MAY 13, 2024 — In 2024, the Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC) celebrates its 20th year in partnership with OR&R and the University of New Hampshire (UNH).
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
November 2023
NOV. 20, 2023 — Last week, over a dozen members of OR&R’s science team attended the annual Clean Gulf conference in San Antonio, Texas. Altogether, OR&R staff participated as presenters and panelists in eight different sessions, covering an A-to-Z range of response topics: dispersants, estimation of oil slick thickness, hurricane pollution targets, in situ burns, natural resource damage assessment, chemistry of unconventional oils, data sharing, and wildlife response.
NOV. 20, 2023 — On November 7th, the NOAA Marine Debris Program California Regional Coordinator, Christy Kehoe, presented at the 10th California Islands Symposium. This multi-day event included the latest research in all disciplines of natural, environmental, and cultural science on the California Islands. This unique area includes all of the islets, rocks, and islands off the Pacific coast of California and Baja California, Mexico.
NOV. 20, 2023 — Nancy Kinner, Ph.D. the University of New Hampshire co-director of the joint OR&R-University of New Hampshire (UNH) Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC), received the prestigious Profile of Service Award from the University at an Evening of Distinction celebration on October 12, 2023.
NOV. 20, 2023 — Catherine Berg, retired NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator (SSC) for Alaska, was recently selected as one of four recipients of the 2023 Legacy Awards bestowed by the British Columbia/Pacific States Oil Spill Task Force. Berg was presented with the award at the Annual Meeting of the Oil Spill Task Force on November 16, 2023 in Sacramento, California.
NOV. 15, 2023 — On November 2, 2023, NOAA’s OR&R Director Scott Lundgren joined maritime and environmental protection colleagues at State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College at Fort Schuyler for the North American Marine Environmental Protection Association (NAMEPA) conference and Marine Environmental Protection awards dinner.
NOV. 15, 2023 — On November 4, OR&R team participated in the inaugural Tampa Bay Debris Derby hosted by Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Tampa Bay Waterkeeper, and Ocean Aid 360. The Debris Derby brought together Tampa Bay’s coastal residents, boaters, anglers, watershed groups, and industry partners to improve the local marine habitat and promote community awareness of marine debris.
NOV. 15, 2023 — NOAA’s Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program (DARRP) is excited to announce the launch of the Coastal Recovery email newsletter! Subscribers will have access to semi-monthly news of interest delivered straight to their inboxes. This is a new way to stay in tune with work that NOAA and our co-trustees are doing that matters to you.
NOV. 15, 2023 — OR&R’s Bryand Duke, Ph.D. served as a chair during the Southern Regional Education Board’s (SREB) annual meeting which was held in Tampa, Florida on October 27, 2023. SREB is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that works with 16 member states to improve public education at every level, from pre-K to Ph.D.
NOV. 15, 2023 — On October 24, the NOAA Marine Debris Program coordinated a mid-Plan review workshop to discuss progress made on the Mid-Atlantic Marine Debris Action Plan (Action Plan).
NOV. 6, 2023 — OR&R recently completed its final response training event of fiscal year 2023, providing training to over 2,300 emergency responders and planners over the course of the year.
NOV. 6, 2023 — On November 2, 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a proposed settlement valued at approximately $33.2 million to compensate for natural resource injuries that resulted from hazardous substance releases and oil discharges into the Willamette River and Portland Harbor in Oregon.
October 2023
OCT. 30, 2023 — On October 20, the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) in collaboration with the NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) released a new report, Marine Debris on the shoreline of Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary: An assessment of activities contributing to marine debris, categories and composition, spatial distribution and predictor variables.
OCT. 30, 2023 — On October 19th, 70 individuals from across NOAA joined millions of others worldwide from beneath their desks and tables, in celebration of International ShakeOut Day. Known as Shakeout Day, this annual event is held on the third Thursday of October and is the largest earthquake drill in the world.
OCT. 30, 2023 — On October 18, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Education Specialist, Alexandria Gillen, led a panel presentation at the North American Association for Environmental Education’s 2023 Virtual Conference titled “Reduce, Reuse, Reinvent: Perspectives on Zero Waste Schools Preventing Marine Debris.”
OCT. 30, 2023 — On October 24, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, in partnership with the NOAA Marine Debris Program, announced a Request for Proposals for the Ocean Odyssey Marine Debris Awards for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Accessibility (DEIJA).
OCT. 30, 2023 — On October 20, 2023, the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) released a short video highlighting a recently completed field training aboard the USCG Cutter Blackfin, in collaboration with the Great Lakes National Center of Excellence and OR&R, to advance oil spill response using uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS).
OCT. 23, 2023 — Get your art supplies ready, because this year’s NOAA Marine Debris Program Art Contest officially opened on October 16! Students in grades K-8 from the United States and U.S. territories can submit their artwork now through December 15.
OCT. 23, 2023 — During the week of October 9, the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Chief Scientist, Amy V. Uhrin, attended and presented at the final meeting of EUROqCHARM.
OCT. 23, 2023 — The latest 3.0.0 version of the CAMEO Chemicals hazardous materials database is now available, and includes a new mapping tool to display initial isolation and protective action distances from the Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG).
OCT. 16, 2023 — On October 11, the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) released the 2023-2028 Puerto Rico Strategic Plan to Reduce Aquatic Debris (Strategic Plan). This document, available in Spanish and English, is the result of a collaborative effort between the NOAA MDP, the U.S. EPA Region 2 and U.S.
OCT. 16, 2023 — The Board of Directors of the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) recently announced that NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration will be recognized with a NAMEPA 2023 Marine Environment Protection Award.
OCT. 16, 2023 — On October 5-6, NOAA Marine Debris Program staff Andrew Mason and Hillary Burgess participated in a Microplastic and Marine Debris Workshop hosted by the Seattle Aquarium. The workshop brought together microplastics and marine debris community members from government, academic, nonprofit, and industry organizations based in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California.
OCT. 10, 2023 — On October 2, 2023, the NOAA Scientific Support Coordinator (SSC) for the Northeast accompanied representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Sector Southeastern New England to a tabletop exercise hosted by Vineyard Wind in New Bedford, Massachusetts. A representative from the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement oversaw the drill that was facilitated by representatives from the National Response Corporation.
OCT. 10, 2023 — On September 28, 2023, OR&R Regional Operations Supervisor Doug Helton conducted an evening seminar for the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA), titled “Science Update: The Science of Oil Spill Response and Cleanup.”
OCT. 10, 2023 — On September 21, 2023, the Marine Education Rehabilitation and Restoration Institute Inc. (MERR) hosted an Oil Spill Preparedness Workshop as part of their week-long 2023 Greater Atlantic Region Stranding Conference (GARSCON).
OCT. 10, 2023 — Oil spill responders from New England to Hawaii attended a five-day Science of Oil Spills (SOS) training class in Gloucester, Massachusetts from September 11-15, 2023.
OCT. 10, 2023 — On September 30, staff from OR&R's Assessment and Restoration Division and NOAA’s Restoration Center returned to SUBMERGE, New York City 's premier waterfront marine science festival. This year's event was held on a pier in Hudson River Park near the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
OCT. 10, 2023 — Three experienced groups—the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Atlantic Strike Team (AST), Clean Harbors Co-Op, and OR&R’s Emergency Response Division—co-hosted a SCAT (Shoreline Clean-up Assessment Technique) Team Member Training course from September 26-28, 2023.
OCT. 2, 2023 — OR&R’s Emergency Response Division assisted with a Hawaii Oil Spill Response Workshop, sponsored by the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM), held in Honolulu on September 18-22.
International Working Group Meets to Develop Monitoring Program for Microplastics in the Great Lakes
OCT. 2, 2023 — On September 12-13, 2023, the NOAA Marine Debris Program attended and presented at an International Joint Commission (IJC) workshop on developing a monitoring framework for microplastics in the Laurentian Great Lakes. The NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Great Lakes Regional Coordinator, Haley Dalian, and Research Coordinator, Carlie Herring, participated in the workshop, which was held in Ann Arbor, Michigan.