Feb. 22, 2022 — On Feb. 2, two oil spill response specialists from NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration—John Tarpley, response operations branch chief of the Emergency Response Division, and Brandi Todd, scientific support coordinator—joined the U.S. National Response Team deployed to Lima, Peru to support the Peruvian government’s response to a spill that occurred Jan. 15 at an oil refinery off the coast of Callao. Twenty-four beaches have been impacted, with five natural reserve areas threatened. The spill also threatens commercial and artisanal fisheries, and the tourism industry.

The NOAA team has been providing oil trajectory modeling forecasts and analysis, satellite imagery and analysis, and site assessment. Marine pollution surveillance reports produced by NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service are available on the OR&R IncidentNews website and the website of The International Charter Space and Major Disasters.

Since the OR&R specialists were able to be on scene, they could view the oil behavior, weathering, and level of oil/water emulsification (a mousse-like oily froth), and view and photograph the oil characteristics and behavior on the shorelines. An OR&R specialist participated in an aerial overflight to observe oil conditions on the water and to help map the extent and severity of oil contamination along affected areas of shoreline. NOAA’s work is helping Peruvian authorities focus clean-up activities and interventions, and assess the threat the oil may pose to biological and human-use resources. 

OR&R represents NOAA on the U.S. National Response Team, a network of 15 federal agencies that provides guidance, assistance, and resources for managing pollution incidents. The team mobilized a nine-person team of six U.S. Coast Guard National Strike Force members, two NOAA oil spill response specialists, and one U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service animal care specialist. National Response Team members are participating in coordination and integration meetings with staff from the Government of Peru, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United Nations team, International Maritime Organization, Coast Guard of Peru (Direccion de Capitanias y Guardacostas, DICAPI), the spill response nongovernmental organization ITOPF, and members of the responsible party’s Incident Management Team. 

OR&R staff accompanied a team in the field to observe the oiled shoreline at Playa Cavero, Playa Santa Rosa, and the beach at Ancon Marine Base. Most of the bulk oil has been removed, and efforts are now focused on buried oil and boulder cleaning. Oily sea foam was observed in the water and along several beaches.

Our long-time partnership with Research Planning, Inc. (RPI) continues, and is being complemented by the addition of three other highly respected coastal mapping groups. The first is another NOAA National Ocean Service office—the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment (NCCOS/CCMA). This group has been a frequent contributor of ESI data for previous atlases, but this time they are taking the lead in developing the biology and human-use data components for the Long Island Sound region. This requires summarizing the coastal and near-shore species deemed to be at risk in the event of a spill, identifying and brainstorming with the regional experts regarding each species, then compiling and integrating the data from the diverse sources. The same process is followed for the human-use data components, after which these data sets are integrated with the classified ESI shoreline and wetland polygons to produce the final ESI product.

The next addition to our mapping team is Woolpert, a prime contractor on the NOAA Coastal Geospatial Service Contract. In that capacity, they perform a variety of tasks for NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey Office (NGS). They have also been involved in several Sandy-related projects with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), including LIDAR collection for much of the north Atlantic coasts. These data, along with imagery they collect as part of the ESI effort (more details below), will enable Woolpert to validate existing NOAA shoreline data, and to extract current data where the shoreline has seen significant change. Their ESI mapping area covers the Maine and New Hampshire region, as well as the Massachusetts and Rhode Island region. For these areas, Woolpert will be responsible for compiling the complete ESI product—shoreline, biology, and human use. They will also be working in the Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey regions, where they will be leading the ESI shoreline classification phase of the project.

We also welcome Quantum Spatial! This group was previously known as Photo Science, so you may hear them referred to by either name. As Photo Science, they have served as the prime contractor for NOAA’s Coastal Geospatial Service Contract since 2005. They are currently flying parts of the mid-Atlantic coast, acquiring LIDAR and high resolution imagery for NGS, as part of a separate Sandy project. The shoreline extracted under that task will serve as the base shoreline for much of the North Carolina ESI, where Quantum Spatial will be mapping all of the ESI data components. They will also be lead for mapping the biology and human-use data layers for the tidal estuary of the Hudson River, south Long Island, and the New York/New Jersey metro area. In the past, we have tried to coordinate our ESI mapping with the acquisition of new shoreline and imagery by NGS, but it has been very challenging. It is an extra bonus for us to have Quantum Spatial working for both offices in the same region.

RPI will be mapping the remaining Sandy areas, which encompass Maryland, Virginia (including Chesapeake Bay), and South Carolina. I’m sure we will benefit from the knowledge RPI has of their home state, and the experts they deal with locally on a regular basis. Last mapped in 1996, South Carolina is one of the Sandy areas most in need of updating. At the same time, we’re lucky to be able to update Georgia (last mapped in 1997) as part of our regular ESI program. RPI will be doing that work, and will be continuing work on the outer coast of Washington and Oregon.

Several enhancements are planned for the Sandy ESI atlases and we anticipate that these additions and changes will continue in future ESI development. The geographic extent of the ESI data has been expanded, aiding not only in identifying coastal resources at risk in the event of a spill, but offering increased utility of the ESI data for planning and response to other natural disasters, such as storms. The inland extent will include an area covered by a 3–5 mile shoreline buffer. Offshore, the data will extend to the territorial water mark, approximately 12 nautical miles.

Several human-use and management features will also be added. These include storm surge inundation areas, additional jurisdictional boundaries, beach wash-over sites, potential pollution sources, long term sampling sites, transportation routes, and more.