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STUDY TITLE: Arctic Nearshore Impact Monitoring in the Development Area 

(ANIMIDA) Program Phase II – Hydrocarbon and Metal Characterization of Sediments, 

Bivalves, and Amphipods in the ANIMIDA Study Area 

REPORT TITLE: ANIMIDA Task 2: Hydrocarbon and Metal Characterization of 

Sediments, Bivalves and Amphipods in the ANIMIDA Study Area, Special Report and 

Final Report 

CONTRACT NUMBER: 1435-01-99-CT-30998; TASK ORDER (TO): 10902 

SPONSORING OCS REGION: Alaska 

APPLICABLE PLANNING AREA: Beaufort Sea 

FISCAL YEARS OF PROJECT FUNDING: FY 2000-FY2003 

COMPLETION DATE OF REPORT: July 2005 

COSTS BY FY: FY 2000: $150,000; FY 2001: $100,000; FY 2002: $237,754; FY 2003: 

49,505 

CUMULATIVE PROJECT COST: $537,259 

PROJECT MANAGER: John S. Brown 

AFFILIATION: Battelle Coastal Resources and Environmental Management (CREM) 

ADDRESS: Battelle Coastal Resources and Environmental Management (CREM), 255 

Bear Hill Road, 4th Floor, Waltham, MA 02451 

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS*: John S. Brown and John Trefry 

KEY WORDS: ANIMIDA, nearshore Beaufort Sea, amphipods, bivalves, PAH, 

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, monitoring, Northstar, Liberty, trace metals, 

sediments 

BACKGROUND: 

The Arctic Nearshore Impact Monitoring in Development Area (ANIMIDA), a five-year 

study started in 1999, has provided baseline data and monitoring results for chemical 

contamination, turbidity, and subsistence whaling in the vicinity of Northstar and Liberty 

development sites. Northstar is in State waters, but includes production of some OCS 

oil through directional drilling. This Task Order sought to determine whether trace 

substances of concern are being accumulated by in sediments and their biota. 

OBJECTIVES: 
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Characterize the sediments near ongoing and proposed offshore oil development 

related to potential contaminants, in order to detect changes or impacts from oil 

development. This Task was a continuation of the ANIMIDA Phase I organic and 

inorganic chemistry monitoring program. The specific objectives of the chemistry 

monitoring program included: 

• Perform annual field studies (Fiscal Years [FYs] 1999 - 2002) to monitor 

sediment and/or biota chemistry in the nearshore Beaufort Sea, focusing on potential 

contaminant inputs from the Northstar development. 

• Coordinate chemistry monitoring coupled with other ANIMIDA Phase II tasks 

(biology, sediment transport), and with ANIMIDA-coordinated studies (e.g.; physical 

oceanography). 

• Perform organic and inorganic chemical analyses and analysis of data to 

document any incremental input of contaminants. 

DESCRIPTION: 

The study design for Phase II built on the Phase I design and involved several 

components: 

• Design of a site-specific radial array sampling grid around each development 

centroid 

• Selection of area-wide stations that had previously been sampled as part of the 

MMS Beaufort Sea Monitoring Program 

• Location and sampling of reference stations 

• Identification of source samples for collection (e.g. river sediments) 

• Addition of Phase II sampling stations along the pipeline route. 

As part of ANIMIDA Phase II, surficial sediment samples were collected from the 

ANIMIDA study area during the summers of 2000 and 2002 and sediment core samples 

were collected during the summer of 2001. All samples were analyzed for PAH, 

saturated hydrocarbons (SHC), steranes/triterpanes (S/T), metals, grain size, and total 

organic carbon (TOC). The sediment core samples were also analyzed for 

radionuclides for age-dating. This report also presents surficial sediment sample data 

collected in the 1980’s as part of the BSMP and in 1999 as part of ANIMIDA Phase I. 

SIGNIFICANT CONCLUSIONS: 

Phase II sampling efforts began with the summer 2000 field survey and proceeded 

through the summer of 2002. Phase I sampling was conducted during the summer of 

1999. During this period, construction of the Northstar Island and pipeline was 

completed in 2000 and production of oil began 2001. 

Overall, the results of the ANIMIDA Phase I and II, Task 2 effort indicated that no 

significant contaminant inputs from Northstar development activities were detected and 

that any observed changes in the monitored environmental conditions were well within 

the natural variability of the study area. At the same time, the results, coupled to 

increased knowledge of the chemistry of natural sources of hydrocarbons and metals, 

indicated that the monitoring and data interpretation approaches as designed are very 

sensitive to changes and that if inputs were to occur, the measurement systems set in 

place would be powerful and sensitive enough to detect such inputs. 
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STUDY RESULTS: 

Grain Size. The most important finding derived from the grain size data is that 

sediments in many locations throughout the ANIMIDA study area are regularly shifting 

and that the sediment grain sizes found during one year may shift prior to sampling 

during a subsequent year. Thus, techniques that normalize sediment chemistry to 

account for differences in grain size need to be used. 

Hydrocarbons. In contrast to a crude oil composition, the surficial sediments in the 

Northstar area and indeed for the whole region exhibit a mixture of primarily terrestrial 

biogenic hydrocarbons and lower levels of petroleum hydrocarbons. The PAH 

distributions for most of the surficial sediments show that the PAHs are primarily of a 

combined fossil fuel origin (i.e., petroleum and coal) with a biogenic component 

(perylene), and lesser contributions of pyrogenic or combustion-related compounds 

(e.g., 4-, 5-, and 6-ring PAHs). The petrogenic PAHs account for approximately 90 

percent of the Total PAH less perylene throughout the study area. Perylene was 

abundant in surficial sediments, often the most abundant single PAH compound in the 

overall PAH distribution. 

Concentrations of hydrocarbons in the sediments adjacent to Northstar and Liberty are 

generally within the observed historical range for these parameters in the overall study 

area. Background concentrations of Total PAHs (a sum of 2 to 6 ringed parent and 

alkylated PAHs) in recent Alaskan surficial sediment studies range from <10 parts per 

billion (ppb) to 1000 ppb. Typically PAH profiles indicate significant levels of a fossil 

fuel-type signature, which appears to be sourced in organics shales brought to the 

sediments from river runoff and coastal peat. PAH compositional results (i.e., 

petrogenic PAHs vs. pyrogenic PAHs), illustrate no significant changes in PAH 

composition year over year related to Northstar construction and production activities. 

As with the pre-construction (1999) data, the amphipods (Anonyx) and clams (Astarte 

sp.) indicate that hydrocarbons in the sediment system are not readily bioavailable as 

these species exhibit little ability to bioaccumulate saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons 

from sediment or from the overlying water column. PAH levels are very low, showing 

consistent concentrations of contaminants over time in the study area. 

Trace Metals. Concentrations of metals in sediment help identify spatial and temporal 

trends in the distribution of potential anthropogenic chemicals. Fourteen metals (Ag, 

As, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sb, Tl, V and Zn) were analyzed in sediment from 

this study because of their potential as pollutants. Four other metals (Al, Fe, Ba, and 

Mn) were included in the study as indicator metals because they provide insight to 

sediment composition (Al in clays and Fe in iron oxide coatings), the presence of drilling 

discharges (Ba in barite, a common additive in drilling fluids), and sediment redox 

conditions (Mn, a redox-sensitive metal). 

Concentrations of all trace metals in sediment from all study years have been plotted 

versus Al. Each plot has been fit with a linear regression line and a 99% prediction 
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interval. These plots serve as templates for identifying past and future metal 

contamination. Each plot reveals a consistent pattern of Al versus metal for the study 

period. For example, the Al versus Cr plot shows that all data points fit the 99% 

prediction interval very well and thus no anthropogenic inputs of Cr to the study area 

were encountered. The graph for Al versus Ba shows a reasonably good fit for most of 

the data; however, several data points plot at more than 10% above the upper 

prediction interval. The anomalous points were from sites where minor inputs of Ba via 

runoff from land operations or from activity at Northstar Island or as remnants of prior 

exploratory drilling may have occurred, as explained in the report. A few other 

instances of slightly elevated levels of Hg, Ag, Sb and Zn were found in a total of ~10 

instances or only 0.8% of the >1200 data points for metals in sediment. Although these 

various anomalies are minor, and are generally identified at low levels of Al, they do 

support the sensitivity of Al versus Ba graphs and help identify locations where future 

monitoring efforts can be focused. 

The data for 1999, 2000 and 2002 for Ba, Cd, Cu, Pb, V, and Zn in Anonyx as well as 

the other trace metals show marked similarity among years and no influence of 

anthropogenic input from the Northstar development. Overall, the metal data for the 

amphipods provide a useful baseline for monitoring shifts in concentrations over time. 

STUDY PRODUCTS: 

Brown, J. S. 2005. ANIMIDA Task 2 Hydrocarbon and Metal Characterization of 

Sediments, Bivalves and Amphipods in the ANIMIDA Study Area. OCS Study MMS 

2004-024. Final Report 1435-01-99-CT-30998, TO 10902. Prepared by Battelle for 

Minerals Management Service Alaska OCS Region. Anchorage, AK. 

Brown, J. S.; Boehm, P. D.; Cook, L. L.; and J. H. Trefry. 2004. ANIMIDA Task 2 

Hydrocarbon and Metal Characterization of Sediment Cores in the ANIMIDA Study 

Area. OCS Study MMS 2004-023. Special Report 1435-01-99-CT-30998, TO 

10902. Prepared by Battelle for Minerals Management Service Alaska OCS Region. 

Anchorage, AK. 

Brown, J. S.; Boehm, P. D.; and L. L. Cook. 2003. Hydrocarbon Chemistry of 

Sediments and Biota in the Nearshore Beaufort Sea. In: Alaska OCS Region Ninth 

Information Transfer Meeting And Barrow Information Update Meeting Final 

Proceedings, OCS Study MMS 2003-42, p. 22. Prepared by MBC Applied 

Environmental Sciences. Anchorage, AK.: United States, DOI, MMS, Alaska OCS 

Region. 

Brown, J. S.; Boehm, P. D.; and L. L. Cook. 2003. The ANIMIDA Program. 

Hydrocarbon Chemistry of Sediments & Biota in the Nearshore Beaufort Sea 

[Abstract]. SETAC 24th Annual Meeting in North America. Austin, TX, SETAC. 

Trefry, J. H.; Rember, R. D.; Trocine, R. P.; and J. S. Brown . 2003. Trace Metals in 

Sediments near Offshore Oil Exploration and Production Sites in the Alaskan Arctic. 

Environmental Geology 45: 149-60. 
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Trocine, R. P.; Trefry, J. H.; and R. D. Rember. 2003. Trace Metals in Sediments near 

Oil Development Sites in the Coastal Beaufort Sea [abstract]. SETAC 24th Annual 

Meeting in North America. Austin, TX, SETAC. 

Brown, J.S.; Boehm, P. D.; and L. L. Cook. 2001. ANIMIDA: Hydrocarbon Chemistry 

of Sediments and Biota in the Nearshore Beaufort Sea. MBC Applied Environmental 

Sciences. Alaska OCS Region Eighth Information Transfer Meeting Proceedings. 

OCS Study MMS 2001-049, p. 28. Anchorage, USDOI, MMS, Alaska OCS Region. 

Brown, J. S., Boehm, P. D., and L. L. Cook. 2001. The Minerals Management Service 

ANIMIDA Program: Hydrocarbon Chemistry of Sediments and Biota in the 

Nearshore Beaufort Sea [Abstract]. Society of Environmental Toxicology and 

Chemistry -- 22nd Annual Meeting. Washington, DC, SETAC. 

Trefry, J. H., Trocine, R. P., and R. D. Rember. 2001. ANIMIDA: Trace Metals in the 

ANIMIDA Study Area. MBC Applied Environmental Sciences. Alaska OCS Region 

Eighth Information Transfer Meeting Proceedings. OCS Study MMS 2001-049, p. 

30. Anchorage, USDOI, MMS, Alaska OCS Region. 

*P.I.’s affiliation may be different than that listed for Project Manager(s). 

Focus area for Arctic Nearshore Impact Monitoring in the Development Area 

(ANIMIDA) Program. 
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Study Area 

P1 

.

 

. E1

Map showing the western portion of the coastal Beaufort Sea with inset maps of

Alaska, the oil production site at Northstar Island and a possible future drilling

site at Liberty Prospect. The ANIMIDA study focused mainly on the area shown 

in the shaded box.