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Based on the above analytical results and the observations in the field on the day of the spill, it does not appear that there was any large-scale contamination of the Dry Fork and Minnesota Creeks and there was no damage to any wildlife. These observations correlate well with the information contained in the MSDS. The concentration of Butyl Carbitol spilled was too low to cause any large-scale problems (fish-kill, etc.). Based on stream flow information it appears as though all of the substances in the SILV-EX would have been diluted to the subpart-per-trillion level in a matter of minutes. The only observable effect of the spill appeazs to be the "nuisance" foaming. One thing to note, however, is that the stream was not sampled until 20 days after the spill occurred. At that point one would not expect to detect anything regardless of the amount of material spilled. The following are three brief statements regazding Butyl Carbitol that aze interesting. The first is from Union Carbide, the second is from the USGS and the third (as referenced) is from the journal "Environmental Toxicological Chemistry". Diethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether is used primarily in the manufacturing of lacquers based on nitrocellulose, cellulose ethers and chlorinated rubber. Small quantity is also used in combination lacquers. Solutions of nitrocellulose in Butyl Glycol may be diluted with large quantity of white spirit, aromatic hydrocarbons or ethanol without adversely affecting the film properties. Small quantity of Butyl Diglycol improves both the flow and dilution capacity of the lacquers and also enhances the gloss of the resultant lacquer films. 2. Two studies were tamed out in ] 993 and 1994 to assess the effects of fire retazdant chemical (Phos-Chek G75-F) and fire suppressant foam (Silt'-Ex) application, alone and in combination with fire, on Great Plains mixed-grass prairie and Great Basin shrub steppe vegetation. Response variables included aspects of plant growth, flowering, herbivory by insects, and community characteristics. In mixed-grass prairie, Silt'-Ex treatment resulted in a small depression in plant species accumulation over the growing season, greater leaf herbivory of some woody species, and increased leaf growth but decreased shoot growth in the shrub, Symphoricarpos occidentalis. Phos-Chek application in this habitat resulted in a mazked fertilization effect in the dominant grass, Poa pratensis, but not in other species. Herbaceous biomass increased in response to treatment the first season, but was indistinguishable from the control by the second season. Plant species richness was depressed by Phos-Chek application. In contrast, in shrub steppe vegetation, we saw no effect of either chemical on growth, flowering, or herbivory of woody species. Number of live stems/m2 was depressed by Silt'-Ex at 1% concentration, but not at 0.5%; this was the only effect (not related to community composition) to persist through the end of the study. Species richness initially declined with Phos-Chek application, but was indistinguishable from the control by the end of the growing season. A canonical vaziate analysis indicated that burning had a greater influence on plant community composition than did the chemical treatments. In general, riparian vegetation in the Great Basin study showed more significant responses to the treatments than did upland vegetation, and late-spring applications produced greater changes in