Coalition Petitions EPA to Update Proposed Rule on Dispersant Use
A coalition of Gulf Coast advocates and environmental entities is petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency to supplement its proposed rule on dispersant use of oil spill response, a rule that hasn’t been updated since it was proposed in January 2015.
The proposed rule would allow unlimited amounts of toxic dispersants to be used for unlimited durations on the sea surface and in the deep sea, which is what happened in response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil disaster on April 20, 2010.
One of the largest marine oil spills in history, the Deepwater Horizon incident was caused by the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, some 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana, and the subsequent sinking of the oil rig two days later. Four million barrels of oil...