WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation held an Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard Subcommittee hearing today titled Turning Ideas into Action: Ensuring Effective Clean Up and Restoration in the Gulf. 

Witness List:

Panel I

Capt. Matthew Sisson, Commanding Officer, Research and Development Center, United States Coast Guard

Mr. Doug Helton, Operations Coordinator, Office of Response and Restoration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Panel II

Dr. Scott Pegau, Executive Director, Oil Spill Recovery Institute 

Dr. Nancy Kinner, Co-Director, Coastal Response Research Center 

Ms. Cynthia Sarthou, Executive Director, Gulf Restoration Network 

Mr. Dennis Yellowhorse Jones, President, U-Mate International Inc.

Dr. Fritz Stahr, Manager, Seaglider Fabrication Center

Key Quotations from Today’s Hearing:

“To put it simply, but in no uncertain terms: the challenges we face to clean up and restore the Gulf are great, and there is much work to do. For the families of the Deepwater Horizon victims, and for the coastal communities along the Gulf, the devastation is far from over, and the national recovery will take generations. Federal and state governments must come together with the Gulf communities, and rely on solid, credible scientific information to support the decisions guiding recovery efforts. I’ve recently introduced a bill, the Securing Health for Ocean Resources and Environment, or SHORE Act, to require greater consultation between the Department of Interior, NOAA and the Coast Guard in permitting decisions and give them the resources, authority, and expertise they need to be effective. I want all of us to do all that we can to make sure something like this never happens again.”

Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV

“The Deepwater Horizon oil spill has revealed a huge disparity between our nation’s ability to extract oil versus our ability to respond to an oil spill. Our primary response technologies – skimmers, in situ burns, boom and chemical dispersants – were all developed decades ago, while exploration and drilling technology has advanced at a rapid pace due to heavy investment by the oil and gas industry. There is much more we can do to improve oil spill response, beginning with jump-starting oil spill technology research and development. Deepwater Horizon isn’t a Gulf of Mexico tragedy; it’s an American tragedy. And it is up to us to ensure that America’s waters and shores are protected with the greatest rigor that we can muster.”

Senator Maria Cantwell, Chairwoman, U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard

“Through the Interagency Alternative Technology Assessment Program (IATAP), the Coast Guard is ensuring all applicable capabilities and resources— government, private, and commercial (to include small business) will be considered for use in developing and improving solutions to secure the environment and facilitate a rapid, robust clean-up effort.”

Capt. Matthew Sisson, Commanding Officer, Research and Development Center, United States Coast Guard

“Current techniques to assess and restore injured natural resources need to be constantly updated and refined. As our understanding of complex ecosystems evolves, so should our modeling tools and restoration techniques.”

Mr. Doug Helton, Operations Coordinator, Office of Response and Restoration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

“It is important to renew funding opportunities. Additional funding should go through organizations that can bridge the worlds of science and spill response. MMS, U.S. Coast Guard, Coastal Response Research Center/NOAA, and the Oil Spill Recovery Institute all are organizations that have established that bridge.”

Dr. Scott Pegau, Executive Director, Oil Spill Recovery Institute

“There must be coordination of R&D across the stakeholder groups for the U.S. to succeed in spill response and restoration technology development and implementation. This requires crossagency federal coordination, as addressed in legislation being considered in Congress, but must also encompass other governmental agencies (e.g., state, local, international), as well as NGO, academia, industry and the private sector.”

Dr. Nancy Kinner, Co-Director, Coastal Response Research Center

“Congress must greatly increase the funding available for necessary research into the efficacy and environmental impacts of developing technologies. Moreover, oil companies should be required to invest significant monies on (1) production of oil spill response equipment, including the construction of ‘caps’ and the like needed to stop the release of oil from deepwater wells should a blowout occur, in advance and have them at the ready in each region, and (2) oil spill response technology research and development to ensure that we move into the twenty-first century in terms of our response capability.”

Ms. Cynthia Sarthou, Executive Director, Gulf Restoration Network

“Humate-induced remediation is environmentally significant…for the fact that it appears to stimulate remediation of crude oil contamination through hydrocarbon adsorption and biodegradation enhancement”

Mr. Dennis Yellowhorse Jones, President, U-Mate International Inc. 

“What is clear from all this is that our country has put little effort into creating tools and instruments to measure, monitor, evaluate, and clean up a deep-sea oil vent caused by a well-head incident such as the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and sinking.”

Dr. Fritz Stahr, Manager, Seaglider Fabrication Center

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