"Oil shale, tar sands, and underground coal gasification represent viable sources of fossil fuel to assist in meeting U.S. energy needs. Development of fossil-fuel-processing technologies ha progressed to a point where commercialization may soon become a reality. Concurrent with this development must be the assessment and solution of environmental problems. A particular ands significant problems resides in the handling, containment, treatment, disposal, use, and eventual fate of waters recovered with thee oil, gas, and subsurface waters associated with fuel-processing techniques. The magnitude of plant responses and potential hypotoxic effects resulting from exposure to these produced waters have not been evaluated. but they need to be quantified for purposes of risk assessment To address this problem, research was conducted (1) to develop or test qualitative short-term, cost-effective. diagnostic screening procedures for testing vegetation against synfuel- produced waters; (2) using such procedures, to quantify the response of plants to these waters, and (3) to provide information for developing controlled technology . Growth responses (leaf area, dry weight. root: shoot ratio. and leaf :shoot ratio) as well as germination were parameters monitored to test produced waters against vegetation under greenhouse conditions using hydroponic techniques . Grass species respond differently to an individual water and in turn may react in changing orders of response to several waters originating from retorting various fossil fuels. Growth response varies with dilution and may be more valuable as an indicator of phytotoxicity than germination. Plant-species response to various waters can be separated and ranked to allow risk assessment, to facilitate selecting the correct species for reclamation, and. in the future. to assess the success of water-treatment procedures."