A PHILOSOPHICAL APPROACH 



TO FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE INVOLVEMENT 



IN OIL SPILL RESPONSE 



Harvey K. Nelson 



INTRODUCTION 



The year 1976 was the worst on record in terms of oil spilled into U.S. 

 waters. Unfortunately, things will likely get worse instead of better. The 

 Service's involvement in spill response will increase proportionately. 



Our role and responsibilities during oil and other hazardous substance 

 discharge incidents are not something that someone dreamed up because we did 

 not have enough to keep us busy. Our mandates are clearly defined in the 

 National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan published 

 by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in 1975. As part of the Inter- 

 agency Regional and National Response Teams, we do not have a choice as to 

 whether to respond to spills or whether we will get involved in collection 

 and treatment of oil-fouled birds. We do have some choice, however, in just 

 how we go about accomplishing our responsibilities. Looking at those choices 

 is what this meeting is all about. 



Oil spills and the response to them are subjects of keen public interest-- 

 and, all too often, public outrage. The Service has had its share of scrutiny 

 recently, in the press and elsewhere, and it is clear that we have not demon- 

 strated particularly strong leadership in this field. I hasten to add, how- 

 ever, that we fully recognize the numerous oil spills that have occurred in 

 Region 5 the past 3 months, and the strong efforts the Service mustered to 

 cope with these problems. 



As you know, the Director and some others in the Service have been involved 

 for the last 9 months in two Congressional oversight hearings of oil spills. 

 In each case, the Service has been sharply criticized for failure to live 

 up to the public's expectations in regard to oil spill response. The Director 

 has told me that he is less worried about these kinds of hearings themselves-- 

 though they do leave the Service and its Director somewhat embarrassed and 

 concerned that we do not come off well as an organization. But he is more 

 concerned about the growing feeling many people have that the Service does 

 not care and is not able to muster itself to respond to this kind of emergency. 

 Director Lynn Greenwalt has indicated that he knows this is not true; the 

 Service can do these things. His concern is that we probably are not doing 

 it properly now, and that concerns me, too. 



Recent allegations in print and outlined at the last hearing can lead 

 one to believe that the Service does not care. As I indicated before, this 



Associate Director, Fish and Wildlife Resources 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 

 Washington, D.C. 20240 



