DELUGE OF OIL HIGHLIGHTS RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY NEEDS FOR EFFECTIVE CLEANUP OF OIL SPILLS HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JUNE 9, 2010 Serial No. 111–98 Printed for the use of the Committee on Science and Technology ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.science.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 57–176PDF WASHINGTON : 2010 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY HON. BART GORDON, Tennessee, Chair JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois RALPH M. HALL, Texas EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER JR., LYNN C. WOOLSEY, California Wisconsin DAVID WU, Oregon LAMAR S. SMITH, Texas BRIAN BAIRD, Washington DANA ROHRABACHER, California BRAD MILLER, North Carolina ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, Arizona FRANK D. LUCAS, Oklahoma DONNA F. EDWARDS, Maryland JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois MARCIA L. FUDGE, Ohio W. TODD AKIN, Missouri BEN R. LUJA´ N, New Mexico RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas PAUL D. TONKO, New York BOB INGLIS, South Carolina STEVEN R. ROTHMAN, New Jersey MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas JIM MATHESON, Utah MARIO DIAZ-BALART, Florida LINCOLN DAVIS, Tennessee BRIAN P. BILBRAY, California BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky ADRIAN SMITH, Nebraska RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri PAUL C. BROUN, Georgia BARON P. HILL, Indiana PETE OLSON, Texas HARRY E. MITCHELL, Arizona CHARLES A. WILSON, Ohio KATHLEEN DAHLKEMPER, Pennsylvania ALAN GRAYSON, Florida SUZANNE M. KOSMAS, Florida GARY C. PETERS, Michigan JOHN GARAMENDI, California VACANCY SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT HON. BRIAN BAIRD, Washington, Chair JERRY F. COSTELLO, Illinois BOB INGLIS, South Carolina EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas ROSCOE G. BARTLETT, Maryland LYNN C. WOOLSEY, California VERNON J. EHLERS, Michigan DANIEL LIPINSKI, Illinois JUDY BIGGERT, Illinois GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, Arizona W. TODD AKIN, Missouri BEN R. LUJA´ N, New Mexico RANDY NEUGEBAUER, Texas PAUL D. TONKO, New York MARIO DIAZ-BALART, Florida JIM MATHESON, Utah LINCOLN DAVIS, Tennessee BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky JOHN GARAMENDI, California BART GORDON, Tennessee RALPH M. HALL, Texas CHRIS KING Democratic Staff Director SHIMERE WILLIAMS Democratic Professional Staff Member ADAM ROSENBERG Democratic Professional Staff Member JETTA WONG Democratic Professional Staff Member ANNE COOPER Democratic Professional Staff Member ROBERT WALTHER Democratic Professional Staff Member DAN BYERS Republican Professional Staff Member TARA ROTHSCHILD Republican Professional Staff Member JANE WISE Research Assistant ALEX MATTHEWS Research Assistant (II) C O N T E N T S Date of Hearing Page Witness List ............................................................................................................. 2 Hearing Charter ...................................................................................................... 3 Opening Statements Statement by Representative Brian Baird, Chairman, Subcommittee on En- ergy and Environment, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ................................................................................................ 8 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 9 Statement by Representative Ralph M. Hall, Ranking Minority Member, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ......... 10 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 11 Statement by Representative Bart Gordon, Chairman, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives ............................................... 12 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 12 Prepared Statement by Representative Jerry F. Costello, Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, Committee on Science and Technology, U.S. House of Representatives .................................................................................... 13 Panel I: Mr. Douglas Helton, Incident Operations Coordinator, Office of Response and Restoration, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmos- pheric Administration (NOAA) Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 14 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 15 Biography .......................................................................................................... 21 Captain Anthony Lloyd, Chief, Office of Incident Management and Prepared- ness, United States Coast Guard Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 22 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 23 Biography .......................................................................................................... 30 Ms. Sharon Buffington, Chief, Engineering and Research Branch, Offshore Energy and Minerals Management, Minerals Management Service Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 31 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 32 Biography .......................................................................................................... 37 Dr. Albert Venosa, Director, Land Remediation and Pollution Control Divi- sion, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, Environmental Protection Agency Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 37 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 39 Biography .......................................................................................................... 43 Discussion A Possible Lack of Information on Deepwater Drilling .................................... 44 Causes of the Deepwater Horizon Spill .............................................................. 45 International and Best Practice Coordination ................................................... 46 MMS Spill Preparedness ..................................................................................... 49 The Federal Oil Spill Research Act and Agency Responsibility ....................... 50 Ecological Impacts of Oil and Dispersants ......................................................... 52 Research Activities in California and Coast Guard Preparedness .................. 53 (III) IV Page Contingency Plans and the Effects of Oil Dispersants ..................................... 55 Hurricane Impacts ............................................................................................... 57 BP Research Funding Priorities ......................................................................... 58 Federal Research Funding Levels ...................................................................... 58 Forecasting Spill Impacts .................................................................................... 59 More on Dispersants ............................................................................................ 61 Drilling Safety Standards Abroad ...................................................................... 63 Approval for Local Spill Response Efforts .......................................................... 65 More on Dispersants ............................................................................................ 68 Panel II: Dr. Jeffrey Short, Pacific Science Director, Oceana Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 70 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 71 Biography .......................................................................................................... 80 Dr. Samantha Joye, Professor of Marine Sciences, University of Georgia Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 80 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 81 Biography .......................................................................................................... 87 Dr. Richard Haut, Senior Research Scientist, Houston Advanced Research Center Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 88 Written Statement ............................................................................................ 89 Biography .......................................................................................................... 94 Dr. Nancy Kinner, University of New Hampshire, Co-Director, Coastal Re- sponse Research Center Oral Statement ................................................................................................. 94 Written Statement ...........................................................................................