From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: Cleaning Up Offshore Oil Spills Description: What role does the government play in offshore oil spill recovery efforts? And is there room for improvement? Related GAO Work: GAO-19-31: Offshore Oil Spills: Restoration and Federal Research Efforts Continue, but Opportunities to Improve Coordination Remain Released: February 2018 [ Background Music ] [ Frank Rusco: ] Even after all these decades, there' still some effect of that oil spill, but it's not something that you would just notice. [ Matt Oldham: ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office. I'm Matt Oldham. There are, perhaps, no better known oil spills in American history than the Exxon Valdez, which released more than 10 million gallons off the Alaskan coast in 1989, and the Deep Water Horizon explosion in 2010, where 11 people died and more than 200 million gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. I'm with Frank Rusco, a Natural Resources and Environment director with GAO and we're talking about how state and federal agencies have been handling recovery efforts after those oil spills. How's it looking along Alaska's coastline now, nearly 3 decades later? [ Frank Rusco: ] You're a lot younger than I, if you were a kid then, but back in 1989, the Exxon Valdez ran aground and spilled a tremendous amount of oil, and that -- that oil of course quickly hit the land and -- and caused severe damage. If you went up there right now and you didn't know what you were looking for, you would not see any -- anything that would tell you that there had been a catastrophic oil spill. Most of the fish and wildlife and other natural resources that were damaged, there were 32 that were sort of identified as having been severely damaged. All but five of those have fully recovered at this point. There are still five, including the Pacific Northwest herring population has not recovered. So even after all these -- these decades, there's still some effect of that oil spill, but it's not something that you would just notice unless you knew what you were looking for. [ Matt Oldham: ] Moving on to the other more recent oil spill, the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, are you seeing the same levels of recovery as -- as you've seen in Alaska? [ Frank Rusco: ] Right. Well, there's some big differences between the two. With the Deep Water Horizon spill was far offshore, most of the oil that got to the surface was either dispersed using chemical dispersants and evaporated. Some of it was captured, some of it did actually make it to -- to shore and -- and damaged ecosystems, and there was much more of it, but like the Exxon Valdez, the process for restoration of damaged ecosystems and natural resources taking a long time. It was only 2016, after 6 years after the -- after the spill, that a full plan for resource recovery was adopted. [ Matt Oldham: ] Is there any way that these recovery efforts could be more efficient? [ Frank Rusco: ] You know, we found some things that could be improved, but not necessarily that would speed up the recovery process. That is just going to take a long time simply because there are multiple players involved, states and localities and there -- there are trustee councils that determine where the money should best be spent. They use the research to the extent they're aware of, that the agencies are producing, and -- and academia and others, to try to determine how to best spend this money to -- to get the best recovery for the natural resources. What we did find, however, is that the dissemination of the information used to make these decisions could be better done. [ Background Music ] [ Matt Oldham: ] So it sounds like with all of these federal and state agencies involved in the recovery efforts, there could be some improvement in how they coordinate with each other. So, Frank, what did your team recommend? [ Frank Rusco: ] We want the agencies to coordinate in the event of any future oil spill with state and local entities, and with these trustee councils that I spoke about that -- that -- that had been charged with the -- with deciding how best to respond and recover from the damage of these oil spills. [ Matt Oldham: ] So, Frank, then what's the bottom line of this report? [ Frank Rusco: ] What we want to see is where federal agencies are involved, we want them to be forward-looking and proactive in reaching out to all the entities involved in recovery and cleanup and make sure that the best available research is -- is put into practice. [ Background Music ] [ Matt Oldham: ] Frank Rusco is a Natural Resources and Environment director with GAO, and he was talking about a GAO report on the coordination between organizations leading recovery efforts on the Exxon Valdez and Deep Water Horizon spills. Thank you for your time, Frank! [ Frank Rusco: ] Thank you! [ Background Music ] [ Matt Oldham: ] And thank you for listening to the Watchdog Report. To hear more podcasts, subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts. [ Background Music ] [ Matt Oldham: ] For more from the congressional watchdog, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, visit us as gao.gov.