134 



Mr. Wyatt. Your scientists had determined that it could be 

 issued? 



Ms. CoMPTON. Yes. EPA issued the permit on that basis. 



Mr. Wyatt. Has anyone else objected to it? 



Ms. CoMPTON. Yes, the National Wildlife Federation requested 

 an evidentiary hearing. That is also a national environmental 

 group. 



Mr. Wyatt. Do you know if there is any connection between 

 those two groups? 



Ms. CoMPTON. None, other than that the personnel know each 

 other. 



Mr. Wyatt. What about the funding, do you think that might be 

 the same? 



Ms. Compton. The National Wildlife Federation to my knowledge 

 is funded by its members. The Natural Resources Defense Council 

 seem to rely on foundation funding as well as members for funds. 

 Also the industries who receive those three permits requested an 

 evidentiary hearing also because they did not agree with the terms 

 of the permit. 



Mr. Wyatt. Can you tell me if the law that requires the permit 

 gives any interested party the right to request an evidentiary 

 hearing? 



Ms. Compton. Our EPA regulations permit any interested party 

 to request 



Mr. Wyatt. Your regulations. Does the law require that? 



Ms. Compton. That any interested party? I would imagine that 

 the Administrative Procedures Act permits any interested person 

 to challenge a Federal agency action, final Federal agency action. 

 And I am not familiar with the Clean Water Act's provisions. 



Mr. Wyatt. Could you tell me how you become an interested 

 party? 



Ms. Compton. Pardon? 



Mr. Wyatt. Could you tell me how you become an interested 

 party? 



Ms. Compton. In other words how an interested party 



Mr. Wyatt. Yes. Am I an interested party or Dr. Oppenheimer 

 for instance in Texas an interested party? How do you become an 

 interested party? 



Ms. Compton. I believe our consolidated permit regulations 

 define interested party. I am not familiar with that definition. I 

 assume it is someone who may be affected by the agency and the 

 environmental groups would be affected because their charter is to 

 protect the environment and they have an interest, and their mem- 

 bers live in the area where the environment may be adversely 

 affected. 



Mr. Wyatt. Can you tell me what studies you are currently 

 doing in the Gulf of Mexico? 



Dr. Bolton. Mainly working with larval recruitment and settling 

 studies, a number of coral studies both in chronic and acute effects 

 of drilling fluids on the corals. They are working with a number of 

 studies of heavy metal bioaccumulation, particularly in shrimp. I 

 believe that there are also studies ongoing on fish development and 

 behavior. 



