In preparing for the 2020 hurricane season, FEMA has developed a document that provides actionable guidance to State, Local, Tribal & Territorial officials to prepare for response and recovery operations and encourages personal preparedness measures amidst the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. While this document focuses on hurricane season preparedness, most planning considerations can also be applied [...]
Please see USCG Memo on Area Contingency Planning and Drills The USCG has relaxed its normal timelines/deadlines for conducting various response planning drills due to the COVID situation. In particular, all CG Preparedness for Response Exercise Programs (PREP) associated with the area contingency plans are currently suspended and will be rescheduled. The USCG anticipates PREPs [...]
Contingency Plan - Drills and Exercise deadline for 2020 exercises extended 90 Days - Local restrictions on gatherings are also resulting in delays to the Spill Management Team regulations currently under development. Additional California COVID-19 Updates
These were pictures taken by the Texas General Land Office – Oil Spill Division (TGLO) during the Hazards and Risk Assessment training that was provided to their First Responders. The TGLO is a state agency that responds to coastal oil spills in Texas. Being a former with the TGLO, I was able to provide [...]
KODIAK, Alaska -- U.S. Coast Guard 17th District Commander Rear Adm. Matthew T. Bell, Jr., and the Canadian Coast Guard Western Region Assistant Commissioner Roger Girouard signed the newly revised Dixon Entrance Annex to the national Canada-United States Joint Marine Pollution Contingency Plan today in Juneau. The updated annex includes basic content and format changes in [...]
On February 5, 2020, FEMA released the revised 2020 HSEEP Doctrine. This update incorporates feedback and input from exercise planners and practitioners across the country and ensures that HSEEP doctrine, the training course, and corresponding documents continue to best meet the needs of the whole community. HSEEP is flexible, scalable, adaptable, and is for use by [...]
Over the last five decades, the frequency of oil spills from tankers has continued to decrease. The average number of spills of 7 tonnes or more in the 1970s was about 79 per year and has now decreased by over 90 percent to a low of six. To read more of this article, click [...]
Canadian Pacific Railway said its crews are still working diligently to clean up the estimated 1.5 million litres of crude oil that spilled from a derailed train on Dec. 9, and expects to be there for a number of weeks. The spill resulted in a fire that burned for around 24 hours. One University of Saskatchewan professor said remediation [...]
Having eyes on the ground, quickly, is essential to any effective disaster management plan. Having them in the air, however, looks set the be the next big thing in the offshore oil and gas industry. We consider the critical role drones can play in the minutes and hours after an oil spill. An oil spill [...]
Oil spills in the ocean can cause devastation to wildlife, so effective cleanup is a top priority. One method to clean up oil spills is by burning, which only works if the oil is heavily concentrated in one area. Research from Johns Hopkins University shows the effects of chemical herders, which are agents that may be used [...]