1 specific stations, those are samples we took and analyzed completely 



2 both for chemistry and biology. 



3 Mike Bothner did the metals chemistry, Battelle and Woods Hole did 



4 the biology. As I say, we sampled these stations quarterly for 3 years. 



5 What Mike Bothner found in terms of the chemistry was that there 



6 was an accumulation of drilling-mud solids as evidenced by barium 



7 accumulations in the immediate vicinity of both of the two platforms we 



8 monitored in block 132 and 140. 



9 The increments over background were several fold, five to seven 



10 fold, I believe in the bulk sediment and then much higher in the fine 



11 fraction because the sediments on Georges Bank are fairly course. 



12 So, the barium is always in the clay-sized fraction. So if you 



13 separate out the clay-sized fraction you get a much greatly magnified 



14 signal; you might say signal-to-noise ratio. So, there was definite 



15 evidence of accumulation of drilling-fluid solids based on the barium 



16 data and also there were observations of drilling cuttings, coarse, 



17 angular particles in the sediments. 



18 There was a general trend over time for the incremental barium to 



19 move away from the platforms, especially in the site-specific array that 



20 I just showed you over time, again indicating a migration of these, 



21 resuspension, redeposition, and dilution. 



22 I believe Mike showed evidence of a half-time per washout of 



23 barium of about half a year, .4 years, I believe it was. So there was 



24 a chemical signal in the environment. 



25 There was little or no evidence of hydrocarbon accumulation in the 



26 sediments. Jim Payne from SAIC did the hydrocarbon work. The platform 



27 in block 132 obliged us by using diesel in their drilling fluid and 



28 discharging approximately 1,600 liters of diesel fuel in their drilling 

 29, fluids. 



30 There was some indication of a slight signal right at that time 



31 near that platform, but that pretty much was obscured by the natural 



32 background which is approximately 1/10 ppm. So, there was an increment 



33 maybe to 2/10 or .5, and then that went away fairly quickly. 



97 



