http://www.adn.com/evos/stories/EV117.html

BACTERIA DEVOUR SPILLED OIL
MICROORGANISMS MAY BE THE BEST BEACH CLEANERS

Anchorage Daily News 8-7-89 By CRAIG MEDRED

Enter the fertilizer. The EPA is so enthusiastic about its possibilities that Exxon has been given permission to begin fertilizing miles of beach with two different kinds of fertilizer.

One is a longlasting, watersoluble fertilizer that sinks down into gravels and cobbles to help bacteria there. The other bonds to surface oil.

"We recommended to Exxon that they use both," Costa said.

The only major restriction on the use of these fertilizers is a ban on spraying in protected bays. Adding nitrogen and phosphorous nutrients to poorly flushed bays could lead to algae blooms that would choke off other marine life, said Erich Bretthauer, acting assistant administrator for research and development at EPA.

That is the only potential environmental problem so far associated with fertilization, he added. Bretthauer has directed Exxon to limit its fertilizer to beaches that are regularly flushed by tides or surf, although he said the company can try the technique in questionable areas if it is willing to maintain ecological monitoring programs there to watch for signs of environmental damage.

"If monitoring results demonstrate any adverse environmental effect, the application of the fertilizer should be terminated immediately," Bretthauer warned.

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Spill of Opportunity say scientists: *

72 miles of beach (out of 300 miles affected)

were sprayed with 230 tons of surfactant (inipol EAP 22)

and 40 tons of granular nitrogen-phosphate fertilizer

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Note: Inipol EAP 22 originated 7-28-89

MSDS indicates it was an Exxon owned product with MSDS by Exxon

Other Comments:

"Canadian researcher Peter Wells in 1984 concluded that part of the problem with oil dispersants is that their toxicity appears to be linked to their effectiveness: Effective dispersants are too toxic, and nontoxic dispersants are ineffective" quoted by ADN 8-15-89

http://www.adn.com/evos/stories/EV147.html

Coast Guard Vice Adm. Clyde Robbins, the on-scene coordinator for the spill cleanup

"What in the world are we doing testing this stuff now?" Robbins asks.

http://www.adn.com/evos/stories/EV147.html Anchorage Daily News, 8-15-89

"Peter Moutasano, a Department of Environmental Conservation member of the Resource Assessment Team in the area warned a reporter not to touch the rocks with bare hands because the fertilizer attacks red blood cells and can cause liver and kidney damage." ADN, 9-16-89 http://www.adn.com/evos/stories/EV123.html

Worker Health not a Concern to EPA? *

EPA shared Aug, 2002

that worker health was not their focus,

the environment was,

but of course, they do care

& if future input suggests a need for changes,

they will do so.