CRITIQUE OF WORKSHOP 



Keith 6. Hay 1 



INTRODUCTION 



I am pleased to participate in the 3-day Oil Spill Response Workshop, 

 cosponsored by the Office of Migratory Bird Management and the Office of 

 Biological Services of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Department 

 of the Interior. 



The purpose of the workshop is to improve the capability and effective- 

 ness of the Fish and Wildlife Service in responding to oil spills. If the 

 Service will heed the advice presented by the various experts from several 

 agencies during the six sessions of this seminar, I think we will have met 

 that objective. The speakers have disseminated up-to-date information on 

 handling oil/wildlife problems, the responsibilities of the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service, and the biological and technical aspects of oil spill cleanup. 

 They have also presented the views of their respective agencies on oil spill 

 response criteria and their relationship with the Fish and Wildlife Service. 



So many important points have been made during these informative addresses 

 that it will be impossible to include them all in this brief critique, but I 

 will try to touch on the highlights as I perceive them. I congratulate all 

 the speakers on a job well done. 



The interchange of ideas here has gone a long way toward correcting one 

 of the monumental weaknesses between agencies involved with oil spill clean- 

 ups: the problem of inefficient communication. The magnitude of this problem 

 was emphasized in the opening session of the workshop by Harvey K. Nelson, 

 Associate Director for Fish and Wildlife Resources, Fish and Wildlife Service, 

 Washington, D.C. 



SESSION I. OPENING REMARKS 



A. Philosophical Approach to Fish and Wildlife Service Involvement in Oil 

 Spill Response: Harvey K. Nelson 



Mr. Nelson reemphasized the purpose of this workshop. To put it bluntly, 

 we are here, he said, to "get the act together." He indicated that although 

 there is room for improvement in the way the Service responds to oil spills, 

 the agency is making every effort to upgrade its activities in this area. 

 He affirmed: "We do care. We can do something. . .and we are going to settle 

 for nothing less than a very professional job in getting and handling these 

 responses properly." He emphasized the importance of good communications in 



Conservation Director 



American Petroleum Institute 

 2101 L Street, N.W. 

 Washington, D.C. 20240 



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