39 



Senator Stevens. All right. If you have any questions of these 

 gentlemen, be our guest, Senator. 



Senator Pell. I do not think I will jump in. Woods Hole is a 

 neighbor of Rhode Island. We have many connections there and are 

 familiar with what they are doing. Anything we can do to convert 

 theoretical knowledge, particularly in the field of proteins, into ac- 

 tual results is what we are after. 



But I have no questions. 



Thank you. 



Senator Stevens. The only trouble with Woods Hole is it is not 

 in Alaska. We could use two of them up there. 



Have you got any results yet from the bioremediation studies 

 that have been made, Dr. Burris? 



Dr. Burris. In my previous life down the street at the National 

 Academy of Sciences where I worked before going to the Marine Bi- 

 ological Laboratory we heard testimony about a year and a half ago 

 from EPA officials on the results. And they have been the ones who 

 have done most of the comparison of scrubbing versus bacteria. 

 And at that time they were very much preliminary. And I have not 

 seen much since then. 



I am not sure that the experiments were as well controlled as 

 one might like. But I would suggest that you check with the EPA 

 and see where they stand relative to that set of results. 



Senator Stevens. Yes, I think we shall do that. I just wondered 

 if you had done any independent studies at Woods Hole of the 

 whole concept of bioremediation. 



Dr. Burris. Yes, one of the problems or the situations is, of 

 course, that there have been studies done in various places, but 

 they have not been as transferable as one might wish. In Texas, 

 they developed a strain of bacteria that can consume oil, and then 

 they rush it up to Prince Edward Sound and the temperature is 

 perhaps 20 degrees lower than they are used to. And so that has 

 been a real problem in bioremediation up to this point and one that 

 we have to address, which is the ability of the bacteria to survive 

 in different environments and compete both with the native bac- 

 teria, as well as the different nutrients, et cetera. 



Senator STEVENS. Thank you very much, gentlemen. 



Oh, I asked a question before of Dr. Baker about my king-pink 

 salmon. 



Dr. Burris. Your king-pink salmon? 



Senator Stevens. Are any of you involved in that? 



Dr. Burris. No, we are not. I can respond a little bit because you 

 alluded to transgenic carp, which I know more about. I do not know 

 about the king-pink hybrid. 



Senator Stevens. Did they have an intersection with wild carp? 



Dr. Burris. No, because they have been very carefully controlled 

 and there has been no release, and there is no intent to release 

 them, to the best of my knowledge. There has been research done 

 where growth hormones have been placed in the carp as an experi- 

 mental organism to study growth and impact. But they have not 

 been released. They are held under very tightly controlled condi- 

 tions, with multiple ponds to take care of any overflow, wire fences 

 with barbed wire, et cetera, et cetera. So, it has been very carefully 

 controlled. 



