During the week of October 27, Gulf of Mexico Scientific Support Coordinators (SSCs) LT Kyle Jellison, Paige Doelling, and Adam Davis, along with Environmental Scientist Jeff Dauzat from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) taught a SCAT class in Grand Isle, Louisiana.

Shoreline clean-up assessment is a critical component of oil spill response, as it provides information to the response organization on where oil has stranded on the shoreline, how much, and what resources are affected. Training responders from different agencies in the standardized techniques, as described in NOAA’s Shoreline Assessment Manual (4th ed, 2013) enables the SCAT teams to quickly come together when an incident occurs and provide quality information on oiling, clean-up methods, and clean-up endpoints to Operations and Unified Command.

The Gulf of Mexico is home to drilling operations, refineries, pipelines, and some of the busiest shipping ports in the United States. Coast Guard and state agencies in these areas respond to approximately 70% of oil spill incidents reported to the National Response Center. The Gulf also has one of the most extensive coastal wetland complexes, with those marshes supporting vibrant commercial and recreational fisheries, and large populations of waterfowl.

To help build response capacity with a focus on critical regional issues, topics in this SCAT class were weighted heavily toward techniques for spills in marshes, mangroves, and sand beaches. Students in the class were from Coast Guard units based in Louisiana and Texas, members of the Coast Guard Gulf Strike Team, the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinator’s Office, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, and some industry partners.

For further information, contact Paige.Doelling@noaa.gov.

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