplied by other sources, and such other records as will
facilitate an effective audit. Such records shall be maintained for three
years after the completion of such project or activity. The Adminis-
trator and the Comptroller General of the United States, or any of
their duly authorized representatives, shall have access, for the pur-
pose of audit and examination, to any books, documents, papers, and

33 USC 1705.
Grants and
contracts.

Contract
authority.

Recordkeeping.

Accessibility.

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92 STAT. 232 PUBLIC LAW 95-273— MAY 8, 1978

records of receipts which, in the opinion of the Administrator or of
the Comptroller General, may be related or pertinent to such financial
assistance.

33 USC 1706. SEC. 7. INTERAGENCY COOPERATION.

The head of each department, agency, or other instrumentality of
the Federal Government which is engaged in or concerned with, or
which has authority over, programs relating to ocean pollution
research and development and monitoring —

(1) shall cooperate with the Administrator in carrying out the
purposes of this Act ;

(2) may, upon written request from the Administrator or
Director, make available to the Administrator or Director, on a
reimbursable basis or otherwise, such personnel (with their con-
sent and without prejudice to their position and rating), services,
or facilities as may be necessary to assist the Administrator or the
Director to achieve the purposes of this Act; and

(3) shall, upon a written request from the Administrator or
Director, furnish such data or other information as the Adminis-
trator or Director deems necessary to fulfill the purposes of this
Act.

33 USC 1707. SEC. 8. DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.

The Administrator shall ensure that the results, findings, and infor-
mation regarding ocean pollution research and development and
monitoring programs conducted or sponsored by the Federal Govern-
ment be disseminated in a timely manner, and in useful forms, to
relevant departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the Federal
Government, and to other persons having an interest in ocean pollution
research and development and monitoring.

33 USC 1708. SEC. 9. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.

Nothing in this Act shall be construed to amend, restrict, or other-
wise alter the authority of any Federal department, agency, or instru-
mentality, under any law, to undertake research and development and
monitoring relating to ocean pollution.

33 USC 1709. SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administration for
the purposes of carrying out this Act not to exceed $5,000,000 for the
fiscal year ending September 30, 1979.

Approved May 8, 1978.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

HOUSE REPORTS: No. 95-626 pt. 1 (Comm. on Science and Technology) and 95-626

pt. 2 (Comm. on Merchant Marine and Fisheries).
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD:

Vol. 123 (1977): Aug. 3, considered and passed Senate.
Vol. 124 (1978): Feb. 28, considered and passed House, amended.
Apr. 24, Senate agreed to House amendment.

o

*U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1980 0- 311-046/251

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