API PUBL 4652-1997

$39.00

Putting Dispersants to Work: Overcoming Obstacles

Published By	Publication Date	Number of Pages
API	1997	NA

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Description

When an oil spill occurs, the public often feels thatthe only acceptable response is total, and preferablyimmediate, removal of the oil and restoration of theenvironment. Since this option is never achievable, theirexpectations are never met. Inappropriate or unrealistic perceptionsabout the effectiveness of oil spill response optionsin general, combined with a lack of understanding of thepotential net environmental benefit of dispersants, are majorobstacles to dispersant use, Much of the controversy overdispersants appears to be a result of the way information hasbeen presented to, and interpreted by, the various participantsin the decision process. The basic issues have remainedessentially the same for the last 25 years: “Do they work?” and“Are they environmentally acceptable?” The prolonged, and attimes acrimonious, dispersant debate itself has been anobstacle to dispersant use, A major contributor to the controversyis the sheer amount of seemingly contradictory information,It is very difficult, if not impossible, for the participants inthe decision-making process to read all the relevant literatureon the subject and reach their own conclusions.

Opponents of dispersant use argue that it has provedunsuccessful in the past and that concrete, quantifiable proofof dispersant effectiveness is difficult to obtain. Proponentscounter those objections by stating that, while the TorreyCanyon was a disaster, there is a long history subsequent tothat of successful dispersant operations which opponentsappear to ignore, Proponents suggest that dispersion can be avalid and effective response option and that objections to itare based on a narrow view of only a subset of relevant facts,The issue is synopsized simply as shown in Table 1 in the PDF.

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