Lawmakers question controversial use of chemical dispersants in Gulf Coast spill

At a hearing in Washington today, Senators grilled EPA officials and federal scientists on the use of chemical dispersants in the Gulf oil spill. Officials say they still don’t know the long-term effects of these chemicals, or whether they are contaminating sea food. BP continues to use the dispersants despite EPA orders to reduce their use. FSRN’s Jacob Fenston reports:

TRANSCRIPT:

Senator Barbara Mikulski, a Democrat from Maryland, opened the hearing with strong words:

“I don’t want dispersants to be the Agent Orange of this oil spill. And I want to be assured on behalf of the American people that this is okay to use, and okay to use in the amounts that we’re talking about.”

On May 26, one month after BP started using dispersants, the EPA and Coast Guard ordered the company to slash its use by 75 percent. But BP is still using the chemicals in unprecedented amounts, getting almost daily exemptions from the new federal limits.

EPA administrator Lisa Jackson said allowing chemical dispersants in the clean up was a tough choice:

“We were risking that which we’ve all seen on TV. Which is large amounts of oil, at the surface, which got by the skimmers, and got by the burners, and would end up in the marshes where they do the most damage, and in the shallows. That trade off isn’t easy.”

During the Exxon Valdez spill, the company used 250,000 gallons of dispersants, total. Now, BP uses that amount every ten days. That’s 1.8 million gallons so far. But many worry about the unknowns surrounding these proprietary chemicals- what damage they could cause to the environment, seafood, and people- living and working in the Gulf.

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, asked what the EPA has learned about dispersants in the years since the massive spill in her state:

“Twenty years ago, with the Exxon Valdez, we weren’t really certain how safe these dispersants were. We were concerned about their use then. And now, twenty years later, we’re concerned about the use of dispersants, or certainly the volume of dispersants used.”

Jackson replied the EPA still doesn’t know:

“I’m not personally aware of any research on volume, on upper limit- and another crucial piece of research gap is on this subsea dispersement.”

Jackson said this is the first time dispersants have been used under water, at the source of a spill.

MURKOWSKI: And so we have not done that level of research- you’re not just speaking about EPA’s research- you’re suggesting to me that we haven’t done that research anywhere?”

JACKSON: That’s correct, Senator.

Maryland Senator Mikulski wanted to know what kinds of research other countries were doing, and she put the question to Larry Robinson. He’s a scientist at NOAA, one of the federal agencies involved in the spill response.

ROBINSON: Well, I don’t know comprehensively what all of those countries do.

MIKULSKI: Well, I would hope that you would know. That’s the NOAA job. I would hope that you would look.

ROBINSON: Right.

MIKULSKI: Did you look there?

Robinson said he was looking into it:

ROBINSON: Senator, we are quite interested in learning more.

MIKULSKI: Sir, I need NOAA on the edge of their chair. I need a sense of urgency here.

NOAA, along with the FDA, is also testing seafood for toxins. Alaska Senator Murkowski asked if they’d found any traces of dispersants.

ROBINSON: Our seafood tests are for oil.

They’re not testing for chemicals from dispersants.

Murkowski asked how she could assure consumers seafood is safe, if no one is testing it for these chemicals:

“I would certainly hope that we be doing that now. Yesterday.”

Several environmentalists also testified, including Anne Rolfes, with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, and Ken Cook, with the Washington-based Environmental Working Group.

COOK: For all the assurances we’ve had that everything’s safe, that everything’s going to go well, we ought to have had better answers to some of these basic questions.

Senators told NOAA and the EPA  to find out how other countries regulate dispersants, and start testing seafood for traces of the chemicals.

Jacob Fenston, FSRN, Washington.

Photo: Protesting use of dispersant Corexit, Bastille Day, New Orleans

Photo credit: Infrogmation