APRIL 8, 2016--OR&R’s Emergency Response Division (ERD) hosted a Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) course on March 29-31. The course was held at the Jacques Cousteau National Research Reserve Coastal Education Center, located in Tuckerton, New Jersey.

Course instructors included Gary Shigenaka and Frank Csulak (both ERD), Christine Boring (Research Planning, Inc.), Robert Schrader and Jason Maddox (both Gallagher Marine).

SCAT is a systematic method for surveying an affected shoreline after an oil spill. The SCAT approach uses standardized terminology to document shoreline oiling conditions. SCAT is designed to support decision-making for shoreline cleanup. It is flexible in its scale of surveys and in the detail of data sets collected. SCAT is a regular part of the oil spill response. SCAT surveys begin early in the response to assess initial shoreline conditions, and ideally continue to work in advance of operational cleanup.

The majority of the 40 students in the class were from the U.S. Coast Guard, including Sectors Delaware Bay, New York and the Atlantic Strike Team. Others came from OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division, the New Jersey State Police, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, ExxonMobil, Gallagher Marine, and Tri-State Bird Rescue and Rehab. The students also heard presentations by Dr. Clay Stern, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Lindy Nelson, U.S, Department of Interior, Tom Grothues, from Rutger’s University, and Virginia Rettig, from the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.

In addition to the classroom lectures and exercises, the instructors and students conducted field trips to Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Holgate on Long Beach Island and bay shorelines and nearby wetlands in Great Bay so that the students could experience the wide diversity of coastal marine resources and receive hands-on shoreline assessment training.

For additional information, contact Frank.Csulak@noaa.gov.

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