APRIL 24, 2015--While Deepwater Horizon is on many policy-makers minds the week of April 20, OR&R participated in a briefing to help inform Senate offices about spill response.

The University of New Hampshire sponsored Senate forum, “Advances in Oil Spill Response: Five Years After the Deepwater Horizon,” invited all interested Senate staff to hear perspectives from UNH’s Center for Spills in the Environment, the US Coast Guard, and NOAA.

Dave Westerholm, NOAA, OR&R; Captain Claudia Gelzer, Chief, US Coast Guard, Marine Environmental Response; and Nancy Kinner, UNH, each presented their perspectives on advances since Deepwater Horizon to improve response. Across these presentations, panelists acknowledged that while we’ve come a long way since Deepwater Horizon, we still have a long way to go.

Captain Gelzer highlighted Coast Guard’s focus on people, policy, and pollution response technology following Deepwater Horizon. Westerholm walked through the 5 questions for response to outline NOAA’s role and improvements in oil spill science. He also noted the launch of DIVER, and told Congressional staff to be on the lookout for an announcement soon. Dr. Kinner gave tips for Congressional staff to interpret emerging research, and highlighted work to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of dispersants.

This event was developed as a follow up to UNH’s Oil Spill Response Forum for scientific experts and industry specialists in fall 2014. Additional information about the event is available here: https://crrc.unh.edu/workshop/cse/senate-forum-advances-oil-spill-response.

For further information, contact Meg.Imholt@noaa.gov.

Go back to OR&R Weekly Report.