In the event of an oil spill, what would be the response, what kind of preventative steps would be taken and who would be involved?

Find out answers to these questions and more in a workshop entitled, “In the Event of The Unthinkable: An Oil Spill in our Waters,” Saturday, Sept. 28, at UW Friday Harbor Labs Lecture Hall.

Co-sponsored by the Northwest Straits Foundation and San Juan County Marine Resources Committee, the presentation is intended to help the average citizen better understand the world of oil-spill planning and response, who makes spill response decisions, how those decisions are made, and how to become involved as a volunteer.

Spill responders will be on-hand during the day-long workshop to talk about oil-spill contingency planning, the fate and effects of oil in the marine environment and challenges posed by the islands unique geography.

The workshop is 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

To register: RSVP to marineresources@sanjuanco.com, or contact MRC Coordinator Marta Branch, 378-7592.

Workshop Agenda:

9:00 – 9:10: Welcome and Introductions, Robyn Du Pre, Northwest Straits Foundation

9:10 – 10:00:  Oil Spill Response in Local Waters (scripted scenario)

Narrator: Robyn du Pré; Scene: Incident Command Post

At Round Table:

• Capt. Scott Ferguson, U.S. Coast Guard
• Dave Byers, Department of Ecology
• Brendan Cowan, Director, San Juan County Department of Emergency Management
• Tribal spill response managers: Jeremy Freimund, Lummi Nation & Rochelle Lubbers, Tulalip Tribes
• Tim Johnson, Phillips Petroleum (invited).

Questions and Answers

10:00 – 10:35  Response Protocols and Planning: NW Area Contingency Plan and Incident Command Structure, Local Emergency Management Involvement:

• Linda Pilkey-Jarvis, Dept. of Ecology
• Brendan Cowan, San Juan County Dept. of Emergency Management

10:35-10:45    Break

10:45-11:30    Fate and Effects of Oil in the Environment

Types of oil transiting through the NW Straits, how it behaves in a spill and how it affects the environment

• Gary Shigenaka, NOAA Scientific Support Team
• Dave Byers, Ecology

11:30- 12:15  Recovery Techniques (IOSA, Ecology, Coast Guard, MSRC invited)

Recovery Techniques and equipment

Local geography and challenges for spill response

12:15-12:45    Lunch Break—(Please bring your own sack lunch)

12:45 – 1:30    Resources at Risk and Protection Priorities

• Overview: Dan Doty, WDFW and Stephanie Buffum, Friends of the San Juans to overview local resources at risk
• Break into small groups, give various scenarios and description of resources at risk and have the groups wrestle with real world decisions in weighing relative values of various environmental assets (have speakers circulating or assigned to each group to give expert advice)
• Report back and discuss the various options available in each scenario

1:30-2:00  Information Management and Communications:

How does Incident Command communicate effectively with the public, VIPs, chains of command, political leaders at all levels?

• Facilitated discussion with Captain Scott Ferguson

2:00-2:15        Break

2:15-2:20        Community Engagement Overview: Robyn du Pré

§  Opportunities for Community Volunteer Involvement

• NWSF: Oiled Wildlife and HazWOPPER trainings
• Seattle Audubon: Volunteer seabird surveys to establish baseline conditions

2:20-2:30        PIER volunteer portal: Linda Pilkey- Jarvis, Dept. of Ecology

2:30-2:45        Islands Oil Spill Association: Oiled Wildlife Trainings for San Juan County volunteers

2:45-3:00        UW Coaast Program: Volunteer beached bird surveys

3:00–3:15        Closure: Final Questions and Answers, Workshop Evaluation