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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

Members of the NCEAS Working Group on the Social Cost of Plastic Pollution held their first meeting May 13 - 16 at the NCEAS facility in Santa Barbra, CA.

MAY 20, 2024 — The NOAA Marine Debris Program Chief Scientist, Amy V. Uhrin, attended the first meeting of the Social Cost of Plastic Pollution Working Group of the National Center for Environmental Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS).

November 2014

An old nuclear reactor.

On November 18-19, 2014, OR&R Assessment and Restoration Division staff participated in the Department of Energy's National Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Workshop in Washington, D.C.

Woman standing behind table.

On November 7, 2014, the Alice Ferguson Foundation, with support from the NOAA Marine Debris Program, hosted the 9th Annual Potomac Watershed Trash Summit.

Photo of a woman.

Katie Wagner is a Communications Specialist in the Office of Response and Restoration’s Assessment and Restoration Division (ARD).

People in a classroom.

The week of November 3, 2014, the Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center (DRC) hosted the United States Coast Guard for their annual Salvage Seminar.

People working together at tables.

In an effort to increase preparedness for acute marine debris events, NOAA's Marine Debris Program is working with states to create Marine Debris Regional Response Plans, starting with the State of Alabama.

Canoe on a beach.

On Wednesday, November 6, 2014, OR&R was an invited presenter at the Northwest Tribal Council meeting, held at Everett Naval Station.

Ken Finkelstein, of OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division attended the formal opening of the fish bypass around the Tingue Dam along the Naugatuck River in Seymour, Connecticut on October 30, 2014.

Group of students at a stream.

OR&R’s Emergency Response Division recently assisted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 10 with a three-day Inland Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) training course in Seattle, Washington, on October 28-30, 2014.

On Tuesday, October 7, 2014, Gulf of Mexico Marine Debris Coordinator, Kim Albins, led a workshop with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to capture lessons learned from a recent waterway debris removal mission in Baldwin County, Alabama.

Men sitting in a classroom with computers.

The week of October 27, 2014, the NOAA Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center hosted NOAA’s National Geodetic Survey (NGS) for the two-day Online Positioning User Service (OPUS) training.

Group posing on a beach.

During the week of October 27, Gulf of Mexico Scientific Support Coordinators (SSCs) LT Kyle Jellison, Paige Doelling, and Adam Davis, along with Environmental Scientist Jeff Dauzat from the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) taught a SCAT class in Grand Isle, Louisiana.

October 2014

Man sitting at a table.

What have we learned from Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon, and where are we going? The week of October 27, the University of New Hampshire (UNH) gathered representatives from across the response community to discuss just that.

Diver underwater with net.

The NOAA Marine Debris Program funded the 33-day Northwestern Hawaiian Islands marine debris removal mission.

A man and a woman at a table with lots of papers spread out.

On October 30, 2014, the National Ocean Service (NOS) Employee Recognition Award Ceremony was held in Silver Spring, Maryland.

People meeting at at a table.

On, October 15-16, 2014, OR&R participated in a NRDA workshop and drill hosted by Phillips 66 in Bellingham, WA.

On October 17, 2014, the NOAA Marine Debris Program's Kim Albins (Gulf of Mexico Regional Coordinator) participated in the fourth annual St. Petersburg Science Festival to meet new partners and view "The Current Collections."

Rail car.

On October 20, 2014, OR&R attended and participated in the “State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) Plume Modeling Workshop and Exercise,” in Albany, New York.

2014 was a ground breaking year for the NOAA Marine Debris program. We paved the way in the marine debris field by releasing a first of its kind economic study that assessed how litter affects beachgoers‘ economic welfare and publishing marine debris science papers summarizing the issues of entanglement and ingestion.

Water celery in a river.

Until recently the lower Hudson River estuary supported about 4450 acres of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV).

OR&R’s Dr. Alan Mearns, Courtney Arthur, and Nicolle Rutherford partnered with experts from California State University, EPA and industry to compose Effects of Pollution on Marine Organisms .

Students watching a presentation on a large screen.

On October 14, 2014, the NOAA Disaster Response Center (DRC) hosted the annual SkyWarn Program Storm Spotter Training offered by the Mobile-Pensacola Weather Forecasting Office.

Three men by the water's edge.

On October 7-9, 2014, staff from OR&R’s Emergency Response Division met at the NOAA Kasitsna Bay Laboratory, near Homer, Alaska, to share new science and technology for emergency response.

Art contest poster.

Ready, set, draw! Grab your kids, art supplies, and spread the word--about marine debris of course!

Under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), chemical facilities with certain quantities of Extremely Hazardous Substances (EHSs) must annually submit facility information to the local authorities for emergency planning and response purposes.

In mid-September of 2014, a group of scientists including social and public health experts, biologists, oceanographers, chemists, atmospheric scientists, and data management experts convened in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, to discuss ways they could better integrate their respective environmental and health data during disasters.

Cover art for educator's guide.

To advance ocean and environmental stewardship, the NOAA Marine Debris Program in partnership with the North American Marine Environmental Protection Association (NAMEPA) developed an Educator’s Guide to Marine Debris in an effort to bring students new science, technology, engineering and mathematics-based marine debris lessons.

The International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP) and the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) are producing recommended practices for GIS technology and geo-information used in the formation of a Common Operating Picture (COP).

Ground area with poles, fencing for restoration work.

On October 7, 2014, OR&R Assessment and Restoration Division (ARD) staff presented an introduction to Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) and Restoration for a capstone class of Sustainability students at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

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