Environmental groups oppose oil industry involvement in lawsuit over chemical disperants.
WASHINGTON -- An oil industry association is seeking to intervene in a federal lawsuit in which environmental groups are pressing for stricter standards for chemical dispersants like those used to help stem the 2010 BP oil spill. In a brief filed with the federal District Court in Washington D.C., the American Petroleum Institute says any new restrictions on dispersants can impact oil spill response plans required as part of the federal permitting process.
An image from video made available by BP PLC shows dispersant being applied to an oil leak during efforts to cap the Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico on June 3, 2010. The white wand in the center is releasing the dispersant.
It says that the suit could lead to the removal of all or some of the 59 chemical dispersants now on the National Contingency Plan for oil spills.
The suit, therefore, could "limit the dispersants and agents that API members could rely upon in their mandatory dispersant use plan, the existence and approval of which is prerequisite to obtaining authorization for drilling, platform or pipeline operations," the association said in its filing.
Hannah Chang, the attorney representing a coalition of environmental groups that brought the federal lawsuit, said the oil industry shouldn't be allowed to join the case. Chang works for the environmental law group Earthjustice.
"We want the federal government to comply with the Clean Water Act to make sure that only dispersants that are safe for humans and the environment are used in the event of an oil spill," Chang said. "We don't need the American Petroleum Institute to be involved in this case arguing to maintain the status quo and pushing to weaken rules that should be more protective."
The coalition, which includes the Gulf Restoration Network, Louisiana Environmental Action Network and the Louisiana Shrimp Association, is raising questions about the impact of nearly 2 million gallons of chemical dispersants used during the 2010 BP oil spill.
Officials with the Obama administration have said dispersants used during the Gulf oil spill helped prevent the massive spill from causing even more environmental damage.
But over the summer a group of Alabama scientists published a study that said dispersants may have killed plankton and disrupted the Gulf of Mexico's food chain. The lawsuit filed by environmental groups said EPA needs to study the impact of dispersants and then determine which products are safe to use in future oil spills.
The case is assigned to Judge John Bates, who was appointed by President George W. Bush.