Posts tagged with

oil spill

A Look Back on the Year in Emergency Response

Posted Fri, 01/17/2025 - 10:12
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.

Enhancing NOAA Tools for Spill Risk Analysis

Posted Wed, 02/07/2024 - 08:59

OR&R created the Trajactory Analysis Planner, or TAP, to help answer the question: Where will spilled oil likely go? Recent enhancements make the NOAA software tool more flexible and easier for planners and responders to use when preparing for and minimizing harm caused by oil spills.

Advances in Pollution Response and Assessment Science

Posted Tue, 08/22/2023 - 15:57

As new and more intense forms of marine pollution threaten coastal ecosystems, economies, and communities, scientists from NOAA OR&R collaborate with leading experts on topics like marine debris, environmental economics, endangered species, environmental chemistry, and many other subjects that intersect with pollution science. This blog highlights some recently published scientific advances supporting pollution response and assessment.

Looking Back to a Major Spill in Tampa Bay—30 Years Ago this Month

Posted Wed, 08/09/2023 - 13:51
By Doug Helton, Office of Response and Restoration

Doug Helton, Regional Operations Supervisor in OR&R's Emergency Response Division, recalls a significant incident that happened 30 years ago in Tampa Bay, involving multiple vessels, a fire, and spilled heavy fuel oil, jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline. Despite decades passing by, he continues to use photos from that incident to illustrate the challenges and trade-offs of shoreline cleanup.