Name: F. David Hoffman Jr.
Age: 51
Position: Director, oil spill preparedness and response network, BHP Hawaii
First job: Ditch digger
Favorite pastimes: Scuba, kayaking

Preparing BHP for the worst

F. David Hoffman Jr. takes over the oil spill response and management systems for Broken Hill Proprietary worldwide. It is the first time the entire BHP operations are under one network plan.

"We will have approximately 70 people in Melbourne and the same number in Hawaii as the nucleus, plus contractors, to respond (to a spill)," Hoffman said. "We also will have other trained people (at BHP locations) around the world."

Hoffman estimates it will take two years to get everything in place. He will continue as BHP Hawaii's director of environmental affairs and emergency preparedness.

Hoffman spent 24 years in the Coast Guard, retiring as a captain, and joined BHP Hawaii's law department in 1977.

He earned a bachelor's degree in communications from Denison University in Granville, Ohio and a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

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By Jerry Tune, Star-Bulletin