Olympia Snowe

I think it's also a manifestation of many of the problems that continue to exist.

I think that would be critical and a useful tool to ferret out a lot of the inefficiencies.

What I would recommend, if I could, what I would demand, if I could, and I can do neither, so what I would beg--what I would beg the leaders in this country and the oil industry together would be, before you lift the moratorium, before you…

Excellent. Excellent suggestion. Sorry you are going through it. I can only imagine the difficulty in all that.

Why don't we stop spraying dispersants? It has literally sunk to the bottom, coating the bay.

And what about surface dispersants. What did EPA tell BP?

We should have pre-positioned... all of the assets and all of the boomers and skimmers and other equipment...

Thank you, because I know there are extensive knowledge gaps, as you suggested and recommend in that report.

I think that is something that we have to do in the future and having a contingency with a warehouse with certain products and technologies available to deploy.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and I want to thank all of you for your testimony here today.

I do not understand how these decisions intersect.

Well, that is on the subsea, but not for surface. I am not understanding the stop and the minimizing.

We, the United States Government on behalf of the American people, make the decisions, dictate the direction.

Just to follow up on that question, Dr. Anastas, exactly what did EPA tell BP with the use of these dispersants, especially the subsea applications?

Thank you, Chair Landrieu, for holding what is a very critical hearing today on what is undoubtedly the worst environmental disaster in the history of this nation.

Those are good suggestions. Thank you.

So in the meantime, BP can continue the use of the surface dispersant?

There is an imperative here that it is in the national public interest given the catastrophe at hand.

So obviously we need to get a clarification on this question.

What is it that you believe should be done immediately that is not being done?

At what point are you going to determine that they need to be paid more in advance?

I would be interested to know what percentage of claim amount has not been paid overall?

I just think this is making life infinitely harder for individuals in the final analysis in getting a true accounting.

I am trying to make sense of this process right now for the immediacy, both as the Chair and Senator Vitter have indicated, these are extraordinary circumstances and people need assistance.

So a prompt payment is immediate?