According to Mr. Sjur W. Knudsen, the managing director of the Norwegian Clean Seas Association for Operating Companies (NOFO, the organization tasked with responding to oil spills in Norway’s waters), the order placed on May 3 by BP Exploration and Production out of Tulsa, Oklahoma for approximately 150 metric tons of the dispersant Dasic Slickgone has been held up due to “bureaucratic red tape” in the United States.
Dasic Slickgone does not appear on the EPA’s list of twelve “pre-approved” oil dispersants in the National Contingency Plan Product Schedule and to be used in the United States would require special approval from the EPA.
The day before BP placed the order with NOFO, on May 2, CNBC reported that BP had bought the “entire inventory” of the oil dispersant product Corexit 9500™, which represents 95 percent of the U.S. market for oil dispersants.
The milder, soap-water-like Dasic Slickgone, made by Dasic International Ltd., in the United Kingdom, is the main oil dispersant approved for use in the North Sea, due to its lower toxicity. It has been tested, studied, and used during NOFO’s unique annual drill: “We conduct an outdoor laboratory, in which we pump oil into the sea to simulate a real oil spill,” Mr. Knudsen explained.
Norway is also one of the few places in the world to warehouse such a large quantity of oil dispersants available to be shipped at a moment’s notice.
The dispersant Corexit 9500 that BP has been spraying over the Gulf spill and injecting one mile deep into the blowout vent, is banned by the UK and Norway, due to its high toxicity. “[Corexit] 9500 is forbidden to use in the North Sea offshore oil industry,” Mr. Knudsen explained.
