ACCESS NUMBER: M03PC00014

STUDY TITLE: Task 1: The Continuation of Arctic Nearshore Impact Monitoring in the Development 

Area (cANIMIDA) Project Core Contractor Project Management, Logistics, Database, 

and Reporting 

REPORT TITLE: Continuation of the Arctic Nearshore Impact Monitoring in the Development Area 

(cANIMIDA): Synthesis, 1999-2007 

CONTRACT NUMBER: M03PC00014 

SPONSORING OCS REGION: Alaska 

APPLICABLE PLANNING AREA: Beaufort Sea 

FISCAL YEARS OF PROJECT FUNDING: FY2003-FY2008 

COMPLETION DATE OF REPORT: December 2010 

COSTS BY FY: FY 2003 $100,000; FY 2004 $165,148; FY 2005 $362,480; FY 2006 $728,387; FY 2007 

$143,542; FY 2008 $301,470 

CUMULATIVE PROJECT COST: $1,801,027 

 

PROJECT MANAGER: Gregory S. Durell 

AFFILIATION: Battelle 

ADDRESS: 397 Washington St., Duxbury, MA 02332

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Jerry M. Neff 

KEY WORDS: Monitoring, BSMP,ANIMIDA, cANIMIDA, Beaufort Sea, Trace Metals, Hydrocarbons, 

Sediments, Marine Invertebrates, Marine and Anadromous Fish, Boulder Patch, Subsistence Bowhead 

Whaling, Northstar, Liberty, Prudhoe Bay, Bioaccumulation 

BACKGROUND: 

BOEMRE has sponsored three major environmental effects monitoring projects in the Beaufort Sea: the 

Beaufort Sea Monitoring Program (BSMP) (1984 - 1989); the Arctic Nearshore Impact Monitoring in the 

Development Area (ANIMIDA) Project (1999 - 2002); and the Continuation of the Arctic Nearshore Impact 

Monitoring in the Development Area (cANIMIDA) Project (2004 - 2007). The objective of this report is to 

summarize and integrate the results of the ANIMIDA and cANIMIDA Projects, including background 

information from BSMP. 

OBJECTIVES: 

The primary objectives of the ANIMIDA and cANIMIDA Projects were to monitor and characterize the 

marine environment of the Northstar and Liberty prospect and production areas in order to evaluate 

potential and actual effects of these offshore oil developments on the marine environment of the Alaskan 

Beaufort Sea. The sampling locations are indicated in Table 1. 

DESCRIPTION: 

The cANIMIDA Project is divided into six technical tasks, each of which is a continuation or extension of 

one or more ANIMIDA Project tasks. 

Task 2: Hydrocarbon and Metal Characterization of Sediments in the ANIMIDA Study 

Area (continuation of parts of ANIMIDA Task 2) 
ACCESS NUMBER: M03PC00014

Task 3: Sources, Concentrations and Dispersion Pathways for Suspended Sediment in the cANIMIDA 

Study Area (continuation of parts of ANIMIDA Task 5), and 

Task 4: Partitioning of Potential Contaminants between Dissolved and Particulate Phases in the 

cANIMIDA Study Area (continuation of parts of ANIMIDA Task 7). 

Task 5: Integrated Biomonitoring and Bioaccumulation of Contaminants in Biota of the cANIMIDA Study

Area (continuation of parts of ANIMIDA Task 2 and Task 8). 

Task 6: Monitoring the Boulder Patch as Part of the cANIMIDA Project (continuation of ANIMIDA Task 6). 

Task 7: Continuation of Annual Assessment of Subsistence Bowhead Whaling Near Cross Island as part 

of the cANIMIDA Project (continuation of ANIMIDA Task 4). 

Figure 1. Locations of BSMP, Northstar, and Liberty stations sampled in the cANIMIDA Program in 

relation to exploratory drilling sites and production facilities. Cross Island is the staging area for the fall 

Nuiqsut bowhead whale hunt. The Boulder Patch is east of the Tern/Liberty area. 

SIGNIFICANT CONCLUSIONS: 

About 90% of the annual transport of total suspended solids (TSS) from the Sagavanirktok, Kuparuk, and 

Colville Rivers occurs during the spring floods. The similarity of metal/Al ratios in suspended sediments 

from the rivers and in Beaufort Sea sediments provides strong support for the hypotheses that river 

particles are a key source of metals in sediments of the Beaufort Sea development area. Hydrocarbons, 

including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), in Beaufort Sea water and sediments also are derived 

primarily from the influx of river suspended particles, particularly eroding peat and kerogen. The 

suspended sediments and dissolved and particulate metals and hydrocarbons are at background 

concentrations in surface waters of the development area. There are no detectable associations between 

Northstar development activities and metals and hydrocarbon concentrations and compositions in 
ACCESS NUMBER: M03PC00014

sediments and marine animals throughout the development area. Oil development activities in the 

Alaskan Beaufort Sea are not contributing ecologically important amounts of petroleum hydrocarbons, 

including toxic PAH, and metals to the near-shore marine food web of the development area. 

Offshore oil and gas operations could affect the Boulder Patch community and the Cross Island fall 

bowhead whale hunt if they cause increases in TSS concentrations in the water column during the 

summer open water season or if they introduce large amounts of metals and hydrocarbons into the local 

food web. There is no indication that this has happened during development and oil production at the 

Northstar facility. Concentrations of TSS in the water column and of metals and hydrocarbons in 

sediments, fish, and benthic invertebrates are in the range of background concentration and similar in the 

Boulder Patch, a short distance east of the Liberty prospect, near the Northstar production facility, and 

elsewhere in the development area, including areas where Cross Island whalers scout for bowhead 

whales. 

STUDY RESULTS: 

As much as 80% of the annual discharge of water and 90% of the annual transport of TSS from the 

Sagavanirktok, Kuparuk and Colville River occurs during the spring floods in late May and early June. 

The river discharges also delivered large amounts of particulate organic carbon (POC), dissolved organic 

carbon (DOC), and dissolved and particulate metals and hydrocarbons to the coastal Beaufort Sea. 

 No significant differences were found in 2004, 2005, and 2006 in concentrations of TSS and dissolved 

and particulate trace metals in surface water near the Northstar production facility relative to the overall 

cANIMIDA study area that could be attributed to oil and gas operations. All concentrations were at 

background levels and below concentrations that could harm marine ecosystems. 

The hydrocarbon composition of typical river sediment samples indicate mixed petroleum, combustion, 

and biogenic sources. Much of the hydrocarbons in nearshore water and sediments are derived from peat 

eroding from massive North Slope deposits into the rivers or from coastal cliffs. There is no evidence of 

hydrocarbons from Northstar crude oil in the Beaufort Sea. 

Mean total PAH concentrations in marine invertebrates and fish collected in the BSMP, Northstar, and 

Liberty areas between 1999 and 2006 were similar to or lower than concentrations in the same or similar 

species from clean coastal waters elsewhere in the world and well below concentrations that would 

represent a health risk to marine animals and the animals, including man, that might consume them. The 

hydrocarbons in tissues of benthic invertebrates from the development area are derived in part from DOC 

and POC entering the Beaufort Sea from nearby rivers, as well as the Mackenzie River, and from coastal 

erosion. Contributions from the development of and oil production from the Northstar facility are low. 

Concentrations of 18 metals in tissues of several species of fish and marine invertebrates collected in the 

BSMP, Northstar, and Liberty areas were similar in all sampling years between 1986 and 2006. Metals 

concentrations were in the range reported for the same or similar species from other locations throughout 

the world and are below concentrations that would pose a health risk to the marine animals or their 

consumers, including man. There is no evidence that metals from the development and production 

activities at Northstar are entering the Beaufort Sea food web. 

Arctic kelp integrates dynamic ecosystem characteristics, such as water transparency in the Stefansson 

Sound Boulder Patch. Years characterized by frequent storm activity have decreased water transparency 

that may have significant impacts on annual kelp growth and production. However, there is no evidence 

that offshore development activities in the Northstar and Liberty areas are resulting in ecologically 

significant decreases on water clarity in the water column of the Boulder Patch. 

 

Nuiqsut whalers, who use Cross Island as a base of operations for the fall bowhead whale hunt, noted 

few if any direct effects of the Northstar production facility on their whaling activities, except that they 

avoided scouting for whales near Northstar. The most important factors affecting the success of the whale 

hunt included stormy weather, ice drift into nearshore waters, and unexplained differences from year to 

year in the time of arrival, numbers, and distance from shore of bowhead whales. 
ACCESS NUMBER: M03PC00014

STUDY PRODUCTS: 

cANIMIDA Data Management Platform 

A Web site for the management of and access to the ANIMIDA and cANIMIDA field and analytical data, 

and a repository for the Program reports and other documents. 

http://www.duxbury.battelle.org/CANIMIDA/ 

Technical Reports 

Neff, J. 2010. Continuation of the Arctic Nearshore Impact Monitoring in the Development Area 

(cANIMIDA): Synthesis, 1999-2007. cANIMIDA Task 1 Final Report. OCS Study BOEMRE 2010-032. 

Contract No. M03PC00014, Submitted to U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management, Regulation, and Enforcement, Alaska OCS Region, Anchorage, AK, December, 2010. 

Publications 

Journal article in preparation: 

Sources, distribution, and bioaccumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in the oil and gas 

exploration and development area of the Alaskan Beaufort Sea. (will be submitted to Chemosphere).