Appendix D: Breakout Group Notes
KNOWABLE IN THE FUTURE? HOW CAN CONCERNS BE ADRRESSED?
state's position on dispersants ‐ for or
against dispersants short and long
state and federal
authorities/represent atives; industry
significant distrust of the science
(state/public position)
dose response, general toxicity,
efficacy
feds may not go forward
unilaterally; state may not
approve inshore utilization yes or no
state and fed need to reaffirm their positions and
they have one unified position, they are working
together
Should dispersants be used at all due to
impacts to benthic and reef habitat? dispersants long
resource managers;
state regulators;
tourism; public
explain that dispersants should only be used when
the negative potential impacts are less than the
environmental impacts of non‐dispersed oil
How long do dispersants stay in the
water/environment? dispersants short and long
tourism; citizens;
fishermen
components in dispersants are
not persistent; rapidly diluted
but still in the environment
rates under different
environmental conditions
public perception; persistence
vs. half life
could monitor and track the
persistence of these chemicals
sharing monitoring results; talk about the science
we know; put into contrast
How do we know dispersants are working? dispersants short
federal/state
regulators; natural
resource managers;
media it is not 100% effective
oil composition with changes
due to emulsification
rate of change of both the oil
and dispersant at sea monitoring that is required
define how dispersants work don't minimize
benefits, share monitoring results, report out on a
regular basis
why are you using dispersants which are
banned in Europe? dispersants
in UK Corexit 9500 is not
approved for nearshore
environments because it failed
one toxicity screening test for a
nearshore organism
is Corexit 9500 any worse or
better than any other products
in nearshore and offshore
environments none
yes, can measure
concentrations of Corexit in
nearshore environments provide facts from study
Can dispersants be used in state waters? dispersants yes, situational for each incident
results of consultation between
feds and state none
possible depending on
consultation and RRT process
yes they can be, talk about the process on how this
decision was made
Is the black smoke from in situ burning
harmful? in situ burn short and long citizens; public
yes it is harmful, removing the
oil from the surface is a positive
trade off
weather and change of smoke
transport
trading one pollutant for
another
yes however ISB is not used as a response tool
when there is expected exposure to the public.
Provide weather forecast to ensure people
understand that it will not spread towards them
Does the oil burn completely? in situ burn short and long
resource managers;
public; tourism
not at this volume because we
cannot collect it all
no it will not and provide explaination as to why it
does not
Can you do ISB in Tampa Bay? in situ burn unlikely for this scenario
no because it would require a permit and the
negatives would not outweigh the positives. This
would cause closure to the port for extended
Why doesn't the plan work?
incident
command/operations short
media; elected
officials
Explain plan and that it is being executed to the best
of our ability in this particular scenario
Who's making the decisions?
incident
command/operations short
elected officials;
public
eventually it's the unified
command sometimes they are not unified
is this an effective way to
manage it
a group of scientists, experts, federal and state
responders working jointly inform the decisions for
this incident
Why aren't locals authorities being invited
into Unified Command?
incident
command/operations
they are invited to Unified
Command via liason;
preplanning through ACM
they are not aware of this
and/or participate
how much authority local
authorities have
workshops for Stafford Act and
OPA90
They are invited. There is typically a liason that
represents the local authorities. To be involved
participate in the preplanning process by attending
your area committee meetings
Why is the oil spiller in charge of cleanup?
Why do they have such a big role?
incident
command/operations
Explain Oil Pollution Act 1990 ‐ spiller is fiscally
responsible for the cleanup. If spiller is not doing
their part, USCG will take over
How long is this response going to take?
incident
command/operations
response technologies offshore will likely be done
within 3‐4 days. Response techniques may continue
depending on lightering of vessel. Continued
monitoring will occur to ensure no other cleanup
techniques are needed
Don't bring that leaking ship here (marine
debris)! Port of refuge
incident
command/operations
safety hazard will have a
restrictions put on the vessels
safety of ship and plans for
recovering the vessel
The captain of the port and the owner of the vessel
will determine best course of action of the leaking
ship. Course of action will depend on the extent of
damage to the boat.
Are there any bioremediation solutions? other short media; manufacturers
We do not currently consider that as part of the
response plan for offshore open water. Note
differences between bioremediation agents vs
natural biodegradation and NRT Guidance.
How can we get samples for our research? other academics, scientists
Why is there not enough equipment and
why is it taking so long to respond? skimming short
media; elected
officials
vessel; there is boom in the area
that needs to be deployed
knowledge of area plan;
equipment availability
Why aren't you skimming? skimming short
citizens; state
authorities/represent atives
we are but it may take time to
get there; skimming is not going
to solve this oil spill
availability of equipment; sea
state Why aren't there volunteer skimming
vessels??? skimming short fishers
not effective; no preplans
currently exist for volunteer
vessels to participate
Are booms trapping turtles getting
damaged by skimmers or causing them to
be burned? skimming short and long
resource managers;
public
turtles are highly mobile all efforts are being made
to prevent any damage to megaphauna. When sea
turtles or other megaphauna are seen all cleanup
operations are suspended.
Can skimming cause impact to critical
habitats (seagrasses)? skimming short and long
resource managers;
public not relevant offshore
Why don't you use that 3‐knot boom? skimming short
manufacturers;
industry ineffective
Why can't you pick all of the oil up before it
gets to the coast? skimming ST
public, politicians,
property owners
amount of oil makes this
impossible
We have limited availibility of resources to cover
the area.