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
September 2023
SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 — OR&R’s Dan Hahn joined NOAA Restoration Center staff, along with Louisiana State Trustees on a September 14th site visit to the Long Point Bayou marsh creation project. The site visit was to assess the progress made on restoration that targets 392 acres of marsh creation as part of the actions to compensate the public for the lost natural resources resulting from the 2006 CITGO Slop oil spill into the Calcasieu River.
SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 — On September 6 and 7, staff from NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration participated in a workshop sponsored by the Office and facilitated by the University of New Hampshire’s Coastal Response Research Center that explored what is known and uncertain about plastic pellets and what occurs when they are spilled into marine and coastal environments.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 — On August 30, 2023, NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) Director, Nancy Wallace, participated in a Trilateral Government Roundtable on Ghost Gear, “Advancing Cooperation to Address Ghost Gear in North America.” Forty-three representatives from the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States attended this virtual roundtable. The Global Ghost Gear Initiative, an MDP partner and grantee through the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement funding, hosted the event.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 — On August 28th, the National Ocean Service (NOS) Incident Management Team (IMT) activated ahead of Hurricane Idalia. The NOS IMT, led by OR&R’s Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) with representatives from across NOS program and staff offices, coordinated response efforts and collected situational awareness. Team members reported information pertaining to any impacts to mission and personnel as well as infrastructure damage.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 — On June 1, 2023, the District Court for the District of Delaware approved of a Settlement and Release entered into by the Maxus Liquidating Trust (“Trust”) and YPF S.A., YPF International S.A. (f/k/a YPF International Ltd.), YPF Holdings, Inc., and YCLH Holdings, Inc.
SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 — On September 26, 2023, the Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee (IMDCC) will hold a virtual public meeting, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET. The public meeting will include a presentation on the Report on Microfiber Pollution required by Section 132 of the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act, as well as a presentation on the process to create new IMDCC recommendations on addressing marine debris.
SEPTEMBER 5, 2023 — On August 30th, the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) wrapped up a month of partner-led virtual workgroup meetings to discuss the California Ocean Litter Strategy (OLS). The meetings brought together over 75 partners from across the state and included a diverse set of sectors, including state agencies, nonprofits, private organizations, and academia.
August 2023
AUGUST 28, 2023 — On August 1, the NOAA Marine Debris Program announced two Fiscal Year 2024 NOAA Marine Debris notices of funding opportunity for both Marine Debris Removal and Interception Technologies under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
AUGUST 28, 2023 — On August 24, 2023, a $5.38 million settlement was finalized to restore natural resources impacted by contaminants discharged along the Gloucester, Massachusetts waterfront. The pollution came from a manufactured gas plant that operated along the Gloucester waterfront between 1854 and 1952. Manufactured gas plants often yielded by-products of the gas production process such as tars, sludges, and oils.
AUGUST 21, 2023 — Each year, for the past 12 years, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation hosts the Great Hudson River Estuary Fish Count. This year the event took place at nine sites, including Lemon Creek Park on Staten Island.
AUGUST 21, 2023 — OR&R recently published a new report, Oil Spills and Pelagic Sargassum, to assist those who work in oil spill response and planning where pelagic (open ocean) Sargassum is at risk from, or may interact with, oil spills.
August 14, 2023 – On July 24, 2023, NOAA Marine Debris Program Education Specialist Alexandria Gillen and Monitoring Coordinator Hillary Burgess led an impactful workshop for marine educators focused on the Marine Debris Monitoring and Assessment Project (MDMAP) at the National Marine Educators Association national conference.
August 14, 2023 – On August 2, the NOAA Marine Debris Program coordinated a workshop to discuss updates to the Hawai‘i Marine Debris Action Plan (Action Plan).
August 14, 2023 – In late July, OR&R partnered with the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the Coastal Response Research Center to provide on-land and on-water training to USCG’s Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) pilots to strengthen oil spill response.
August 14, 2023 – On August 2, 2023, the team from the Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project, a Hawaiʻi-based nonprofit organization, returned to Honolulu, with 86,100 pounds of marine debris removed from shallow coral reefs and shorelines of the islands and atolls within Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Of the debris removed, 69,330 pounds were derelict fishing nets and 16,770 pounds were plastics and other debris.
August 14, 2023 – OR&R’s Disaster Preparedness Program (DPP) is partnering with NOAA Sea Grant for the second time to help coastal communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters, such as hurricanes, flooding, tsunami, earthquake, and climate hazards. On August 8, 2023, DPP announced the four new projects, which total to $634,936 in FY23 federal funds, will take place in New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, and South Carolina.
AUGUST 7, 2023 — On July 25, 2023, the NOAA Marine Debris Program attended and presented at a Making Sense of Microfibers & Microplastics Policy session at the American Apparel & Footwear Association’s (AAFA) Environmental Committee Meeting, held in Boston, MA.
July 2023
JULY 31, 2023 — The National Ocean Service (NOS) Incident Management Team (IMT) conducted its first activation in the 2023 hurricane season for Tropical Storm Calvin, which impacted the Pacific.
JULY 24, 2023 — During the week of July 10, spill specialists from OR&R’s Emergency Response Division conducted a Science of Oil Spills (SOS) class for the Pacific Northwest region in Portland, Oregon. The class was jointly hosted by OR&R and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
JULY 24, 2023 — The Anacostia River, which runs through Maryland and the District of Columbia, has suffered from many decades of pollution, from multiple sources including hazardous waste sites, runoff, and combined sewers. Communities along the Anacostia have been disproportionately impacted by this pollution.
JULY 24, 2023 — On July 18, Nancy Wallace, Director of the NOAA Marine Debris Program, participated in a virtual workshop organized by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network as part of its Ocean Media Initiative.
JULY 24, 2023 — From July 10-14, students from Rainier Prep and Showalter Middle Schools spent the week as NOAA Science Campers at the Western Regional Center in Seattle, Washington. NOAA Science Camp is a program of Washington Sea Grant and offers hands-on science learning opportunities, as well as exposure to NOAA’s mission areas and science careers.
JULY 24, 2023 — On July 13th, the Marine Debris Leadership Academy (MDLA) was launched at the Tijuana National Estuarine Research Reserve in San Diego, California. The MDLA was founded as an opportunity to empower leaders to continue to cultivate change in communities, systems, and themselves.
JULY 24, 2023 — On July 11-13, 2023, staff from OR&R’s Emergency Response Division provided a three-day, virtual training in Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) for the country of Guyana.
JULY 17, 2023 — On July 12, 2023, a $5.38 million settlement was proposed in Federal District Court to restore natural resources impacted by contaminants discharged along the Gloucester, Massachusetts waterfront.
JULY 17, 2023 — On Thursday of this week, July 20th, the You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know lecture series begins its second annual OR&R 101 series!
JULY 17, 2023 — NOAA scientists, aided in recent years by citizen scientists, have been photographing a boulder in Prince William Sound for 33 years. Why? The rock was coated in oil in 1989 when the Exxon Valdez supertanker ran aground on Bligh Reef, dumping more than ten million gallons of crude oil into the Sound. Today, the boulder is known as Mearns Rock, nicknamed after Dr. Alan Mearns, a scientist emeritus in NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration.
JULY 10, 2023 — The NOAA Marine Debris Program is developing a national shoreline marine debris monitoring plan in partnership with Western EcoSystems Technology Inc. Several national-international scale initiatives call for tools to document and report on the status and trends of marine debris. These include Regional Marine Debris Action Plans, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and momentum toward a global agreement on marine litter.
JULY 10, 2023 — From June 26-30, the Gulf of Mexico Alliance’s Marine Debris Cross-Team Initiative, co-led by the NOAA Marine Debris Program’s Gulf of Mexico Regional Coordinator Caitlin Wessel and US Fish and Wildlife’s Adriana Levia, held its annual half day meeting during the larger Gulf of Mexico Alliance All Hands.
June 2023
JUNE 26, 2023 — On June 13, the NOAA Marine Debris Program (MDP) coordinated and presented at the bi-annual California Ocean Litter Prevention Strategy webinar. The webinar brought together over 60 partners across the state and included a diverse set of sectors including state agencies, nonprofits, policy-makers, and academia.