The DOE Oil Shale Program was restructured in FY84 to implement a 5-year period of basic and applied research in the study of the phenomena involved in oil shale pyrolysis/retorting. The program calls for the study of two reference shales per year for a period of 5 years. Consequently, the program calls for the identification, acquisition, processing, characterization, storage, disbursement, and record keeping for ten reference shales in a period of 5 years. Two FY86 and one FY87 reference shales have been acquired, processed and stored under inert gas. The Eastern shale, designated E86, was obtained from the Clegg Creek Member of the New Albany Shale at a quarry near Louisville, Kentucky in the first quarter of FY86. The FY86 Western Shale was obtained from the Exxon Colony Mine, located near Parachute, Colorado, during the first quarter of FY86. The FY87 Western Shale was obtained from the Tipton Member of the Green River Formation near Rock Springs, Wyoming during the fourth quarter of FY87. Partial distributions of the FY86 shale have been made to DOE and non-DOE contractors. Complete descriptions of the FY87 Western reference shale locale, shale processing procedures and analytical characterization are provided in this report. 7 refs.,more » 6 figs., 1 tab.« less