170 American Fisheries Society 



Mr. Buller: There is a question that I have not had time to go 

 over carefully. I have not been in the oil regions up to the present 

 time to investigate their waste ; that is quite an extensive territory. 

 While most of the sulphur water is running into waters where mines 

 are situated along the streams, I have not been into that territory as 

 yet. But the question is becoming one of such seriousness in the 

 State of Pennsylvania in certain portions that the manufacturers 

 themselves along the western waters are realizing the fact that this 

 pollution must be taken care of in some way, on account of their boats, 

 engines and every other thing that they use in the water. The Engi- 

 neers' Society now are trying to devise ways and means to get rid of 

 the water from the mines. 



Mr. Schaeffle: I would like to warn any of you gentlemen who 

 may come from the states in which oil refining is carried on, that 

 something which a great many of us did not suspect, in looking for oil 

 itself, is a very serious problem. I have found one refinery in Cali- 

 fornia that empties as much as five tons of dilute sulphuric acid into the 

 waters of our state every day — from five tons down to three tons, 

 greatly diluted with salt water ; and with this some 16,000 to 36,000 

 pounds of sodium sulphate are emptied into the streams. We have 

 not found any way of preventing that waste. The acid as it comes 

 from these stills, I presume, or the washing chambers, is in such very 

 dilute form that there is apparently no way of separating it. It is out 

 of the question to dry up the water or volatilize it. We are letting that 

 go into the water and out into the bay until we can find a way of 

 controlling it. 



