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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.
June 2021
JUNE 28, 2021 ─ The Pacific States/British Columbia Oil Spill Task Force—an organization comprised of representatives from state and provincial environmental agencies in the Pacific coastal area—collects and shares data on oil spills, coordinates oil spill prevention projects, and promote regulatory safeguards to improve prevention, preparation, and response to oil spills on a state and provincial level.
June 28, 2021 ─ On June 21 and 23, the OR&R Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) hosted its annual Hurricane Preparedness Summit. The two-day conference, which was facilitated by the University of New Hampshire’s Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC) covered a range of hurricane preparedness and response topics.
JUNE 21, 2021 ─ This week, Lisa DiPinto, OR&R’s senior scientist is working with the Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC), the EPA Office of Research and Development, and Johns Hopkins University to advance our ability to characterize surface oil slicks.
JUNE 21, 2021 ─ For three days last week, June 15-17, 2021, OR&R staff, along with 80 other experts, participated in the National Academy of Science’s virtual “Offshore Situation Room.”
JUNE 21, 2021 ─ On June 16-17, Lieutenant Commander Faith Knighton, Scientific Support Coordinator (SSC) for the Pacific Northwest, participated in the Non-Floating Oil Spill Response Workshop.
JUNE 14, 2021 ─ Scientists from OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division and NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources programs, in collaboration with our partners from the Coastal Response Research Center, led a virtual workshop to discuss ways to approach Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) for marine mammals in the Gulf of Mexico.
JUNE 14, 2021 ─ On June 3, Ashley Hill, the Marine Debris Program’s (MDP) Florida & Caribbean Regional Coordinator, and Hillary Burgess, the MDP’s Monitoring Coordinator, presented during the Keep Florida Beautiful (KFB) Annual Conference.
JUNE 14, 2021 ─ Emergencies can strike without warning, and unfortunately, we have too many real-life examples that remind us of the importance of being prepared. With this in mind, the Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) developed a readiness self-assessment tool explicitly designed to help the National Ocean Service (NOS) and NOS offices better prepare for emergencies and continuity events.
JUNE 14, 2021 ─ The Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (AERE) Summer Conference was held virtually between June 2 and 4 and attracted more than 600 registrants around the world. This year, OR&R’s Assessment and Restoration Division (ARD) sponsored a session on the use of new data sources, which attracted more than 80 participants. Cameron Duff presented ARD’s novel method for estimating lost recreation due to disasters like oil and chemical spills.
JUNE 14, 2021 ─ On June 9, 2021, the U.S Department of Justice entered two consent decrees valued at $9.3 million for settlement with companies, a local municipality, and a port district responsible for hazardous waste pollution in Western Port Angeles Harbor in Washington.
JUNE 7, 2021 — On May 20, Sarah Lowe, the Marine Debris Program's Great Lakes regional coordinator co-chaired a virtual marine debris session at the International Association of Great Lakes Research Conference.
JUNE 7, 2021 — From May 25-27, the Emergency Response Division of OR&R conducted Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) team member training for the U.S. Coast Guard National Strike Force and Sector Mobile’s Incident Management Division through both virtual classroom instruction and in-person field training on Gulf Islands National Seashore Pensacola Beach, Florida.
May 2021
JUNE 1, 2021 — When disaster hits response teams are activated and begin working on a ground level. The teams use photos to prepare for the next day's activities. Having an aerial perspective helps identify areas hardest hit, locations of possible danger, and even to identify civilians stranded that need help.
JUNE 1, 2021 — Each year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) leads a nation-wide exercise designed to evaluate progress toward achieving an overall emergency preparedness culture.
JUNE 1, 2021 — During the week of May 23, 2021, OR&R scientists participated in 3 half-day meetings with the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI), NOAA Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS), and the broader academic community in the U.S. and Brazil, on shared oil spill response and restoration goals.
MAY 24, 2021 — On May 20, the Marine Debris Program (MDP) released the 2021 Mid-Atlantic Marine Debris Action Plan. This document is the result of a productive and collaborative effort between the MDP and partners from local, state, and federal governments, nonprofits, industry, and academic institutions.
MAY 24, 2021 — This month’s "You Don't Know What You Don't Know" lecture featured Mr. Jamie Rhome, team lead at NOAA’s National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida, where he serves as a subject matter expert on storm surge and coastal inundation for the National Weather Service’s hurricane program.
MAY 24, 2021 —NOAA Marine Debris Program is pleased to announce a solicitation of nominations for the Marine Debris Foundation Board of Directors. The Save Our Seas 2.0 Act of 2020 established the Marine Debris Foundation (Foundation) as a charitable and nonprofit organization to support the efforts of NOAA and other entities to address marine debris and directed the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere to appoint the Foundation’s governing Board of Directors (Board).
MAY 24, 2021 — On May 11, the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP), along with the California Ocean Protection Council, co-hosted a California Ocean Litter Prevention Strategy update webinar.
MAY 24, 2021 — On May 20, 2021 NOAA and our partners released a Draft Restoration and Environmental Assessment plan for the Gretna/DM 932 Mississippi RIver oil spill. The plan proposes projects to restore habitats impacted by the oil spill on the Mississippi River near downtown New Orleans.
MAY 17, 2021 — On Thursday, May 6, NOAA Scientific Support and Regional Preparedness Coordinator William Whitmore discussed on-the-water oil identification to the Friends of Casco Bay, a volunteer organization that works to preserve and protect the environmental health of Casco Bay, Maine.
MAY 17, 2021 — Following Earth Month, the MDP's Great Lakes Regional Coordinator Sarah Lowe has been participating in some virtual outreach!
MAY 17, 2021 — The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington finalized a settlement worth approximately $3.9 million with the City of Seattle to fund natural resource restoration in the Lower Duwamish River.
MAY 17, 2021 — The first session on Empowering Women in Oil Spill Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Restoration at the International Oil Spill Conference resulted in a fully booked virtual room.
MAY 17, 2021 — The International Oil Spill Conference (IOSC), held this year on May 10 – 14, is a highly acclaimed event inviting a diverse coalition of emergency responders and scientists spanning international governments, industry, and academic experts across many countries to tackle many response challenges and share technological advances.
MAY 17, 2021 — On May 11, Doug Helton from ERD joined the USCG's monthly MER/IMD conference call/webinar and briefed the 100+ participants on the progress and current status of NOAA's Remediation of Underwater Legacy Environmental Threats (RULET) project.
MAY 7, 2021 — On April 23, NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) and Marine Debris Program (MDP) staff participated in the 2021 Earth Day Virtual Symposium of a specialized science, mathematics, engineering and technology (STEM) secondary school, Escuela Especializada en Ciencias, Matemática y Tecnología (CIMATEC), in Caguas, Puerto Rico.
MAY 7, 2021 — On April 26 - 30, 2021 we held our Second Virtual Science of Chemical Releases (SOCR) Class. Classes were held live on-line with forty students attending from across the US and Canada, spanning geographically from Maine to St. Croix.
MAY 7, 2021 — On April 29, the Marine Debris Program (MDP) Planning and Preparedness Specialist Jessica Conway and Mid-Atlantic Regional Coordinator Christy Kehoe presented at a virtual Delaware Debris Summit.
MAY 7, 2021 — On April 27-29, NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration’s Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) and the University of New Hampshire’s Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC) co-hosted a virtual workshop and table top exercise on harmful algal bloom (HAB) preparedness and response capabilities and responsibilities across the federal government and state agencies.