JUNE 23, 2017--The week of June 19, 2017, OR&R’s Emergency Response Division team of oil spill scientists concluded the last of four “Science of Oil Spills” (SOS) classes planned for fiscal year 2017.

The Seattle class covered a wide range of spill response topics, as well as a field trip to a Puget Sound shoreline north of Seattle. NOAA thanks Jennifer Leach of the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Edmonds for supporting this, and past SOS field trips.

Classroom exercises demonstrated how viscosity, temperature, sediment permeability and porosity influence oil behavior on shorelines, and how oil disorders feather structure, impairing waterproofing and insulating properties. In addition to these exercises, students learned about the fate and behavior of oil spilled in the environment, oil chemistry and toxicity, how to use Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps, and gained insight into the complexity of environmental trade-offs associated with response options and cleanup endpoints. Finally, guest lecturers provided information on oil sands and Bakken oils, as well as an overview of the recent risk assessment of the transportation of these materials by rail and sea in Washington.

OR&R's SOS training team was led by training coordinator Nicolle Rutherford. The 39 class participants included representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard, other federal, tribal, and state agencies, local government, and industry. Attendees came from across the U.S. and Canada.

SOS workshops are always in high demand in the oil spill response community, and this fiscal year was no exception. To accommodate continued high demand, four SOS classes are planned in fiscal year 2017 including in Anchorage, Alaska; Mobile, Alabama; Seattle, Washington; and one other location yet to be determined. The Anchorage class is scheduled for the week of November 13, 2017. Dates have not yet been set for the other planned classes.

For more information about this week's or upcoming SOS classes, or other OR&R Emergency Response Division training activities, please contact Nicolle.Rutherford@noaa.gov.

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