natural resources

A natural disaster such as a hurricane impacts all facets of life in a community, and can even cause ripple effects that spread beyond the area of landfall to impact distant places and people. This far-reaching impact can be a devastating reminder of the interconnected nature of the blue economy, connecting people across the globe through sustainable economic activity alongside environmental protection. NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) supports this blue economy through response and planning activities that protect critical infrastructure and marine resources, as seen in the 2022 response to Hurricane Ian in Florida.

A whale breaching out of icy water, a sea turtle crawling onto the sandy shore to lay eggs, or a salmon swimming upriver to spawn, few species capture our hearts and imaginations more than protected species. However, it wasn’t until relatively recently that they were protected under U.S. law. 

This week, we’re taking a closer look at what sensitivity mapping is, how it’s used, and why it’s so important. A snapshot of the resources in a specific area, sensitivity mapping can be a valuable tool both in and out of the spill response community. 

Few animals capture the human imagination like sea turtles. Sea turtles are living fossils, they have glided through the Earth’s oceans for over 110 million years. But today, sea turtles face new, human-caused threats that put all seven species at risk of extinction. One of these threats is oil spills.

When people look out on the Great Lakes for the first time, they often compare them to the ocean. In some ways the analogy works. The five Laurentian Great Lakes are incredibly vast, when you stand on the shore of Lake Superior there’s nothing but steely blue water until the lake meets the horizon. If all you saw was a photo, you could mistake it for the ocean.

♫ If you go to the coastline, you’ll find swimming free... ♫

Twelve drums a drumming,

Eleven plovers piping,

Ten eels-a-leaping,

The St. Louis River/Interlake/Duluth Tar site was used for a variety of industrial purposes — including coking plants, tar and chemical companies, the production of pig iron, meat-packing, and as a rail to truck transfer point for bulk commodities — starting near the turn of the 19th century. In 1983, the St. Louis River Superfund site was added to the National Priorities List.  

In November of last year, a settlement was reached between the trustees for the site and the parties responsible for the contamination. The settlement includes funds for the following restoration projects ...

The story behind the Sheboygan River and Harbor Superfund site began in the 1870s, when growing industrial activity along the river led to a release of contaminants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), heavy metals, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

In 1979, the State of Wisconsin began advising the public against eating any resident species from the Sheboygan River, and only limited consumption of fish species from Lake Michigan, where the Sheboygan empties.