DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION, STATE OF FLORIDA SUGAR CANE GROWERS COOPERATIVE OF ) FLORIDA, a Florida Agricultural ) Cooperative Marketing Association, ) CASE NOS. 92-3038 ROTH FARMS, INC., and ) 92-3039 WEDGWORTH FARMS, INC., ) 92-3040 ) and ) ) FLORIDA SUGAR CANE LEAGUE, INC.; ) UNITED STATES SUGAR CORPORATION; ) ) and )______________________ ) FLORIDA FRUIT AND VEGETABLE ) DEPOSITION ASSOCIATION, LEWIS POPE FARMS, ) W.E. SCHLECHTER & SONS, INC., ) OF and HUNDLEY FARMS, INC., ) )DR. ELIZABETH A. HENRY Petitioners, )______________________ ) vs. ) ) SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT ) DISTRICT, an Agency of the State ) of Florida, ) ) Respondent, ) ) and ) ) MICCOSUKEE TRIBE OF INDIANS OF ) FLORIDA, the UNITED STATES OF ) AMERICA, and FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ) ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION, The ) FLORIDA WILDLIFE FEDERATION, The ) FLORIDA AUDUBON SOCIETY, and The ) SIERRA CLUB, ) Intervenors. ) ___________________________________) AT DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA MARCH 29, 1994 REPORTED BY: CAROLYN Y. HALL & ASSOCIATES DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 2 APPEARANCES: SUGARCANE GROWERS COOPERATIVE OF FLORIDA, ROTH FARMS, INC. AND WEDGWORTH FARMS, INC. MR. GARY P. SAMS HOPPING, BOYD, GREEN & SAMS 123 SOUTH CALHOUN STREET TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA 32314 TELEPHONE: (904) 222-7500 FOR RESPONDENT-INTERVENOR: MS. LISA B. HOGAN ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA 99 NORTHEAST 4TH STREET THIRD FLOOR MIAMI, FLORIDA 33132 TELEPHONE: (305) 536-5266 ALSO PRESENT: DR. RONALD JONES DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 3 T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S E X A M I N A T I O N I N D E X DEPONENT - DR. ELIZABETH A. HENRY - 3/29/94 EXAMINATION: PAGES EXAMINATION BY MS. HOGAN 4-225 ------------------------------------------------------- E X H I B I T S I N D E X NUMBER DESCRIPTION MARKED (EXHIBITS NUMBER 1 - 20 WERE MARKED DURING THE TAKING OF THE DEPOSITION OF DR. ELIZABETH A. HENRY, MARCH 29, 1994.) ------------------------------------------------------- SIGNATURE PAGE FOR DEPONENT 226 CERTIFICATION OF COURT REPORTER 227 DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 4 STIPULATIONS ON MOTION OF COUNSEL FOR THE SOUTH FLORIDA MANAGEMENT DISTRICT, THE DEPOSITION OF DR. ELIZABETH A. HENRY MAY BE TAKEN BEGINNING AT OR AROUND 9:00 A.M. ON MARCH 29, 1994, AT THE HILTON HOTEL, 3800 HILLSBOROUGH ROAD, THE WALKER SUITE, DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA, AND WAS REPORTED BY CAROLYN Y. HALL & ASSOCIATES. THE SIGNATURE OF THE WITNESS TO THE TRANSCRIPT OF HER TESTIMONY IS HEREBY REQUIRED. - - - - - - - - - - - WHEREUPON, ELIZABETH A. HENRY, Ph.D., HAVING FIRST BEEN DULY SWORN, WAS EXAMINED AND TESTIFIED AS FOLLOWS: EXAMINATION BY MS. HOGAN: Q. MY NAME IS LISA HOGAN, AND I REPRESENT THE UNITED STATES IN THESE PROCEEDINGS. I'M GOING TO ASK YOU A SERIES OF QUESTIONS TO GET AN IDEA OF WHAT YOUR OPINIONS AT TRIAL WILL BE IN THIS MATTER. IF YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND ANY OF MY QUESTIONS, LET ME KNOW; I'LL TRY TO REPHRASE THEM FOR YOU. I'LL ASSUME THAT IF YOU ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THEN YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I'VE ASKED YOU. OKAY? A. OKAY. DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 5 Q. ALL RIGHT. CAN YOU STATE YOUR FULL NAME AND YOUR BUSINESS ADDRESS? A. ELIZABETH ANN HENRY, 1086 MORNINGSIDE AVENUE, SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, 12309. Q. OKAY. WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT? A. PTI ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES. Q. AND WHAT IS YOUR POSITION THERE? A. I'M A SENIOR SCIENTIST. Q. AND WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? A. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? IT MEANS I'M A -- I HAVE A Ph.D. I'VE BEEN WITH THE FIRM FOR TWO YEARS, AND I'M A SENIOR -- I THINK IT'S THE HIGHEST LEVEL SCIENTIST THERE IS IN THE COMPANY--- Q. ALL RIGHT. A. ---BEFORE YOU GET INTO MANAGEMENT. Q. HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR AREA OF EXPERTISE? A. I'VE BEEN SPECIALIZING IN MERCURY CYCLING FOR THE LAST -- LET'S SEE, '88 -- SIX YEARS. SPECIFICALLY, MY TRAINING'S BEEN IN MICROBIOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, AND THE FOCUS HAS BEEN ON MERCURY CYCLING. Q. WHAT PORTION OF YOUR SPECIALIZATION IN MERCURY OCCURRED WHILE YOU WERE A GRADUATE STUDENT? A. IN GRADUATE SCHOOL, I STUDIED MERCURY METHYLATION BY SULFATE-REDUCING BACTERIA AND THE ROLE DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 6 OF SULFATE-REDUCING BACTERIA IN ENVIRONMENTAL MERCURY METHYLATION, BOTH IN LABORATORY STUDIES WITH PURE CULTURES OF BACTERIA AND IN FIELD STUDIES LOOKING AT METHYLATION RATES AND SULFATE-REDUCTION RATES IN LAKE SEDIMENTS. Q. OKAY. HAVE YOU EVER TESTIFIED AT TRIAL BEFORE? A. NO, I HAVE NOT. Q. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN DEPOSED BEFORE? A. NO, I HAVE NOT. Q. ALL RIGHT. IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR DEPOSITION WHICH IS BEING TAKEN TODAY, YOU WERE SERVED WITH A NOTICE OF TAKING DEPOSITION - DUCES TECUM. IS THIS THE NOTICE THAT YOU WERE SERVED WITH? (THEREUPON, WITNESS REVIEWS DOCUMENT.) A. YES, IT LOOKS LIKE THE NOTICE. MS. HOGAN: OKAY. I'D LIKE TO HAVE THIS FIRST DOCUMENT MARKED AS EXHIBIT NO. 1. (THEREUPON, THE DOCUMENT REFERRED TO ABOVE WAS MARKED AS DEFENDANT'S EXHIBIT NO. 1 - ELIZABETH A. HENRY DEPOSITION - FOR IDENTIFICATION.) (THEREUPON, THERE WAS AN OFF-THE-RECORD DISCUSSION WHICH WAS NOT REPORTED DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 7 BY THE COURT REPORTER.) Q. (BY MS. HOGAN) ALL RIGHT. ON PAGE SIX OF YOUR NOTICE IS A LIST OF DOCUMENTS THAT WE ASKED YOU TO PRODUCE IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR DEPOSITION TODAY. THERE ARE A TOTAL OF THIRTY-NINE CATEGORIES. I DON'T HAVE AN EXTRA COPY, SO I'M GOING TO HAND YOU MINE AND ASK YOU TO GO THROUGH EACH OF THESE ITEMS AND TELL ME WHETHER OR NOT YOU'VE PRODUCED THE DOCUMENT. HAVE YOU PRODUCED THE FIRST DOCUMENT? A. YES. Q. HAVE YOU PRODUCED THE ITEMS LISTED IN THE SECOND REQUEST? A. YES. Q. HAVE YOU PRODUCED THE ITEMS LISTED IN THE THIRD REQUEST? A. YES. Q. HAVE YOU PRODUCED THE ITEMS LISTED IN THE FOURTH REQUEST? A. YES. Q. HAVE YOU PRODUCED THE ITEMS THAT ARE LISTED IN THE FIFTH REQUEST? A. YES. Q. HAVE YOU PRODUCED THE ITEMS THAT ARE LISTED IN THE SIXTH REQUEST? A. CAN I JUST ASK A QUESTION? A LOT OF THESE I DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 8 HAVE NOTHING TO PRODUCE FOR, SO WHEN I ANSWER "YES," IT MEANS I READ THAT AND I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO PRODUCE, SO, OKAY? Q. THAT'S FINE. HAVE YOU PRODUCED THE -- OH, YOU'RE STILL ON SIX? A. ON SIX; YES, I HAVE. Q. ALL RIGHT. HAVE YOU PRODUCED THE ITEMS LISTED IN NUMBER SEVEN? A. YES. Q. HAVE YOU PRODUCED THE ITEMS LISTED IN NUMBER EIGHT? A. NUMBER EIGHT, I REMEMBER THIS IS A RATHER BROAD REQUEST. I CERTAINLY HAVE ABSTRACTS AND MATERIALS USED IN SCIENTIFIC PRESENTATIONS OVER THE LAST SIX YEARS THAT HAVE VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH THE CURRENT CASE. Q. DID YOU RELY ON THEM TO FORM THE OPINIONS THAT YOU HAVE TODAY? A. NO. Q. ALL RIGHT. HAVE YOU PRODUCED THE ITEMS LISTED IN NUMBER -- WHERE ARE WE, NINE? A. NINE; YES. Q. NUMBER TEN? A. NUMBER TEN, THERE'S ONE -- WE HAVE A COM -- I HAVE A COMPUTER DISK WHERE I HAVE SPREADSHEETS OF THE DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 9 KBN SAMPLING DATA FROM WHICH I WAS MAKING GRAPHS, ONE OF WHICH APPEARS IN THE FINAL REPORT. I HAVE BROUGHT THAT WITH ME TODAY IF YOU'D LIKE TO MAKE A COPY OF IT, BUT I DON'T HAVE AN EXTRA COPY. Q. ALL RIGHT. WE'LL TAKE YOUR COPY AND WE CAN SEND IT BACK TO YOU. A. OKAY. Q. OKAY. DO YOU HAVE THAT WITH YOU NOW? MR. SAMS: DO YOU HAVE THAT HANDY? (THEREUPON, THE WITNESS HANDS DISK TO MS. HOGAN.) Q. (BY MS. HOGAN) HAVE YOU PRODUCED THE ITEMS THAT ARE LISTED IN THE NEXT REQUEST? A. NUMBER ELEVEN, YES. Q. THE NEXT REQUEST AFTER THAT? A. YES. Q. NUMBER THIRTEEN, THOSE ITEMS? A. YES. Q. NUMBER FOURTEEN? A. YES. Q. NUMBER FIFTEEN? A. YES. Q. NUMBER SIXTEEN? A. YES. Q. NUMBER SEVENTEEN? DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 10 A. YES. Q. NUMBER EIGHTEEN? A. YES. Q. NUMBER NINETEEN? A. YES. Q. THE ITEMS LISTED IN NUMBER TWENTY? A. YES. Q. THOSE IN TWENTY-ONE? A. YES. Q. IN TWENTY-TWO? A. YES. Q. IN TWENTY-THREE? A. YES. Q. TWENTY-FOUR? A. YES. Q. IN TWENTY-FIVE? A. YEAH, I WOULD PRESUME THESE ARE ANY DOCUMENTS THAT I'VE SEEN THAT HAVE TO DO WITH THIS REVIEW OF THE WORK. Q. THAT YOU HAVE REVIEWED, CORRECT? A. YEAH. YES, I HAVE. Q. THE NEXT ITEM? A. YES -- YES. Q. ITEM TWENTY-SEVEN? A. YES. DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 11 Q. TWENTY-EIGHT? A. YES. Q. THOSE ITEMS LISTED IN TWENTY-NINE? A. YES. Q. THE ITEMS IN THIRTY? A. YES. Q. THE ITEMS IN THIRTY-ONE? A. YES. Q. THOSE IN THIRTY-TWO? A. YES. Q. THIRTY-THREE? A. YES. Q. THIRTY-FOUR? A. YES. Q. THIRTY-FIVE? A. YES. Q. THE ITEMS LISTED IN THIRTY-SIX? A. YES. Q. THOSE IN THIRTY-SEVEN? A. YES. Q. THIRTY-NINE? A. THIRTY-EIGHT, YES. Q. AND THEN THIRTY-EIGHT? A. YES. Q. OKAY. DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 12 MR. SAMS: MAY I MAKE A BRIEF STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD ABOUT OUR PRODUCTION OF PRIVILEGED LIST? MS. HOGAN: YES. MR. SAMS: WE DID PRESENT A SINGLE TYPEWRITTEN PAGE THAT IS A PRIVILEGED LIST THROUGH LAST WEEKEND, AND IT ESSENTIALLY IS CORRESPONDENCE WITH COUNSEL REFLECTING THE THOUGHTS OF COUNSEL. IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE HAVE HELD BACK AS PRIVILEGED ONE DRAFT OF THE REPORT THAT ESSENTIALLY CONTAINED THE THOUGHTS OF COUNSEL AS MARGINAL NOTATIONS; WE BELIEVE THAT'S ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT. AND WE HELD BACK A FEW PAGES OF THE NOTES TAKEN BY DR. HENRY, WHICH REFLECT ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT COMMUNICATIONS CONCERNING THE CASE. MS. HOGAN: NOTES TAKEN WHEN? MR. SAMS: AT VARIOUS COMMUNICATIONS, EITHER BY TELEPHONE OR AT MEETINGS, WHICH REFLECT ATTORNEY WORK PRODUCT. WE HAVE, HOWEVER, PRODUCED THE BULK OF HER NOTES SINCE THEY DID NOT INVOLVE SUCH COMMUNICATIONS. THOSE ARE AMONG THE DOCUMENTS WE'VE PRODUCED TODAY. MS. HOGAN: THE DRAFT OF THE REPORT THAT CONTAINS THE NOTES OF COUNSEL, DO THEY ALSO CONTAIN DR. HENRY'S NOTES? DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 13 MR. SAMS: I THINK THEY MAY ACTUALLY BE DR. HENRY'S NOTES OF COMMUNICATIONS FROM COUNSEL. MS. HOGAN: OKAY. SO, THEY ARE NOT NOTES THAT WERE WRITTEN BY COUNSEL; THEY ARE NOTES THAT WERE WRITTEN BY DR. HENRY AFTER CONVERSATIONS WITH COUNSEL? WITNESS: DURING CONVERSATIONS. MS. HOGAN: DURING CONVERSATIONS WITH COUNSEL. OKAY. THE THREE ADDITIONAL ITEMS THAT YOU'VE LISTED AS BEING WITHHELD, ARE THEY ON THIS LIST? MR. SAMS: NO, THEY ARE NOT. THEY RELATE TO MATTERS WHICH WE SAW ONLY FOLLOWING THE TYPING OF THAT LIST, WHICH I BELIEVE WAS EITHER FRIDAY OR SATURDAY OF LAST WEEK; SO, THEY'RE ADDITIONAL TO IT. MS. HOGAN: OKAY. ANY OTHER DOCUMENTS THAT YOU DIDN'T PRODUCE? MR. SAMS: NO. Q. (BY MS. HOGAN) ALL RIGHT. DR. HENRY, DO YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU'VE BEEN DESIGNATED AS AN EXPERT WITNESS IN THESE PROCEEDINGS? A. YES. Q. ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH WHAT AREAS AND ISSUES YOU'LL BE RENDERING OPINIONS ON? DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 14 A. YES. Q. WHAT ARE THOSE AREAS? A. THE PRIMARY AREA IS THE EFFECT OF ELEVATED PHOSPHORUS OR PHOSPHORUS INPUTS ON MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN FISH IN THE EVERGLADES. Q. ALL RIGHT. WE HAVE RECEIVED A SUPPLEMENTAL DESIGNATION OF EXPERT AND FACT WITNESSES. YOU SAID "ONE OF THE PRIMARY AREAS"; ARE THERE OTHER AREAS? A. I AM ALSO -- THAT'S BEEN THE MAIN FOCUS OF OUR REPORT. I AM ALSO QUALIFIED TO DISCUSS RATES OF METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION, IN THAT AREA. Q. ALL RIGHT. IS THAT GOING TO BE PART OF YOUR OPINION OR THE OPINIONS--- A. NO. Q. ---THAT YOU WILL BE PRODUCING AT TRIAL? A. NO. Q. THAT'S JUST THE BACKGROUND AREA THAT YOU HAVE? A. YEAH. Q. WHAT OTHER AREAS DO YOU EXPECT TO TESTIFY TO AT TRIAL? A. I THINK WHAT I MENTIONED IS THE PRIMARY ONE. WE'VE ONLY BEEN ON THE CASE FOR SIX WEEKS, SO IT MAY BE POSSIBLE THAT WE WOULD HAVE ADDITIONAL OPINIONS BEFORE THE HEARING. Q. WHAT WOULD THOSE OPINIONS CONCERN? DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 15 A. IN GENERAL, THEY WOULD CONCERN FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE HYPOTHESIS THAT WE'VE PRESENTED IN OUR FINAL REPORT. Q. ALL RIGHT. I'M GOING TO HAND YOU A DOCUMENT THAT WE CAN MARK AS THE SECOND EXHIBIT TO YOUR DEPOSITION, AND I BELIEVE IT'S YOUR SUPPLEMENTAL -- WELL, IT'S SUPPLEMENTAL DESIGNATION OF EXPERT WITNESSES, AND YOU ARE LISTED ON THERE AS AN EXPERT WITNESS FOR THE CO-OP. (THEREUPON, THE DOCUMENT REFERRED TO ABOVE WAS MARKED AS DEFENDANT'S EXHIBIT NO. 2 - ELIZABETH A. HENRY DEPOSITION - FOR IDENTIFICATION.) Q. (BY MS. HOGAN) ALL RIGHT. ACCORDING TO THIS DESIGNATION, THE SUBJECT MATTER OF YOUR EXPECTED TESTIMONY IS THE BIOGEOCHEMISTRY OF AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS WITH PARTICULAR EMPHASIS ON MERCURY METHYLATION AND CYCLING. A. YES. Q. OKAY. THE SUBSTANCE OF THE FACTS AND OPINIONS WHICH YOU WILL BE RENDERING WILL BE THE INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS OF THE MERCURY AND RELATED SAMPLING WITHIN THE EAA AND EPA AND POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF THE PROPOSED SWIM PLAN ON MERCURY CONTAMINATION IN THE PROPOSED STA'S AND THE EPA. IS THAT CORRECT? DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 16 A. YES. Q. ALL RIGHT. SO THAT'S IN ADDITION TO THE AREAS THAT YOU MENTIONED BEFORE? A. YEAH. THAT'S A MORE -- MORE OF A BROADER CLASSIFICATION THAN I HAD ORIGINALLY SAID, BUT THAT IS CORRECT. Q. OKAY. CAN YOU PLEASE SUMMARIZE THE SUBSTANCE OF YOUR OPINIONS AS TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE STA'S AND THEIR EFFECT ON METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION? A. THERE IS EVIDENCE FROM THE LITERATURE THAT FORMATION OF ANAEROBIC CONDITIONS AND ADDITION OF SULFATE WILL INCREASE METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION, AND I BELIEVE THAT'S BEEN STATED IN A NUMBER OF THE BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS FOR THIS CASE. HOWEVER, THAT DOES NOT ADDRESS THE QUESTION OF WHAT IS THE RATE OF NET METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION BECAUSE WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A BALANCE BETWEEN METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION AND METHYLMERCURY DEMETHYLATION. SO, TO SPECIFICALLY ANSWER YOUR QUESTION, I'D SAY THAT THERE'S A POSSIBILITY THAT STA'S WILL INCREASE THE RATE OF METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION BECAUSE OF THE PRODUC -- BECAUSE OF THE OCCURRENCE OF REDUCED CONDITIONS AND ENHANCED SULFATE CONCENTRATIONS IN THAT AREA. Q. CAN YOU SUMMARIZE THE SUBSTANCE OF YOUR OPINIONS AS TO THE PHOSPHORUS EFFECT ON METHYLMERCURY DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 17 PRODUCTION? A. THE PHOSPHORUS -- PHOSPHORUS INPUTS WILL TEND TO INCREASE -- IT'S A -- KIND OF A TWO OR THREE-STEP PROCESS. PHOSPHORUS INPUTS WILL TEND TO INCREASE PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY IN ANY -- IN A SYSTEM THAT'S LIMITED BY PHOSPHORUS. WHEN PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY INCREASES, YOU TEND TO GET MORE AVAILABLE ORGANIC CARBON, WHICH IS THEN USED BY UP MICROBES; AND IN THEIR ACTIVITY AND IN THE DEGRADATION OF ORGANIC CARBON, YOU GET REDUCED -- OR, ANAEROBIC AND THEN REDUCED CONDITIONS. SO, THERE IS -- THERE'S A POSSIBILITY THAT PHOSPHORUS INPUTS WILL INCREASE METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION. BUT, AGAIN, IT -- THIS DOES NOT ADDRESS THE RATE OF NET METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION, AND IT DOES NOT ADDRESS THE RATE OF METHYLMERCURY BY ACCUMULATION OR WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO END UP SEEING IN THE BIOTA; SO, IT'S A LIMITED QUESTION. Q. OKAY. CAN YOU SUMMARIZE THE SUBSTANCE OF YOUR OPINIONS AS TO THE EFFECT OF PHOSPHORUS ON METHYLMERCURY BIOACCUMULATION? A. BASED ON OUR BEST INTERPRETATION OF THE LIMITED DATA THAT'S AVAILABLE TO US AND THE PREPONDERANCE OF SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE, THE PHOSPHORUS INPUTS INTO A SYSTEM WHICH IS -- BEGINS BY BEING LIMITED BY PHOSPHORUS, SUCH AS AN OLIGOTROPHIC SYSTEM, DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 18 WILL RESULT IN REDUCED MERCURY BIOACCUMULATION IN FISH. Q. OKAY. YOU SAID LIMITED DATA THAT'S AVAILABLE TO YOU; WHAT DO YOU MEAN "LIMITED"? A. AT THIS POINT, WE WERE ABLE TO REVIEW MERCURY IN WATER DATA, MERCURY IN FISH DATA AND WATER-QUALITY DATA FROM TWO STUDIES. ONE WAS THE KBN SAMPLING THAT WAS DONE IN, I BELIEVE, JANUARY OR FEBRUARY OF THIS YEAR; THE FINAL REPORTS JUST CAME OUT IN MARCH. AND THE SECOND DATA SET WAS THE PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM THE EPA CANAL SURVEY IN THE EVERGLADES. AS FAR AS I KNOW -- WELL, LET ME RESTATE -- I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY OTHER DATA, AND I DON'T -- I DON'T THINK ANY OTHER DATA ARE AVAILABLE AT THIS POINT FROM THAT SPECIFIC AREA. Q. AND YOU CONSIDER THE DATA THAT'S BEEN PRODUCED TO BE LIMITED DATA? A. YEAH. Q. CAN YOU SUMMARIZE THE SUBSTANCE OF YOUR OPINIONS AS TO THE RESERVOIR EFFECT IN THE NORTHERN AREAS OF THE COUNTRY? A. IN THE NORTHERN AREAS OF THE COUNTRY? Q. THE NORTHERN LAKES. A. IN MANY CASES, IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THIS COUNTRY, WHAT YOU SEE WHERE THE RESERVOIR EFFECT IS AN INCREASE IN MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN FISH IN RECENTLY IMPOUNDED RESERVOIRS. DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 19 Q. WHAT IS YOUR OPINION AS TO THE CAUSE? A. THE CAUSE IS PROBABLY FROM INCREASED AVAILABLE ORGANIC CARBON WHEN YOU FLOOD A TERRESTRIAL -- TERRESTRIAL VEGETATION. Q. OKAY. YOU SAID "PROBABLE"? A. WELL, I DON'T -- A LOT OF THIS STUFF, IT'S NOT ABSOLUTELY CLEAR, BUT THERE'S A -- THERE'S A GOOD BASE OF SCIENTIFIC OPINION THAT THE INCREASE IN AVAILABLE ORGANIC CARBON IS CAUSING INCREASED METHYLATION RATES AND INCREASED MERCURY ACCUMULATION IN FISH IN THESE RESERVOIRS. Q. OKAY. DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER OPINIONS IN ANY OTHER AREAS? A. I THINK IF -- ANYTHING THAT I HAVEN'T STATED HERE IS COVERED IN OUR DRAFT REPORT THAT YOU HAVE. Q. OKAY. I'M GOING TO HAND YOU ANOTHER DOCUMENT THAT WE'LL MARK AS EXHIBIT THREE TO YOUR DEPOSITION. CAN YOU IDENTIFY THAT DOCUMENT FOR THE RECORD? A. LET ME JUST GO BACK. I'M NOT SURE IF THIS WOULD BE AN OPINION, BUT IT PROBABLY IS. I -- I BELIEVE THAT THERE HAS TO BE FURTHER STUDY OF THE EVERGLADES AND OF THE STA'S IN ORDER TO COME UP WITH SOME DEFINITIVE CONCLUSIONS ABOUT THE EFFECT OF REDUCING PHOSPHORUS INPUTS ON MERCURY ACCUMULATION IN FISH; AND THAT'S DISCUSSED IN OUR DRAFT REPORT. DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 20 Q. OKAY. SO YOU BELIEVE THAT YOUR -- YOUR REPORT IS NOT DEFINITIVE AS OF YET? A. I -- BASED ON WHAT WE'VE DONE AND ON THE -- ON THE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE, I THINK IT'S -- THAT'S MY BEST JUDGMENT AS TO THE EFFECT OF PHOSPHORUS INPUTS. BUT I DO SEE THAT IT IS A LIMITED DATA SET AND WOULD RECOMMEND FURTHER RESEARCH. Q. OKAY. A. YEAH, THIS IS MY RESUME. MS. HOGAN: OKAY. WE HAVE A CLEAN COPY TO BE MARKED AS THREE -- OR FOUR? THREE. (THEREUPON, THE DOCUMENT REFERRED TO BELOW WAS MARKED AS DEFENDANT'S EXHIBIT NO. 3 - ELIZABETH A. HENRY DEPOSITION - FOR IDENTIFICATION.) Q. (BY MS. HOGAN) DR. HENRY, HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN INVOLVED IN THE SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS OF MERCURY AND MERCURY COMPOUNDS? A. I -- LET'S SEE. I WAS INVOLVED IN GRADUATE SCHOOL IN THE SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS -- WE'RE TALKING ABOUT LABORATORY ANALYSIS OF MERCURY -- FOR ABOUT THREE YEARS. SINCE THE END OF '91, I HAVE NOT BEEN WORKING IN A LABORATORY. I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH DATA THAT'S BEEN PRESENTED TO ME. Q. AND HOW HAVE YOU BEEN WORKING WITH IT? DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 21 WORKING WITH IT IN WHAT WAY? A. INTERPRETING -- ANALYZING AND INTERPRETING DATA. Q. FROM WHERE? A. THE MAIN PROJECT I'VE BEEN WORKING ON IS IN ONONDAGA LAKE, NEW YORK; AND WE HAVE A -- PTI CURRENTLY HAS A BIG INVESTIGATION GOING ON THERE ON MERCURY CYCLING. Q. IS THAT IN CONNECTION WITH THE RESERVOIR EFFECT? A. NO, IT'S NOT. Q. WHAT IS THAT IN CONNECTION WITH? A. ONONDAGA IS A LAKE THAT'S BEEN SUBJECT TO HISTORICAL POINT SOURCES OF MERCURY. SO, IT HAS ELEVATED MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN WATER AND SEDIMENT, AND USED TO HAVE ELEVATED CONCENTRATIONS IN FISH. Q. AND IT DOESN'T ANYMORE? A. THE CONCENTRATIONS IN FISH HAVE GONE DOWN DRAMATICALLY SINCE THE SEVENTIES. Q. ABOUT WHEN IN THE SEVENTIES? A. DATING FROM THE -- I BELIEVE IT WAS WHEN THE EPA CAME OUT WITH REVISED DISCHARGE LIMITS FOR MERCURY, AND I'M NOT QUITE SURE OF THE DATE. I THINK IT WAS EARLY SEVENTIES. Q. WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE CAUSE OF THE DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 22 MERCURY HAVING GONE DOWN IN THE FISH? A. IN ONONDAGA LAKE? Q. UH-HUH (YES). A. IN ONONDAGA, WE HAVE A GREAT DEAL OF SEDIMENTATION OCCURRING. THAT'S A HIGH-SUSPENDED SOLID LOAD, AND WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS, BASICALLY, A NET REMOVAL OF MERCURY FROM THE SYSTEM TO THE SEDIMENTS; AND, SO, THERE'S LESS -- LESS MERCURY AVAILABLE FOR UPTAKE BY FISH. Q. YOU SAID YOU WERE REVIEWING DATA SETS; ARE THOSE THE ONLY DATA SETS, FROM ONONDAGA LAKE, THAT YOU'VE BEEN REVIEWING? A. I'M NOT SURE I FOLLOW YOUR QUESTION. Q. I ASKED YOU WHAT YOU WERE STUDYING, WHAT DATA YOU WERE STUDYING, AND YOU MENTIONED YOU WERE STUDYING MERCURY AS IT RELATES TO ONONDAGA LAKE. A. UH-HUH (YES). Q. ARE THERE ANY OTHER LAKES OR BODIES OF WATER OR MERCURY DATA THAT YOU'RE STUDYING? A. OH. THE ONONDAGA PROJECT, THOSE ARE DATA THAT ARE GENERATED BY PTI, AND SO THOSE ARE THE ONES I'M MOST INTIMATE WITH. I'VE ALSO BEEN LOOKING AT DATA FROM OTHER LAKES IN THE LITERATURE, AND SOME OF -- SOME OF THOSE INTERPRETATION OF DATA IS INCLUDED IN OUR DRAFT REPORT. DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 23 Q. OKAY. SO WHAT OTHER AREAS ARE YOU LOOKING AT, SPECIFICALLY, OTHER THAN ONONDAGA LAKE? WHAT OTHER ISSUES ARE YOU STUDYING? A. ONE OF THE MAIN ISSUES WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT IS THIS EFFECT OF EUTROPHICATION ON MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN THE FISH, AND THAT WAS STARTED BASED ON OUR EXPERIENCE IN ONONDAGA LAKE BECAUSE THAT LAKE IS A HYPEREUTROPHIC SYSTEM. WE'VE ALSO -- OR, I'VE ALSO DONE SOME MORE GENERAL REVIEW OF MERCURY LITERATURE AND -- I THINK I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT. Q. OKAY. HOW DOES THE DATA THAT YOU'VE BEEN STUDYING RELATE TO THE EVERGLADES? A. IT RELATES TO THE EVERGLADES BECAUSE -- WAIT, IS THIS DATA FROM ONONDAGA--- Q. UH-HUH (YES). A. ---WAS THAT, SPECIFICALLY? ONONDAGA'S A HYPEREUTROPHIC SYSTEM. SO, IT'S GOT ELEVATED SUSPENDED SOLIDS, FAIRLY HIGH PHOSPHORUS CONCENTRATIONS. THE SETUP IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT BECAUSE WE'RE GETTING INPUT FROM A SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT, NOT AN AGRICULTURAL DISCHARGE, BUT WHAT YOU'RE SEEING IN TERMS OF WATER QUALITY IS QUITE SIMILAR. AND WHAT WE'RE FINDING IN ONONDAGA IS THAT, DESPITE THE MERCURY THAT'S PRESENT IN THE LAKE FROM DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 24 HISTORICAL SOURCES OF MERC -- HISTORICAL SOURCES, THE MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN FISH ARE NOT MUCH MORE THAN MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN FISH IN PRISTINE AREAS. AND, THEREFORE, IT'S LED US ALONG THE PATH OF LOOKING AT THE LACK OF CORRELATION BETWEEN YOUR TOTAL MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN WATER AND YOUR MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN FISH. Q. IS THE EVERGLADES A LAKE? A. NO, IT'S NOT. Q. ALL RIGHT. A. IT'S A -- THE EVERGLADES IS A MORE COMPLICATED SYSTEM IN TERMS OF THE WATER. THERE'S, OBVIOUSLY, SOME RESERVOIRS; THERE'S MORE RIVERING SYSTEMS; AND THERE -- THERE ARE VERY DIFFERENT HYDROLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS. Q. OKAY. WHAT HAS BEEN THE EXTENT OF YOUR INVOLVEMENT OR ANALYSIS OF MERCURY AND MERCURY COMPOUNDS IN THE SOILS AND SEDIMENTS OF NATURAL LAKES? A. I'VE BEEN -- LET'S SEE. I'VE BEEN -- IN GRADUATE SCHOOL, I WAS INVOLVED IN STUDIES WITH CINDY GILMOUR, WHO IS NOW AT THE BENEDICT ESTUARINE RESEARCH LAB, LOOKING AT MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN SEDIMENTS. AT THAT POINT, MY ROLE WAS PRIMARILY ONE OF SAMPLING. I DIDN'T ACTUALLY PERFORM THE ANALYSIS. Q. FOR NATURAL LAKES? A. YEAH. AND SINCE THEN, IT'S BEEN MORE OF THE DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 25 DATA INTERPRETATION AND ANALYSIS. Q. OKAY. WHAT ABOUT YOUR ANALYSIS, I GUESS, AND DATA INTERPRETATION FOR NORTHERN RESERVOIRS? A. THE ONE RESERVOIR I'VE BEEN INVOLVED WITH IN RESEARCH IS QUABBIN RESERVOIR IN MASSACHUSETTS WHICH, DEPENDING ON HOW FAR NORTH IS NORTHERN, MAY BE INCLUDED IN THAT. BUT THAT -- THAT'S THE ONE SITE I'VE BEEN INVOLVED WITH. Q. AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE AT THAT SITE? A. THAT SITE, WE LOOKED AT -- WELL, THE RESEARCH WE DID AT THAT SITE WAS TO LOOK AT SEDIMENT CORES, TO MEASURE RATES OF SULFATE REDUCTION AND MERCURY METHYLATION ON THE ADDITION OF SULFATE AND, ALSO, TO LOOK AT MERCURY AND METHYLMERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN THE SEDIMENT. Q. ANY OTHER RESERVOIRS? A. NO. Q. OKAY. WHAT'S BEEN THE EXTENT OF YOUR INVOLVEMENT OR ANALYSIS OF MERCURY AND MERCURY COMPOUNDS IN THE SOIL OR SEDIMENT OF BOREAL WETLANDS? A. NONE. Q. EUTROPHIC WETLANDS? A. NO, NO ANALYSIS. Q. OLIGOTROPHIC WETLANDS? A. NO ANALYSIS. DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 26 Q. AND THE EVERGLADES? A. NO ANALYSIS. THAT -- THE -- ALL OF THOSE AREAS I'VE BEEN IN -- MORE INVOLVED IN JUST LOOKING AT LITERATURE AND DATA INTERPRETATION BUT NOT DIRECTLY IN ANALYTICAL AREA. Q. OKAY. YOU SAID THAT YOU'VE BEEN INTERPRETING PUBLISHED LITERATURE ON THESE OTHER AREAS; HAVE YOU PUBLISHED ANY WORKS CONCERNING THE CAUSES OF METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION IN NATURAL LAKES? A. I BELIEVE YOU HAVE TWO OF MY PUBLICATIONS THAT DISCUSS METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION IN NATURAL LAKES. ONE IS A REVIEW ARTICLE. IT'S RIGHT ON THE TOP THERE, "MERCURY METHYLATION IN AQUATIC SYSTEMS AFFECTED BY ACID DEPOSITION," AND THE SECOND IS RELATED TO THE QUABBIN RESERVOIR WORK WHERE I THINK THE -- IT WAS IN ES&T, AND THE TITLE WAS "SULFATE STIMULATES [sic] MERCURY METHYLATION IN FRESHWATER SEDIMENTS." Q. OKAY. HAVE YOU AUTHORED ANY PUBLICATIONS ON EUTROPHIC WETLANDS? A. NO, I HAVE NOT. Q. OLIGOTROPHIC WETLANDS? A. NO. Q. ON THE EVERGLADES, IN PARTICULAR? A. NO. Q. OKAY. I'M GOING TO HAND YOU ANOTHER DOCUMENT DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 27 AND ASK YOU IF YOU CAN IDENTIFY THAT FOR ME. (THEREUPON, WITNESS REVIEWS DOCUMENT.) A. WELL, MINUS SOME FUZZY PAGES, THIS IS THE REVIEW ARTICLE THAT CINDY GILMOUR AND I PUBLISHED IN 1991. MS. HOGAN: OKAY. WE'RE GOING TO MARK THAT AS THE NEXT EXHIBIT TO YOUR DEPOSITION. (THEREUPON, THE DOCUMENT REFERRED TO ABOVE WAS MARKED AS DEFENDANT'S EXHIBIT NO. 4 - ELIZABETH A. HENRY DEPOSITION - FOR IDENTIFICATION.) Q. (BY MS. HOGAN) OKAY. THIS IS EXHIBIT FOUR TO YOUR DEPOSITION. BASICALLY, WHAT IS YOUR HYPOTHESIS IN THIS EXHIBIT? A. THIS IS A REVIEW ARTICLE, SO IT'S MAINLY A DISCUSSION OF THE LITERATURE INVOLVING THE VARIOUS FACTORS THAT AFFECT MERCURY METHYLATION RATES, IN PARTICULAR, IN AQUATIC SYSTEMS AFFECTED BY ACID DEPOSITION. Q. OKAY. A. THAT'S IN GENERAL. Q. ALL RIGHT. IT SAYS HERE THAT YOU "FOCUS ON THE HYPOTHESIS THAT SULFATE-REDUCING BACTERIA ARE IMPORTANT MEDIATORS OF METAL METHYLATION IN AQUATIC SYSTEMS AND, MOREOVER, THAT SULFATE-DEPOSITION MAY DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 28 STIMULATE METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION BY ENHANCING THE ACTIVITY OF SULFATE-REDUCING BACTERIA IN SEDIMENTS." WHAT IS YOUR BASIC HYPOTHESIS? A. THE BASIC HYPOTHESIS WE DISCUSS IN THIS PAPER IS THAT ADDITIONS OF SULFATE TO THE LAKES DISCUSSED IN THIS PAPER WHICH, IN GENERAL, ARE OLIGOTROPHIC, PRISTINE LAKES IN THE NORTHERN U.S. AND SOUTHERN CANADA, POSSIBLY IN SCANDINAVIA -- THE HYPOTHESIS WAS THAT SULFATE DEPOSITION WOULD STIMULATE SULFATE-REDUCING BACTERIA BECAUSE SULFATE IS OFTEN A LIMITING NUTRIENT IN FRESHWATER SYSTEMS, AND THAT SULFATE-REDUCING BACTERIA ARE THOUGHT TO BE PRIMARY METHYLATORS OF METHYLMERCURY -- OR, PRIMARY METHYLATORS OF MERCURY; AND, THEREFORE, WITH THE ADDITION OF SULFATE, YOU WOULD GET ENHANCED MERCURY METHYLATION. Q. HOW DOES THIS ARTICLE -- OR, YOUR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION RELATE TO THE PROBLEMS WHICH ARE OCCURRING IN THE EVERGLADES? A. WELL, I THINK THERE ARE CERTAIN SPECIFIC FACTORS WE DISCUSS IN THIS PAPER THAT HAVE BEEN USED BY OTHER PEOPLE AND BY MYSELF TO EXAMINE WHAT THE EFFECT OF STA'S WILL BE ON METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION IN THE STA'S. AS FAR AS ACID DEPOSITION ON THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES, I'M NOT SURE THAT ACID DEPOSITION IS A PROBLEM IN THE EVERGLADES, SPECIFICALLY. DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 29 Q. WHAT SPECIFIC FACTORS DO YOU DISCUSS IN THIS PAPER THAT ARE RELATED TO THE EVERGLADES? A. LET ME JUST CHECK HERE. SULFATE CONCENTRATION, ORGANIC CARBON. THOSE WOULD BE THE TWO -- THOSE WOULD BE THE TWO SPECIFIC FACTORS AFFECTING RATES Of METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION. THERE'S ALSO SOME DISCUSSION ON HERE ON METHYLATION AND BIOACCUMULATION. I THINK THAT'S ABOUT IT. Q. I'M GOING TO HAND YOU ANOTHER DOCUMENT, WHICH WE'LL MARK AS EXHIBIT FIVE TO YOUR DEPOSITION, AND ASK IF YOU CAN IDENTIFY THAT DOCUMENT. A. THIS IS AN ARTICLE THAT CINDY GILMOUR, RALPH MITCHELL AND I PUBLISHED IN ES&T IN 1992 ON OUR WORK IN THE QUABBIN RESERVOIR. MS. HOGAN: OKAY. WE'RE GOING TO MARK THAT AS NUMBER FIVE. (THEREUPON, THE DOCUMENT REFERRED TO BELOW WAS MARKED AS DEFENDANT'S EXHIBIT NO. 5 - ELIZABETH A. HENRY DEPOSITION - FOR IDENTIFICATION.) Q. (BY MS. HOGAN) WHAT WERE YOUR FINDINGS? A. THE FINDINGS IN THAT ARTICLE WERE THAT ADDITIONS OF SULFATE TO QUABBIN RESERVOIR SEDIMENTS STIMULATED MERCURY METHYLATION. THAT WAS ONE OF THEM. WE ALSO DID SOME INHIBITION STUDIES WHERE WE ADDED DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 30 MOLYBDATE, WHICH IS A SPECIFIC INHIBITOR OF SULFATE-REDUCING BACTERIA; AND ON THE ADDITION OF MOLYBDATE, WE SEE A DECREASE IN MERCURY METHYLATION. AND THE INTERPRETATION THERE IS THAT SULFATE-REDUCING BACTERIA ARE IMPORTANT IN MERCURY METHYLATION IN THESE PARTICULAR SEDIMENTS. I THINK THOSE ARE THE TWO MAIN FINDINGS I CAN THINK OF AT THIS POINT. Q. HOW DO THOSE FINDINGS RELATE TO WHAT'S OCCURRING IN THE EVERGLADES? A. WE CAN CERTAINLY HYPOTHESIZE ABOUT HOW THEY RELATE. UNFORTUNATELY, AT THIS POINT, THERE ARE NO DATA ON RATES OF METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION IN THE EVERGLADES, EITHER IN THE ENR -- THE EVERGLADES NUTRIENT REMOVAL PROJECT, OR IN THE MARSHES OR IN THE CANALS. IN GENERAL, THOUGH, THE -- ONE COULD EXTEND THAT THE RESULTS OF THE ES&T PAPER TO SUGGEST THAT ADDITIONS OF SULFATE, OR ELEVATED CONCENTRATIONS OF SULFATE AS YOU MIGHT FIND IN THE DISCHARGE FROM THE EVERGLADES AGRICULTURAL AREA, COULD STIMULATE METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION IN SEDIMENTS. Q. HAVE YOU PUBLISHED ANY WORKS REGARDING THE EFFECTS OF PHOSPHORUS ON THE METHYLATION PROCESS? A. NO. Q. HAVE YOU PUBLISHED ANY WORKS REGARDING THE EFFECTS OF PHOSPHORUS ON THE BIOACCUMULATION OF DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 31 METHYLMERCURY? A. NO. Q. SO, YOUR BACKGROUND IS MORE THE STUDY OF WHAT, FRESHWATER NATURAL LAKES? A. YEAH. MY SPECIFIC EXPERIENCE HAS BEEN IN FRESHWATER LAKES AND IN A RESERVOIR, QUABBIN RESERVOIR. I WOULD EXTEND THAT TO BEING -- SAYING THAT I AM QUITE FAMILIAR WITH THE LITERATURE ON MERCURY CYCLING AND BIOACCUMULATION. IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO DO EVERYTHING; AND, SO, THAT'S BEEN MY FOCUS. BUT I DO FEEL PRETTY FAMILIAR WITH THE GENERAL BULK OF THE LITERATURE ON MERCURY CYCLING IN THE ENVIRONMENT. Q. WHAT IS PARTICLE DYNAMICS? ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THAT TERM? A. I WOULD -- I'D HAVE TO SEE IT IN CONTEXT TO KNOW SPECIFICALLY WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. Q. THE CONCEPT OF PARTICLE DYNAMICS? DOESN'T IT INVOLVE THE MOVEMENT OF PARTICULATE MATTER THROUGHOUT THE AQUATIC SYSTEM? A. YEAH. Q. ARE YOU FAMILIAR, GENERALLY, WITH THAT PROCESS? A. YES, I AM. Q. OKAY. THIS MORNING WHEN YOU WALKED IN, WE WERE HANDED THIS DOCUMENT, WHICH I GUESS WE'LL MARK AS DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 32 THE NEXT EXHIBIT TO YOUR DEPOSITION, AND ASK YOU IF YOU CAN IDENTIFY THAT DOCUMENT. (THEREUPON, THE DOCUMENT REFERRED TO BELOW WAS MARKED AS DEFENDANT'S EXHIBIT NO. 6 - ELIZABETH A. HENRY DEPOSITION - FOR IDENTIFICATION.) (THEREUPON, WITNESS REVIEWS DOCUMENT.) A. YEAH. THESE ARE PAPERS THAT HAVE BEEN USED IN COMING UP WITH SOME OF THE -- OR USED IN ANALYZING THE DATA FROM THE KBN SAMPLING AND SOME DATA FROM FISH AND GAME THAT WERE USED IN THE DRAFT REPORT. Q. OKAY. A. AND, ACTUALLY -- AND SOME OF THIS IS NOT IN THE DRAFT REPORT. IT WAS DEVELOPED AFTER SUBMITTAL OF THE DRAFT REPORT. Q. SO WHOSE DATA IS THIS? A. IT'S KIND OF A MIX. THIS IS A -- I'D CALL THIS A MISCELLANEOUS DOCUMENT. DO YOU WANT ME TO GO THROUGH IT PAGE BY PAGE? Q. UH-HUH (YES). A. OKAY. THE FIRST PAGE IS A DIAGRAM FROM TETRA TECH THAT BREAKS THE EVERGLADES DOWN INTO THIRTEEN CELLS BASED ON PHOSPHORUS CONCENTRATIONS OR BASE PHOSPHORUS -- AVERAGE PHOSPHORUS CONCENTRATIONS. THE NEXT TWO PAGES ARE THEIR MODELED RESULTS FOR BASE DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 33 PHOSPHORUS CONCENTRATIONS. THE FIRST PAGE IS FOR THE PERIOD OF OCTOBER '90 TO SEPTEMBER '92, AND THE SECOND IS FOR OCTOBER '91 TO SEPTEMBER '92. THE THIRD PAGE WAS LOOKING -- I WAS LOOKING AT SOME FISH AND GAME DATA SUPPLIED BY WARE ON MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN WCA-2A MARSH. Q. SUPPLIED BY WHOM? A. WARE. Q. WHO IS THAT? A. W-A-R-E. I BELIEVE HE'S WITH FISH AND GAME. I HAVE A -- I WAS GIVEN A DISK OF THE FISH DATA AND WHAT I'M DISCUSSING -- DO YOU WANT ME TO TELL YOU -- OKAY. WHAT I'M DISCUSSING HERE IS THAT ON THE DISK, THE LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES APPEAR TO BE INCORRECT, BASED ON THE LABELING. I WAS ALSO GIVEN RAW DATA SHEETS WITH FISH CONCENTRATIONS, LENGTH AND WEIGHT MEASUREMENTS OF THE FISH COLLECTED AT THIS SITE, AND THE LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE THERE WAS MUCH MORE IN LINE WITH THE LABELED LOCATION, WCA-2A MARSH; SO, I TOOK THOSE TO BE THE CORRECT COORDINATES. WHAT I DID IS, I PLOTTED UP LENGTH VERSUS MERCURY CONCENTRATION IN LARGEMOUTH BASS FOR THIS PARTICULAR SITE; AND, AGAIN, THIS IS DATA FROM FISH AND GAME COLLECTED IN MARCH OF '93. I GAVE THE EQUATION FOR THE LINEAR REGRESSION, THE R SQUARED. DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 34 THEN WHAT I'VE DONE HERE IS TAKEN AN ESTIMATED LENGTH OF THE AGE ZERO AND AGE ONE FISH FROM THE KBN DATA AND PLUGGED THAT INTO THE REGRESSION FOR THE FISH AND GAME DATA, TO COME UP WITH AN ESTIMATED AGE ZERO AND AGE ONE FISH MERCURY CONCENTRATION FOR THE FISH AND GAME DATA AT THAT PARTICULAR SITE. THE SECOND PAGE SHOWS THE GRAPH -- OR THE NEXT PAGE SHOWS THE GRAPH OF LENGTH VERSUS MERCURY CONCENTRATION WITH THE CALCULATED REGRESSION EQUATION. THE FOLLOWING PAGE IS A MAP OF WCA-2A. IT'S GENERATED BY GIS, GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM, AND IT HAS LOCATED THAT POINT -- THAT SAMPLING POINT IN THE WCA-2A MARSH. THAT'S THE -- IT'S THE ROUND CIRCLE--- Q. OKAY. A. ---LABELED "HENRY." THE FOLLOWING PAGE ARE CALCULATIONS OF LINEAR REGRESSIONS AND A LOG REGRESSION OF THE KBN DATA FROM WCA-2A FOR DISSOLVED TOTAL PHOSPHORUS VERSUS DISSOLVED METHYLMERCURY. AND IN THE DRAFT REPORT THAT WE'VE PRESENTED -- WE USED THIS LOG EQUATION THAT I'VE WRITTEN HERE ON THE RIGHT-HAND SIDE -- THE R SQUARED IS CONSIDERABLY HIGHER THAN FOR THE LINEAR REGRESSION. THE NEXT TWO PAGES ARE FROM ONE OF MY CO-WORKERS AT PTI IN BOSTON, LAURA DODGE MURPHY, AND IT'S BASICALLY A THEORETICAL TREATMENT OF THE EFFECT OF DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 35 PARTICULATE CONCENTRATION ON CONCENTRATIONS OF DISSOLVED METHYLMERCURY. FOLLOWING THAT IS A GRAPH--- Q. THERE ARE TWO PAGES ON THAT? A. YEAH, THERE ARE TWO PAGES FOR THAT TREATMENT. FOLLOWING THAT IS A GRAPH, AGAIN, THEORETICAL IN THE SENSE THAT WE MAKE ASSUMPTIONS OF METHYLMERCURY CONCENTRATION, PARTICULATE CONCENTRATION AND PARTITION CO-EFFICIENT. IT'S TITLED "METHYLMERCURY PARTITIONING IN THE WATER COLUMN," AND WHAT IT'S ILLUSTRATING IS THE DECREASE -- AS YOU INCREASE PARTICULATE CONCENTRATION ON THE X-AXIS, YOU SEE A DECREASE IN METHYLMERCURY CONCENTRATION ON PARTICLES. Q. IS THIS HYPOTHETICAL? A. THIS -- IT'S HYPOTHETICAL IN THE SENSE THAT THESE POINTS ALONG THE CURVE ARE NOT DATA THAT WE'VE COLLECTED AND ANALYZED. IT'S LESS THAN HYPOTHETICAL BECAUSE WE USE -- WE DESIGNATE A TEN NANOGRAM PER LITER CONCENTRATION FOR METHYLMERCURY WHICH IS FAIRLY REASONABLE, AND WE USED PARTITION CO-EFFICIENTS WHICH HAVE BEEN OBSERVED IN THE FIELD. THE FOLLOWING PAGE ARE THE SPREADSHEETS THAT ARE USED TO CREATE THE PREVIOUS GRAPH. THE NEXT TWO PAGES ARE GRAPHS OF DISSOLVED METHYLMERCURY -- WELL, THE FIRST PAGE IS DISSOLVED DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 36 METHYLMERCURY VERSUS DISSOLVED TOTAL PHOSPHORUS. THAT'S THE TOP GRAPH. THESE ARE KBN DATA. THIS -- THIS PAGE IS THE BASIS FOR FIGURE 12 IN THE DRAFT REPORT. THE BOTTOM GRAPH ON THAT PAGE IS FISH MERCURY VERSUS DISSOLVED TOTAL PHOSPHORUS, AND THAT'S THE AGE ZERO AND AGE ONE FISH FROM HOLEYLAND AND ENR. ON THE FOLLOWING PAGE, I'VE ADDED THE FISH AND GAME DATA FROM WCA-2A, AND THE TOP, I'VE PLOTTED FISH MERCURY VERSUS DISSOLVED TOTAL PHOSPHORUS. AND THEN I HAD REPLOTTED IT ON THE BOTTOM; THE DATA POINTS CORRESPOND EXACTLY TO WHAT'S ABOVE. THE REASON FOR DOING THAT IS THE -- TETRA TECH'S ESTIMATED PHOSPHORUS CONCENTRATION FOR THAT PARTICULAR SITE WHERE THE FISH AND GAME DATA WERE TAKEN IS IN TERMS OF TOTAL PHOSPHORUS AND NOT DISSOLVED PHOSPHORUS. SO, THE TOP GRAPH IS--- Q. DISSOLVED AND THE BOTTOM--- A. ---ACTUALLY INCORRECT, YEAH. AND--- Q. YOU'RE SAYING THAT THE DISSOLVED TOTAL PHOSPHORUS IS INCORRECT; THIS GRAPH UP AT THE TOP? A. IT'S INCORRECT WITH REGARDS TO THE WCA-2A FISH. SO, THE TWO TOP DATA POINTS SHOULD BE AND WERE REPLOTTED AGAINST TOTAL PHOSPHORUS. Q. OKAY. A. THE LAST THREE PAGES ARE COPIES OF THE KBN DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 37 DATA REPORT ON BIOLOGICAL SAMPLING, AND THESE ARE THE DATA THAT WERE USED TO COME UP WITH THE ESTIMATED LENGTH -- LENGTH MEASUREMENTS TO PREDICT THE MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN THE FISH AND GAME DATA; AND I SHOULD ALSO--- Q. THAT YOU USED FOR -- ON THE PRIOR PAGE ON THE--- A. YES, YES. Q. OKAY. ON THE PLOTTED REGRESSIONS? A. YES. AND I SHOULD ADD THAT THE AGES THAT ARE WRITTEN IN ON THE TABLES ON THE LAST THREE PAGES WERE FROM A PRELIMINARY DRAFT OF AN AGE-DETERMINATION REPORT PROVIDED BY KBN, AND I BELIEVE YOU'VE BEEN PROVIDED WITH A COPY OF THAT. Q. OF WHAT? A. IT'S A REPORT -- A PRELIMINARY REPORT FROM KBN ON AGE DETERMINATION OF THEIR SAMPLED FISH. Q. OKAY. ALL RIGHTY. WHO PRODUCED THE GIS LOCATION OF THE WARE 2-A SITE? A. THIS WAS JOE, AND I THINK HIS LAST NAME IS AUTBUTH FROM KBN. I ALSO DID IT ROUGHLY, JUST BY HAND, LOOKING AT THE EPA CANAL SURVEY MAP THAT HAS THE LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES, AND THEN THERE'S ALSO AN ADDITIONAL DATA SHEET THAT HAS THE COORDINATES FOR EACH OF THE CANAL STATIONS. AND SO, YOU CAN KIND OF BOX IN DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 38 WHERE THAT SITE WAS. BUT TO CONFIRM IT, I ASKED JOE TO PRODUCE A KBN GRAPH -- OR A GIS PLOT. Q. WHAT IS BIOACCUMULATION? A. BIOACCUMULATION, IN GENERAL, REFERS TO A PROCESS BY WHICH COMPOUNDS ARE TAKEN UP BY AN ORGANISM AND HELD IN THE TISSUE SO THEY'RE NOT RELEASED VERY EASILY, SO THEY, THEREFORE, ACCUMULATE. WHAT YOU TEND TO SEE IF THAT'S EXTENDED OVER A FOOD CHAIN IS THAT ORGANISMS AT HIGHER TROPHIC LEVELS -- THAT IS, IF YOU COMPARE PLANKTON TO FISH THAT EAT PLANKTON TO FISH THAT EAT FISH, YOU SEE INCREASING CONCENTRATIONS OF A PARTICULAR COMPOUND AS YOU MOVE UP IN THE FOOD CHAIN, UP THROUGH THE TROPHIC LEVELS. Q. OKAY. DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE MECHANISMS -- CHEMICAL, BIOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL -- INVOLVED IN MERCURY BIOACCUMULATION IN BIOTA IN THE NORTHERN RESERVOIRS THAT YOU'VE STUDIED? MR. SAMS: OBJECT TO THE FORM. A. I WOULD SAY I HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF THOSE CHARACTERISTICS THAT AFFECT BIOACCUMULATION. Q. AND WHAT IS OCCURRING IN THE NORTHERN RESERVOIRS; HOW DOES THEIR CHAIN WORK? A. IN THE NORTHERN RESERVOIRS, IT'S BASICALLY THE SAME AS WHAT YOU SEE -- OR, WHAT I JUST DESCRIBED. YOU HAVE WHAT -- THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE FOOD CHAIN IS DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 39 USUALLY WITH PHYTOPLANKTON IN THOSE PARTICULAR SYSTEMS. YOU GET METHYLMERCURY PARTITIONING INTO THE PHYTOPLANKTON. IT'S NOT THOUGHT TO BE AN UPTAKE PROCESS; IT'S MORE JUST A PARTITIONING AND--- Q. AND WHAT IS A PARTITIONING? A. A PARTITIONING JUST IS -- IT'S LIKE A REDISTRIBUTION. IF YOU HAVE A PHYTOPLANKTON HERE WITH NO METHYLMERCURY, AND THEN YOU HAVE IT SURROUNDED BY METHYLMERCURY, THE METHYLMERCURY WILL MOVE INTO THE PHYTOPLANKTON, SO IT ENDS UP BEING AT ROUGHLY THE SAME CONCENTRATION AS IN THE SURROUNDING WATER. Q. OKAY. A. AND IT ALSO MIGHT BE AT A HIGHER CONCENTRATION THAN IN THE SURROUNDING WATER BECAUSE PHYTOPLANKTON, LIKE MOST PARTICLES, TEND -- OR, METHYLMERCURY REACTS QUITE STRONGLY WITH PLANKTON AND PARTICLES, AND SO YOU TEND TO GET A HIGHER CONCENTRATION THAN IN SURROUNDING WATER. Q. OKAY. I THINK I CUT YOU OFF IN THE PROCESS. A. OH, RIGHT. SO THAT'S THE FIRST STEP IN THE FOOD CHAIN. AND THEN THE NEXT IS THE ZOOPLANKTON WHICH EAT PHYTOPLANKTON; AND WHAT YOU SEE THERE IS A PREFERENTIAL UPTAKE OF METHYLMERCURY OVER INORGANIC MERCURY. AND THEN AS YOU MOVE UP TO THE PLANKTIVORES, THE FISH THAT EAT PLANKTON, YOU SEE AGAIN METHYLMERCURY DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 40 ACCUMULATING PREFERENTIALLY. YOU END UP AT THE -- IN FISH, YOU HAVE ABOUT -- OVER NINETY-FIVE PERCENT OF YOUR MERCURY IS PRESENT AS METHYLMERCURY. THERE'S ALSO A FOOD CHAIN THAT EXISTS IN SEDIMENTS WHERE YOU GET METHYLMERCURY PARTITIONING, EITHER PARTITIONING FROM PORE WATER OR BEING TAKEN UP -- IF IT'S ABSORBED TO SEDIMENT PARTICLES OR TO DETRITUS -- TAKEN UP INTO THE BENTHIC MACROINVERTEBRATES, WHICH ARE BASICALLY -- FOR EXAMPLE, WORMS THAT LIVE IN SEDIMENT; AND THEN THOSE ORGANISMS ARE CONSUMED BY FISH THAT ACTUALLY PREFER THOSE ORGANISMS. AND THE SAME SORT OF PROCESS TAKES PLACE. Q. IS THAT PROCESS TRANSFERABLE TO THE EVERGLADES? A. IN GENERAL, IT IS. Q. THE SAME TYPES OF ORGANISMS AT EACH STAGE? A. ONE DIFFERENCE, I THINK, IN THE EVERGLADES IS THAT THE PERIPHYTON ARE A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THE FOOD CHAIN. AND PERIPHYTON ARE BASICALLY PLANKTON THAT ARE ATTACHED TO SURFACES. IN SOME CASES, THE PERIPHYTON MATS ARE FREE AND KIND OF FLOAT UP THROUGH THE WATER BECAUSE OF OXYGEN BUBBLES. BUT OTHER THAN THAT, THE -- YOU KNOW, THE SPECIES PROBABLY CHANGE BETWEEN THE TWO DIFFERENT SYSTEMS, BUT IN GENERAL, THE FOOD CHAINS WOULD BE SIMILAR. DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 41 Q. OKAY. DO YOU KNOW WHAT TRIGGERS THE METHYLATION OF MERCURY IN THE NORTHERN RESERVOIRS? A. I THINK I DISCUSSED THAT EARLIER, AND IT'S -- WE THINK IT'S ORGANIC CARBON AVAILABILITY. THERE'S ALWAYS A POTENTIAL FOR MERCURY METHYLATION IN JUST ABOUT ANY SYSTEM, BUT ADDITION OF CERTAIN FACTORS LIKE ORGANIC CARBON MAY ENHANCE OR MAY TRIGGER OR START METHYLATION GOING. Q. IS IT PHOSPHORUS? A. DID I SAY PHOSPHORUS? Q. NO, YOU SAID ORGANIC -- YOU THINK IT'S ORGANIC CARBON. A. ORGANIC CARBON. IT -- IN THE NORTHERN RESERVOIRS? Q. UH-HUH (YES). A. I DON'T THINK IT IS. MOST OF THOSE AREAS ARE FAIRLY PRISTINE, SO YOU WOULDN'T EXPECT HIGH PHOSPHORUS INPUTS. Q. OKAY. HAVE YOU BEEN CONSULTED BY OTHERS FOR YOUR ANALYSIS OF MERCURY PROBLEMS IN THE RESERVOIRS? A. IN THE RESERVOIRS? Q. UH-HUH (YES). A. NOT IN THE RESERVOIRS IN PARTICULAR BUT, CERTAINLY, ON MY UNDERSTANDING OF MERCURY CYCLING IN THE ENVIRONMENT. DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 42 Q. BY WHOM HAVE YOU BEEN CONSULTED? A. BY ALCOA, ALUMINUM COMPANY OF AMERICA. Q. YOU, IN PARTICULAR, OR PTI? A. PTI, AND I TEND TO BE THE PERSON THAT DEALS WITH THE MERCURY CYCLING AS A -- AS A FOCUS PERSON, ALTHOUGH WE HAVE A NUMBER OF OTHER PEOPLE THAT HAVE MORE GENERAL EXPERTISE. THE ONONDAGA PROJECT IS ALLIED SIGNAL, AND WE -- WE HAVE OTHER PROPOSALS IN THE WORKS, BUT THOSE ARE THE TWO MAIN THINGS. Q. THE TWO MAIN CONSULTING PROJECTS THAT YOU'RE WORKING ON? A. YEAH, THE TWO MAIN WHERE WE'VE -- WE'VE DONE WORK FOR THEM. Q. OKAY. A. I ALSO TEND TO GET CALLS FROM MISCELLANEOUS PEOPLE ABOUT QUESTIONS ABOUT MERCURY CYCLING, AND I COULDN'T TELL YOU OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD WHO THEY WERE, BUT EITHER FROM ACADEMIA OR FROM ATTORNEYS THAT ARE DEALING WITH MERCURY CYCLING CASES. Q. OKAY. GENERALLY, WHERE ARE THOSE ATTORNEYS FROM? I MEAN WHAT--- A. THIS ONE GROUP WAS FROM -- I THINK THIS WAS OVER A YEAR AGO AND NOTHING CAME OF IT. I WAS OVER-COMMITTED AT THE TIME. I THINK IT WAS UP IN BOSTON. THE ATTORNEYS WERE IN BOSTON THAT DEALT WITH A DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 43 CASE IN MAINE ON RESERVOIR -- I'M JUST -- I'M RECALLING FROM VAGUE MEMORY, BUT A RESERVOIR THAT HAD BEEN IMPOUNDED A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO FOR A HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT AND WAS EXPERIENCING ELEVATED MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN FISH. Q. BUT YOU DIDN'T TAKE THAT WORK ON? A. NO, I DIDN'T EVEN SEE THE DATA. THIS IS ALL BASED ON A CONVERSATION WITH AN ATTORNEY. Q. WHAT OTHER ATTORNEYS HAVE CONSULTED YOU FOR OTHER MATTERS? A. I THINK THAT -- THAT'S THE ONLY ONE I CAN THINK OF AT THIS POINT. Q. OKAY. ARE YOU AWARE OF ANY WETLANDS, EUTROPHIC, WHICH ARE EXPERIENCING INCREASED RATES OF MERCURY METHYLATION? A. EUTROPHIC WETLANDS IN PARTICULAR? Q. UH-HUH (YES). A. NO, NOT IN PARTICULAR; NOT EUTROPHIC WETLANDS. I MEAN, THERE ARE VERY FEW DATA ON EUTROPHIC SYSTEMS IN GENERAL -- LAKES, RESERVOIRS, WETLANDS -- AND I CAN'T, OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, THINK OF ANY OTHER SITES. MOST OF THE WETLAND SITES THAT HAVE BEEN STUDIED, AND THERE ARE EVEN VERY FEW OF THOSE, ARE IN CANADA OR SCANDINAVIA AND ARE PRISTINE OLIGOTROPHIC SYSTEMS IN GENERAL. DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 44 Q. ARE YOU AWARE OF ANY EUTROPHIC WETLANDS WHICH ARE EXPERIENCING INCREASED BIOACCUMULATION OF METHYLMERCURY IN BIOTA? A. AGAIN, I'D HAVE TO SAY THAT THERE JUST -- THERE'S JUST NO OR VERY, VERY FEW DATA AVAILABLE FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ON EUTROPHIC WETLANDS IN PARTICULAR. I THINK THERE'S SOME GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT CAN COME FROM THE STUDY OF LAKES THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO WETLANDS WITH, YOU KNOW, SEVERAL QUALIFICATIONS OR JUST HESITATIONS, BUT NOTHING IN PARTICULAR THAT SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSES EUTROPHIC WETLANDS. Q. WHAT WOULD THOSE QUALIFICATIONS OR HESITATIONS BE? A. IN A WETLAND SYSTEM, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT JUST -- FOR EXAMPLE, IN THE EVERGLADES, A DIFFERENT RETENTION TIME FOR WATER. THE WATER DEPTH IS PROBABLY VERY LOW IN A WETLAND COMPARED TO A LAKE. YOUR -- YOU KNOW, YOUR CHEMICAL PARAMETERS MAY VARY. YOUR GENERAL -- WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE FOOD CHAIN IS PROBABLY SIMILAR BUT, YOU KNOW, THERE MAY BE SLIGHT VARIATIONS. I THINK I'D BE HESITANT TO DIRECTLY APPLY LAKE INFORMATION TO WETLANDS. Q. ARE YOU AWARE OF ANY OLIGOTROPHIC WETLANDS WHICH ARE EXPERIENCING INCREASED MERCURY METHYLATION? DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 45 A. THE PROBLEM WITH JUST LOOKING AT MERCURY METHYLATION IS THERE HAVE BEEN VERY, VERY FEW STUDIES ON RATES OF MERCURY METHYLATION IN THE ENVIRONMENT. AND, THEREFORE, THERE ARE NO HISTORICAL DATA WITH WHICH TO COMPARE TO SAY THAT THERE'S BEEN AN INCREASE IN MERCURY METHYLATION. Q. WELL, I GUESS -- WOULD YOUR ANSWER BE THE SAME AS TO WHETHER YOU'RE AWARE OF ANY OLIGOTROPHIC WETLANDS WHICH ARE EXPERIENCING INCREASED BIOACCUMULATION OF METHYLMERCURY IN BIOTA? A. PROBABLY -- LET'S SEE. THE DATA FROM SCANDINAVIA AND SOME -- PERHAPS SOME DATA FROM CANADA SUGGESTS THAT THE MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS OF FISH MAY BE INCREASING. SOME OF THOSE AREAS ARE DOMINATED BY WETLANDS, THEIR DRAINAGE SYSTEMS. BUT IT'S -- THERE'S A PROBLEM WITH HISTORICAL DATA WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT MERCURY GLOBALLY BECAUSE A LOT OF THESE SITES HAVE NOT BEEN ANALYZED PREVIOUSLY, AND RESEARCHERS ARE GOING IN AND FINDING WHAT LOOK LIKE ELEVATED CONCENTRATIONS BUT THERE'S NO HISTORY. SO, IT'S HARD TO SAY IF THERE'S ACTUALLY BEEN AN INCREASE OR NOT. Q. IT COULD HAVE JUST ALWAYS BEEN THAT WAY? A. POSSIBLY. THERE IS SOME EVIDENCE -- WELL, THERE'S A GOOD DEAL OF EVIDENCE THAT SAYS THAT WE'VE HAD INCREASED ATMOSPHERIC DEPOSITION OF MERCURY DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 46 GLOBALLY AND THAT THAT COULD LEAD TO AN INCREASE IN MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN FISH. BUT THE HISTORICAL DATA ON FISH TISSUE CONCENTRATIONS IS LIMITED. Q. OKAY. HAVE YOU DONE ANY CONSULTATION REGARDING METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION IN THESE OLIGOTROPHIC LAKES EVEN THOUGH IT'S--- A. ANY CONSULTATION? Q. UH-HUH (YES). ANY CONSULTATION WORK OTHER THAN, I GUESS, THE ALCOA PROJECT AND THE--- A. THE ONONDAGA ALLIED SIGNAL PROJECT. NO, NOTHING THAT'S COME -- NOTHING THAT'S COME THROUGH PTI THAT'S RESULTED IN A WORK PRODUCT. Q. OKAY. WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN OLIGOTROPHIC AND A EUTROPHIC WATER SYSTEM? A. THIS IS LIMNOLOGY 101. BASICALLY, IN OLIGOTROPHIC VERSUS EUTROPHIC, YOU'RE LOOKING AT NUTRIENT CONCENTRATION AND THE RESPONSE OF THE BIOTA TO THE NUTRIENT CONCENTRATIONS. THAT'S THE GENERAL THEME. IN AN OLIGOTROPHIC SYSTEM, IT'S GENERALLY THOUGHT TO BE NUTRIENT-LIMITED. IN SOME CASES, THERE ARE DYSTROPHIC SYSTEMS WHICH HAVE VERY HIGH D.O.C. CONCENTRATIONS, SO THERE MAY BE OTHER THINGS THAT ARE LIMITING GROWTH. BUT IN ANY CASE, YOU HAVE QUITE LOW PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY, WHICH MEANS THAT THE ALGAE OR THE PLANKTON ARE NOT PRODUCING AS MUCH CARBON, OR FIXING AS DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 47 MUCH CARBON, AS THEY POTENTIALLY COULD. SOME OF THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF OLIGOTROPHIC SYSTEMS INCLUDE LOW NUTRIENT CONCENTRATIONS, LOW SUSPENDED SOLIDS, LOW CONDUCTIVITY. WE'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT. EUTROPHIC SYSTEMS TEND TO HAVE MORE NUTRIENTS AVAILABLE. THEREFORE, THEY HAVE HIGHER RATES OF PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY -- THAT'S THE PLANKTON, AND THEN THE RESULT OF THAT IS HIGHER RATES OF SECONDARY PRODUCTIVITY -- ORGANISMS THAT EAT UP THE FIRST GUYS. YOU GET HIGHER CONCENTRATIONS OF AVAILABLE ORGANIC CARBON, MORE BACTERIAL GROWTH. IN EXTREME CASES, YOU GET -- YOU MAY GET REDUCED LEVELS OF DISSOLVED OXYGEN, ANAEROBIC CONDITIONS, REDUCING CONDITIONS. THERE'S A -- IT'S A WHOLE GRADATION. Q. OKAY. WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A NATURAL LAKE AND A RESERVOIR? A. A RESERVOIR IS A BODY OF WATER CREATED BY HUMANS. I WOULD SAY IF YOU DAM UP A RIVER, FOR EXAMPLE, AND GET WATER BUILDING UP BEHIND IT, YOU THEN HAVE A RESERVOIR OR A BODY OF WATER THAT DID NOT PREVIOUSLY EXIST. Q. OKAY. THE RESERVOIRS WHICH YOU'VE STUDIED OR THAT YOU'VE MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, WHAT ARE THEY USED FOR? DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 48 A. QUABBIN RESERVOIR SUPPLIES THE WATER FOR THE CITY OF BOSTON. IT WAS CONSTRUCTED IN THE FORTIES, I THINK. Q. OKAY. WHAT IS THE MORPHOLOGY OF A LAKE? A. THERE'S -- IT'S A HUGE RANGE OF POSSIBILITIES FOR LAKES. Q. THE ONONDAGA LAKE. A. ONONDAGA? Q. ONONDAGA. A. IT'S ONE OF THE SIX INDIAN NATIONS. ONONDAGA LAKE? LET'S SEE, IT'S ABOUT FIVE MILES LONG AND A MILE WIDE; THE DEEPEST POINT IS EIGHTEEN METERS; IT'S GOT, KIND OF, TWO BASINS; IT'S A DRAINAGE LAKE. THERE ARE PROBABLY FOUR, MAYBE FIVE, MAJOR TRIBUTARIES FEEDING INTO THE LAKE. Q. WHAT IS THE GENERAL MORPHOLOGY OF SUB-TROPICAL WETLANDS? A. FOR EXAMPLE, THE EVERGLADES? Q. FOR EXAMPLE, THE EVERGLADES. A. YEAH. THE EVERGLADES HAVE A -- LET'S SEE. THERE'S NOT A BASIN AS YOU FIND IN A LAKE. USUALLY IN A LAKE, YOU HAVE A BASIN WHERE YOU HAVE THE WATER THAT COLLECTS. IN THE EVERGLADES, THERE'S A -- IN TERMS OF MORPHOLOGY, THERE'S JUST A WHOLE WIDE EXPANSE OF AREA DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 49 THAT DECREASES IN ELEVATION BY ONLY ABOUT TEN TO TWELVE FEET AS YOU GO FROM LAKE OKEECHOBEE DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OR THE SOUTHERN TIP OF FLORIDA. THERE'S -- THERE'S SOME CHANGES IN ELEVATION; FOR EXAMPLE, WITHIN WCA-2A WHERE YOU HAVE HIGHER LEVELS, ELEVATION LEVELS, THAN OTHER AREAS. THIS SYSTEM IS COMPLICATED BY THE CANALS THAT CRISS-CROSS THROUGH THE WHOLE REGION, SO THAT THE WATER TRANSPORT IS QUITE COMPLICATED AS TO, YOU KNOW, WHERE THE WATER COMES FROM AND WHERE IT GOES TO. I GUESS THE OTHER IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTIC IS THE PEAT IN THE EVERGLADES THAT COVERS THAT EXPANSE. Q. HOW IS THAT DIFFERENT, THE PEAT, FROM THE SOIL THAT'S FOUND IN THE--- A. ONONDAGA? Q. ---ONONDAGA? A. ONONDAGA IS UNDERLAIN BY LIMESTONE, SO IT'S A CALCAREOUS SOIL. IT'S A MINERAL SOIL; IT'S NOT AN ORGANIC SOIL. PEAT IS PREDOMINANTLY ORGANIC. THE AREA AROUND ONONDAGA IS PREDOMINANTLY MINERAL SOIL. Q. OKAY. WELL, WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PEAT THAT'S FOUND IN THE EVERGLADES? A. THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT THE EVERGLADES PEAT IS IT'S NEAR NEUTRAL, UNLIKE A LOT OF THE PEAT THAT'S FOUND IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THIS COUNTRY WHICH DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 50 IS ACIDIC. THAT WOULD PROBABLY BE THE ONE CHIEF CHARACTERISTIC THAT I COULD TALK -- THAT I CAN MENTION. Q. AND HOW DO THE DIFFERENCES, I GUESS IN THE PEAT AND THE SOIL THAT'S FOUND IN THE EVERGLADES AFFECT THE METHYLATION PROCESS? A. THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION. IN -- THERE IS SOME EVIDENCE THAT THERE CAN BE ABIOTIC METHYLATION. THE FOCUS OF MY RESEARCH AND A LOT OF PEOPLE HAS BEEN ON BIOLOGICAL METHYLATION OF MERCURY, BUT THERE IS SOME EVIDENCE THAT THERE'S ABIOTIC METHYLATION THAT OCCURS. A LOT OF TIMES YOU'LL SEE METHYLATION IN STERILE CONDITIONS -- IN A LABORATORY--- Q. LAB. A. ---UNDER STERILE CONDITIONS. AND WHAT'S THOUGHT TO MEDIATE ABIOTIC METHYLATION IS HUMIC MATERIAL, WHICH IS REFRACTORY ORGANIC MATERIAL SUCH AS PEAT OR DISSOLVED ORGANIC CARBON; NOT THE AVAILABLE ORGANIC CARBON THAT'S READILY DIGESTED BY MICROBES, PER SE, BUT ORGANIC CARBON. FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU HAVE A BROWN WATER--- Q. UH-HUH (YES). A. ---AND THOSE COMPOUNDS A LOT OF TIMES HAVE METHYL GROUPS ATTACHED TO THEM AND, JUST BY A CHEMICAL PROCESS, CAN METHYLATE MERCURY. Q. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THERE IS ABIOTIC DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 51 METHYLATION OCCURRING IN THE EVERGLADES? A. I THINK THERE'S A STRONG POSSIBILITY THAT THERE IS. THERE ARE NO DATA THAT I KNOW OF TO SUPPORT THAT AT THIS POINT, BUT BASED ON THE LITERATURE AND MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHARACTERISTICS IN THE EVERGLADES, I'D SAY THERE'S A STRONG POSSIBILITY. Q. OKAY. PRIOR TO YOUR INVOLVEMENT IN THIS LITIGATION, HAVE YOU EVER STUDIED THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES AQUATIC SYSTEM? A. NO, I HAVEN'T. Q. DO YOU KNOW WHAT KINDS OF ANIMALS ARE PRESENT THROUGHOUT THE FLORIDA EVERGLADES? A. IN -- I KNOW SOME IN GENERAL, AND THIS HAS ALL BEEN MY CRASH COURSE IN THE LAST SIX WEEKS. SO, I KNOW THERE'S QUITE A LARGE WADING-BIRD POPULATION, AND THEN THERE ARE A NUMBER OF OTHER FISH-EATING MAMMALS, RACCOONS, ALLIGATORS; AND THEN MOVING UP THE CHAIN, PANTHERS -- JUST IN GENERAL TERMS; THAT'S PROBABLY WHERE I'D LEAVE IT. Q. DO YOU KNOW WHAT TYPES OF PLANTS, VEGETATION, THERE ARE? A. I'VE MOSTLY IN -- THE STUFF I'VE READ HAS MOSTLY BEEN ON WHAT ARE CONSIDERED NUISANCE SPECIES. IN THE SWIM DOCUMENT, THE CATTAILS; THE SAWGRASS, IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING WAS MORE OF A HISTORICAL VEGETATION, DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 52 THE PREDOMINANT VEGETATION. I KNOW THERE HAVE BEEN TREE ISLANDS THERE, AND THERE'S A, KIND OF, RELATIVE OF THE EUCALYPTUS; I CAN'T THINK OF THE NAME, BUT A NUISANCE SPECIES OF TREES THAT'S THOUGHT TO CAUSE SOME PROBLEMS DOWN THERE. Q. IN GENERAL TERMS, WHAT DO YOU REGARD AS THE EXISTING MERCURY PROBLEM IN THE EVERGLADES? A. THE MERCURY PROBLEM IS IDENTIFIED BY HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF MERCURY IN FISH, PRIMARILY; AND THE REASON FOR THAT IS BOTH THE HUMAN HEALTH RISK AND THE ECOLOGICAL RISK. AND IN FLORIDA, I THINK AT THIS POINT, AT LEAST TWO MILLION ACRES IN THE EVERGLADES ARE UNDER FISHING CONSUMPTION OR FISHING BANS, AND MOST OF THOSE ADVISORIES ARE BASED ON HUMAN HEALTH RISKS OF CONSUMING FISH CONTAINING METHYLMERCURY. IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, THERE HAS BEEN MUCH MORE INTEREST IN THE RISK TO WILDLIFE, AND I THINK THAT IS SOMETHING THAT, ALTHOUGH SPECIFIC CRITERIA HAVE NOT YET BEEN DEFINED, IT'S A -- IT'S A CRITICAL ISSUE, ESPECIALLY FOR AN AREA AS LARGE AS THE EVERGLADES WHERE YOU'RE SEEING A HUGE POPULATION OF WILDLIFE THAT ARE POTENTIALLY CONSUMING THESE FISH. Q. ARE THE FISH DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE EVERGLADES OR RESTRICTED IN THE CANALS? A. FROM THE DATA THAT I'VE LOOKED AT IN THE LAST DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 53 FEW WEEKS, MOST OF THE FISH SAMPLING HAS BEEN DONE IN THE CANALS. THERE ARE VERY FEW SAMPLING LOCATIONS WITHIN THE MARSHES. THERE HAS BEEN EXTENSIVE SAMPLING IN FLORIDA, IN GENERAL, IN LAKES AND RIVERS, BUT WITHIN THE EVERGLADES, IT'S -- THE FOCUS HAS REALLY BEEN ON THE CANALS. Q. OKAY. IS THERE AN INCREASED METHYLATION OF MERCURY WITHIN THE EVERGLADES, JUST GENERALLY? A. INCREASED OVER WHAT? Q. INCREASED OVER -- WELL, YOU HAD SAID BEFORE THAT YOU DON'T HAVE A LOT OF HISTORICAL DATA, SO YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE LEVELS WERE BEFORE; BUT IF THERE IS A MERCURY PROBLEM OR A METHYLMERCURY PROBLEM IN THE FISH, HOW DO YOU -- WHAT INDICATORS OF THAT ARE THERE? A. WELL, AN INDICATOR OF A METHYLMERCURY PROBLEM IN FISH WOULD BE THE CONCENTRATIONS IN FISH ARE HIGHER THAN WHAT THE STATE GOVERNMENT DEEMS AS ACCEPTABLE. Q. OKAY. ARE THERE ANY OTHER INDICATORS? A. INDICATORS THAT THERE IS A MERCURY PROBLEM, IS IT? Q. UH-HUH (YES). A. I THINK THAT'S THE -- THAT'S THE CHIEF THING THAT IS USED IN LOOKING AT ANY SITUATION, IS HOW IS WHATEVER COMPOUND IMPACTING EITHER HUMAN HEALTH OR WILDLIFE. AND IN THIS CASE, IN THE MERCURY CASE, IT'S DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 54 REALLY MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN THE FISH OR OTHER ORGANISMS IN THE FOOD CHAIN THAT COULD BE IMPORTANT. Q. AS COMPARED TO THE SAFETY FOR HUMANS? A. NO, I WOULD SAY AS COMPARED TO MERCURY IN WATER. MERCURY IN WATER IS GENERALLY NOT A PROBLEM AS FAR AS DRINKING-WATER CONSUMPTION, AND THERE'S LITTLE CORRELATION BETWEEN MERCURY IN WATER AND MERCURY IN ORGANISMS. SO, YOU REALLY HAVE TO LOOK AT YOUR MERCURY IN ORGANISMS IN ORDER TO EVALUATE WHETHER OR NOT THERE'S A MERCURY PROBLEM. IN THE EVERGLADES THAT'S BEEN DONE, AND IT DOES APPEAR THAT THERE'S AN EXTENSIVE PROBLEM. Q. OKAY. BECAUSE IT'S BASED ON DANGER FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION? A. DANGER FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION AND DANGER TO WILDLIFE. Q. AS ESTABLISHED BY PRE-SET LEVELS? A. YEAH, THE HUMAN CONSUMPTION IS ESTABLISHED BY PRE-SET LEVELS. THE WILDLIFE -- TO MY KNOWLEDGE, THERE ARE PROPOSED CRITERIA IN THE WORKS, NOT FOR THE EVERGLADES BUT FOR THE GREAT LAKES, THAT WOULD ADDRESS RISK TO WILDLIFE; BUT AS YET, THERE ARE NO CRITERIA FOR THE EVERGLADES. Q. OKAY. WHAT ARE THE INDICATORS OF BIOACCUMULATION OF METHYLMERCURY? DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 55 A. I WOULD SAY THE INDICATOR OF BIOACCUMULATION IS YOU LOOK AT THE METHYLMERCURY CONCENTRATION IN THE ORGANISM. Q. AS YOU GO UP THE TROPHIC LEVELS? A. UH-HUH (YES). Q. ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE HYDROLOGY OF THE EVERGLADES? A. I AM SOMEWHAT FAMILIAR, AS FAMILIAR AS I CAN BE, IN JUST GETTING INVOLVED IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS WITH THE HYDROLOGY. Q. WHAT'S YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE HYDROLOGY WITHIN THE EVERGLADES? A. MY UNDERSTANDING OF HYDROLOGY IN THE EVERGLADES IS THERE'S GENERALLY A NORTH-TO-SOUTH FLOW. THERE'S WATER THAT COMES OFF OF DRAINAGE FROM THE AGRICULTURAL AREA; ALSO, YOU KNOW, DRAINAGE FROM MARSHES. IT'S ROOTED BECAUSE OF THE CANALS AND A PRETTY COMPLEX ARRAY OF STRUCTURES WITHIN ANY PARTICULAR AREA. FOR EXAMPLE, IN WCA-2A, THERE ARE AREAS WHERE YOU GET SIGNIFICANT WATERFLOW. USUALLY THOSE AREAS ARE VERY CLOSE TO THE CANALS COMPARED TO OTHER AREAS, IN THAT CASE, INLAND, WHERE YOU MAY NOT GET AS MUCH WATER FLOWING THROUGH. LET ME THINK. THERE'S SIGNIFICANT PRECIPITATION IN THIS AREA. SO, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, ANY SINGLE WATER DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 56 MOLECULE THAT STARTS OUT ON THE SHORES OF LAKE OKEECHOBEE DOES NOT END UP IN THE -- OFF THE COAST OF FLORIDA. IT'S REGENERATED BY PRECIPITATION. AND, ALSO, THE -- I JUST -- I MEAN, IN GEN -- THE FLOW RATE IS QUITE SLOW. IT TAKES A LONG TIME FOR WATER TO GET FROM UP BY THE SHORES OF LAKE OKEECHOBEE ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE BOTTOM OF FLORIDA. MR. SAMS: MAY I INQUIRE WHETHER NOW WOULD BE A SUITABLE TIME TO BREAK IN YOUR QUESTIONING OR WHETHER--- WITNESS: YEAH, THAT WOULD BE NICE. MR. SAMS: IF YOU'D LIKE A BREAK? WITNESS: YEAH, I COULD USE THE BATHROOM. MS. HOGAN: WE CAN TAKE A BREAK. (THEREUPON, A BREAK WAS TAKEN FROM 10:33 A.M. TO 10:45 A.M.) EXAMINATION BY MS. HOGAN CONTINUES: Q. DR. HENRY, HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO THE EVERGLADES? A. NO, I HAVEN'T. Q. WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MERCURY AND METHYLMERCURY? A. DEPENDING ON WHO'S USING IT AND HOW IT'S BEING USED, I TEND TO USE JUST MERCURY TO MEAN TOTAL MERCURY. AND TOTAL MERCURY INVOLVES -- IT INCLUDES DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 57 METHYLMERCURY. AND METHYLMERCURY IS SPECIFICALLY CH3HG+. IT'S A VERY SPECIFIC COMPOUND. Q. YOU'RE SAYING THAT TOTAL MERCURY CONSISTS OF METHYLMERCURY? A. PLUS OTHER MERCURY FORMS. Q. OKAY. WHAT IS METHYLATION? A. METHYLATION IS THE ADDITION OF A METHYL GROUP, CH3-, TO MERCURIC ION TO PRODUCE METHYLMERCURY -- IF IT'S MERCURY THAT'S BEING METHYLATED. Q. WHAT IS THE CHEMICAL PROCESSES -- NO. YEAH. WHAT CHEMICAL PROCESSES ARE INVOLVED IN THE METHYLATION OF MERCURY? A. CHEMICAL PROCESSES IN THE SPECIFIC REACTION? Q. YES. A. IT -- IT'S SIMPLY ADDITION OF A METHYL GROUP TO THE MERCURIC ION. THERE'S NOTHING THAT'S GETTING TRANSFORMED. I MEAN, YOU'RE PUTTING TWO SPECIES TOGETHER TO CREATE A THIRD. Q. ALL RIGHT. WHAT ARE THE MECHANISMS NEEDED FOR BIOTA TO TAKE UP OR BIOACCUMULATE METHYLMERCURY? A. IT DEPENDS ON WHICH ORGANISMS YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. IF -- AT THE LOWER LEVELS OF THE FOOD CHAIN WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT PLANKTON, AS I DESCRIBED EARLIER, IT'S A SIMPLE PARTITIONING WHERE MERCURY EITHER -- MOST LIKELY JUST SORBS TO THE SURFACE, BINDS TO THE SURFACE OF THE ORGANISM. AT HIGHER TROPHIC DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 58 LEVELS -- FOR EXAMPLE, WITH FISH, THE PRIMARY INPUT OF MERCURY IS THROUGH THE DIET, SO THE FISH IS CONSUMING OTHER ORGANISMS THAT CONTAIN METHYLMERCURY. AND AS THAT FOOD IS DIGESTED, THE METHYLMERCURY PASSES INTO THE PREDATOR'S BODY. Q. OKAY. CAN BIOTA BIOACCUMULATE MERCURY PRIOR TO METHYLATION? A. AGAIN, DEPENDING ON THE ORGANISM, PLANKTON WILL SORB INORGANIC MERCURY FROM SOLUTION OR FROM THE WATER. THEY -- THEY WILL. OTHER ORGANISMS, THERE'S PROBABLY SOME SLIGHT OR VERY LOW CONCENTRATION OF INORGANIC MERCURY IN OTHER ORGANISMS, BUT IT'S NOT PREFERENTIALLY ACCUMULATED AS IS METHYLMERCURY. Q. OKAY. WHAT ABOUT FOR PERIPHYTON? DO YOU KNOW HOW THEY BIOACCUMULATE? A. PERIPHYTON IS A REAL MIX OF ORGANISMS. I THINK IT INCLUDES PLANKTON, AND SOME PEOPLE ALSO BULK IN THERE SOME OF THE INVERTEBRATES. SO, AGAIN, IT WOULD DEPEND. IF IT'S A -- THE REASON I DISTINGUISH IS WITH PHYTOPLANKTON, YOU -- THESE ORGANISMS ARE NOT CONSUMING ANYTHING. THEY'RE BASICALLY LITTLE ONE-CELLED PLANTS, AND SO THEY HAVE NO MECHANISM FOR EATING. SO, THE WAY METHYLMERCURY GETS IN THERE IS JUST SORPTION TO THE CELL SURFACE OR SOMEHOW GETTING INSIDE THE CELL. ORGANISMS THAT CAN EAT THINGS OR DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 59 INGEST THINGS, THAT'S THE MORE LIKELY ROUTE THAT METHYLMERCURY WILL GET INTO THE ORGANISM. Q. OKAY. WHAT IS DEMETHYLATION? A. DEMETHYLATION, SPECIFICALLY, IS THE REMOVAL OF THE METHYL GROUP FROM METHYLMERCURY, IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT METHYLMERCURY. Q. AND, I GUESS, WHAT CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR MECHANISMS ARE INVOLVED IN DEMETHYLATION? A. THERE -- WELL, LET'S SEE, CHEMICAL PROCESSES. THERE -- A LOT OF -- THERE'S A LOT OF EVIDENCE ABOUT BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES FOR DEMETHYLATION WHERE IT'S MEDIATED BY BACTERIA. AS FAR AS CHEMICAL PROCESSES ON DEMETHYLATION, THAT'S KIND OF A BLANK BOOK AT THIS POINT, AS FAR AS THE UNDERSTANDING IN THE MERCURY COMMUNITY. THERE -- THERE SEEMS TO BE A FAIRLY HIGH AMOUNT OF ABIOTIC DEMETHYLATION OCCURRING, BUT THE EXACT CHEMICAL MECHANISM HAS NOT BEEN DEFINED. Q. WHAT'S THE BIOLOGICAL MECHANISM THAT'S OCCURRING? A. THE BIOLOGICAL MECHANISM IS USUALLY BACTERIA WILL TAKE METHYLMERCURY INTO THEIR CELLS AND THEN, INSIDE THE CELL, WILL REMOVE THE METHYL GROUP FROM METHYLMERCURY. AND THEN IN SOME CASES, THE SAME ORGANISM WILL ALSO REDUCE THE MERCURIC ION TO ELEMENTAL MERCURY AND CONVERT THE METHYL GROUP TO METHANE, BUT DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 60 THAT'S NOT THE CASE WITH ALL ORGANISMS. BUT IT'S USUALLY AN INTRA-CELLULAR PROCESS; IT OCCURS INSIDE THE CELL. Q. OKAY. ARE THE FOREGOING PROCESSES THE SAME IN EVERY AQUATIC ENVIRONMENT? MR. SAMS: OBJECT TO THE FORM. A. I THINK THAT THE PROCESSES WOULD BE -- I'D SAY THEY'D BE ABOUT THE SAME, BUT THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF EACH PROCESS IS GOING TO VARY FROM SITE TO SITE, WHETHER IT'S ABIOTIC OR BIOTIC METHYLATION OR WHETHER METHYLATION IS GREATER THAN DEMETHYLATION. THAT'S GOING TO VARY EVEN WITHIN ONE SITE BETWEEN THE WATER COLUMN AND THE SEDIMENT OR WHATEVER. Q. IS THERE GREAT VARIABILITY IN THE PROCESSES AS COMPARED TO THE ONONDAGA LAKE AND WHAT GOES ON IN THE EVERGLADES? A. DO YOU MEAN RATES OF PROCESSES, DEFINITION OF PROCESSES? Q. UH-HUH (YES). A. BOTH? Q. UH-HUH (YES). A. WE HAVE MEASUREMENTS FOR METHYLATION RATES IN ONONDAGA. AS I SAID BEFORE, THERE ARE NO MEASUREMENTS IN THE EVERGLADES FOR METHYLATION RATES; SO, I CAN INFER FROM THE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE WHAT MAY OCCUR, DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 61 AND OTHER PEOPLE MAY DO THAT, ALSO. BUT AS YET, I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY DATA THAT SPECIFICALLY ANALYZE RATES OF METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION IN THE EVERGLADES. Q. DO YOU EXPECT THEM TO BE DIFFERENT? A. I THINK IT'S A LITTLE EARLY TO SPECULATE. THE ONE FACTOR THAT I MIGHT LOOK AT IS TEMPERATURE. IF YOU LOOK OVER A WHOLE YEAR, ONONDAGA'S UNDER ICE COVER FOR ABOUT FOUR MONTHS, AND YOU USUALLY SEE ELEVATED METHYLATION RATES AT HIGHER TEMPERATURES, SO YOU SEE YOUR PEAK IN ONONDAGA WITH METHYLMERCURY IN LATE SUMMER. IN THE EVERGLADES, WHERE YOU HAVE HIGHER TEMPERATURES YEAR-ROUND, THAT MAY ENHANCE METHYLATION; BUT AS TO WHETHER IT'S GREATER OR LESS THAN ONONDAGA, THAT'S NOT CLEAR. I SHOULD SAY THAT I HAVE SEEN THE PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTS -- OR, RESULTS OF PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTS BY TAMAR BARKAY FROM EPA GULF BREEZE, AND THOSE ARE THE ONLY DATA I'VE SEEN ON LOOKING AT RATES OF METHYLATION AND DEMETHYLATION IN EVERGLADE SAMPLES. Q. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE SOURCES OF MERCURY ARE IN THE EVERGLADES? A. I CAN'T SAY THAT I KNOW. I DON'T THINK ANYONE CAN SAY THAT THEY KNOW WHAT THE SOURCES ARE. THERE'S CERTAINLY A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT POSSIBILITIES. DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 62 Q. WHAT POSSIBILITIES ARE YOU AWARE OF? A. I THINK THE FIRST I'D MENTION WOULD BE ATMOSPHERIC DEPOSITION. SECOND WOULD BE METHYLATION THAT'S OCCURRING THROUGHOUT THE EVERGLADES IN EITHER WATER COLUMN OR SEDIMENTS. DID YOU SAY SOURCES OF METHYLMERCURY OR TOTAL MERCURY? Q. TOTAL MERCURY. A. TOTAL MERCURY. TOTAL MERCURY. THERE'S -- TOTAL MERCURY TENDS TO BIND WITH ORGANIC CARBON IN SOILS AND SEDIMENTS, SO EVEN WITH ATMOSPHERIC DEPOSITION, AT BACKGROUND LEVELS, YOU'RE GOING TO GET AN ACCUMULATION OF MERCURY IN SOILS AND PEAT AND SEDIMENTS. AND SO, YOU MIGHT THINK OF THE SOILS OR SEDIMENTS AS A SECONDARY SOURCE OF MERCURY, TOTAL MERCURY. Q. WHAT ABOUT NUTRIENT ENRICHMENT AS A SOURCE? A. NUTRIENT ENRICHMENT AS A SOURCE OF TOTAL MERCURY? Q. UH-HUH (YES). A. AGAIN, I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY DATA THAT WOULD EITHER SUPPORT OR NOT SUPPORT THAT IDEA. THERE -- I KNOW THERE'S BEEN A SUGGESTION THAT AS YOU OXIDIZE PEAT, YOU'LL GET MERCURY MOBILIZED, WHICH MAKES SENSE TO ME. SO, THAT MAY BE ONE WAY THAT MERCURY GETS RELEASED. BUT, AGAIN, YOU KNOW, AS TO HOW FAR IT DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 63 TRAVELS OR WHAT THE FATE OF IT IS ONCE IT'S ACTUALLY RELEASED FROM THE PEAT, I WOULDN'T WANT TO SPECULATE. Q. WHAT ABOUT ALLIGATOR HOLES? A. ALLIGATOR HOLES, FROM MY READING--- MR. SAMS: LET ME JUST OBJECT TO THE FORM OF THE QUESTION. A. OKAY. WHAT ABOUT ALLIGATOR HOLES? Q. ARE THEY A SOURCE OF TOTAL MERCURY? A. OF TOTAL MERCURY? FROM THE -- FROM THE LITTLE I KNOW ABOUT ALLIGATOR HOLES, I WOULD GUESS NO; BUT I DON'T KNOW MUCH ABOUT ALLIGATOR HOLES. Q. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE SOURCES OF METHYLMERCURY COULD BE? A. TO THE EVERGLADES? Q. UH-HUH (YES). A. AGAIN, I DON'T THINK I COULD SAY WITH CERTAINTY, NOR DO I THINK ANYONE COULD SAY WITH CERTAINTY WHAT THE SOURCES OF METHYLMERCURY ARE TO THE EVERGLADES. POSSIBLE SOURCES INCLUDE ATMOSPHERIC DEPOSITION AND METHYLATION OF MERCURY THROUGHOUT THE EVERGLADES. Q. WHAT ABOUT OXYGEN LEVELS? A. WHAT ABOUT--- MR. SAMS: OBJECT TO THE FORM AGAIN. Q. (BY MS. HOGAN) OKAY. WHAT ABOUT DISSOLVED DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 64 ORGANIC MATTER? A. WHAT'S THE WHOLE QUESTION? I'M NOT QUITE SURE WHAT YOUR--- Q. WHAT ARE POSSIBLE SOURCES -- HAVE YOU THOUGHT OF WHAT POSSIBLE SOURCES OF METHYLMERCURY ARE--- A. UH-HUH (YES). Q. ---WITHIN THE EVERGLADES? A. UH-HUH (YES). Q. AND YOU'VE IDENTIFIED ATMOSPHERIC DEPOSITION--- A. UH-HUH (YES). Q. ---AND ONE OTHER THING. A. YEAH, METHYLATION THROUGHOUT THE EVERGLADES. Q. DO YOU KNOW OF ANY OTHER POSSIBLE SOURCES OF METHYLMERCURY? HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THAT? A. NO, I'D LEAVE IT AT THAT. I MEAN, I THINK THE RATES OF METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION MAY VARY WITHIN THE EVERGLADES, BUT I THINK IT MOST LIKELY OCCURS THROUGHOUT THE EVERGLADES. Q. WHAT IS THE USUAL EFFECT OF FLOODED SOILS ON MERCURY METHYLATION? A. FLOODED SOILS IN THE SENSE OF NORTHERN RESERVOIRS WHERE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT A FAIRLY LONG RETENTION TIME AND A FAIRLY DEEP WATER DEPTH -- NOW I FORGOT THE SECOND HALF OF THE QUESTION. WAS IT EFFECT DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 65 ON--- Q. MERCURY METHYLATION. A. ---METHYLATION? I'M JUST -- THE THING IS, THERE HAVEN'T BEEN -- THERE HASN'T BEEN RESEARCH THAT DOCUMENTS RATES OF METHYLMERCURY METHYLATION, AND WHAT PEOPLE HAVE LOOKED AT IS METHYLMERCURY IN FISH AS AN INDICATOR OF, AND THEN GONE BACK AND SAID THAT IMPLIES THAT THERE ARE INCREASED RATES OF MERCURY METHYLATION UNDER FLOODED CONDITIONS. THE ONLY RESEARCH THAT I'M AWARE THAT'S SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSING THAT IS JOHN RUDD AND VINCE ST. LOUIS IN CANADA, AND I DON'T THINK HIS DATA ARE -- THEY CERTAINLY HAVEN'T BEEN PUBLISHED YET, AND I HAVEN'T DISCUSSED IT WITH THEM. Q. WHAT IS YOUR OPINION AS TO WHAT THE EFFECT OF FLOODED SOILS ON METHYL -- EXCUSE ME -- ON MERCURY METHYLATION IS IN THE EVERGLADES? A. FLOODED SOILS IN GENERAL? I THINK A LOT OF THE EVERGLADES CONSISTS OF FLOODED SOILS, AND MY OPINION IS THAT THERE IS A BACKGROUND RATE OF MERCURY METHYLATION THAT OCCURS THROUGHOUT THE EVERGLADES. Q. WOULD YOU EXPECT TO SEE THE EFFECT OF FLOODED SOILS TO BE DIFFERENT IN THE LAKES WHICH YOU HAVE STUDIED AS COMPARED TO THE EVERGLADES PEAT? A. CAN YOU RESTATE IT? IT FEELS A LITTLE SLIPPERY TO ME. DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 66 Q. OKAY. WELL, I'LL TRY TO RESTATE IT. IF THERE'S A CHEMICAL PROCESS OR A BIOLOGICAL PROCESS THAT OCCURS TO SOILS WHEN THEY'RE FLOODED, AND I ASKED YOU WHAT WOULD HAPPEN, WHAT OCCURS. WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT OCCURS WITH THE SOILS FOR THE LAKE THAT YOU HAVE STUDIED AS COMPARED TO WHAT HAPPENS TO THE PEAT IN THE EVERGLADES? A. WELL, THE PROBLEM I'M HAVING WITH IT IS THE LAKE IS ALWAYS FLOODED AND THE EVERGLADES ARE ALWAYS FLOODED. SO, IT'S NOT LIKE YOU'RE LOOKING AT CONDITIONS BEFORE FLOODING AND CONDITIONS AFTER FLOODING, SO I'M AVOIDING THAT. THERE ARE -- BASED ON MY WORK AND ALSO REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE, THERE ARE GENERAL -- THERE'S A GENERAL BODY OF INFORMATION THAT WE CAN APPLY TO THE EVERGLADES. AS I'VE SAID BEFORE, THERE ARE SO FEW DATA ON MEASUREMENT OF RATES OF METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION IN THE WHOLE WORLD, AND NONE OTHER THAN TAMAR'S IN THE EVERGLADES, AND THAT'S AN AREA THAT REALLY NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED TO GET AT WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S YOUR SOURCE OF METHYLMERCURY, WHAT THE EFFECT OF YOUR VARIOUS CHANGES IN THE SYSTEM ARE GOING TO HAVE ON METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION. Q. OKAY. WHAT IS MEANT BY THE TERM "NON-REDUCING CONDITIONS" AS IT'S USED IN THE AQUATIC CONTEXT? A. NON-REDUCING REFERS TO OXIDATION-REDUCTION DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 67 POTENTIAL THAT'S GREATER THAN -- IT DEPENDS ON WHAT SCALE YOU'RE LOOKING AT, BUT PROBABLY GREATER THAN ZERO MILLIVOLTS. THE -- YEAH. Q. IS THE EVERGLADES A NON-REDUCING SYSTEM? A. IT'S INTERESTING. FROM -- FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, IT'S OFTEN REFERRED TO AS NON-REDUCING. HOWEVER, THERE -- THERE'S A PAPER FROM BASHUN & JONES WHICH LOOKS AT METHYL -- OR METHANE PRODUCTION IN EVERGLADES SOILS; AND IN ORDER TO HAVE METHANOGENESIS OR METHANE PRODUCTION, YOU HAVE TO HAVE QUITE REDUCED CONDITIONS. THEREFORE, I WOULD SAY THAT THERE ARE REDUCED CONDITIONS NATURALLY OCCURRING IN EVERGLADES SOIL. Q. WHICH DO YOU BELIEVE IS MORE CRITICAL IN THE EVERGLADES -- TO THE EVERGLADES, PHOSPHORUS DISCHARGE AND ITS ASSOCIATED EUTROPHICATION OR THE POTENTIAL THREAT THAT'S POSED BY MERCURY CONTAMINATION? MR. SAMS: OBJECT TO THE FORM. A. AT SOME POINT, SOMEONE'S GOING TO HAVE TO MAKE A JUDGMENT CALL ON THAT, BUT MY OPINION IS THAT THE MERCURY -- MERCURY PROPOSES CONSIDERABLE RISKS, BOTH TO HUMAN HEALTH AND WILDLIFE, AND THAT SHOULD BE EXAMINED AS ANY DECISIONS ARE MADE REGARDING CHANGING OF PHOSPHORUS INPUTS. THE TWO PROBLEMS GO HAND IN HAND. IT'S -- YOU CAN'T AFFECT ONE WITHOUT AFFECTING THE DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 68 OTHER. Q. OKAY. WHAT IS MORE CRITICAL AS IT RELATES TO THE EVERGLADES AS OPPOSED TO PEOPLE? MR. SAMS: OBJECT TO THE FORM. A. AGAIN, I THINK IT'S A JUDGMENT CALL. I MEAN, ON THE ONE HAND, YOU'RE LOOKING AT -- WITH MERCURY RISK, YOU'RE LOOKING AT -- THE EFFECTS THAT YOU SEE IN WILDLIFE ARE -- I MEAN IN THE EXTREME CASE -- ARE TOXICITY AND DEATH. IN MORE SUBTLE CASES WITH, FOR EXAMPLE, WADING-BIRD POPULATIONS, YOU SEE DECREASED NESTING SUCCESS LEADING TO DECREASED POPULATIONS OF WADING BIRDS. THAT -- YOU KNOW, WHOEVER MAKES THE DECISION, AND I'M NOT THE PERSON TO DO THAT, HAS TO WEIGH THAT AGAINST THE EVIDENCE FOR THE EFFECT OF PHOSPHORUS ON THE EVERGLADES ECOSYSTEM. Q. WHEN YOU SAY "DECREASED NESTING" OR TOXICITY LEVELS IN ANIMALS INCREASED, HOW DO YOU JUDGE THAT? IS THERE HISTORICAL DATA? A. IN THE TOXICITY, I'M SPECIFICALLY REFERRING TO THE PANTHER THAT WAS FOUND WITH THE HIGH CONCENTRATIONS OF MERCURY IN THE LIVER, AND I BELIEVE THAT THE TOXICOLOGISTS THOUGHT THAT IT COULD HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY MERCURY, HIGH LEVELS OF MERCURY. THE NESTING SUCCESS, I -- THIS IS A FAIRLY NEW AREA OF RESEARCH IN, SAY, IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS. AS A DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 69 COUNTRY, AS A GOVERNMENT, WE'VE BECOME MORE INTERESTED IN EFFECTS OF COMPOUNDS ON WILDLIFE, AND ONE -- THE POINT THAT'S BEEN LOOKED AT MOST IS THE EFFECT OF MERCURY ON REPRODUCTION, WHICH IS NESTING SUCCESS IN THE CASE OF BIRDS. Q. HAVE YOU SEEN STUDIES THAT SHOW THAT THERE HAS BEEN A REDUCTION IN NESTING FOR WADING BIRDS? A. NOT PARTICULARLY IN THE EVERGLADES. Q. HAVE YOU SEEN STUDIES THAT SHOW THAT THERE'S BEEN A REDUCTION IN PANTHERS, THE PANTHER POPULATION, DUE TO MERCURY IN THE EVERGLADES? A. NO, BUT IN BOTH CASES, I -- AS I UNDERSTAND IT, THERE HAS BEEN A DRASTIC REDUCTION OF THE PANTHER POPULATION AND IN THE WADING-BIRD POPULATION, AND I THINK THE CAUSAL FACTORS HAVE NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED; AND I'M JUST SUGGESTING THAT MERCURY MAY PLAY A ROLE IN THAT, BUT THAT'S FOR BIOLOGISTS TO LOOK AT. Q. HAS THE MERCURY PROBLEM BEEN USED ANYWHERE YOU KNOW OF TO STOP CORRECTIVE ACTION FOR NUTRIENT POLLUTION? MR. SAMS: OBJECT TO THE FORM. A. NO, I CAN'T THINK OF ANY CASE WHERE IT HAS BEEN. Q. WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DISSOLVED ORGANIC COMPOUND AND METHYLATION? DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 70 A. IT'S A COMPLICATED ISSUE. DISSOLVED ORGANIC CARBON OR -- OR JUST ORGANIC COM--- Q. DISSOLVED ORGANIC CARBON. A. IN METHYLATION? I WOULD SPLIT THAT UP INTO MAYBE A TWO-BY-TWO MATRIX. THERE'S DISSOLVED ORGANIC CARBON, WHICH IS AVAILABLE FOR DEGRADATION BY ORGANISMS IN THE WATER COLUMN. THAT MAY ENHANCE METHYLATION. THERE'S DISSOLVED ORGANIC CARBON, WHICH IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR DEGRADATION BY ORGANISMS. THAT MAY DECREASE METHYLATION BY BINDING TO MERCURIC IONS IN THE WATER COLUMN AND, THEREFORE, DECREASING THE AVAILABILITY FOR METHYLATION. IN THE SEDIMENT, AND I THINK I REFER TO THIS IN THE REVIEW ARTICLE THAT CINDY GILMOUR AND I WROTE, IF YOU ADD ORGANIC CARBON TO SEDIMENTS, AVAILABLE ORGANIC CARBON, YOU TEND TO SEE AN INCREASE IN METHYLATION. AND I THINK WE ALSO -- AS I RECALL, WE CITE A PAPER WHERE HUMIC MATERIAL, WHICH I WOULD SAY IS LESS DEGRADABLE, WHEN ADDED TO SEDIMENTS CAN ALSO STIMULATE MERCURY METHYLATION. Q. SO, IT CAN MAKE MERCURY LESS AVAILABLE FOR BIOACCUMULATION? A. UH-HUH (YES). Q. DO YOU HAVE ANY OPINION OR HAVE YOU STUDIED THE EFFECTS OF THE DEPTHS AND VOLUMES OF THE CANALS DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 71 WITHIN THE EVERGLADES SYSTEM ON METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION AND BIOACCUMULATION? A. I HAVEN'T SEEN ANY DATA ON DEPTHS IN THE CANALS. IN GENERAL, JUST THE -- THE GENERAL OPINION I GIVE IS IF YOU HAVE REDUCING CONDITIONS -- AND WHETHER THAT'S CAUSED BY INCREASED DEPTH OR BY INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY OR ORGANIC CARBON IN THE SEDIMENT OF THE CANAL -- YOU MIGHT SEE INCREASED METHYLATION RATES UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS. Q. ARE YOU GENERALLY FAMILIAR WITH THE STORMWATER TREATMENT AREAS THAT HAVE BEEN PROPOSED IN THE EVERGLADES SWIM PLAN? A. YEAH. Q. OKAY. WHAT'S YOUR BASIC UNDERSTANDING AS TO HOW THEY'LL FUNCTION AND WHAT THEIR PURPOSE WILL BE? A. THE PURPOSE OF THE STORMWATER TREATMENT AREAS IS TO TREAT THE DISCHARGE FROM THE EVERGLADES AGRICULTURAL AREA, AND THE PRIMARY GOAL IS TO REMOVE PHOSPHORUS AND TO REDUCE PHOSPHORUS IN THE DISCHARGE THAT ULTIMATELY COMES OUT THE OTHER END OF THE STORMWATER TREATMENT AREAS. Q. OKAY. WHAT PRIOR EXPOSURE HAVE YOU HAD TO WETLAND TREATMENT AREAS? A. I HAVEN'T HAD ANY. Q. ARE YOU AWARE OF THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 72 CONSTRUCTION OF STA'S WITHIN THE EVERGLADES? A. I'M PROBABLY AWARE OF AT LEAST ONE. I CAN'T SAY THAT I'M AWARE OF ALL THE ARGUMENTS AGAINST THEM. Q. AND WHAT'S THE ONE THAT YOU'RE AWARE OF? A. THE ONE I'M AWARE OF IS THE CONCERN THAT STA'S WILL ACT AS A SOURCE OF METHYLMERCURY TO THE EVERGLADES. Q. AND HOW WOULD IT DO THAT? HOW WOULD THEY DO THAT? A. IT'S POSSIBLE THAT WITH THE ADDITION OF NUTRIENTS AND SULFATE AND THEN THE EVOLUTION OF REDUCED CONDITIONS IN THE SEDIMENT, THAT YOU'D GET INCREASED RATES OF METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION. NOW, AS I SAID, THIS IS A CONCERN THAT OTHER PEOPLE HAVE STATED. Q. ARE YOU CONCERNED WITH IT? IS IT A VALID CONCERN? A. I THINK IT IS A VALID CONCERN; BUT I THINK THERE ARE ALSO A NUMBER OF OTHER PROCESSES THAT NEED TO BE STUDIED WITHIN THE STA'S TO MAKE A CONFIDENT PREDICTION ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT THE STA'S WILL BE A SOURCE OF METHYLMERCURY TO THE EVERGLADES. Q. THE ARGUMENT AGAINST THE STA'S IS THAT THE NUTRIENT DISCHARGE OF PHOSPHORUS WILL INCREASE THE LEVELS OF METHYLMERCURY? MR. SAMS: OBJECT TO THE FORM. DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 73 Q. (BY MS. HOGAN) I'M SORRY. CAN YOU RE--- A. ARE YOU ASKING ME? Q. YEAH. CAN YOU JUST TELL ME AGAIN WHAT THE ARGUMENT IS AGAINST THE STA'S? A. THE ARGUMENT AGAINST THE STA'S -- AND THIS COMES FROM, IN PARTICULAR, READING EXPERT REPORTS FROM GILMOUR AND WATRAS -- IS THAT THE STA'S MAY ACT AS A SOURCE OF METHYLMERCURY. Q. AND WHY IS THAT? WHY WOULD THEY BE A SOURCE? A. I THINK WE JUST DISCUSSED THIS. Q. I KNOW, BUT CAN YOU TELL ME AGAIN? A. THAT THERE WOULD -- WITH THE INCREASED -- WITH NUTRIENTS AND -- INCLUDING PHOSPHORUS AND SULFATE THAT YOU FIND IN THE DISCHARGE FROM THE EAA, YOU WOULD GET -- END UP WITH REDUCED CONDITIONS IN THE SEDIMENT AND INCREASED METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION. Q. ALL RIGHT. A. THE ADDITIONAL CONCERN THAT WE'VE STATED OR THAT -- YEAH, WE'VE STATED IN OUR DRAFT REPORT IS THAT CONSTRUCTION OF STA'S, IF THEY ARE EFFECTIVE IN RESULTING PHOSPHORUS LEVELS, WILL AFFECT METHYLMERCURY BIOACCUMULATION IN FISH IN AREAS THAT ARE CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING ELEVATED PHOSPHORUS LEVELS. Q. OKAY. IN THE OTHER STORMWATER TREATMENT AREAS THAT ARE CURRENTLY BEING IMPLEMENTED AROUND THE WORLD, DR. HENRY VOLUME I PAGE 74 HAS THERE BEEN A METHYLATION INCREASE--- MR. SAMS: OBJECT TO THE FORM. Q. ---THAT YOU'RE AWARE OF? A. I'M NOT FAMILIAR WITH OTHER STORMWATER TREATMENT AREAS, AND I'M -- AS FAR AS I KNOW, I DON'T THINK THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN LOOKED AT IN OTHER AREAS. Q. WE'VE GONE INTO THIS BEFORE, BUT CAN YOU TELL ME AGAIN, WHAT IS THE USEFULNESS OF INFORMATION ON METHYLATION AND DEMETHYLATION IN THE CONTEXT OF MERCURY CONTAMINATION AS IT RELATES TO THE EVERGLADES? A. WELL, ULTIMATELY, WHAT I LOOK AT, AS FAR AS MERCURY CONTAMINATION GOES, IS YOUR CONCENTRATION IN THE BIOTA. AND THAT CONCENTRATION IN THE BIOTA IS A FUNCTION OF BOTH THE SOURCE OF METHYLMERCURY -- OR THE SUPPLY OF METHYLMERCURY, WHICH IS THE RATE OF METHYLMERCURY PRODUCTION OR OTHER SOURCES, AND THE RATE OF BIOACCUMULATION. SO, IN THAT CONTEXT, I WOULD SAY IT WOULD BE IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT, OR TO HAVE MORE INFORMATION ON RA