Page 12: of Marine News Magazine (June 2016)

11 13

INSIGHTS cated resources will always be needed. Although NRC pro- vided a signi? cant amount of the dedicated resources used on the Macondo spill, NRC really distinguished itself by sourcing a tremendous amount of non-dedicated resources through its subcontractor network.

You were involved with Macondo in your former role.

What worked best in that response and what, with 20/20 hindsight, might you have done differently?

The use of non-dedicated resources worked well and made a difference, but some of the innovations at the time were also very helpful, such as the Big Gulp barge skim- ming system. The Big Gulp is a very straightforward and simple weir skimming system that was out? tted on non- dedicated barges. These systems provided a larger swath, width and faster advance rates than more traditional skimmers. These two attributes resulted in an increased encounter rate, which actually became the focus of the

Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement (BSEE)’s

Steve Candito newly proposed skimmer capacity rating system known as

Estimated Recovery System Potential (ESRP), which are

President, a direct result of the Macondo spill. The Big Gulp sys- tems probably had the best recovery ef? ciency under the

Foresea Consulting

Macondo spill circumstances where the oil was well off- shore and contaminated with debris. On what I would have done differently, given the signi? cant litigation that teven Candito is the Founder, President and CEO of NRC and many of the other clean-up companies became

Foresea, which provides advisory services including involved in over the use of dispersants, I would think twice

S strategic planning, regulatory compliance and crisis before providing dispersant resources again, unless there is management to the maritime and environmental com- some tightening of OPA 90’s responder immunity provi- munities. Previously, Candito was President and CEO of sion or there is additional cost effective insurance options,

NRC. He has extensive experience with OPA 90 compli- which does not seem likely now that the insurance com- ance issues with particular focus on vessel owner and insur- panies have a better understanding of this signi? cant risk.

ance matters. Before that, Candito was an attorney with

Haight Gardner Poor & Havens, specializing in maritime

The proposed Vessel Incidental Discharge Act (VIDA) and environmental law. Candito has also served as a ma- looks to unify and simplify both the regulatory and rine engineer aboard Exxon USA’s domestic tanker ? eet. compliance aspects of vessel discharges. Currently,

He is a graduate of Hofstra University School of Law and those regulatory duties are split into many camps. the United States Merchant Marine Academy. A past Presi-

What’s your take on the legislation?

dent of the Spill Control Association of American (SCAA),

I certainly support VIDA, but I have my doubts that the his roots in the oil spill response and environmental com- legislation will pass. Legal uniformity is one of the basic te- munities run deep. Listen in this month as he weighs in on nets of the law generally and speci? cally admiralty law so the environmental issues, pollution prevention and response.

legislation certainly makes good sense from both a legal and operational perspective. Further, there appears to be wide in-

Macondo: The six-year anniversary of this spill has dustry support from vessel owners and even labor unions, come and gone. Talk about the lessons learned.

The main lesson that both responders and regulators terminals and port authorities. There is also bipartisan sup- port in Congress. Unfortunately, our current legislative pro- learned from the Macondo spill is that it is impossible to cess has become so dysfunctional that this needed legislation have suf? cient dedicated spill equipment available for a still may not pass, particularly with the upcoming presiden- spill of generational magnitude, but it is a challenge even tial election and a truncated Congressional calendar this year. under the current regulatory “worst case discharge” stan- dard. The dedicated resources required by the existing

Bring us up to speed on any emerging developments regulations were certainly of signi? cant bene? t during the in the oil spill prevention and response ? elds. What ? rst days of the spill, but when a response covers a large new products and methods are emerging?

geographic area and lasts for months, additional non-dedi-

Like many other industries, technological advancement

June 2016 12

MN

MN June16 Layout 1-17.indd 12 5/17/2016 11:21:38 AM