The unprecedented decision to allow BP PLC to use chemical dispersants below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico during this summer's 87-day oil gusher should be examined further before it is enshrined as precedent for future spills, U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said yesterday.

In remarks to the presidential commission investigating the Gulf disaster, Jackson described herself as "committed to revisiting" the national contingency plan rules that govern dispersant use during oil spills. She emphasized the difficult choice that responders faced before approving the deployment of more than 1.8 million gallons of dispersant during the oil leak.

"I believe industry is going to want to look at this tragedy and draw the conclusion that dispersants should be used all the time at the wellhead," Jackson said after recalling her initial wariness of BP's request to spray the chemical products miles below the surface of the Gulf. "I'm personally not there yet."

The impact of dispersant spraying on the Gulf's residents and wildlife remains a topic of heated debate in the region, where some fishermen are wrestling to reconcile their lack of confidence in the government's seafood safety testing with their eagerness to restore the local industry to viability (Greenwire, Aug. 13).

"I'm not sure you'll ever convince the average person that putting huge amounts of chemicals into the situation is good," Jackson told the commission, adding that public trust is possible to maintain "if you've shown you can optimize the use of dispersant, to make it as green as possible."

After reports surfaced that existing EPA data ranked BP's preferred dispersant, Corexit, as less effective and more acutely toxic than alternative products, the agency initiated a new round of toxicity testing. The agency then, following an uptick in the amount of Corexit used on the surface of the Gulf, ordered the oil company to bring down its use by 75 percent from the daily peak volume.

Jackson yesterday defended EPA's watchdogging of dispersant use, touting a "significant decreasing trend line in [Corexit] use at the surface" after the 75 percent edict.

The House approved new dispersant testing and disclosure requirements in July as part of a broader Gulf spill response bill that later stalled in the Senate, despite interest among senators on both sides of the aisle in updating the data that inform the chemicals' use during oil leaks (E&E Daily, Aug. 4).

University of New Hampshire Coastal Response Research Center co-director Nancy Kinner, whose organization hosted a May dispersant meeting of scientists and oil industry representatives, used her testimony before the presidential commission to recommend updated testing and an ongoing re-evaluation of dispersant strategy during future emergencies.

"There is a pressing need for independent R&D, funded through a competitive grant process," to examine the best use of the products, Kinner said.