In 1947, Winston Churchill told the House of Commons, “Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” Similarly, spill responders should view dispersants the same way—while they may not be perfect, they remain the best option when compared to all other offshore oil spill response methods that have been attempted.

Mechanical recovery has historically collected no more than 6% of the oil spilled during large offshore oil spills (Etkin & Nedwed, 2021). This limitation arises because booms and skimmers operate at the speed of boats, significantly restricting their ability to cover vast areas quickly. In contrast, dispersants can be applied at the speed of jet aircraft, enabling them to reach and treat spilled oil at a rate potentially two orders of magnitude faster than boat-based mechanical recovery.

In offshore oil spill response planning, the worst-case scenario for the upstream oil industry is a blowout. In deepwater environments, subsea dispersant injection is the only efficient response method, as it treats oil directly at the source, dispersing the bulk of it into the deep ocean where it undergoes rapid biodegradation.

Etkin, D. S., & Nedwed, T. J. (2021). Estimating the effectiveness of subsea dispersant injection in deep water oil spill response. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 166, 112193. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112193