Nalco CEO on Gulf Coast to defend dispersant

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nalco Holding Co Chief Executive Erik Fyrwald is on a two-day visit to the U.S. Gulf Coast to assuage concerns that his company's dispersant will do more harm than good in the Gulf of Mexico oil leak.

"We have to remember that the enemy is oil," Fyrwald said on Thursday in a telephone interview from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. "Dispersant has kept untold amounts of oil from the shore. The question is, 'What is the net environmental damage of leaving the oil alone?'"

So far, the Napersville, Illinois-based company has supplied about 800,000 gallons of Corexit 9500 to help disperse the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. That has brought in about $40 million in revenue.

Fyrwald -- who had been in Mississippi before going to Louisiana on his Gulf Coast tour -- admitted, though, that Nalco has been producing "significantly less" oil dispersant since the Environmental Protection Agency ordered BP to curb use of the chemical late last month.

The EPA is concerned about just what Corexit and similar products will do to the Gulf's ecosystem over time, and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has ordered her agency to undertake a review of the chemical. "We are not satisfied that BP has done an extensive enough analysis of other dispersant options," Jackson said last week.

The dispersants work much like kitchen dish soap, in that they break up the oil into smaller parts. Corexit degrades within days after application, and oil degrades within months, Fyrwald said.

Corexit is made of six ingredients, "every one of which is used in everyday household products," Fyrwald said.At least one environmental group has filed a federal information request to find out what the six ingredients are.

"This seems like more than an appropriate time to get the information out," said Patti Goldman, an attorney with Earthjustice, which filed the request. "These chemicals have been used in the past, but not in this way, and not in these amounts."

Fyrwald said he has made the composition available to other environmental groups, and would make them available to Earthjustice if the group signs a nondisclosure agreement.

"We're open as long as it's a reasonable request from somebody that's willing to work with us around protection of our intellectual property," he said.

Corexit so far has not been shown to affect animals or residents along the Gulf Coast, Fyrwald said.

"The impact on wildlife so far has not been measurable," he said. "If people are getting sick, it's going to be because of oil issues, not dispersant."

FEDERAL PROBE

Attorney General Eric Holder said earlier this week he has opened criminal and civil investigations into the leak, telling reporters, "Our environmental laws are very clear."

Fyrwald declined to say whether he was concerned Nalco will become entangled in the probe.

However, he did say: "I think we're in a good position."

Two weeks after the April 20 Transocean rig explosion, Nalco's stock jumped more than 11 percent after Fyrwald said BP and other officials were using Corexit to contain the spill.

Since then, though, shares have dropped more than 10 percent due in part to cuts in use.

Fyrwald stressed that Corexit 9500 is forecast to be only 1 percent of Nalco's 2010 revenue.

"Don't buy us because of the issue in the Gulf," he said. "Buy us because we're a growth company with lots of great things happening in our water and energy business."

Shares of Nalco rose 9 cents to $22.10 in Thursday afternoon trading. The stock has traded between $15.19 and $29.25 in the past 52 weeks.

(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Gary Hill)