JANUARY 27, 2017--On January 11 and 12, the NOAA Marine Debris Program and Genwest staff coordinated and hosted the Georgia Incident Waterway Debris Response Planning Stakeholder Workshop.

The workshop was held on Jekyll Island, GA, in an effort to strengthen coordination between federal, state, and local organizations to improve preparedness for an incident that generates debris in Georgia’s waterways. Other divisions within NOAA also attended and participated including OR&R's Scientific Support Coordinator, Brad Benggio, as well as the National Weather Service’s Warning Coordination Meteorologist, Al Sandrik.

During the day and a half workshop, participants shared their agency’s roles, responsibilities, and jurisdictions; discussed permitting and compliance processes; and ran through scenarios using a response flowchart developed by the Marine Debris Program. The information gathered during this workshop will be incorporated into the Georgia Incident Waterway Debris Response Guide, which should be released in early spring.

The completion of the Georgia Incident Waterway Debris Response Guide will mark the end of the Marine Debris Program’s response planning efforts in the Southeast Region. However, these efforts continue in the Gulf of Mexico and Mid-Atlantic Regions. Stay tuned, publication of response documents from those states will be coming soon. To view currently published response documents for Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and other states check out the NOAA Marine Debris Program website.

If you are interested in learning more about the meeting or the NOAA Marine Debris Program Regional Response Planning efforts, contact Jessica.Conway@noaa.gov or Sarah.Latshaw@noaa.gov.

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