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NOV. 25, 2024 — In mid-November 2024, a Scientific Support Coordinator from OR&R’s Emergency Response Division participated in a Republic of Korea - U.S. Joint Maritime Oil Spill Response Subject Matter Expert Exchange Workshop held in Busan, Republic of Korea (ROK).
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
NOV. 25, 2024 — On November 5-7, Texas and federal trustees met at the Fisheries Center in Athens, Texas for the bi-annual Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Texas Trustee Summit. Trustees included members from NOAA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of Interior, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Texas Office of Attorney General, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and Texas General Land Office.
NOV. 25, 2024 - Staff from the NOAA Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R)’s Disaster Preparedness Program and Emergency Response Division attended the first in-person convening of the Coastal Inundation Community of Practice in Seattle, Washington from November 12-15, 2024.
NOV. 25, 2024 — On October 22-23, the NOAA Marine Debris Program within the Office of Response and Restoration hosted an in-person workshop for participants of the Washington Marine Debris Action Plan.
April 2022
APRIL 24, 2022 – OR&R Director Scott Lundgren was joined by OR&R science and emergency representatives Lisa DiPinto, Aaron Parker, and LT Steven Wall for the biennial Spills Advisory Group hosted by the American Petroleum Institute. This meeting brings together representatives of state and federal government, nongovernment organizations, academia, petroleum industry, and cleanup organizations for information sharing on spill preparedness and response.
APRIL 25, 2022 – The latest version of the CAMEO Chemicals hazardous materials database is now available, and it includes key emergency response data updates. The desktop and mobile app platforms have also been updated for the latest operating systems.
APRIL 18, 2022 — NOAA is bidding farewell to longtime chemist, Robert Jones, who recently retired from the Emergency Response Division (ERD) of the Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R).
APRIL 18, 2022 — On April 6, Christy Kehoe, the California Regional Coordinator for the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) and California Sea Grant Extension Fellow, Tanya Torres, presented at the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific’s April 2022 Naturalist Program Meeting.
APRIL 18, 2022 — Hurricanes and typhoons are powerful storms that cause loss of life and billions of dollars of destruction each year.
APRIL 18, 2022 — From March 28-30, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Pacific Island Regional Coordinator, Mark Manuel, participated in the Territorial Climate and Infrastructure Workshop hosted by the Department of Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs (D.O.I.).
APRIL 11, 2022 — On April 6, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the inaugural board of directors for the new Marine Debris Foundation.
APRIL 11, 2022 — On Dec. 1, 2021, the day after the official end of the Atlantic hurricane season, the Disaster Preparedness Program kicked off continuous improvement efforts to prepare for the 2022 season.
APRIL 11, 2022 — On March 31, the 7th International Marine Debris Conference (7IMDC) launched a call for abstracts and posters, which is open until Friday, April 29, 2022. The 7IMDC is scheduled to take place from Sept. 18-23, 2022 in Busan, Republic of Korea.
APRIL 4, 2022 — U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Mobile recently completed the assessment operations for the WWII Liberty ship, Thomas Heyward, located in about 79 feet (24 meters) of water, four miles south of the Okaloosa Island Fishing Pier just north of the Pensacola-Panama City shipping lane. The vessel was intentionally sunk on April 14, 1977 off of Destin, Florida as an artificial reef structure.
APRIL 4, 2022 – Staff from the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) attended and gave presentations at the virtual 2022 Ocean Sciences Meeting, co-sponsored by the American Geophysical Union, the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography, and The Oceanography Society, held Feb 28 - March 4.
APRIL 4, 2022 – On March 24, the Marine Debris Program's Monitoring Coordinator Hillary Burgess presented virtually at a "Workshop on Capacity Building on Marine Debris Monitoring by Using Innovative Technologies in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Region" hosted by the APEC Oceans and Fisheries Working Group and the Ocean Affairs Council of Chinese Taipei.
March 2022
MARCH 28, 2022 — On March 18, 2022 a settlement was finalized in Federal District Court to resolve claims related to the Taylor Energy Platform oil spill at Mississippi Canyon 20 (“MC-20”). $16.5 million of this settlement is to partially restore natural resources injured by the spill.
MARCH 28, 2022 — On Thursday, March 24, the Office of Response and Restoration hosted NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad, at two project sites in northern New Jersey.
March 28, 2022 ─ On March 21-24, OR&R’s Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) held the second virtual offering of the “NOAA-specific ICS 300: Intermediate Incident Command System for Expanding Incidents” course, also known as ICS 300.
MARCH 28, 2022 — The Assessment and Restoration Division’s Megan Ewald and the Marine Debris Program’s Peter Murphy attended a multi-day virtual workshop, hosted by the Office for Coastal Management, titled Tribal Workshop: A New Lens for Engagement.
March 21, 2022 – On March 4, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Pacific Island Regional Coordinator, Mark Manuel, participated in a Boys and Girls Club Wai‘anae Clubhouse ‘Ohana Night event. The outreach event took place on the island of O‘ahu, while Mark participated virtually from Hawai‘i Island.
MARCH 21, 2022 – Over the course of two afternoons on March 15 & 16, OR&R hosted a summit with NOAA developers of Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps and data.
MARCH 21, 2022 — OR&R is happy to share a new challenge from our partners at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).
March 21, 2022 – On March 12, Christy Kehoe, California Regional Coordinator for the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP), presented at the Ocean Institute's 2022 Virtual Marine and Environmental Sciences College and Career Fair. The event was attended by a national audience of college-bound students, along with their parents and counselors.
March 21, 2022 – On Saturday, March 12, students and families on the island of Kaua‘i kicked off Spring Break with Marine Debris 101 Educational Grab-and-Go Kits. Designed for both student and family learning by the Marine Debris Program, these educational kits provide a hands-on introduction to the marine debris issue.
MARCH 7, 2022 —This week the Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC) invited NOAA’s Senior Scientist Lisa DiPinto to the Baltimore Aquarium for an opportunity to brief representatives from Senator Shaheen’s staff about exciting dolphin research NOAA is leading with the Baltimore National Aquarium, the CRRC, and Johns Hopkins University.
MARCH 7, 2022 — Each year, NOAA’s Disaster Preparedness Program selects projects submitted by National Ocean Service (NOS) programs, as part of its Lagniappe Awards. (Lagniappe, a term often used in Louisiana, means “a little something extra.”)
MARCH 7, 2022 – On February 15, 2022, the College of Charleston Center for Sustainable Development (CSD) and Environmental Science Masters Program (EVSS Program) coordinated a networking event for undergraduate and graduate students to meet with and learn from professionals working in environmental fields.
MARCH 7, 2022 – On February 28th, the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) wrapped up a month of partner-led virtual workgroup meetings to discuss the California Ocean Litter Strategy (OLS).
February 2022
FEB. 28, 2022 — On Feb. 22 and 23, the NOAA Marine Debris Program hosted a virtual workshop to update the Gulf of Maine Marine Debris Action Plan.
FEB. 22, 2022 – On February 14-15, Marine Debris Program (MDP) staff served on the United States delegation to the eighteenth meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Oceans and Fisheries Working Group (OFWG). APEC is an important multilateral forum facilitating collaboration among economies in the Asia Pacific region, and marine debris is a high priority topic of discussion for the OWFG, and other relevant APEC working groups.
FEB. 22, 2022 – Over recent weeks, the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) participated in outreach to the Alaska fishing industry and marine debris community stakeholders through two events. These engagements focused on the unique nature of debris issues in Alaska, emerging work, and future efforts and opportunities, including collaborative action planning.
FEB. 22, 2022 – On the afternoons of February 8-10, 2022, the Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) partnered with the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Team to hold a virtual tabletop exercise named “For Great Lakes’ Sake.” LT Rachel Pryor of the Emergency Response Division (ERD) co-hosted the first internal NOAA tabletop exercise in the Great Lakes along with DPP’s Emergency Management Specialist, Katie Krushinski.