101 



contingency plans, the operating procedures, the equipment to fully 

 respond within 6 hours to an oil spill on the OCS. 



Mr. Studds. Let me ask one other thing here and then I want to 

 go on to other members. You and other members for the Coast 

 Guard spokesman and I have gone round and round again as to 

 what is the state of the art at the moment in any given year. As I 

 understand the first page of your testimony, you think we have 

 reached what may be the ultimate state of the art and that is the 

 capacity to recover spilled oil in 8- to 10-foot seas in winds of at 

 least 20 knots. You say we do not expect significant technological 

 advances in this area since our experience indicates this may be 

 the outer limit at which mechanical recovery of oil is possible. 



Well if that is true. No. 1, that is certainly the first time to my 

 recollection this committee has been told that that is as far as we 

 are ever going to be able to go. You may or may not know I was in 

 Massachusetts this last week, in the middle of the summer, in 

 August, wind was out of the northeast on Georges Bank, for the 

 better part of a week, the seas were running at 16 feet and the 

 winds were steady 25 to 35 knots in the middle of the summer, a 

 not too unusual situation. God knows what the situation will be in 

 January, February, March. That is August. If I understand your 

 testimony correctly you are telling us there is simply no way that 

 we can or very possibly ever will be able to deal with a major oil 

 spill out there under most conditions and most months of the year, 

 is that correct? 



Captain Corbett. Everything except your last phrase, Mr. Chair- 

 man. I think the environmental impact statement indicates to us 

 at least that we will be able to recover the oil with our equipment 

 operating in 8- to 10-foot seas approximatley 90 percent of the time 

 on Georges Bank. But you are quite right in the seas of 16 feet, 

 winds 40 knots or above, there will be no oil spill recovery oper- 

 ations out there. Not only would the equipment not be able to 

 operate out there, it will most likely break, the people will break. 

 We will have people breaking arms, falling over the side, so forth. 

 So it is a people problem as well as a mechanical problem. Plus the 

 oil will disperse not only across but through the water column and 

 even if you could mount a recovery operation it would be grossly 

 inefficient because the oil would be spread in so many different 

 directions that you could not address it. You need a lot of fine 

 equipment, you need a lot of oil to make it operate really well. You 

 need to become engaged with oil. If it disperses across the water or 

 into the water column then your equipment really is not useful. 



Mr. Studds. Your people-breaking problem occurs, I assume, on 

 whatever vessel it is that carries your cleanup equipment, not the 

 Coast Guard cutter. 



Captain Corbett. Right. 



Mr. Studds. In other words if they are out there under fairly 

 calm conditions and a storm suddenly comes up they are in trou- 

 ble? 



Captain Corbett. I do not think they are in trouble as far as 

 risking their lives, because we could get the vessels in. They would 

 not remain out there. The vessels which are used for these kinds of 

 operations are relatively small. People get seasick in that kind of 



