Dispersants for Oil Spill Response: Issues, Policy, and Planning Considerations

The purposes of this paper are four-fold. First, dispersant use as an oil spill response option and the issues surrounding dispersant use will be discussed. Second, the past dispersant use policy will be reviewed, as will the recent changes to the policy in terms of the attempt to make dispersants a viable response option in the United States. Third, the role of interest groups in oil spill response issues and the importance of including them in contingency planning efforts, specifically dispersant planning, will be discussed. Lastly, the results of the study to determine the involvement of interest groups in the dispersant planning processes in the Northeast will be given, along with an analysis regarding the implications of the findings, as well as pertinent recommendations to promote the future success of dispersant pre-authorization plans, both in the Northeast and elsewhere in the United States