The ecological, chemical and histopathological evaluation of an oil spill site

I. Ecological studies. In the spring of 1971, an oil spill from a U.S. Air Force storage facility contaminated Long Cove, Searsport, Me., and studies showed that this resulted in immediate and continuing mortalities of soft clams in the area. It was estimated that by August 1974 the mortality amounted to more than 85 per cent of the market-size clams occupying the area. II. Chemical studies. Chromatographic analysis of the spilled oil was used to identify the source. Samples of sediment from animal collection sites were found to contain significant quantities of petroleum hydrocarbons. Typical chromatograms and tabulated data from the analyses are given. III. Histopathological studies. In July 1971, when about 25 per cent of the clams in Long Cove had been killed by the oil spill, surviving clams were collected for histopathological examination. These and continuing studies showed a high incidence of gonadal tumours in clams contaminated by the oil; the highest incidence of tumours was related to the area of greatest oil impact. The tumours were found to be malignant neoplasms.