Senators Demand Answers from EPA, NOAA Over Toxic Effects of Oil Dispersants

The head of the U.S Environmental Protection Agency faced down hostile critics Thursday in a Senate hearing, denying accusations of reckless management of BP's use of toxic dispersants to break down the oil spill in the Gulf.

"We have not seen significant environmental impacts on the use of dispersants so far," EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson told the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee.

The hearing came amid mounting criticism against the EPA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) by lawmakers and advocacy groups, who say the Obama administration is not being candid with clean-up workers and the public about lethal effects of dispersants.

"I don't want dispersants to be the Agent Orange of this oil spill," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), the subcommittee chair, referring to the chemical agent used by the U.S. military in the Vietnam War and has been linked to cancers and other ailments.

Mikulski demanded "straight talk and plain talk" from officials.

Dispersants, a detergent-like brew of solvents, surfactants and other compounds, break up oil into particles. The tiny droplets of crude are eaten up by naturally occurring bacteria to prevent oil blobs from washing ashore and wiping out wildlife.

Scientists say the chemical stew can enter into the food chain, causing genetic mutations in species and damaging the overall health of the oceans and public safety.

In the case of the Gulf disaster, they fear the environmental danger is already too far gone – even as President Barack Obama informs the nation the oil flow has, at least for now, stopped.

Since BP's Deepwater Horizon rig ruptured on April 20, the oil giant has poured 1.84 million gallons of oil-dissolving Corexit 9500 into Gulf waters, according to figures from the response team — more than has ever been used in the United States. Around 760,000 gallons of that has been injected 5,000 feet undersea at the source of the spill, a technique that has never been tried.

EPA says the total volume of dispersants used has fallen by almost 70 percent since last month. At the site of the Exxon Valdez oil crisis in Alaska in 1989, just 250,000 gallons of Corexit was applied.

According to information released by the EPA, the main ingredient of Corexit is 2-butoxyethanol, a pesticide deemed highly toxic to humans and wildlife, causing cancer, liver and kidney damage, birth defects and other reproductive side effects.

The dispersant also contains arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead and mercury, among other chemicals.

Corexit was linked to health problems in clean-up workers exposed in the ExxonValdez disaster, including respiratory and nervous system disorders. Recent data shows that 20 percent of BP's offshore oil-spill employees have been exposed to 2-butoxyethanol at potentially dangerous levels, Greenwire reported last week.

'Flying Blind'

The toxicity data generated "does not indicate significant effects on aquatic life," Jackson said, though she admitted to being "concerned" about the "scientific unknowns."

Studies on the long-term effects of dispersants are few and far between; for deepsea use they are non-existent. Mikulski criticized NOAA, in particular, for being lax in its pursuit of the science.

In response, Larry Robinson, the assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere, told the subcommittee that NOAA is "quite interested" in learning more about the impact of dispersants.