By Doug Helton, Regional Operations Supervisor, Emergency Response Division
The Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) provides critical scientific support to protect our coastal communities following natural disasters and other incidents that result in marine pollution. Within OR&R, the Emergency Response Division (ERD) provides scientific expertise and services to the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) on everything from running oil spill trajectories that model where the spill may spread, to identifying possible effects on wildlife and fisheries, and estimating how long the oil may impact coastal communities and ecology. Additionally, the Marine Debris Program (MDP) supports national and international partners to respond to large debris caused by major disasters within communities at risk of and responding to impacts from severe weather. At the end of each year, we reflect on the response events and activities that OR&R supported.
Cleaning up an oil spill and restoring the environment boils down to the science. Scientists, data managers, and emergency responders from OR&R, the Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC) at the University of New Hampshire, U.S. Coast Guard, University of Michigan, Coastal Monitoring Associates, Water Mapping, Environmental Protection Agency, State of California, and the U.S. Navy partnered to advance oil spill science using the natural oil seeps off the coast of Santa Barbara as their ‘lab’. Their research is enhancing spill responders’ ability to respond to and assess the impacts of oil in the environment.