JUNE 17, 2019 — It was a busy weekend celebrating World Ocean Day in New England. The Marine Debris Program’s (MDP) Northeast Regional Coordinator, Demi Fox, attended two of the countless events hosted across the region.

JUNE 17, 2019 — On June 5 and 6, the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) hosted their annual Teachers on the Estuary (TOTE) workshop at the Weeks Bay NERR in Baldwin County, Alabama.

JUNE 10, 2019 — The week of June 3, OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division partnered with the Hudson River Estuary Program/Hudson River National Estuarine Research Reserve at the Great Fish Count at Lemon Creek Park in Staten Island.

JUNE 10, 2019 — During the week of June 3, NOAA OR&R staff held their annual Science of Oil Spills (SOS) training in Seattle, Washington at NOAA’s Western Regional Center.

JUNE 3, 2019 — The next generation of environmental scientists learned about current aquatic issues in the news with the help of Troy Baker, an environmental scientist in OR&R's Assessment and Restoration Division.

JUNE 3, 2019 — On May 24, Kate Wheelock, Chief of the Disaster Preparedness Program, presented on the full breadth NOS operational response capabilities at the FEMA Region 3 (Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia) bi-annual Regional Interagency Steering Committee (RISC) Meeting.

JUNE 3, 2019 — The Southeast and Caribbean NOAA Disaster Resilience Workshop was held May 14-16 at the Office for Coastal Management-Charleston.

JUNE 3, 2019 — On May 28, Marine Debris Program (MDP) staff participated in the Virginia Stormwater and Litter workshop held in Woodbridge, Virginia.

MAY 28, 2019 — In early May, members of the CAMEO® software team attended the National Association of SARA Title III Program Officials (NASTTPO) conference to discuss CAMEO’s chemical emergency software and gain insights on the current needs and situations of planners across the nation.

MAY 28, 2019 — NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator LCDR Jim Rosenberg participated in an oil spill response exercise in partnership with the U.S. Coast Guard, Washington Department of Ecology, and the British Columbia Ministry of Environment in the Strait of Juan de Fuca on May 22.

MAY 28, 2019 —OR&R staff from the Emergency Response Division (ERD) and the Assessment and Restoration Division (ARD) participated in Chevron’s 2019 Preparedness for Response Exercise Program (PREP) exercise this week held in Covington, Louisiana.

MAY 28, 2019 — The 2019 Arctic Incident of National Significance (IoNS) Workshop/Exercise was held May 21-22 in Anchorage, Alaska.

MAY 20, 2019 —On May 13 and 14 OR&R participated in a coastal protection workshop conducted in coastal city of Tuy Hoa, Vietnam, as part of Pacific Partnership 2019.

MAY 20, 2019 — On April 8, Scott Lundgren, the OR&R Emergency Response Division Chief participated in a widely attended reception held by IPIECA, the global oil and gas industry association for advancing environmental and social performance, during the organization’s annual meeting. 

MAY 20, 2019 — At the most recent meeting of the RRT3 (consisting of representatives from the 15 federal agency and the states of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia) the decision was made to perform courtesy visits to state capitols in an effort to educate state senior executives on the current dispersant pre-authorization memorandum of agreement (MOA).

MAY 20, 2019 — The Marine Debris Program is excited to announce the winners of the third annual Ohio Marine Debris Challenge!

By Doug Helton, Office of Response and Restoration

During National Safe Boating Week (May 18-24), NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration is taking a closer look at the anatomy of abandoned and derelict vessels. In this first blog, take a peek at some of the hidden hazards of a sunken vessel.

MAY 20, 2019 — NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator (SSC) Adam Davis presented on the role of the NOAA SSC during the recent National Academies of Science and Gulf of Mexico Research Institute (GOMRI) co-sponsored workshop,  “Preparing for Oil Spills in the Eastern Gulf: health, economic resilience, and community well-being”. 

Last Updated: May 16, 2019

MAY 13, 2019 — After ongoing underwater assessment, the U.S. Coast Guard will be removing oil that has reportedly been leaking from a sunken World War II tanker near Long Island, New York.

MAY 13, 2019 — On May 8, Rear Admiral Shepard Smith, Director of NOAA Office of Coast Survey, testified at a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing of the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.

MAY 13, 2019 — Over three dozen environmental scientists and natural resource economists from OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division gathered in Washington, D.C. this week to discuss recent updates and advances in Natural Resource Damage Assessments (NRDA).

MAY 13, 2019 — On May 9, the U.S. Coast Guard hosted a joint press conference to discuss the ongoing operations at the wreck site of a sunken WWII Tanker near Long Island, New York.

MAY 13, 2019 — The Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) has started planning for FY2020! DPP staff gathered at the Disaster Response Center (DRC) May 7-9 for an FY2020 operational planning meeting.

MAY 6, 2019 — On April 24-25, Carlie Herring, research analyst and Jason Rolfe, Mid-Atlantic regional coordinator for the Marine Debris Program, participated in a workshop on “Microplastics in the Chesapeake Bay and its Watershed: State of the Knowledge, Data Gaps, and Relationship to Management Goals.”

MAY 3, 2019 — On April 24, the OR&R Diversity and Inclusion Committee sponsored an event on how privilege (or the lack thereof) impacts our lives. Sociologists define privilege as unearned benefits that accrue to particular groups based on their location within a social hierarchy. Having privilege varies, depending on factors such as race, gender, sexual orientation, wealth or social status, and religion. While the subject has been the focus of much attention recently, it is not new.

MAY 6, 2019 — On April 9, OR&R’s biological oceanographer Dr. Carl Childs from the Emergency Response Division attended a colloquium on “Microbial Genomics of the Global Ocean System” on April 9-10, 2019. The event was a part of the ongoing Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative’s Legacy and Synthesis effort to consolidate scientific research that followed the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

MAY 6, 2019 — On April 23-24, Marine Debris Program Gulf of Mexico Regional Coordinator Caitlin Wessel visited Hurricane Harvey supplemental debris removal sites from Corpus Christi to Copano Bay, Texas. Caitlin met with groups impacted by Harvey, including the Mission Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve, Texas General Lands Office (GLO), Goose Island State Park, and the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.

APRIL 26, 2019 — On April 16-18, Adam Davis, LT Michael Doig, and Ed Levine attended the Clean Waterways conference in Cincinnati, Ohio.

APRIL 26, 2019 — On April 24, Brad Benggio, of OR&R’s Emergency Response Division, and Dan Hahn of the Assessment and Restoration Division, presented at the Sea Grant Oil Spill Science Workshop: How does science guide oil spill response? Collaborating before, during and after a spill in St. Petersburg, Florida.

APRIL 19, 2019 — On April 11, the OR&R Emergency Response Division Chief joined RDML Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., USN Ret., the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Deputy NOAA Administrator, for a visit to the U.S. National Response Center (NRC) based at U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters.

APRIL 19, 2019 — On April 16-18, 2019, staff from NOAA’s Assessment and Restoration Division, NOAA’s Restoration Center, and NOAA’s Office of General Counsel for Natural Resources participated in the biannual Texas Trustee Summit held in Port Aransas, Texas.

APRIL 19, 2019 — On April 18, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Mobile held their annual Continuity of Operations (COOP) exercise at the NOAA Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center (DRC).

APRIL 12, 2019 — Leah Moore, a Hollings Scholar, will be working at OR&R in Seattle this summer with the West Coast Branch of OR&R's Assessment and Restoration Division.

APRIL 12, 2019 — On April 3-5, OR&R’s LT Michael Doig and LT Joshua Valdivia, of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) provided spill response training for USCG Sector Buffalo.

APRIL 5, 2019 — Last week, the Marine Debris Program’s Northeast Regional Coordinator, Demi Fox, spoke with a group of undergraduate MIT students at U.S. Coast Guard Sector Boston.

APRIL 5, 2019 — At the request of U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Puget Sound's Incident Management Division, OR&R personnel facilitated a group exercise at the USCG Air Station in Port Angeles, Washington on April 3.

APRIL 5, 2019 — On March 27, the Marine Debris Program’s California Regional Coordinator, Sherry Lippiatt, attended the 11th National Monitoring Conference (NMC) in Denver, Colorado.

MARCH 29, 2019 — This week, leveraging our longstanding relationship with the Coastal Response Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, OR&R’s senior scientist collaborated with researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, the Environmental Protection Agency, Water Mapping LLC, and Sea Scan MK2 ECA Group on a project to calibrate various sensors under development for detecting and characterizing oil in the water column.

MARCH 29, 2019 — As an economist in the Assessment and Restoration Division, Chris Giguere assists natural resource trustees in the quantification of ecological and recreational-use damages from oil and chemical spills. 

MARCH 22, 2019 — NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration and the Restoration Center presented at the “Gear Up” workshop, March 15 – 17, hosted by The Whale Museum in the San Juan Islands.

MARCH 22, 2019 — On March 7 and 8, Dr. Chris Barker, an oceanographer with OR&R who develops and operates our oil and chemical spill models, joined Emergency Response Division Chief Scott Lundgren in visits with several NOAA and interagency partners to ensure familiarity with our products and services including model development plans and to discuss partner initiatives and interests.

MARCH 22, 2019 — OR&R’s Emergency Response Division Chief Scott Lundgren joined other members of the International Oil Spill Conference (IOSC) Executive Committee to plan the 2020 International Oil Spill Conference.

Genwest Contractor, Katie Krushinski is the exercise coordinator for OR&R’s Disaster Preparedness Program. She is responsible for supporting exercise design, development, delivery, and evaluation for exercises. Exercises — or simulated scenarios that mimic potential events — are extremely important, allowing us and our partners to test our ability to ensure we can carry out our missions effectively and efficiently.

MARCH 15, 2019 — On March 8, the Department of Justice announced that a consent decree was lodged in the hazardous waste case Atlantic Wood Industries in Portsmouth, Virginia.

MARCH 15, 2019 — On March 12-13, representatives of the Oregon marine debris community convened for the 2019 Oregon Marine Debris Action Plan Workshop.

MARCH 8, 2019 — OR&R staff and scientists are busy preparing for a number of upcoming trainings for the U.S. Coast Guard and other response partners.

MARCH 8, 2019 — As he has in past years, OR&R environmental scientist Ken Finkelstein officiated at the 2019 National Ocean Science Bowl regional competition at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on March 3.

By Megan Ewald, Office of Response and Restoration

MARCH 1, 2019 — On February 27, the OR&R Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Committee sponsored an event on mindfulness. Mindfulness is bringing one's awareness to the present moment, and has been proven to improve focus, reduce stress, enhance creativity, and improve physical health. The event provided an overview and history of mindfulness, the benefits, and tips for starting a mindfulness practice. Participants were guided through "body scan" and "raisin" exercises to experience the practice first-hand.

MARCH 1, 2019 — On February 26, the Marine Debris Program’s Northeast Regional Coordinator, Demi Fox, attended SWANApalooza, the Solid Waste Association of North America’s annual conference and trade show in Boston, Massachusetts.

This feature is part of a monthly series profiling scientists and technicians who provide exemplary contributions to the mission of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R). This month’s featured scientist is Catherine Berg, a scientific support coordinator in OR&R’s Emergency Response Division.

FEBRUARY 22, 2019 — OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division's Northeast Branch participated in the Tenth International Conference on Remediation and Management of Contaminated Sediments held in New Orleans, Louisiana, on February 11-14.

FEBRUARY 15, 2019 — On December 31, 2018, the Washington Coast Derelict Fishing Gear Removal Project came to a successful completion, meeting or exceeding its stated goals.

FEBRUARY 15, 2019 — On February 13, OR&R Deputy Director LaTonya Burgess announced the selection of Kate Wheelock to the position of the Disaster Preparedness Program Chief.

FEBRUARY 8, 2019 —Vicki Loe, OR&R outreach lead; Alyssa Dillon, OR&R web editor; and Seumas Gagne, OR&R webmaster, are pleased to announce that we have completed the development and launch of a new Drupal theme for response.restoration.noaa.gov.

FEBRUARY 8, 2019 — The 2017 natural resource damage settlement agreement for in-river injuries reached between NOAA, our co-trustees, and parties potentially responsible for hazardous waste releases into the Raritan River from the American Cyanamid Superfund Site in Bridgewater, New Jersey.

FEBRUARY 8, 2019 — Lindsey Palardy is the Communications and Policy Specialist for NOAA’s Marine Debris Program.

FEBRUARY 8, 2019 — On December 12 and 13, the NOAA Marine Debris Program collaborated with the Gulf of Mexico Alliance (GOMA) and the Environmental Protection Agency to host more than 40 partners at the GOMA Marine Debris Mid-year Meeting and Workshop.

DEC. 17, 2018 — An oil well near Port Sulphur, Louisiana that began discharging over a week ago has now been plugged. Oil cleanup continues in the wetlands for the more than 9,000 gallons of oil that was discharged before the wellhead was secured.

DECEMBER 14, 2018 — In 2019, NOAA, along with representatives from three Tribal Nations, will begin to lead a project focused on aquatic restoration planning at the Hanford Nuclear site. 

DECEMBER 14, 2018 — The prestigious Team Member of the Year award recognizes contractors for outstanding contributions to NOS programs and the demonstration of exceptional and sustained effort toward the accomplishment of NOS missions. The following contractors that work in OR&R were recognized for their achievements at a ceremony on December 3 in Silver Spring, Maryland.

DECEMBER 14, 2018 — This week, NOAA and the EPA jointly released updates to CAMEOfm and Tier2 Submit™, two programs that aid state and local emergency planners in preparing for and responding to chemical emergencies. 

This feature is part of a monthly series profiling scientists and technicians who provide exemplary contributions to the mission of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R). This month’s featured scientist is Charles Grisafi, OR&R Marine Debris Program regional coordinator for Florida and the Caribbean.

DECEMBER 7, 2018 — During the week of November 26, the Marine Debris Program celebrated ten exciting years working with Fishing for Energy partners to divert derelict fishing year.

DECEMBER 7, 2018 — On November 30, the Disaster Preparedness Program activated accountability procedures for NOS staff within the projected area of impact (below from ERMA*) for the 7.0 Alaska earthquake, including the coastal tsunami warning area.

NOVEMBER 30, 2018 — OR&R staff participated in the biennial conference of the New York and New Jersey Harbor Estuary Program (HEP). 

NOVEMBER 30, 2018 — Finally, November 30 marks the end of Hurricane Season 2018. Hurricane Season 2018 was extremely busy, with storms like Hurricane Florence in North Carolina, and Hurricane Michael in the Florida panhandle that left a path of destruction in their wake.

NOVEMBER 30, 2018 — On November 19, the Department of Justice announced that a consent decree was lodged on November 9, 2018 in the hazardous waste case of Koppers Co., Inc. in Charleston, South Carolina.

NOV. 29, 2018 – If you are an oil spill responder or planner seeking spill response training, here are some upcoming opportunities!

NOVEMBER 16, 2018 — Between September 18 and October 30, five NOAA offices and numerous partners collaborated on a marine debris removal mission in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands that yielded over 80 tons of marine debris.

NOVEMBER 16, 2018 — On November 3-10, Doug Helton and Catherine Berg from the OR&R's Emergency Response Division traveled with colleagues from the U.S. Coast Guard and the State of Alaska, to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia to participate in a "Seminar on Understanding Maritime Pollution Threats and Response Systems in the Russian Federation-United States Trans-Boundary Area".

NOVEMBER 9, 2018 — OR&R’s senior scientist, Dr. Lisa DiPinto; the chief of OR&R’s Emergency Response Division, Scott Lundgren; and OR&R biologist Gary Shigenaka participated in the 2018 Industry Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC) Annual Meeting to share information on current and emerging scientific and technical issues influencing spill response.

NOVEMBER 9, 2018 — On November 6, the Marine Debris Program’s California Regional Coordinator, Sherry Lippiatt, gave the morning keynote for the Marine Debris Solutions Conference in San Diego, California.

NOVEMBER 9, 2018 — On October 31, the Marine Debris Program’s Northeast Regional Coordinator, Demi Fox, spoke at the EPA’s annual Tribal Environmental Conference hosted by the Passamaquoddy Tribe in Jackman, Maine.

NOVEMBER 2, 2018 — On Halloween - Wednesday, October 31, scientists from OR&R participated in a seep oil technology demonstration off of Coal Oil Point near Santa Barbara, California. 

NOVEMBER 2, 2018 — On October 31, OR&R’s Diversity and Inclusion team held an event focused on substance sensitivities in the workplace.

NOVEMBER 2, 2018 — The 2018 Oregon State of the Coast conference was held on October 27, in Coos Bay, Oregon. 

NOVEMBER 2, 2018 — On October 27, Charles Grisafi, Florida and Caribbean Regional Coordinator for the NOAA Marine Debris Program, participated in the first-ever Ghost Trap Rodeo event at Fort De Soto Park in Tierra Verde, Florida.

OCTOBER 26, 2018 — On October 16, Great Lakes Scientific Support Coordinator, LT Michael Doig, joined the crew of the NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown on the final leg of their around the world voyage.

OCTOBER 26, 2018 — The Northeast Brandywine Riverfront Brownfields Area Wide Plan (AWP) in Wilmington, Delaware held a public open house and provided presentations on draft reuse alternatives developed under the EPA AWP grant.

OCTOBER 26, 2018 — OR&R staff joined public elementary school students from PS 146 in Brooklyn, NY, for their annual Plum Beach fall cleanup.

This feature is part of a monthly series profiling scientists and technicians who provide exemplary contributions to the mission of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R). This month’s featured scientist is Assessment and Restoration Division Southeast Branch Manager Kevin Kirsch.

OCTOBER 19, 2018 —Dr. Amy Merten and Rob Neely, of OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division, traveled to Port Angeles, Washington, on October 9-10 to conduct site visits and meet with Elwha tribal staff.

OCTOBER 19, 2018 — On October 11, RDML Tim Gallaudet joined President Trump, Secretary Ross, Senator Whitehouse, and Senator Sullivan and Julie Fate Sullivan, at a signing ceremony for the “Save our Seas Act of 2018.”

OCTOBER 19, 2018 — Thomas Peltzer, Ruth Yender, Catherine Berg, and Matt Bissell, all Scientific Support Coordinators (SSCs) with OR&R, taught a Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Techniques (SCAT) training course on October 16 - 18 at the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Columbia River Air Station in Astoria, Oregon.

This feature is part of a monthly series profiling scientists and technicians who provide exemplary contributions to the mission of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R). This month’s scientist is Amy MacFadyen, an oceanographer in OR&R’s oil spill response program. She responds to oil and chemical spills across the country, and leads the development of the GNOME™ suite for oil spill modeling.

OCTOBER 12, 2018 — On September 21, Nir Barnea, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Pacific Northwest Regional Coordinator, met with project managers for the Makah Tribe to review the Tribe’s new derelict crab pot removal project.

Oct. 11, 2018 — In the aftermath of Hurricane Michael, NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration is reviewing early imagery to begin identifying potential pollution sources, such as displaced vessels and containers.

OCTOBER 5, 2018 — On September 24, the NOAA Marine Debris Program and NOAA’s Ocean Today studio released a new Trash Talk episode, Trash Counts.

OCTOBER 5, 2018 — On September 19-20, OR&R’s Outreach and Communications team, including representatives from all four programs, met in Seattle to review work done in FY18 and to create an action plan for FY19.

OCTOBER 5, 2018 — On September 26-28, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Pacific Islands Regional Coordinator, Mark Manuel, traveled to Panama to participate in the Ghost Gear Dive Recovery Workshop held at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

SEPT. 28, 2018 — NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration continues to support the U.S. Coast Guard’s pollution task force mission assignment to remove vessels and containers that sank or were stranded by Hurricane Florence.

SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 — Juvenile American shad were captured for the first time upstream of the recently removed Weston Mill Dam on the Millstone River in New Jersey by sampling crews conducting biannual monitoring of this natural resource damage (NRD) restoration project.

SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 — Alexis joined the Marine Debris Program (MDP) as a Communications and Education Specialist in July of 2018.

SEPTEMBER 28, 2018 — The October 2018 online/open access issue of the Water Environment Research Journal includes a multi-authored review of 2017 literature on Effects of Pollution on Marine Organisms. Four NOAA scientists were among the eight co-authors.

SEPT. 21, 2018 — Last week NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration deployed personnel to North and South Carolina to provide NOAA scientific support to the U.S. Coast Guard following Hurricane Florence, which hit the coast last Thursday.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2018 — This week OR&R staff and team members came together to explore the role of faith and spirituality in our lives at the September OR&R Diversity and Inclusion event.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2018 — On September 12, the NOAA Marine Debris Program supported the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Aquaculture (FDACS) in hosting a shellfish aquaculture gear management workshop in Cedar Key, Florida.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2018 — Effective Friday, September 14, 2018, the single Alaska Regional Contingency Plan and four Area Contingency Plans have replaced the old Unified Plan and 10 subarea contingency plans. 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 — On September 8, Peter Murphy, Alaska Regional Coordinator for the Marine Debris Program, presented at the inaugural Alaska Net Hack Challenge in Anchorage, with remote participation from Kodiak.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 — As Hurricane Florence continues to impact North Carolina and South Carolina throughout Friday, NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration is beginning to deploy personnel on scene to provide NOAA scientific support to the U.S. Coast Guard.

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 — For the fifth year in a row, the Hudson River Park will host the SUBMERGE Marine Science Festival, where NOAA scientists and other experts share knowledge of our oceans, coasts, and conservation. 

SEPTEMBER 14, 2018 — OR&R’s Emergency Response Division Chief Scott Lundgren and Physical Oceanographer Dylan Righi attended the NOAA 2018 General Modeling Meeting and Fair in College Park, Maryland, at the NOAA Center for Weather and Climate Prediction on September 10 - 12.

SEPT. 7, 2018 — On Aug. 15, members from the NOAA Marine Debris Program conducted a site visit to the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge and installed signage on a newly-purchased marine debris collection bin. This bin represents a collaborative effort to deal with O‘ahu’s long-standing issue of marine debris disposals at local convenience centers.

SEPT. 7, 2018 — On Sept. 6, OR&R's Emergency Response Division supported the U.S. Coast Guard’s District 13 Federal On-Scene Coordinator workshop. Other presenters included contracting officers from Coast Guard headquarters, Washington State’s Historic Preservation Officer, and a team of salvage masters from Global Diving and Salvage.

SEPT. 7, 2018 — The Bloede Dam, located within Patapsco Valley State Park in Maryland, has stood as a public safety hazard and barrier to wildlife for more than a century. Its removal is one of the largest and most complicated dam removals undertaken by NOAA.

AUG. 31, 2018 — On Aug. 16, the NOAA Marine Debris Program hosted a Maryland Regional Response Planning workshop at the Annapolis Mariner’s Museum. Thirty-three individuals representing federal, state, and local government attended and crafted a vision for Maryland’s new emergency response guide.

AUG. 24, 2018 — On August 22, OR&R’s Emergency Response Division participated in 2018 Alaska North Slope Mutual Aid Deployment (MAD) Oil Spill Exercise.

AUG. 24, 2018 — Elliott Bay Trustees, including NOAA, Department of Justice, Department of Interior and tribal representatives, toured the Lower Duwamish River in Seattle, Washington.

Update: Aug. 29, 2018 — Though the Office of Response and Restoration has not yet been activated for response, parts of Hawaii were damaged by Hurricane Lane. The Big Island in particular experienced excessive amounts of rain and flooding, which may take some time to recover from. OR&R continues to stand by in the event of debris and pollution related incidents resulting from Lane. 

AUG. 24, 2018 — On Monday, August 20, Scott Lundgren and LT Michael Doig attended the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation hearing entitled “Pipeline Safety in the Great Lakes: Incident Prevention and Response Efforts at the Straits of Mackinac.”

AUG. 24, 2018 — On August 20, the Marine Debris Program announced its FY19 “Marine Debris Removal” federal funding opportunity.

AUG. 24, 2018 — On August 21, members from NOAA’s OR&R and the Office of Coastal Management participated in an emergency response and preparedness workshop hosted by the PBNERR.

AUGUST 17, 2018 — During an early morning low tide on Thursday, August 8, Mr. David Janka, Auklet Charter Services, visited Mearns Rock again this year to record images of the famous rock.

AUGUST 17, 2018 — When our responders need information on tides and trajectories, who do they call? Meet Dylan Righi, one of three Seattle-based oceanographers for OR&R’s Emergency Response Division.

AUGUST 17, 2018 — On August 16, the NOAA Marine Debris Program announced the 23 recipients of its 2018 prevention and removal grant awards totaling approximately $2.5 million in federal funds. 

Before the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 that followed shortly after, the Deepwater Port Act of 1974 (DWPA) provided guidance for deepwater port structures used for the import and export of oil and natural gas, including conditions to minimize adverse environmental impacts.

AUGUST 10, 2018 — OR&R’s Emergency Response Division, in collaboration with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), conducted a three-day Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique (SCAT) training course in Mackinaw City, Michigan on August 7-9, 2018.

For many, the first thing that comes to mind when they think of oil spills is an image of great big oil sheens in the middle of the ocean, tarballs washing up on beaches, and photos of oiled wildlife on the internet. Marine pollution on the whole might also bring to mind an image of sandy beaches littered with plastic bottles and other marine debris — or perhaps even a “garbage island” floating out in open sea.

JULY 27, 2018 — On July 19, NOAA's OR&R and NOAA"s Restoration Center along with our state co-trustee, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, conducted a site visit of the Raritan Bay Slag Superfund Site. 

JULY 27, 2018 — Between July 9 and 12, Amy V. Uhrin, Chief Scientist for the Marine Debris Program, participated in fieldwork as part of a collaborative microplastics pilot project between the Marine Debris Program, NCCOS Great Lakes Mussel Watch, and Loyola University.

JULY 27, 2018 — On Sunday, July 15, the Marine Debris Program joined a multi-beach cleanup across Northern Massachusetts organized by Salem Sound Coastwatch.

JULY 27, 2018 — OR&R scientists joined forces with NCCOS researchers earlier in July to discuss ongoing collaborative research.

This is the 10th in a monthly series profiling scientists and technicians who provide exemplary contributions to the mission of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R). This month’s featured scientist is Lieutenant Michael Doig, a scientific support coordinator (SSC) in OR&R’s Emergency Response Division.

JULY 20, 2018 — I’ve worked for NOAA in Seattle since the late 1970s, starting as a student processing oceanographic data for a deep-ocean mining project, then progressing to help with the development of the NOAA Status and Trends Program. 

JULY 20, 2018 — On July 5, Christy Kehoe and Emma Tonge of the Marine Debris Program (MDP) participated in a Joint Commission Meeting between the United States and Thailand at the Department of State in Washington, D.C.

JULY 20, 2018 — Every year, tens of thousands of people visit the 29 National Estuary Research Reserves (NERRs) to enjoy their unique environments, where fresh water meets the sea. A partnership between NOAA and the states, the NERRs are also formidable resources for research and education.

JULY 13, 2018 — On June 11-15, the Marine Debris Program (MDP) participated in the Gulf of Mexico Alliance’s (Alliance) 2018 All Hands Meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida.

JULY 13, 2018 — Annie Gibbs (OR&R ARD) co-authored a journal article that was judged to be the best paper published in 2017 in the scientific journal Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management.

JULY 13, 2018 — Annie Gibbs, of OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division, participated in the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) abstract review committee for the annual North America meeting.

JULY 13, 2018 —As a policy analyst for the NOAA Office or Response and Restoration, Robin Garcia acts as a liaison between OR&R and NOAA’s Office of Legislative Affairs and OR&R’s external partners.

JUNE 29, 2018 — NOAA and Department of the Interior (DOI) staff met with shipping industry representatives to exchange information and discuss ways to facilitate communication and cooperation before, during and after vessel oil spills.

JUNE 29, 2018 — OR&R’s Emergency Response Division, in collaboration with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Upper Mississippi River, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife, recently conducted a three-day Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique (SCAT) training course in St. Louis, Missouri on May 15-17.

JUNE 29, 2018 — On June 19, the Marine Debris Program (MDP) presented at the annual meeting of the Pacific States/British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force. This meeting was dedicated to the big and complex problem of abandoned and derelict vessels (ADVs).

JUNE 29, 2018 — OR&R’s Gary Shigenaka was invited to visit the Oil Spill Response Limited (OSRL) base in Southampton, UK on June 22. 

This is the fourth blog in a week-long series to highlight the importance of disaster preparedness. Follow us this week as we take a look at how NOAA prepares for natural and human-made disasters, and how you can prepare for the 2018 hurricane season.