Phase I -- Period of Acute or Short-Term Impact 

 Detailed Qualitative Analysis of the 

 Spilled Substance in Various Forms 



A detailed analysis of various forms of the spilled substance is required 

 primarily to aid in identifying the discharged material in environmental 

 samples. 



Analysis of the neat or unaltered substance would provide data for making 

 or confirming an initial identification of the discharge. This analysis would 

 also furnish information on the relative concentrations of various components 

 of the discharged material prior to weathering. 



Analysis of the weathered form of the spilled substance is required 

 because it is usually the weathered form of the discharged material that is 

 encountered by organisms in the environment. 



If the spilled substance is not miscible with water, an analysis of its 

 water-soluble fraction should be done. The discharged substance should be 

 partitioned against uncontaminated water made up to a suitable salinity, and 

 the fraction extracted by the water analyzed, Data from this analysis would 

 be of particular value when analyzing water-column samples and organisms 

 collected from the water column. 



Detailed Qualitative Analysis of the Spilled 

 Substance Extracted from Environmental Samples 



Detailed analyses of selected environmental samples, to include both bio- 

 logical samples and ones from the physical environment, should be carried out 

 to positively identify the source of the discharged contaminant. The dis- 

 charger could be in essence "fingerprinted" by a comparison of data from 

 analyses of environmental samples with data from analyses of the spilled sub- 

 stance taken from the suspected source. 



Quantitative Analysis of Control Samples 

 Representative of Every Sample Type Collected 



Control samples representative of every sample type must be collected 

 and analyzed to establish background levels of the spilled substance already 

 present in the environment. Since it is unlikely that prespill concentration 

 data will be available, baseline levels of the spilled substance detected in 

 the control samples must be subtracted from samples taken at impacted areas 

 to determine net increases in the concentration of the spilled substance. 



Quantitative Analysis of Samples 

 Delineating the Extent of the Spill 



Early analytical delineation of the spill in both the physical environ- 

 ment and the food web is required to define the extent of the ecosystem im- 

 pacted by the spill . 



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