Table 6-1. Weight Percent of Selected Aromatic 
Hydrocarbons in Fuel Oils. 
Naphthalene 
Naphthalenes 
Ci-Phenanthrenes 
C2‘Phenanthrenes 
API No. 2 Fuel Oil 
(Present Study) 
V 
2.0 ± 0.3 
0.24 ± .02 
0.23 ± .03 
API No. 2 Fuel Oil 
(Warner, Ref. 1 7) 
0.40 
2.7 
0.27 
0.19 
Bouchard Barge No. 65 
No. 2 Fuel Oil Spilled 
October, 1974. 
Buzzards Bay, Mass. 
0.17 ± .01 
0.95 ± .05 
0.37 ± .02 
0.33 ± .04 
(Figure 6-1) and a sheen of oil with accompanying fuel oil odor was present in 
some marsh and intertidal areas of the cove. We selected two sites for a small 
study of the long-term fate of this fuel oil in sediments; a marsh area and an 
intertidal area. The locations of these sites were carefully recorded, and cores 
have been taken every fall in October, and every spring in May or June since 
October, 1974. We did not intend, nor do we pretend, to offer an in-depth 
study of the geographical extent of the spill or long-term fate at several stations 
as was conducted for the West Falmouth oil spill (2, 3, 5). Funding, manpower, 
laboratory space and other commitments to oil pollution research prevented 
such a study. Also, it was our understanding that Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts laboratories were conducting a survey of the geographical 
extent, and long-term fate of the oil. 
Our intent was to compare the long-term fate of the oil at the two locations 
described, with earlier studies of the West Falmouth oil spill. In essence, there 
was a near duplicate experiment in progress. The West Falmouth oil spill 
involved No. 2 fuel oil spilled in late September, 1969 a few miles away from 
where the Bouchard Barge No. 65 spilled No. 2 fuel oil in October, 1974 
(Figure 6-1). Was the West Falmouth oil spill really unique with respect to 
longevity of the spilled oil in marsh and intertidal sediments as some have 
suggested? This was the primary focus of our investigation. The complete set of 
data of our study will be presented elsewhere. We have applied the GC-MF 
technique to a set of marsh cores from October, 1974 and May, 1975. This 
data is presented in Table 6-2. Note that the concentrations of aromatic 
hydrocarbons in the 14-18 or 15-20 cm core section are the concentrations 
present in marsh sediments prior to the spill. The concentrations of aromatic 
hydrocarbons in the surface sediments, 0-6 cm and 0-5 cm, clearly show at 
least two orders of magnitude elevation in concentration as a result of the fuel 
oil spill; and elevated concentrations are still present in May, 1975 although 
they have decreased by a factor of about 5 to 6. The longevity of the aromatic 
hydrocarbons in the marsh sediment is still under investigation. 
70 
