The isolation and identification of organic legends and inorganic and organometallic compounds in seven oil shale process waters has been carried out using a number of analytical techniques. Organic legends, potentially associated with trace metals in the oil shale process waters, were either isolated, after methylene chloride extraction, by low pressure liquid chromatography or directly derivatized using lyophilized samples and then identified by capillary Colum gas chromatography in combination with electron impacts mass spectrometry. Using these techniques, we were able to identify mono and icarboxylic acids, substituted phenols, substituted pyridines, aliphatic nitrogen heterocyclics, and substituted quinoline compounds.