INTRODUCTION

1. Under the revised Comprehensive Environmental Evaluation (CEE) schedule for the Cape Roberts Project (CRP) the 1996/97 Summer Season would have seen two holes drilled in the sea floor some 15 kilometres east of Cape Roberts. Unfortunately, in August 1996 drilling was postponed for this season for safety reasons after the fast sea ice along the Cape Roberts coast had broken out in early July.
2. It was decided to use this 'extra' season to further improve the facilities already stored at Cape Roberts and to do a trial run of the drill system, something that the Project Manager and his team had been unable to do either in New Zealand or at Cape Roberts because of tight time constraints. The additional time offered by the postponement proved valuable in ironing out many small problems related to the operation of the main camp and, more importantly, the drill rig. it also gave the support team and drillers time to reflect on operating procedures with a view to increasing efficiency and safety and reducing environmental risk.
3. The main tasks undertaken in two periods of occupation at Cape Roberts (November and part December 1996 and mid-January 1997) were to:

   a.	deploy the main camp buildings onto the sea ice 500 metres out from South Beach and erect the cold porch and mess and recreation tents;
   b.	deploy the drill rig and associated buildings onto the sea ice about one kilometre north west of Cape Roberts and trial the drilling system; and
   c.	construct three frames on which to store drummed fuel.

4. Numbers of personnel at Cape Roberts varied during the season as people came and went. During the summer people were at Cape Roberts for a total of 42 nights. In all this amounted to some 300 person-nights (including the surveyors). Two other scientific events, unrelated to CRP, used Cape Roberts during the summer. The first was an American event ('S' number unknown) which in mid November set up GPS equipment on the flat rock outcrop about 100 metres from the hut and then proceeded to monitor it with regular helicopter visits (about five) for the next three weeks. The second group was K191 surveyors, four of whom lived at Cape Roberts for a week in early December. They utilised helicopters daily.
5. As in the previous summer Emma Waterhouse, Antarctica New Zealand's Environmental Manager, visited Cape Roberts for four days to observe operations and collect soil samples. Later, on 05 December, she accompanied three members of the Environmental Assessment Review Panel (EARP) who were given a tour of Project facilities and briefed on the CRP operation by the Project Manager. Both the Environmental Manager and EARP will complete independent reports based on their visits.