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Monthly Archives May 2018

Minds Behind OR&R: Meet Toxicologist Sarah Allan

Posted Tue, 05/29/2018 - 17:47
By Alyssa Gray, NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration
A woman with a snowy mountain scene behind her.

This is the eighth in a monthly series profiling scientists and technicians who provide exemplary contributions to the mission of NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R). This month’s profile is on Assessment and Restoration Division toxicologist and Alaska Regional Resource Coordinator Sarah Allan.

Tags
Assessment and Restoration Division
Natural Resource Damage Assessment

Assessing Changes in U.S. Crude Oil Exports for West Coast

Posted Tue, 05/29/2018 - 13:58
By Valerie Cleland and Ian Hanna, graduate students at the University of Washington School of Marine and Environmental Affairs
A line graph showing the West Coast oil exports by city over time. A spill response scene is in the background.

You could call it a black gold rush. Technological advances like hydraulic fracking have made harvesting oil profitable in the U.S. again and changed the global petroleum market. For decades, the U.S. was dependent on oil imports and banned crude oil exports to protect domestic reserves. This changed in 2015, when the U.S. lifted the 40-year export embargo on crude oil and gave the oil industry access to the global crude oil market.

Tags
oil
preparedness
oil spill

Washington Man Offers Free Boatside Service to 'Pump, not Dump'

Posted Wed, 05/23/2018 - 20:34
By Samantha Larson, Washington Sea Grant
A man on a boat in a marina.

Having already gotten a slew of sunny days and with more out on the radar to come, boating season has officially arrived in Pacific Northwest towns such as Gig Harbor, Washington. For many, this is a welcome change from the dreary days that now feel well behind us. But more boats in Puget Sound can also have some yucky downsides. It can mean more sewage getting into our beloved waters.

Tags
sewage
Sea Grant
Washington
How OR&R Protects National Marine Sanctuaries from Marine Pollution alyssa.gray Sat, 05/19/2018 - 14:50
An aerial view of a green shoreline area.

This weekend, NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary System is kicking off the beginning of the national “Get into Your Sanctuary” Initiative. The sanctuary system protects America’s most iconic natural and cultural marine resources — many of which are open to public recreation. This initiative is a system-wide public outreach effort to raise awareness about our nation’s marine sanctuaries through site events and other activities.

Tags
National Marine Sanctuaries
response
preparedness
OR&R Scientists and Partners Initiate Major Salmon Injury Study at Portland Harbor Superfund Site
By Robert Neely, NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration
alyssa.gray Mon, 05/07/2018 - 18:25
A man overseeing a group of people working with netting on a shoreline.

On April 22, 2018, a team of people from a diverse suite of organizations from within and outside of NOAA began packing and loading gear, trailering and cleaning boats, and wrapping up preliminary paperwork. Made up of field biologists, toxicologists, injury assessment specialists, data managers, and field technicians, the team had just completed a week in the field as part of a major study to help determine the impacts to Endangered Species Act-listed juvenile Chinook salmon from exposure to contaminants as they out-migrate through the Portland Harbor Superfund site via the Willamette River.

Tags
research
Restoration
Natural Resource Damage Assessment
Sea Grant Team Releases Pair of Publications Detailing Deepwater Horizon Oil Fate
By Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium
alyssa.gray Mon, 05/07/2018 - 16:55
People on a boat holding wooden poles with a sorbent end against an oiled marsh area.

The Sea Grant oil spill outreach team has produced two new publications outlining what scientists know about the fate of that oil in the Gulf of Mexico environment. Those documents, Where did the oil go? A Deepwater Horizon fact sheet and Microbes and oil: What’s the connection? can both be viewed and downloaded at https://gulfseagrant.org/oilspilloutreach/publications/.

Tags
Deepwater Horizon
Deepwater Horizon/BP
research

Oiled Birds and Dawn Dish Soap: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Cleaning and Rescuing Oiled Wildlife

Posted Thu, 05/03/2018 - 11:34
By Frank Csulak, NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration
Three people washing a bird in a washbin.

As a scientific support coordinator (SSC) for NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration, one question that I always get from friends and family is: “Is it true that Dawn dishwashing detergent is used to clean oiled wildlife?”

Well, the answer is yes. Many agencies and organizations use Dawn dish detergent in their cleaning efforts, including Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research — one of the premier wildlife response organizations in the U.S. and globally.

Tags
wildlife
Response
oil spill