The Observer, May 2004

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Tom Copeland appointed to a national panel on dispersants

Tom Copeland may have left the citizens’ council board, but he continues to be involved in what was one of his main issues as a board member: chemical oil spill dispersants.

Copeland, who represented the Oil Spill Region Environmental Coalition on the council until his resignation this past winter, has been appointed to the National Academy of Science’s Committee on Understanding Oil Spill Dispersants: Efficacy and Effects.

Copeland was nominated to the committee by the citizens’ council, which suggested he be seated as a “citizen representative.”

The nomination letter outlined Copeland’s long involvement with the dispersants issue: He commented on the Alaska Dispersant Use Guidelines set up in 1989, served on the council’s Dispersants Project Team, and represented the council before the Alaska Regional Response Team.

“Mr. Copeland’s participation in this committee,” wrote Executive Director John Devens, “would go a long way in facilitating public confidence in this process and any future decisions made to use chemical dispersants.”

The committee is to study existing research on oil spill dispersants and recommend how to fill any information gaps identified in the study. Its work is to be completed by June of next year.