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Science of Oil Spills (SOS) Workshops

JUNE 17, 2016--Last week at NOAA’s main Seattle campus, OR&R’s Emergency Response Division (ERD) oil spill scientists concluded the last of four “Science of Oil Spills” (SOS) workshops planned for fiscal year 2016.

The Seattle workshop included training sessions covering a wide range of spill response topics, as well as a field trip to a Puget Sound shoreline north of Seattle. NOAA thanks Jennifer Leach of the Parks and Recreation Department of the City of Edmonds for supporting this and past SOS field trips. Classroom exercises demonstrated how viscosity, temperature, sediment type and permeability influence oil behavior on shorelines, and how oil disorders feather structure, impairing waterproofing and insulating effects. In addition to these exercises, students were introduced to the fate and behavior of oil spilled in the environment, oil chemistry and toxicity, and determining cleanup endpoints. Students also learned how to use and interpret Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps, among other topics. Finally, Dr. Lisa DiPinto of the Office of Response and Restoration provided information on the injuries documented by the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment, while Dr. Chris Reddy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution discussed the interaction between academia and responders during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and provided perspective on how science was communicated during and after the spill.

NOAA's SOS training team was led by ERD training coordinator Nicolle Rutherford. The 36 class participants included representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard, other federal and state agencies, and industry. Attendees traveled from as far away as Australia, Canada, Alaska, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Texas, and Florida.

NOAA’s SOS workshops are always in high demand in the oil spill response community, and this fiscal year was no exception. To accommodate continued high demand, four SOS classes are planned in fiscal year 2017 including in New England; Mobile, Alabama; Charleston, South Carolina; and Seattle, Washington. Dates have not yet been set for these classes.

For more information about last week's or upcoming SOS classes, or other ERD training activities, please contact Nicolle.Rutherford@noaa.gov.

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Man looking at nautical chart on a beach.
Andy Quast, from Washington Department of Ecology with nautical chart. (NOAA)
Group of people on a beach.
Class participants. (NOAA)
Last updated Tuesday, November 8, 2022 1:52pm PST