1 If you argued from that, I don't know if this is right, but I'm 



2 just trying to argue from that, you might say that a blow-out is less 



3 likely to have as serious an effect as some of the oil is dispersed on 



4 the way up and therefore diluted, than if that same spill occurred right 



5 at the surface and spread out and was concentrated in the surface layer. 



6 MS. HUGHES: In 200 meters of water, why do you want to disperse 



7 an oil spill into the water column? 



8 DR. TEAL: The reason is to dilute it down to the point where it 



9 isn't toxic to the organisms. 



10 MS. HUGHES: What is it doing at the surface? What is it doing 



11 toxicologically? 



12 DR. TEAL: On a spill which is spread out along the surface, you 



13 get quite a bit of oil right along the surface, right underneath the 



14 slick, then at levels which are highly toxic. 



15 The idea is to dilute it out into a large volume of water rapidly 



16 so that instead of having parts per million, you get it down to the low 



17 parts per million. 



18 MS. HUGHES: The only reason I asked is that generally, you think 



19 of the use of dispersements in shallow, coastal areas. You want to get 



20 it into the water column so that you don't get large amounts of it on 



21 the beach. 



22 DR. TEAL: That is the best place to use it. 



23 MS. HUGHES: I have often heard that you don't want to put oil in 



24 the water column. You don't want to mix it into the water column where 



25 it then has a higher chance of attaching to particles and ending up 



26 getting incorporated into the sediment. 



27 DR. TEAL: The point is--the whole question I'm trying to raise in 



28 your mind is the question of diluting it sufficiently by spreading it 



29 through a large volume of water. 



30 MS. HUGHES: To dilute the toxicity. 



31 DR. TEAL: Yes. 



32 DR. KRAEUTER: We are only talking about a small part of the time 



33 that there is something like that. The toxic fraction is going to be 



34 evaporating very rapidly, anyhow. 



327 



