1 What happens to it after that is another question, but there is 



2 not that initial dispersal mechanism which is operating on the shelf in 



3 the canyon. I just called that confined extent. 



4 Second, it seemed like from Barbara's presentation that there are 



5 a number of special fauna in the canyon. I don't know what data there 



6 is on toxicity studies on those species versus the species on the shelf. 



7 Those are the two things that occurred to me and there may be 



8 others, but at least the confined area extent is one thing about the 



9 physical modeling of where material is going. It is the biggest 



10 difference. It is going to make it tough to generalize from previous 



11 studies. 



12 DR. RAY: In the discussions, you know, I think we ought to look 



13 at scenarios. One is a scenario where if your initial discharge was 



14 into the confines of the canyon, that is one case like you are talking 



15 about. 



16 The other one I think needs to be a part of the discussion is a 



17 discharge at some distance away from the initial axis of a canyon, in 



18 other words, where the material would have to come across the shelf 



19 before entering that canyon. 



20 In fact, in the future, even if we could drill in a canyon, there 



21 may be no drilling, per se, in the canyon. 



22 DR. BUTMAN: In the axis. 



23 DR. RAY: The question is--and the regulatory agency is faced with 



24 a decision to make by all these stipulations. The stipulation is: How 



25 close do we allow discharge? I think that's a more practical, real 



26 question, although we should address both, than just the question of 



27 whether or not we dump it right in the middle of the axis of the canyon. 



28 I think we need to consider both later today when we have our 



29 discussions. I think they are both important. 



30 DR. BUTMAN: I agree. It also makes a big difference whether you 



31 dilute it and discharge it at the surface, even if you are discharging 



32 right at the canyon, whether you discharge it at the surface or shunt it 



33 to the bottom. It will make a big difference how you do that. 



206 



