The catastrophic accident at BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig tragically claimed 11 lives and unleashed a continuing environmental disaster.

It also has focused unprecedented attention on the hazards of offshore oil production and how to reduce them.

Researchers can help minimize the chances of such incidents and improve responses to the ones that may occur, a HARC scientist recently testified to federal lawmakers assessing the BP spill.

"The recent incident involving the Deepwater Horizon underscores the need for research to address critical aspects of deepwater developments," Rich Haut said. [See transcripts of his full testimony at the House Committee on Science and Technology  and House Committee on Energy and Commerce .]

Haut is a senior research scientist at HARC whose work includes directing the Environmentally Friendly Drilling Program, a collaborative effort led by HARC and Texas A&M University.

In his congressional testimony, Haut said a new program of scientific research aimed at safer, more environmentally friendly offshore drilling should have three main objectives:

• Enhancing technologies in order to minimize incidents.
• Identifying, developing and improving procedures and processes for responding to offshore oil spills.
• Estimating the economic value and pinpointing the locations of ecosystems potentially jeopardized by those spills.

To reduce the chance of offshore incidents occurring in the first place, Haut recommended reviewing available, state-of-the-art technologies to identify priorities, technology gaps and future research needs.

"The review may consist of an evaluation of existing safeguards and international offshore procedures, standards and practices, as well as identifying promising technologies that can address safety and environmental concerns associated with deepwater, harsh environments," he said.

The Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems Program, which focuses on identifying and developing new technologies for unconventional resources in onshore locations, can serve as a model for "an analogous offshore program that enables all stakeholders to identify needed research, to provide direction and to follow progress," he said.

Such a program could also explore various ways to make offshore activity safer through government regulation, he added.

To minimize the damage from spills that do occur, researchers could examine possible approaches for modifying and applying technologies developed for other purposes, Haut said.

As one example, he cited the Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems Program’s evaluation of equipment for handling of produced water - the water that comes to the surface in a well with oil and gas and is regarded as industrial waste.

This effort, he said, could be expanded to research systems that handle the oily water associated with the skimming and collection of oil spilled in the ocean.

A technology developed by HARC for monitoring air pollution offers another opportunity for offshore application during a spill, Haut said.

Combining remote sensing and rapid sampling, it could be used to measure air pollutants emitted during the controlled burning of oil spilled offshore. Such burns have been used in the response to the BP spill to augment the skimming and collection of oil.

Building on earlier HARC research, specialists could also develop better understanding of the values supplied by ecosystems at risk, Haut said.

This value derives from ecosystem benefits that include fishing, tourism, mitigation of storm surges, regulation of climate, habitat for wildlife and maintenance of water quality.

Through the Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems Program, researchers have been developing a comprehensive framework with a proven model for valuation of these and other benefits, he said.

Further evaluation of key ecosystem services in and around the Gulf of Mexico could help to identify particular areas of high value.

This would help ensure that "appropriate and adequate monitoring and early warning devices may be placed," Haut added. "Valuation of ecosystem services can be used to prioritize spending on ecosystem protection."