During this meeting, the member states (New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana) as well as the United States Coast Guard (USCG), provided updates and information about pollution responses within their respective areas. The DPP team members lead a short tabletop exercise with the Regional Response Team that simulated a release of Louisiana Sweet Crude approximately 20 miles away from the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary. This scenario was designed to engage regional entities in discussion to ensure all parties were aware of the key stakeholders. The topic of dispersant use arose which sparked even more discussion among the participants. Katie Krushinski, a Genwest Systems contractor with the DPP, facilitated the exercise while OR&R’s Charlie Henry and Paige Doelling guided the participants through the process beginning with the simulated National response Center report and ending with the request for consultation from the Regional Response Team 6 on the use of dispersant. The intended outcome of this short exercise was to make participants aware of key stakeholders needing to be consulted rather than come to a full decision on the response tactics. A meeting summary will be added to the Regional Response Team 6 website in the coming weeks.

For more information, contact Charlie.Henry@noaa.gov, Paige.Doelling@noaa.gov, or Katherine.Krushinski@noaa.gov.

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