ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



When the Avgo Merchant ran aground, there was virtually no organized 

 plan for conducting research on the spilled oil with the exception of an 

 outline plan of NOAA/Coast Guard Spilled Oil Research Program funded by the 

 Bureau of Land Management, Department of Interior. As the word of the 

 potential disaster got around by phone calls and the news media, people, 

 agencies, and institutions volunteered their services and responded to 

 requests for help. Within a few days a coherent research plan specific to 

 the Argo Merchant was put together by participating scientists and implemented. 

 This plan focused on gathering data to improve models that predict spilled oil 

 behavior and on assessing the impact of oil on the local biological communi- 

 ties. The speed of response by the many agencies involved and the resources 

 that were brought to bear on the problem was amazing. Planes, ships, and 

 facilities were diverted from their normal scheduled tasks to aid in the 

 emergency. 



This report was assembled from the contributions made by the numerous 

 government agencies, private and state institutions, and industrial groups 

 involved in assessing the fate and impact of the Argo Merchant oil. The 

 broad spectrum of talent which participated in the research is overwhelming, 

 as can be seen by a glance at Appendix I. Many of the participants voluntar- 

 ily gave up their vacations and altered their holiday plans to help in the 

 investigation. For the last 2 months many of these same people have been 

 working day and night, not only to collect data for research but also to 

 analyze them and present them in preliminary form. This document witnesses 

 the unselfish efforts of these people. 



Some individuals deserve special credit for their part in producing this 

 report: Carolyn Rogers who served as the contact and assembled the material 

 from the National Marine Fisheries Service; Eva Hoffman who served in the same 

 capacity from the University of Rhode Island; Elaine Chan of the Spilled Oil 

 Research Team, whose tireless capacity for recording events and statistics 

 prevented many items of research from being lost during the hectic times of 

 the contingency operations; John Mugler, Jr., of NASA Langley Research Center, 

 who coordinated NASA's efforts. Kathy Kidwell of EDS generated most of the 

 graphics both for the draft preliminary report and this report. Rosalie Red- 

 mond from the NOAA Environmental Research Laboratories not only spent a 

 grueling 2 weeks working around the clock typing the draft preliminary report, 

 but she also gave up her vacation to come to Cape Cod immediately after 

 Christmas, leaving her family behind to do so. Finally, Kate Bradley, 

 Gloria Thompson, and Clemmie Edwards gave up their off duty time to retype 

 the draft report to incorporate numerous changes and revisions into the final 

 manuscript. 



