What’s Next for Industry after the Gulf Disaster?

by Tony Shelton, Shelton and Caudle Communication Training and Crisis Counsel, a division of Vollmer Public Relations

For some,  it’s a wash –

What company looks really good so far in the aftermath of the disaster in the Gulf?

Procter & Gamble, which has been supplying its Dawn dishwashing liquid for wildlife clean-up. In fact, a recent Huffington Post poll found that 39 percent of respondents said they would make sure to buy Dawn. 

At some point, of course, the leak will be stopped, clean-up and reparations will be concluded, and the world will move on from this tragedy.   But it’s clear the energy industry will have to operate differently.  The government will require it, and the public is demanding it.

Who’s got the solution?  The smart companies involved in offshore drilling and spill response are already asking:  How can we do this better next time.  What’s the new plan?

The really smart companies have realized that the needed technology, engineering and equipment already exist.  These essential elements reside with the independent companies that specialize in spill response and containment.  We don’t necessarily need new technology, although research is essential.  What is needed is a plan coordinated and put forth by industry response specialists, certainly with review and oversight by the federal government.

In the current disaster, the problem was not lack of response methods; it was that BP acted too slowly to get them into place. And it will be up to the responders to lead the charge. Any new plans put forth solely by BP and the other major producers – the ones who call in the response specialists – are unlikely to be warmly embraced on Capitol Hill.  It doesn’t help that, in recent testimony before Congress, the response plans of the majors all sounded a lot like BP’s.  (We’re likely to continue hearing about the plans’ protections for Gulf walruses, who haven’t called the Gulf home for millions of years. That unfortunate reference is the stuff from which legends are made.)

We need a plan that focuses on quick response for containment, as well as “stopping the leak.”  The idea is to contain and remove leaking oil as close to the source as possible, at the same time the best minds are figuring out the final fix for the problem.

In addition to the good news that the needed response and containment technology already exist is the news that, in order to be fully prepared, they don’t need to be kept in storage until a spill.     For example, with some modifications, response vessels can be ready to disconnect at virtually a moment’s notice from wells they might be working on and motor under their own power to the site of a spill.

With a plan in mind, the independent response experts, especially those willing to take leadership roles, are likely to find a friendly reception on Capitol Hill.

The major producers?  Well, they’ll have to pay for it.  But at least with a better response plan in place, they may be able to get back to the business of finding and producing the oil and gas this country is still going to need for a long, long time.

And more Americans will likely be stocking up on bottles of Dawn.