The Pacific States British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force had planned to have a panel discussion on challenges associated with Abandoned Vessels at the Clean Pacific Conference scheduled for June, 2020, in Seattle, but the conference was canceled. The Taskforce has focused on the ADV issue for the past couple of years and recently came out with some recommendations in their January 14, 2020 report.  The Clean Pacific conference organizers decided to hold a few sessions virtually and selected the abandoned vessel issue as one of four panels to promote. Doug Helton was one of the panelists, along with Greg Buie, U.S. Coast Guard National Pollution Funds Center; Devon Grennan, Global Diving and Salvage; and Troy Wood, Derelict Vessel Removal Program Manager, Washington Department of Natural Resources. The discussion focused on the recommendations for the federal and state agencies. Doug highlighted NOAA's response and removal efforts with respect to abandoned vessels. Hilary Wilkinson from the Taskforce gave an overview of the issues and moderated the discussion, using some of NOAA's outreach products such as the illustration on this page. 

For more information, contact Doug.Helton@noaa.gov.

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