"nonsense'', the Enviroment Minister said.

The Hon. Gerald Simons said Shadow Environment Minister Mr. Trevor Woolridge should have found out what the experiment was about before he criticised it.

"To declare the experiment `too risky' when there is very little, if any, risk to Bermuda is just nonsense,'' Sen. Simons said in a statement.

The experiment -- aimed at helping to clean up oil spills -- calls for up to 10,000 gallons of crude oil to be gradually dumped and then ignited in waters 20 miles off Bermuda.

The proposal from the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration does not yet have Government's final approval. But Sen. Simons has said advantages include training opportunities for Bermudians, establishment of governmental and institutional contacts, and improving the Island's scientific standards and international reputation.

In the House of Assembly last Friday, Mr. Woolridge said the dangers far outweighed any benefits.

"Government ought to have outright rejected it,'' he said.

Mr. Woolridge questioned why the NOAA was not experimenting in its own waters.

Sen. Simons said the NOAA had applied to use waters in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana, but would prefer Bermuda because of the proximity of deep ocean waters.

He stressed that Mr. Woolridge should attend an information meeting about the proposal.

Presentations had already been made to the Marine Resources Board, the Environmental Authority, the Marine Pollution Contingency Committee, the National Trust's environmental and marine environmental committees, the Audubon Society, the Bermuda Zoological Society, the Keep Bermuda Beautiful committee, the faculty of the Bermuda Biological Station for Research and local journalists, he said.

"While all of these groups were concerned that stringent restrictions should be placed on the experiment -- such as its distance from the shore, the weather conditions in which it is held and the extent of safety measures taken -- I think it is fair to say that the proposal had broad support from all of the groups,'' Sen. Simons said.