One trial explosion was also conducted during the early stages of the spill to burn the oil, in a region of the spill isolated from the rest by another explosion. This attempt is believed to have led to many health problems for a neighboring native village that was downwind of the fumes caused by the explosion.[24] The test was relatively successful, reducing 113,400 liters of oil to 1,134 liters of removable residue, but because of the health consequences, no additional burning was attempted.[22][25]
The dispersant Corexit 9580 was formulated in response to the spill for potential shore cleanup operations and trialed on Smith, Disk and Eleanor islands in 1989[26] and the "heavily oiled" Knight Island in 1990.[27] Its wider use was not permitted owing to Government and public concerns about its toxicity.