MAY 6, 2024 — On April 8, 2024, the New Jersey District Court accepted the entry of a settlement reached by NOAA and our co-trustees with Wyeth Holdings, LLC. This settlement compensates for natural resource injuries resulting from hazardous substance releases at/near the American Cyanamid Superfund Site in Bridgewater, New Jersey.
OR&R Weekly Report
The Office of Response and Restoration publishes this weekly round-up of news and information of interest to our partners, stakeholders, and team members. Click to subscribe
MAY 6, 2024 — On April 23 - 24, the Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R), led by Director Scott Lundgren, hosted a two-day tour of major restoration and debris removal projects in Washington State for Deputy Assistant Administrator for Ocean Services and Coastal Zone Management Paul Scholz. A congressional staffer for Senator Patty Murray’s (D-WA) also joined for key events.
MAY 6, 2024 — On October 25, 2023, a local power and water utility experienced a release of diesel fuel from a tank at a plant in Havensight, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. The spill of No. 2 diesel was discharged outside the tank’s secondary containment. Original spill estimates of 33,600 gallons of diesel have since been updated and calculated to be over 50,000 gallons.
MAY 6, 2024 — From April 22-29, 2024, over 2,500 participants—representing 170 governments as well as stakeholders from nongovernment organizations, academia, the private sector, the United Nations, and other international organizations—met in Ottawa, Canada, for the fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) to continue negotiations towards a new international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution.
MAY 6, 2024 — From April 23-25, OR&R staff participated in the annual meeting of the National Response Team (NRT) held in St. Louis, Missouri. The NRT provides technical assistance, resources and coordination on preparedness, planning, response and recovery activities for emergencies involving hazardous substances, pollutants and contaminants, oil, and weapons of mass destruction in natural and technological disasters and other environmental incidents of national significance.
MAY 6, 2024 — Ahead of the approaching hurricane season, the Office of Response and Restoration’s (OR&R) Disaster Preparedness Program, in conjunction with the Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC) at the University of New Hampshire, held its 5th annual Hurricane Preparedness Summit.
MAY 6, 2024 — On April 30, several members from the NOAA Marine Debris Program within the Office of Response and Restoration joined OR&R’s Scientific Support and Regional Preparedness Coordinator William Whitmore to host a Marine Debris 101 workshop for partners and stakeholders in the New England region. Roughly three dozen participants attended the 90-minute virtual workshop.
The NOAA Marine Debris Program's Chief Scientist, Amy V. Uhrin gave the keynote address at Sea Grant’s Microplastics in the Coastal Region workshop held April 8-10, 2024, in Charleston, South Carolina.
November 2023
NOV. 15, 2023 — On October 24, the NOAA Marine Debris Program coordinated a mid-Plan review workshop to discuss progress made on the Mid-Atlantic Marine Debris Action Plan (Action Plan).
NOV. 6, 2023 — OR&R recently completed its final response training event of fiscal year 2023, providing training to over 2,300 emergency responders and planners over the course of the year.
NOV. 6, 2023 — On November 2, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a proposed settlement valued at approximately $33.2 million to compensate for natural resource injuries that resulted from hazardous substance releases and oil discharges into the Willamette River and Portland Harbor in Oregon.
October 2023
OCT. 30, 2023 — On October 20, the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) in collaboration with the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) released a new report, Marine Debris on the shoreline of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary: An assessment of activities contributing to marine debris, categories and composition, spatial distribution and predictor variables.
OCT. 30, 2023 — On October 19th, 70 individuals from across NOAA joined millions of others worldwide from beneath their desks and tables, in celebration of International ShakeOut Day. Known as Shakeout Day, this annual event is held on the third Thursday of October and is the largest earthquake drill in the world.
OCT. 30, 2023 — On October 18, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Education Specialist, Alexandria Gillen, led a panel presentation at the North American Association for Environmental Education’s 2023 Virtual Conference titled “Reduce, Reuse, Reinvent: Perspectives on Zero Waste Schools Preventing Marine Debris.”
OCT. 30, 2023 — On October 24, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, in partnership with the NOAA Marine Debris Program, announced a Request for Proposals for the Ocean Odyssey Marine Debris Awards for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Accessibility (DEIJA).
OCT. 30, 2023 — On October 20, 2023, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) released a short video highlighting a recently completed field training aboard the USCG Cutter Blackfin, in collaboration with the Great Lakes National Center of Excellence and OR&R, to advance oil spill response using uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS).
OCT. 23, 2023 — Get your art supplies ready, because this year’s NOAA Marine Debris Program Art Contest officially opened on October 16! Students in grades K-8 from the United States and U.S. territories can submit their artwork now through December 15.
OCT. 23, 2023 — During the week of October 9, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Chief Scientist, Amy V. Uhrin, attended and presented at the final meeting of EUROqCHARM.
OCT. 23, 2023 — The latest 3.0.0 version of the CAMEO Chemicals hazardous materials database is now available, and includes a new mapping tool to display initial isolation and protective action distances from the Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG).
OCT. 16, 2023 — On October 11, the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) released the 2023-2028 Puerto Rico Strategic Plan to Reduce Aquatic Debris (Strategic Plan). This document, available in Spanish and English, is the result of a collaborative effort between the NOAA MDP, the U.S. EPA Region 2 and U.S.
OCT. 16, 2023 — The Board of Directors of the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) recently announced that NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration will be recognized with a NAMEPA 2023 Marine Environment Protection Award.
OCT. 16, 2023 — On October 5-6, NOAA Marine Debris Program staff Andrew Mason and Hillary Burgess participated in a Microplastic and Marine Debris Workshop hosted by the Seattle Aquarium. The workshop brought together microplastics and marine debris community members from government, academic, nonprofit, and industry organizations based in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California.
OCT. 10, 2023 — On October 2, 2023, the NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator (SSC) for the Northeast accompanied representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Southeastern New England to a tabletop exercise hosted by Vineyard Wind in New Bedford, Massachusetts. A representative from the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement oversaw the drill that was facilitated by representatives from the National Response Corporation.
OCT. 10, 2023 — On September 28, 2023, OR&R Regional Operations Supervisor Doug Helton conducted an evening seminar for the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA), titled “Science Update: The Science of Oil Spill Response and Cleanup.”
OCT. 10, 2023 — On September 21, 2023, the Marine Education Rehabilitation and Restoration Institute Inc. (MERR) hosted an Oil Spill Preparedness Workshop as part of their week-long 2023 Greater Atlantic Region Stranding Conference (GARSCON).
OCT. 10, 2023 — Oil spill responders from New England to Hawaii attended a five-day Science of Oil Spills (SOS) training class in Gloucester, Massachusetts from September 11-15, 2023.
OCT. 10, 2023 — On September 30, staff from OR&R's Assessment and Restoration Division and NOAA’s Restoration Center returned to SUBMERGE, New York City 's premier waterfront marine science festival. This year's event was held on a pier in Hudson River Park near the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
OCT. 10, 2023 — Three experienced groups—the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Atlantic Strike Team (AST), Clean Harbors Co-Op, and OR&R’s Emergency Response Division—co-hosted a SCAT (Shoreline Clean-up Assessment Technique) Team Member Training course from September 26-28, 2023.
OCT. 2, 2023 — OR&R’s Emergency Response Division assisted with a Hawaii Oil Spill Response Workshop, sponsored by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), held in Honolulu on September 18-22.
International Working Group Meets to Develop Monitoring Program for Microplastics in the Great Lakes
OCT. 2, 2023 — On September 12-13, 2023, the NOAA Marine Debris Program attended and presented at an International Joint Commission (IJC) workshop on developing a monitoring framework for microplastics in the Laurentian Great Lakes. The NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Great Lakes Regional Coordinator, Haley Dalian, and Research Coordinator, Carlie Herring, participated in the workshop, which was held in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
September 2023
SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 — OR&R’s Dan Hahn joined NOAA Restoration Center staff, along with Louisiana State Trustees on a September 14th site visit to the Long Point Bayou marsh creation project. The site visit was to assess the progress made on restoration that targets 392 acres of marsh creation as part of the actions to compensate the public for the lost natural resources resulting from the 2006 CITGO Slop oil spill into the Calcasieu River.
SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 — On September 6 and 7, staff from NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration participated in a workshop sponsored by the Office and facilitated by the University of New Hampshire’s Coastal Response Research Center that explored what is known and uncertain about plastic pellets and what occurs when they are spilled into marine and coastal environments.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 — On August 30, 2023, NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) Director, Nancy Wallace, participated in a Trilateral Government Roundtable on Ghost Gear, “Advancing Cooperation to Address Ghost Gear in North America.” Forty-three representatives from the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States attended this virtual roundtable. The Global Ghost Gear Initiative, an MDP partner and grantee through the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement funding, hosted the event.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 — On August 28th, the National Ocean Service (NOS) Incident Management Team (IMT) activated ahead of Hurricane Idalia. The NOS IMT, led by OR&R’s Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) with representatives from across NOS program and staff offices, coordinated response efforts and collected situational awareness. Team members reported information pertaining to any impacts to mission and personnel as well as infrastructure damage.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 — On September 26, 2023, the Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee (IMDCC) will hold a virtual public meeting, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET. The public meeting will include a presentation on the Report on Microfiber Pollution required by Section 132 of the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act, as well as a presentation on the process to create new IMDCC recommendations on addressing marine debris.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 — On June 1, 2023, the District Court for the District of Delaware approved of a Settlement and Release entered into by the Maxus Liquidating Trust (“Trust”) and YPF S.A., YPF International S.A. (f/k/a YPF International Ltd.), YPF Holdings, Inc., and YCLH Holdings, Inc.
SEPTEMBER 5, 2023 — On August 30th, the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) wrapped up a month of partner-led virtual workgroup meetings to discuss the California Ocean Litter Strategy (OLS). The meetings brought together over 75 partners from across the state and included a diverse set of sectors, including state agencies, nonprofits, private organizations, and academia.
August 2023
AUGUST 28, 2023 — On August 24, 2023, a $5.38 million settlement was finalized to restore natural resources impacted by contaminants discharged along the Gloucester, Massachusetts waterfront. The pollution came from a manufactured gas plant that operated along the Gloucester waterfront between 1854 and 1952. Manufactured gas plants often yielded by-products of the gas production process such as tars, sludges, and oils.