OR&R Participates in an Industry-Led Oil Spill Exercise
NOVEMBER 15, 2021 ─ On November 3, a team of NOAA scientists from the Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R), and NOAA Fisheries participated in an industry-led oil spill exercise. The scenario for the exercise, a deep-water well loss of control with a discharge significantly larger than that of Deepwater Horizon, provided an opportunity for the OR&R team to consider the processes associated with and potential environmental effects of using subsea dispersant injection (SSDI) as a response method.
Sea turtle and marine mammal specialists from NOAA Fisheries had the opportunity to test the recently published Regional Response Team 6 (RRT-6) Wildlife Response Plan WRP). Lessons learned for the WRP will be included in the presentation about it during the Clean Gulf conference. The entire exercise was conducted as an in-person/virtual hybrid, using Microsoft Teams as a meeting and document preparation platform, and WebIAP to develop the Incident Action Plan (IAP). COVID safety protocols were in place for in-person Incident Command Post (ICP) personnel.
For further information, contact Paige.Doelling@noaa.gov.