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NOAA Holds Gulf of Mexico Workshops to Prepare for Next Major Oil Spill or Disaster

JUNE 2, 2016 -- The week of May 23, 2016, NOAA's Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center sponsored a NOAA Regional Preparedness Training (NRPT) workshop at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in Galveston, Texas.

This was the first in a series of three workshops with the University of New Hampshire's Coastal Response Research Center, which are aimed at enhancing regional preparedness for emergencies.

The Galveston workshop focused on oil spill threats, response trade-offs (including the use of dispersants), and coordination during spills threatening the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and similar sea mount habitats along the shelf boundary of the Gulf of Mexico.

Workshop participants included federal agencies, state agencies, industry response organizations, and local non-governmental organizations. The expected outcome of each of the three NRPT workshop and training events is that by better understanding the human and natural resources at risk, the roles and responsibilities of the different agencies responding, and the science that drives decision-making during an emergency, the response actions taken will provide the greatest protection, least environmental impact, and faster recovery times, in other words, greater resilience.

A second workshop will be held in Mobile, Alabama, on June 8-9, 2016. To better understand the challenges of an oil spill response occurring during a storm-caused flooding disaster, the Mobile workshop will explore roles and responsibilities when Stafford Act and Oil Pollution Act authorities and responses co-occur and how to better prepare for and coordinate such disasters in a real event.

The third and final workshop of this series will be held in St. Petersburg, Florida, focusing on risk communications during major oil spills.

For more information, contact Charlie Henry.

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People in a conference room listen to and watch a presentation on spill response
The NOAA Regional Preparedness Training workshop in Galveston, Texas, focused on oil spill threats, response trade-offs (including the use of dispersants), and coordination during spills threatening the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. (NOAA)
Last updated Tuesday, November 8, 2022 1:52pm PST