The production of shale oil in the United States is currently being investigated as a potential source of domestic fuel. The oil shale retorting process will not only produce shale oil, but will also result in liquid and solid wastes with chemical compositions that are, in many ways, unique to the industry. Oil shale wastewater contains a complex mixture of organic and inorganic compounds resulting from the pyrolysis of kerogen in the shale and form the mineral matrix of the rock. Such a complex composition makes the chromatographic separation of the organic compounds a difficult task. Even with high resolution fused silica capillary chromatography, peaks frequently overlap and the mass spectra of two or more co-eluting compounds are so complex that it is difficult or frequently impossible to identify the unknown compounds giving rise to the spectra.