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U.S. Coast Guard Dispersant Monitoring

Photo of boat on the water for a field training exercise.
U.S. Coast Guard dispersant monitoring teams conducting field training with EPA and NOAA. (NOAA)

If chemical dispersants might be considered for use during an oil spill, then proper monitoring and sampling would be critical to understanding their dispersant effectiveness and potential effects. To monitor for effectiveness, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Strike Teams follow long-established protocols developed by USCG, NOAA, EPA, the CDC and the former Minerals Management Service called Special Monitoring of Applied Response Technologies (SMART).

Practicing these SMART protocols out in the field can help ensure that field gear is properly set-up and calibrated and will ensure that data is captured effectively & efficiently. On 20-March, the USCG’s Pacific Strike conducted a boat-based SMART training opportunity for their field crews in San Francisco Bay and invited EPA and NOAA to participate. The latest towed fluorometry and water quality monitoring sensors were deployed and demonstrated simple and reliable results. It also prompted some good discussion among participants about strengths and challenges of proper field data capture, data processing and data interpretation.

For more information, contact Jordan.Stout@noaa.gov.

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Last updated Tuesday, August 1, 2023 11:19am PDT