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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

CONTRACT NUMBER: 1435-o1-99-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:

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.
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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 (SIT),

metals, grain size, and total organic carbon (TOC). The sediment core samples were also analyzed for

radionuclides for age-dating. This report also presents surlicial 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.

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 surf icial 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 PAH5), 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
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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, TI, 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 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. 5. 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.

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,

USD01, 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 A. 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, USD01, MMS, Alaska OCS

Region.

*pIs affiliation may be different than that listed for Project Manager(s).

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