U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration NOAA’s Hazardous Materials Response Division

NOAA/HAZMAT responded to 136 events in 2003, including oil and chemical spills, search and rescue efforts, and other emergencies. Significant responses included:

Cooper River oil spill, Charleston, SC Ocean Energy MP69 oil spill, Pass La Loutre, LA Lake Washington pipeline oil spill, Port Sulfur, LA Chemical Fire, Pascagoula, LA Oil Storage Facility Fire, Staten Island, NY Bouchard Barge 120, Buzzards Bay, MA T/V Prestige oil spill, Spain C/V Alchiba, Port of Pensacola, FL Atchafalaya Basin oil spill, Louisiana Pipeline Spill, Belle Isle, LA Pipeline oil spill, Terrebonne Bay, LA M/V Kent Reliant, San Juan Harbor, Puerto Rico Barge Energy 5501 oil spill, Long Island Sound, NY Provided spill response support to USCG and USN in Bahrain and elsewhere during Iraq War

Planning and Preparedness in 2003

• Participated in more than 21 response and preparedness exercises

• Provided face-to-face training to more than 900 people to help improve local spill preparedness. These included the Canadian-U.S. Atlantic (CANUSLANT) and Canada-U.S. Great Lakes (CANUSLAK) joint exercises, and an exercise in the Russian Sakhalin Islands.

• Participated in SONS tabletop exercises in Oakland and Washington, DC

Planning and Preparedness in 2003

• Conducted 48 training courses for federal, state and private sector agencies and local communities. These included international trainings in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Korea, and Singapore; and U.S.-based training with international participation from Panamanian, Brazilian, Canadian, and Portuguese agencies.

• Organized Deepwater Spills Modeling Workshop held in Seattle

• Participated in Environmental Risk Assessment workshops in Prince William Sound, St. Thomas, Portland (ME), Seattle, and Ensenada.

• Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps released for Western Alaska

NOAA/ HAZMAT Modeling

• Expected new releases in early Spring 2004:

• ALOHA upgrades will include multiple footprints, improved consistency w/ other models

• CAMEO upgrades will include WMD data (with EPA)

Challenges

• Crafting a Research and Development strategy that coordinates and leverages the funds available to NOAA HAZMAT with other federal agencies. – UNH Coastal Response Research Center

Homeland Security / WMD: • SSCs are seeing a great deal of demand from the

Coast Guard• Homeland Security/WMD activities are a

relatively specialized area of work• SSC role is providing specialized expertise and

coordinating external technical experts • Will require additional training for SSCs and folks

in Seattle to expand their understanding – but will not become experts in dirty bombs or anthrax