Dr. Roy W. Hann, Jr. is a Professor of Civil Engineering at Texas A&M University and the Director of the Institute for Oil Spill Technology for Texas A&M University, Texas Engineering Experiment Station. Dr Hann has twice headed Texas A&M's Environmental Engineering Program for a period of ten years and has also served as Director of the University's Sea Grant Program and Center for Marine Resources

Dr Roy W. Hann Jr

What lead you to work in the field of Oil Spills?

In the 1960’s, we had started an extensive program working in Houston channel, which is a drenched channel and drainage base for city of Houston. There were three research vessels running up and down the channel and a laboratory at the mouth of ship channel in the Galveston bay.  As going up and down the channels, we observed oil spills and problems related to marine commerce risks (tankers, barges) etc. That made us aware of dealing with the problem of Oil and hazardous materials.

In 1970, I was appointed on the National Academy of Science Committee that dealt with maritime hazardous material and I participated in a National Symposium on hazardous material, which began my interest in Oil Spills and Hazardous materials at the National level.

In the 1970 ‘s, we got a contract for developing a training program for the American Petroleum Institute in Oil Spill Control. I helped write a proposal and turned it to a fellow staff member under my guidance for a training course that is taking place in Galveston as part of the TEEX for nearly 30 years.

Shortly after, we carried out marine environmental studies for a proposed deep-water port off the Texas coast. For political and economic reasons, this port was never built, but we developed programs for oil spill modeling and worried about contingency planning

A sudden event occurred one Friday afternoon, when I received a call from the US Coast Guard, for the Straits of Magellan, where a super tanker had run aground, and the US was sending an assistance team through the US Coast Guard.

The proposed deep-water port bill was up for consideration in congress, which required someone from the academic field to report on a spill of this size, the activities surrounding it and study the environmental impacts and I was elected. I went to the Straits of Mijala and wrote a report that was well received and was entered into Congressional record by Senator Gaylord Nelson, considered by many to be the Father of Earth Week. We found out that many countries like Chile were ill prepared to respond to Oil Spills. Thus we decided to develop a technical response to Oil Spills to provide technical information to companies and countries that were concerned with Oil Spills. That led us to develop the Oil Spill Technical Assistant’s Program that was the forerunner to the current work.

Who are the people who have most influenced you in your distinguished career?

In college, I had a number of examples, a grand father who was a leader and a member of the first Oklahoma Senate, and the person most noted for bringing Oklahoma into the Union as a dry state.

I also had a great uncle by the name of Guy Gillispe , a Minister and College President in Missisipi, whom I admire greatly.

In College, I had two people, who inspired me. The first was a Professor of Civil Engineering by the name of John F. brooks and the other was a Fraternity chapter advisor, Joe Marshman. These people were exceptional characters who had distinguishing careers in their own life. Those were the people influential in my career.

Could you give us a description of your educational background?

After having graduated in High school from Oklahoma High School, one of the largest schools in the State, I went to the University of Oklahoma where I received my Bachelors degree. I then received funding from the US Public Health Service and GE company to pursue my Masters degree. My thesis dealt with composting which is a modern topic. Then I received a Commission as a Commissioned Officer in the US Public Heath Service, which let me serve my military commitments in a professional manner, which I greatly appreciated. In this program, I participated in a Federal Grant program, which funded part of the costs of wastewater treatment facilities in both the States of New Mexico and Oklahoma. I was listed in the US Public Service as a reserve for 21 years. I strongly believe that people should serve their country. There was more emphasis on that then than now. I then went into the consulting field to get an experience of the profession to get my Engineering Professional license. By the time, I finished that, I went back and pursued my Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma, which I finished in the summer of 1962 and received my degree in the May of 1963. In the September of 1962, I accepted a teaching position in the University of South Carolina. They were starting a program in Environmental Engineering. I went there and spent two and a half very wonderful years. I had seven graduate students in Environmental Engineering who carried out our first research project, that dealt primarily with  the Industrial Waste problems within the state of South Carolina. Following that, I came to Texas A&M University. Firstly, because it was closer and home and secondly, due to the fact that in South Carolina, it was evident that Clemson was going to be the leader in Environmental Engineering due to Administrative strengths etc, and due to the fact that Texas A&M University had a well established Environmental (Sanitary at that time) Engineering Program. It had four older professor and was essentially being given rebirth. An individual named Bill Davis hired me and I have been here ever since.

How was it working in the industry after school?

I consider my working in the Public Service as Industry and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I got to see all the wastewater treatment plants in Oklahoma and New Mexico. I got to review their plans and supervisions and inspected the construction and approved the Federal payments for the billing of the city. I was very fortunate that the administrators gave me a great deal of freedom to operate in the program. They probably lead the nation in the freedom that they gave to young officers joining the Program. My consulting experience was very good too. I was working for a smaller firm but I got to work on the design of a large wastewater treatment plant. I was given some smaller assignments for which I was the leader for the design of smaller wastewater design plants like oxidation pond for a small city, a site plant for athletic facilities for a school and I found it to be a very exciting and worthwhile experience. I would have probably stayed in the consulting firm, if not for the desire to obtain a future education and I also was concerned about the politics in dealing with consulting firms. They would perform with excellence but the city council would bring in new engineers regardless of successes. So I got my Ph.D. After my Ph.D., I made a tour of all the schools in the South and South West to see if they had any upcoming positions, whether their work appealed to me and whether their salary structure was such that I could survive. I received five job offers from the trip and I chose University of South Carolina. Later my visit to Texas A&M University had a lot to do with my choosing Texas A&M University.

In your distinguished career, do you have any memorable moments that stand out?

Yes, Our program in the Houston ship channel was selected to be the lead story on the National TV Network on the first day of the first Earth Week. I am very proud of that as that symbolized the problems that were taking place and at the same time, a University like ours was at the cutting edge of the solution to those problems.

I was also featured in National TV a number of times dealing with major Oil Spills that were took place in Texas. Those were special as well.

The biggest highlight was being selected for the Pladium medal. This was given by the Association of Engineering Societies and by the Ottoban Society and to be recognized by the Board of all the Engineering Society was what I consider to be the highlight of my life.

What are the different courses you have offered through these years?

The course that I started out in TAMU was the early version of what is now the 603 class, but it was titled Lake and Stream Water Quality and then as time went by, it developed into an Environmental Management and Law course. I often taught CVEN 301 and wastewater courses early in my career. We started developed a course in Oil Spills in the late 70’s, first taught as a special problem course, and then later as a formal course and then as CVEN 609. Both 603 and 609 are my favorite courses because they are for graduate students who are excited and interested in our fields, and I feel that these courses are unique because of my background and experience and being able to teach these. I much prefer this to taking someone else’s textbook and teaching the course.

Which organizations have you been involved in?

Well, every two years, there is a National Oil Spill Conferecne and I have been to most of them. I think, I have missed only two since I became involved in the Oil Spill field since 1973. That is been the main organization, I have been involved in. I am not much of an organization man particularly due to the fact that various projects in TAMU have always kept me involved in this field.

Could you give us details about the Institute for Oil Spill Control Technology?

In the 1970’s, we developed the Oil Spill Technical Assistant’s Program. Fortunately at that time, there were a number of other projects that were related to it. I had a whole series of projects, which I did for the United Nations Environmental Program and the International Maritime Organization, where we put on training courses throughout the world. We would occasionally respond to oil spills and get projects corresponding to them. But it was not a formal Institute of any kind. After the Exxon Valdez, we saw that to pursue research funding in this area, it would be good to have an Institute in this area for funding and approached the Administration. Unfortunately, the Administration was slow and the biggest part of money, we were planning to bring in to Texas universities was instead distributed to State Agencies and hence the Institute has served as a focal point for work within the University. Because of the Institute, I had some onsite consulting, but it has more been the center for students carrying out research projects where they were self funded or funded by the military which has kept alive a research program for Oil Spill Control Technologies, much like your project.

How do you think the Oil Spill Control Technologies have evolved over these years?

It has evolved more in the size and the scope than the technologies. In the 1970’s, we had small skimmers where the people carried this operation out by hand. In the 1980’s, we were dealing with small skimmers that were 30-40 feet long and could operate in harbors. The end of the 70’s saw the building of large-scale equipment in Europe due to the potential of spill in the North Sea. By the time we got to the Exxon Valdez in 1998, we were getting larger oil spill vessels, unfortunately not in Alaska. Technology developed throughout the world as in Russia, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, and Norway. We found 100 –200 feet long Oil Spill Control vessels where they could not only skim oil but also store oil. We saw new institutional arrangements as well. After the Exxon Valdez, we saw the emergence of Alaska Service Program, MSRC, and NRC where larger inventories came into being so that there was a chance of making a significant response to a major oil spill. We also seen the use of chemical agents like dispersants which is gaining importance in US, but has not gained acceptance in various other parts of the world. There are alternative techniques like bio-remediation and burning. When it comes down to a spill, traditional, agricultural, construction trucks etc are important for the shore. For the sea, skimmers, booms, transfer pumps, chemical burning etc are important. A spill always depends on the weather conditions. One of the reasons that the publics are concerned about the Exxon Valdez is that it occurred in perfect weather. If you have a spill in the middle of a storm, you could have a large spill spread far by the turbulent weather and you will have a horrible spill to clean up. You have better chances to get oil in good weather with technology.

What do you see as the future of Oil Spill field research?

The Oil Spill field unfortunately responds only to crisis events. The strong emphasis placed after the Exxon Valdez is dwindling away. Oil Spill Response organizations have had their budget cut. In some cases, they retained the equipment, but have not retained the supporting infrastructure and management. So the longer we wait before we have a major oil spill, the more the capability will diminish. When such a spill occurs, there will be a major public outcry and the capabilities will be rebuilt again. Hopefully there will be still capability remains before such an event occurs. There are certain research projects, which I do not see on a day to day basis. A major research organization in New Jersey started out in the 1970’s but was decommissioned in 1980’s and it was recommissioned after the Exxon Valdez. It was turned in to the Navy with bigger budgets and it is still operating and that is good. So at least, there are things like that are in being and are inspecting equipment etc. But I still do not see any great big research.. One exception is Dr Bonner’s program at TAMU, funded heavily by the General Land Office has a test center in Corpus Christi and it is going very well and I strongly support that.

What message do you have for students who aspire to study in this field?

The Oil Spill field has taught us a lot of lessons, which have carried over to the other areas of environmental engineering. It was the first one to require contingency planning. Now RECRA, CAA, EPCRA and others require contingency planning. So it is a very good teacher and people learning about all these, the knowledge will serve them wherever they go in the Environmental Engineering field. As far as jobs are concerned, they will find that these are parts of the job that they will find going to industries. I cannot imagine anybody in the Environmental Co-ordination Office, Environmental Health and Safety Planning who is not concerned with Oil Spills, Oil Spill Drills, Contingency Planning, Oil Spill Responses, Hazardous Materials with their products. This will be definitely a corner stone in the training of individuals.

Do you have anything else to add to this interview?

The Environmental Engineering field is here to stay and the Oil Spill and Hazardous Material field will be important as long as we use oil and manufacture hazardous material.