Chemical dispersant, a surfactant and solvent mixture, was applied to the slick. A private company applied dispersant on March 24 with a helicopter and dispersant bucket. Because there was not enough wave action to mix the dispersant with the oil in the water, the use of the dispersant was discontinued.[22] An aerial dispersant application also missed its target, hitting the tanker itself, a Coast Guard vessel and its crew.[23]
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.