mouth of the wetlands and oil was prevented from entering it. This experience 

 showed that a response plan designed to minimize ecological impact can work 

 in practice. 



DISCUSSION 



The importance of goal-directed, prioritized oil spill response planning 

 cannot be over emphasized. Spill control equipment, trained personnel, and 

 time to respond always will be limited during a spill emergency. It is not 

 possible to protect an entire coastline, so resources must be focused into 

 areas and actions where they can accomplish most. 



If the primary goal of spill response is to minimize the ecological im- 

 pacts of oil spills, it is essential that ecologists participate in spill 

 response planning as well as actual spill response. Ecologists should be 

 among the first responders at the scene of a spill (i.e., on primary spill re- 

 sponse teams), whether such teams are formed by government or industry groups. 

 Both groups have been slow to seek this input. The appointment of Field Re- 

 sponse Coordinators by the Fish and Wildlife Service is a step in the right 

 direction. Similarly, biologists are beginning to appear on industry response 

 teams (CSI 1978, SC-PCO 1979). The Society of Petroleum Industry Biologists 

 has offered to assist industry cooperatives in finding biologists to serve on 

 response teams. 



After more than a decade of research into the effects of oil on organisms, 

 it is now time to take a closer look at the question of how these effects can 

 be minimized. Unlike assessing impact after the fact, this research could 

 help influence the outcome of a spill situation. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



I thank Bud Waage of Clean Seas, Inc.; and Dan Gealy, Dan Fitzgerald, 

 Jack Hundley, and Jeff Pendergraft of Atlantic Richfield Company for review- 

 ing the manuscript and offering helpful comments. 



REFERENCES 



Bleakley, R.J., and P.J.S. Boaden. 1974. Effects of an oil spill remover 

 on beach meiofauna. Ann. Inst. Oceanog., Paris 50(1 ) -.51-58. 



Bloom, S.A. 1970. An oil dispersant's effect on the microflora of beach sand. 

 J. Marine Biol. Assoc. U.K. 50:919-923. 



CSI, 1978. Oil spill cleanup manual. Prepared for Clean Seas, Inc., Santa 

 Barbara, by Woodward-Clyde Consultants. 700 pp. 



88 



