DECEMBER 16, 2016--Dr. Amy Merten chaired the Arctic Council’s Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR) Working Group meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, on December 7 – 8.

The meeting was attended by Arctic Ambassadors from the Kingdom of Denmark, Finland (incoming Arctic Council Chair), and U.S. (outgoing U.S. Arctic Council Chair). The EPPR delegations agreed upon several products for the May 2017 Ministerial Meeting in Fairbanks, Alaska. Products ranged from using standards as a prevention tool, a field guide on oil spill response in Arctic environments, a Pan-Arctic response asset database, an analysis of metocean conditions (such as wind, waves and ice) for response technologies, a survey on the capacity for prevention, preparedness and response in small communities, an after action report from the recent EPPR Exercise in Montreal, and an accounting of prevention measures implemented in the Arctic from 2014 – current. The Search and Rescue Expert Group met on December 6 to refine its mandate and to discuss interactions and collaborations with the Arctic Coast Guard Forum. EPPR also met to establish a Marine Environmental Response Expert Group that will focus on continued implementation of the Agreement on Arctic on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response. Dr. Merten also met with the Chair of the Senior Arctic Officials (SAO) and Work Group Chairs and Secretariats from the other five Arctic Council Working Groups to discuss collective activities and deliverables for the next SAO Meeting in Juneau, Alaska (March 8-9, 2017) and for the Ministerial.

More information can be found on the EPPR website, or by contacting Amy.Merten@noaa.gov.

Go back to OR&R Weekly Report.