get approval. But the other factor is that by the summer of 1990, the winter storms had done such an effective job that really we were at a different stage of the cleanup, and most of the bulk oil had already been removed from the shoreline, so it became less of an urgency for us to use the cleaner. The main advantage of that cleaner is we wouldn't have had to go up to 140 degrees F water, which is what we were having to do. We could have stayed with 100 degrees (that's like 60 versus 40 degrees C) in terms of the temperatures that we were using. Cold water would have been effective with the cleaner. Without chemical, we would have had to use the hotter water. So there are a number of considerations that came into play for why we didn't get to use it.
Motora: As for the application of the dispersants, you mentioned that there is a system for preauthorization, which covers most of the coastlines in the United States. We are very surprised to learn this, and I think that it is full of suggestions for us. But I think there are many interests involved-the economies of various regions, fishing communities, protection of the environment-and there would probably be conflicts of interest among them. But I wonder, is it that easy to come to this conclusion that preauthorization could be made, because of this conflict of interest. What is the process and procedure taken in coming to this conclusion?
Lessard: It's a matter of bringing all the interested parties-all the parties that have a concern in the situation-together to weigh the options. I think it's important to realize that no matter what we do, there is going to be environmental impact. Something is affected when you have an oil spill. Dispersants are an option which offer an alternative to the oil coming ashore if you can't remove it. I think there has been enough demonstration that you can use dispersant safely in very deep water with minimal effect on fish, because fish have an ability to sense the presence of oil and, as we stated this morning, will probably avoid those areas. You have to bring all the parties together, as was done in the United States-we did it region-by-region-have symposiums, bring the experts in to talk about it, weigh all the factors, and then afterwards, bring in all of the parties who have a decision and debate the issues and make those judgments about what it is that is your highest priority. If your highest priority is fisheries, then you decide one way. If your priority is mariculture in the intertidal zones, you may decide another way. Everybody is going to have a different set of priorities. It's a matter of weighing all of these issues and then making what you feel is the best judgment for yourselves. But we work that region-by-region in the United States and it is very successful.
Most of the states have acknowledged that dispersant is an important tool. That doesn't mean that they are always going to use it. It just means it is in the arsenal, and if the conditions are right, they at least have the option of considering it. If you don't plan for its use before the spill, there is absolutely no practical way you'll be able to use it during the spill response.
Nerland: To be able to use dispersants fast and effectively, you need quite a stock. Do you have that much dispersant stocked up and ready to be used within hours?
Lessard: In the U.S., we have significant stockpiles. In Texas, my own company has access to 1,200 drums. There are also another three or four hundred stocked in Florida. The question is the logistics. It's really not the availability of the dispersants that we're working with in the U.S. In the U.S. there are probably about six or seven thousand drums altogether. It's a question of how you get them to where you need them. That takes preplanning. And that's where we're at right now in working with the MSRC and others is deciding the logistics for how you bring it to where you need it, where you get the application aircraft-the military in the U.S. has offered its C-130 airplanes to be available if the private resources aren't available.
Those are the kinds of steps that have to go on, but before you can do that, you have to have encouragement that people are going to approve their use. When MSRC was set up, the conditions in the U.S. were such that there wasn't a lot of encouragement that if we stockpiled dispersants everywhere that they would be used. So the people who were paying the bills were somewhat hesitant to invest that much without some
