BP Oil Spill Offers Opportunities for Lab Managers

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:26:00 -0400

Last May BP promised to spend $500 million on oil spill research relating to its big Gulf of Mexico oil spill. "We must make every effort to understand (the) impact" of the spill "on the people and environment of the Gulf Coast," said BP CEO Tony Hayward in a press release. There is an urgent need to ensure that the scientific community has access to the samples and the raw data it needs to begin this work." Hopefully, this means BP will provide data to researchers.

In BP's press release it promised to pay for R&D to answer important questions including: 1. Where are the oil, the dispersed oil and the dispersant going under the action of ocean currents? 2. How do oil, the dispersed oil and the dispersant behave on the seabed, in the water column, on the surface and on the shoreline? 3. What are the impacts of the oil, the dispersed oil and the dispersant on the seabed, the water column, the surface and the shoreline? 4. How do accidental releases of oil compare to natural seepage from the seabed? 5. What is the impact of dispersant on the oil? 6. How will the oil, the dispersed oil, and the dispersant interact with tropical storms, and will this interaction impact the seabed, the water column and the shoreline?

Crude oil dispersants

I have been concerned about the fact that the dispersant being used in the Gulf was developed nearly a generation ago. Are there no improved products available? Shouldn't there be R&D on new, more effective, more environmentally friendly crude oil dispersants? In early May I contacted several high-level American Chemical Society officials urging that ACS advocate the need for such research with the appropriate federal government officials. I have received no information on whether such discussions have taken place. So it's nice to know that Congress is taking an interest. This also represents a commercial opportunity for industrial lab managers.

Other industrial R&D opportunities include improved oil well drilling and completion methods and design of improved blowout preventers.

Biological research

BP's program also represents an opportunity for academic researchers. While BP America chairman Lamar McKay was testifying before Congress last week, Rep. Steve Kagen, (D-Wis.) asked him to "commit to funding any and all studies to look at the long-term consequences of the dispersal agents that you're now using within the Gulf."

Last Monday Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) pressed BP to immediately begin a nationwide search for research projects to investigate the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and its effects on marine life. He is concerned that delays in awarding the funds BP promised and possibly an overly narrow distribution of funds to a limited number of researchers would impair the value of the research. "Failure to start collecting data and conducting research now on the spills' effects on delicate marshlands and fisheries, the impact of underwater oil plumes, and other critical issues will make it impossible to understand the full effect of this spill 10, 20, or 30 years from now," Capps said. "It's essential that BP get this money out the door as soon as possible so scientists around the country can begin working to understand the catastrophic impacts an oil spill has on the marine environment." He also wrote Tony Hayward directly urging that the company begin distributing research funds as soon as possible after peer-review of the research proposals.

The U.S. Chemical/Pharma Industry Exodus and Your Lab

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:56:00 -0400

"The chemical industry is leaving the United States, and it won't be back," said Peter Huntsman, CEO of chemical firm Huntsman Corp. "When demand picks back up, they'll build new capacity overseas--in the Middle East, Singapore and China." He was quoted in a February Wall Street Journal article, "Radical Shifts Take Hold in U.S. Manufacturing." Reporter Mark Whitehouse noted, "For chemical makers, the recession has intensified an exodus from the U.S. that has been happening for at least a decade, amid rising energy costs, environmental concerns and growing demand in developing countries."

Articles in publications such as Chemical & Engineering News, Chemical Week, and BusinessWeek have documented the closure of U.S. laboratories and the opening of new laboratories by the same firms in other countries, particularly China and India. This trend has major implications for U.S. research and technical service contract labs. The natural tendency for the growing number of new, large laboratories is for their managers to assign contract research, analytical work and other technical service work to laboratories that are in their own countries – often geographically close and staff by people whose native language is the same as their own. So even if your own firm does not open an overseas laboratory, your lab's work load could be adversely affected/

Responding to the situation

How can U.S.-based lab managers and staff members compete in this environment and avoid their labs shrinking or disappearing altogether?

I don't have an answer to this question. I do have some speculations, however. First, American adaptability could see us through as new industries grow up alongside of the declining ones. Advanced materials, catalysts, green industries, nanotechnology and biotechnology are all areas where the U.S. can potentially lead the world. The growth of these industries will be accompanied by their increased need for contract laboratory services. In many cases the details of these services such as the types of analyses performed will change. Contract and analytical services laboratory managers will need to equip their labs, train current personnel and hire new staff to perform these analyses.

Environmental technology will be a growing field as businesses are forced to address climate issues such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and perhaps commercialize processes for carbon dioxide sequestration.

All of these opportunities could create export markets that could offset the import of bulk chemicals produced in other markets.

The government may also play a role in ensuring the future of U.S.-based contract and analytical services labs. Increasing government regulations enforced by agencies such as the EPA and FDA could increase the need for analytical laboratory services. While clinical laboratory trials are increasingly conducted overseas, new government regulations may require these trials be conducted in the U.S. Already the FDA conducts on-site inspections of some pharmaceutical contract laboratories overseas.

Finally, developments in other industries could stem the U.S. chemical exodus. New technology has increased U.S. natural gas supplies from 30 years to 100 years in less than a decade. New supplies already reaching the market have contributed to lower natural gas prices and could keep them under control in the future. While much of the world's petrochemical industries are based on naphtha, those of the U.S. are almost completely based on natural gas. Heretofore, that has been an economic disadvantage. This could change as a result of more abundant natural gas prices and the consequent lower prices.

Lab Management Matters - Trends

BP Oil Spill Offers Opportunities for Lab Managers

Crude oil dispersants

Biological research

The U.S. Chemical/Pharma Industry Exodus and Your Lab

Responding to the situation