MARCH 11,2016--Members of OR&R's Emergency Response Division and Assessment and Restoration Division participated in the quarterly meeting of the Interagency Coordinating Committee on Oil Pollution Research (ICCOPR) on March 9, 2016.

This committee consists of 15 member agencies and was established by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to coordinate federal research efforts on oil pollution research topics. The group's 7-year Research and Technology Plan published in 2015 helps to guide the oil pollution research efforts of the member agencies and inform others working in the oil pollution research field of federal interests and priorities.

One of the featured presentations was a summary from NOAA on the natural resource injury studies associated with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Natural Resource Damage Assessment by Dr. Lisa DiPinto. Scott Lundgren provided NOAA updates to the group, summarizing ongoing development work associated with the next version of the divisions trajectory and fate models, GNOME and ADIOS.

He also shared information on recent awards and funding opportunities from the NOAA Restore Act Science Program as well as cooperative work and a shared grant calendar produced with other Gulf programs; information was also shared on research completed and underway by NOAA's National Centers for Ocean and Coastal Science's Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research. This research on dispersants in controlled model estuaries (mesocosms) as well as work soon to begin on surface washing agents will provide information to support spill response decisions.

The work of OR&R to ensure that our oil and chemical spill preparedness and science work is readily available to the public was highlighted, particularly noting OR&R's blog. Attendees also were provided a link for coming courses being held by the Emergency Response Division, notably the Science of Oil Spill (SOS) and Science of Chemical Release (SOCR) courses.

Some of the topics presented by others at the meeting included the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine's study on Spills of Diluted Bitumen from Pipelines: A Comparative Study of Environmental Fate, Effects, and Response, National Aeronautics and Space Administration use of sophisticated airborne RADAR in the detection of oil on water.

For more information contact Scott.Lundgren@noaa.gov.

Go back to OR&R Weekly Report.