1 DR. GRASSLE: Yes, referring to this later category rather than to 



2 something more specific. 



3 DR. KRAEUTER: See spills/blow-outs, progressing to that category. 



4 DR. RAY: With regards to your "shallow water" comment, Don, you 



5 know, in the 9 feet of water, you know, out to about 100 meters, you 



6 were able to measure hydrocarbons in sediments; in 35 feet of water, you 



7 were down to near 20 meters. 



8 In the Buccaneer Field [correct name?] study in 70 some feet of 



9 water, you were having a hard time saying anything about produced water 



10 contamination in the bottom sediment, so it appears with depth, you are 



11 very quickly getting away from it. 



12 DR. AURAND: Yes. Personally, I wouldn't expect to see anything 



13 here, but it's never been looked at that I know of in these water 



14 depths, S0-- 



15 DR. RAY: You're right. 



16 DR. AURAND:--it's possible that right near the platform, you could 



17 find some. It would probably depend on the density of the plume that 



18 came out, for how far it might get. 



19 DR. RAY: Even in the case of the density due to salinity, you get 



20 200 meters below and that salinity is going to be background to sea 



21 water salinity wherever it exceeds 200 meters. We see it get--even in 



22 shallower waters, we don't see much of a salinity with distance. 



23 DR. AURAND: On gas condensate blow-outs, unless you want to say 



24 something else about oil, I know of one paper which I think actually was 



25 sent to you, Pat, at one point about one study of a gas blow-out in the 



26 North Sea. That is the only one I know of and the impacts there were 



27 not all that great. 



28 MS. HUGHES: There are a couple of studies available, done in 



29 Canada. 



30 DR. AURAND: There was one in the North Sea. 



31 MS. HUGHES: One was done by, I think, Mobil Canada. 



32 DR. AURAND: On gas blow-outs? 



33 MS. HUGHES: Yes. Actually, there were at least two--I haven't 



34 seen them in the scientific 1 iterature--two reports of studies done on 



334 



