It is a first step. But I don't think subsequent steps will be taken up in the context of litigation. The public has got to be skeptical. Symposium chairwoman Jane Hughes said she has no concern that the integrity of the American Society for Testing and Materials has been harmed by the presentations. Hughes is a scientist for Malcolm Pirnie Inc., an environmental consulting firm that was not involved in any conference presentations.
People can disagree.
I would like to have seen more papers from the trustees. But when all this settles down and I don't know how long that will take I think there won't be such wide divergence of views. At the close of the conference Thursday, Hughes said all the presentations now will go through peer-review before publication in a year or so. Consistent with ASTM's standards, Exxon's research methodology and conclusions will be reviewed and verified by an academic, industry and government scientist. Finding such independent people will be difficult, Hughes said, because so many scientists with expertise in the various fields were hired by one side or the other after the spill.