Coast Guard Research Articles

PAs in the National Guard and Reserves: Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard.

ABSTRACTThe role of physician assistants (PAs) in the United States extends to the Army National Guard; Air National Guard; and reserves of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard (collectively known as reserve components). To understand the duality of civilian-military PA roles, a census of the armed forces was undertaken, drawing on knowledgeable senior PA medical officers in each of the services. The survey was supplemented with data from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants. In 2020, there were 1,944 PAs in the five military reserve components with the majority (1,597) in the Army. Most National Guard, Air National Guard, and Reserve PAs fill medical officer roles, drill with units, and are subject to active duty. As soldiers, sailors, and airmen, military PAs are trained in health, safety, warfare readiness, casualty, trauma, and crisis response. The tenure of a reserve component PA in the military ranged between 10.2 and 17.8 years. In their civilian roles, most PAs are licensed and clinically active—the majority report they work in family/general medicine, emergency medicine, general surgery, or orthopedic medicine and surgery. This dual-career role and responsibility suggests the utility and flexibility of the PA is broader than previously reported. The findings set the stage for additional research on healthcare professionals during times of domestic and international emergencies.

Outbreak of Acute Respiratory Illness Associated With Human Adenovirus Type 4 at the United States Coast Guard Academy, 2019.

Although a human adenovirus (HAdV) vaccine is available for military use, officers-in-training are not routinely vaccinated. We describe an HAdV-associated respiratory outbreak among unvaccinated cadets at the US Coast Guard Academy and its impact on cadet training. We defined a case as a cadet with new onset cough or sore throat during August 1-October 4, 2019. We reviewed medical records and distributed a questionnaire to identify cases and to estimate impact on cadet training. We performed real-time polymerase chain reaction testing on patient and environmental samples and whole genome sequencing on a subset of positive patient samples. Among the 1072 cadets, 378 (35%) cases were identified by medical records (n = 230) or additionally by the questionnaire (n = 148). Of the 230 cases identified from medical records, 138 (60%) were male and 226 (98%) had no underlying conditions. From questionnaire responses, 113 of 228 (50%) cases reported duty restrictions. Of cases with respiratory specimens, 36 of 50 (72%) were HAdV positive; all 14 sequenced specimens were HAdV-4a1. Sixteen (89%) of 18 environmental specimens from the cadet dormitory were HAdV-positive. The HAdV-4-associated outbreak infected a substantial number of cadets and significantly impacted cadet training. Routine vaccination could prevent HAdV respiratory outbreaks in this population.

Remote, but Not Isolated—Microplastics in the Sub-surface Waters of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago

As the remote Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) becomes increasingly connected to the rest of the world, there is an impetus to monitor the possible impact of this connectivity. The potential for increases in localised sources of plastic pollution resulting from the increasing navigability of the remote north has yet to be explored. Here we investigate microplastic samples which were collected aboard the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) Amundsen in the summer of 2018 using the underway pump and a filtration system with Fourier transform infrared analysis. We investigate the character, abundance, and distribution of microplastic particles and fibres in the sub-surface waters across the Canadian Arctic and add to the limited dataset on plastic pollution in this region. We find that there are low concentrations of microplastics ranging from 0 to 0.282 n L–1 (average 0.031 ± 0.017 n L–1), comprising 71% polyester and acrylics. We investigate the size distribution of retained particles and fibres on three different filter mesh sizes connected to the underway pump (300, 100, and 50 μm) and find that a 300 μm mesh and a 100 μm mesh retain only 6 and 56%, respectively, of the total particles and fibres. We explore the role of shipping as a potential source of textile fibres and we suggest that future monitoring of plastics in the Canadian Arctic should use the current shipping fleet to monitor its own plastic footprint, utilising the underway pump and mesh sizes < 100 μm.

SEL VƏ DAŞQIN AXINLARINDA DAĞ ÇAYLARI MƏCRASININ YUYULMA DƏRİNLİYİNİN TƏYİNİ

Abstract. The article is dedicated to the determination of the wash depth of mountain rivers in floods and overflows. As well-known, hydrotechnical equipment is exposed to destructive damages of the floods and overflows. The undersurface of bridge basement and coast guards are washed away, the surface of drainage devices in water supply and dams (Düker) at river crossings are opened up. Therefore, the protection of the equipment against the destructive damage of the floods and overflows should be ensured. To this aim, first of all, the depth of the fortification of the equipment basement in riverbeds and the width through which the river can flow should be determined and the works of installing coast guards should be accordingly implemented. Since the flow regime of rivers due to floods in the course of mountain riverbeds dramatically changes, the width, depth, roughness and cross-sectional area of the riverbed also changes. To that reason, in the smallest case, calculation formulas includes the average width and wash depth of the riverbed in the course of the floods and overflows, average diameter of undersurface soils, the slope of the location of hydrotechnical structures, velocity due to the average diameter of the riverbed soils and so on. The article contains the analyses of theoretical and practical materials about the floods and overflows in mountain rivers. For the rivers flowing through the southern hills of Great Caucasus Mountains, the expressions for determining the riverbed parameters and hydrological parameters of rivers are used. According to the expressions, average width due to non-washing of the riverbed in floods in accordance with flood flow and slope of the studied part of the riverbed, the average depth of the riverbed crossing the flood, the average velocity of the flow and the wash depth in accordance with them are determined. basing on all these, the determining method of the wash depth of mountain riverbeds in floods have been worked out and determining the wash depth have been recorded. The studied methodology can be used in determining the riverbed parameters in floods and overflows. Keywords: Flood, riverbed deformation, mountain river, wash depth, average diameter of undersurface sediments, riverbed stability, flood velocity

The Definition of Specific-Purpose English Language Competences Needed in Border Control and Their Development Potentials

The aim of this series of papers is to present modern methods of linguistics and language pedagogy concerning specific-purpose language competences and to describe the English competences EU border guards need for their work and international activities and to explore the prospects for their improvement. The first part discusses the dilemmas and methodology related to the definition of specific-purpose language competences, indispensable for language course design. The second and the third parts wish to prove that the ongoing FRONTEX project entitled English Communication for Border and Coast Guards very well illustrates how the new approach to needs analysis methods is used to define the English language skills needed for border control in the EU. Using the authentic material provided by border guards and the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, the author also makes an attempt to define the ESP competences at various levels, needed for their work, according to the categories used in applied linguistics. The second and the third parts discuss elementary and intermediate (A2/B1) and upper-intermediate (B2) EBG competences respectively.

EU Operational Powers and Legal Protection: A Legal Theory Perspective on the Operational Powers of the European Border and Coast Guard

AbstractFor the first time in its history, the EU is in the process of acquiring significant and genuine permanent operational powers. A new Regulation on the European Border and Coast Guard provides Frontex with a permanent corps of 10,000 border guards—3,000 of which will be EU agents—its own equipment, and its own competences to intervene along the EU borders and beyond. The operational powers will allow the EU to directly and physically intervene in tangible reality.This Article argues that the conferral of operational powers on the EU poses a risk to individual legal protection. This is because once authorities have acquired operational powers of a certain extent and quality, they can afford to act against or without the law by simply overpowering or eluding the legal mechanisms that normally constrain the exercise of public power. So far, Members of the European Parliament and academics critical of Frontex and the new Regulation have overlooked this issue and concentrated exclusively on how to legally constrain the exercise of operational powers. This Article addresses this blind spot by examining whether and how public law should place legal constraints not only on the exercise but also on the build-up of operational powers.

The US tri-service maritime strategy

The three US maritime services – the Navy, Marines Corps and Coast Guard – released a joint strategy in December 2020 describing their view of how to modernise their force structures and operational concepts, largely in response to the rise of China and the increasing use of long-range precision-strike capabilities. Among other things, the strategy calls for an emphasis on ‘day-to-day operations’ in situations short of crisis or war; for new types of expeditionary operations to deny adversaries access to the sea; and for investments in technologies such as advanced uninhabited platforms.

Взгляды Министерства обороны США на структуру, роль и предназначение Военно-морских сил в XXI веке

Object and purpose of research. The article is an extensive analytical review devoted to modern management decisions at the level of the government and the three key US naval services – the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, collectively known as the Naval Service, as well as the main trends in the development of the US Navy. Materials and methods. The study was carried out on the basis of the latest strategic documents defining the short-term and long-term plans for the US naval shipbuilding, adopted in 2020–2021. Main results. The main directions of the US Navy public funding are described in detail, the prospects for the development of the US navy and the possibilities of its rearmament are analyzed, the main competitor countries of the United States claiming control over the World Ocean and the Arctic are identified. Conclusion. The study makes it possible to adequately assess the scale of the current US administration's military plans related to future shipbuilding programs, taking into account Russia's military and strategic interests.

Sediment-laden sea ice in southern Hudson Bay: Entrainment, transport, and biogeochemical implications

During a research expedition in Hudson Bay in June 2018, vast areas of thick (>10 m), deformed sediment-laden sea ice were encountered unexpectedly in southern Hudson Bay and presented difficult navigation conditions for the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Amundsen. An aerial survey of one of these floes revealed a maximum ridge height of 4.6 m and an average freeboard of 2.2 m, which corresponds to an estimated total thickness of 18 m, far greater than expected within a seasonal ice cover. Samples of the upper portion of the ice floe revealed that it was isothermal and fresh in areas with sediment present on the surface. Fine-grained sediment and larger rocks were visible on the ice surface, while a pronounced sediment band was observed in an ice core. Initial speculation was that this ice had formed in the highly dynamic Nelson River estuary from freshwater, but δ18O isotopic analysis revealed a marine origin. In southern Hudson Bay, significant tidal forcing promotes both sediment resuspension and new ice formation within a flaw lead, which we speculate promotes the formation of this sediment-laden sea ice. Historic satellite imagery shows that sediment-laden sea ice is typical of southern Hudson Bay, varying in areal extent from 47 to 118 km2 during June. Based on an average sediment particle concentration of 0.1 mg mL–1 in sea ice, an areal extent of 51,924 km2 in June 2018, and an estimated regional end-of-winter ice thickness of 1.5 m, we conservatively estimated that a total sediment load of 7.8 × 106 t, or 150 t km–2, was entrained within sea ice in southern Hudson Bay during winter 2018. As sediments can alter carbon concentrations and light transmission within sea ice, these first observations of this ice type in Hudson Bay imply biogeochemical impacts for the marine system.

A Comparative Study of Statistical Techniques for Prediction of Meteorological and Oceanographic Conditions: An Application in Sea Spray Icing

Environmental conditions in Arctic waters pose challenges to various offshore industrial activities. In this regard, better prediction of meteorological and oceanographic conditions contributes to addressing the challenges by developing economic plans and adopting safe strategies. This study revolved around simulation of meteorological and oceanographic conditions. To this aim, the applications of Bayesian inference, as well as Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) methods including sequential importance sampling (SIS) and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) were studied. Three-hourly reanalysis data from the NOrwegian ReAnalysis 10 km (NORA10) for 33 years were used to evaluate the performance of the suggested simulation approaches. The data corresponding to the first 32 years were used to predict the meteorological and oceanographic conditions, and the data corresponding to the following year were used to model verification on a daily basis. The predicted meteorological and oceanographic conditions were then considered as inputs for the newly introduced icing model, namely Marine-Icing model for the Norwegian Coast Guard (MINCOG), to estimate sea spray icing in some regions of the Arctic Ocean, particularly in the sea area between Northern Norway and Svalbard archipelago. The results indicate that the monthly average absolute deviation (AAD) from reanalysis values for the MINCOG estimations with Bayesian, SIS, and MCMC inputs is not greater than 0.13, 0.22, and 0.41 cm/h, respectively.

Motor-Tanker Coimbra - The Million Gallon Gamble

ABSTRACT In January of 1942, the M/T COIMBRA, a British flag vessel, carrying 64,800 barrels of lubricating oil and fuel oil was torpedoed by the German submarine U-123. It sank 26 NM south of Shinnecock Inlet, NY. The vessel was classified by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as a Remediation of Underwater Legacy Environmental Threats (RULET) vessel and was ranked the second highest pollution threat in the First Coast Guard District area of responsibility and the highest for U. S. Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound. In 2015, Sector Long Island Sound started receiving pollution reports from the National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service (NESDIS) via NOAA of anomalies in the vicinity of the wreck location of M/T COIMBRA. The anomalies were later confirmed by U.S. Coast Guard overflights and surface sheen sampling as oil. The Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) determined that M/T COIMBRA posed a substantial threat to the environment and opened the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to complete an assessment and execute an oil removal operation from the vessel that was deteriorating on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean for 77 years. The vast number of unknowns, government regulations, technological challenges, varying weather patterns, diverse marine fauna, and lack of historical records about non-U.S. flagged vessels complicated the response to this pollution threat. Establishing a diverse team of professionals comprised of federal, academic, and state specialists, a detailed statement of work was created, and a contractor was chosen to complete objectives established by the FOSC. As a result of the operation, the U.S. Coast Guard determined the following: - Types and quantity of oil onboard the subject vessel- Best practices for the oil removal from an historic wreck- The impacts of salt water on the riveted hull structures- Challenges of the oil removal from various historical ship construction types A total of 81 out of 87 wrecks on the RULET database remain unassessed and unexplored in the United States alone. RULET wrecks and other historical polluting wrecks around the world may present a significant threat to the environment. The COIMBRA project answers some of the questions that will make future cases of these polluting historical wrecks more cost effective and less time consuming. In the best-case scenario this project will serve as an example for establishment of the framework for future projects of this nature.

Planning and Responding to a Petrochemical Disaster in the North American Inland Seas

The Great Lakes represent the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world along a 1,500 mile international boundary between the United States and Canada. A source of drinking water for 35 million people and a hub of unique biodiversity, a major petrochemical spill would be devastating. With the increase in pipeline activity due to regional tar sands drilling and the navigationally challenging waterways hosting an increasing stream of petrochemical commerce, risk to the Lakes is higher than ever. Given the Lake's closed-system nature and their geographic remoteness relative to current US and Canadian government and private sector assets, the current response posture is inadequate. As the primary maritime spill response agency in the United States, the US Coast Guard retains the mantle of prevention and planning for a Great Lakes petrochemical disaster. This paper seeks to examine the historic, current, and future states of the Great Lakes' oil-spill risk, in light of increased maritime commerce and recent spill “near-misses” regarding submerged pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac. The US Congress and the US Coast Guard have identified that the Great Lakes are not prepared for a large scale spill. Current resourcing levels and technology are insufficient, especially given the challenge of responding while the Lakes are frozen for a substantial portion of the year. With resources focused on the prospect of disaster in salt water regions, the “inland seas” of the Great Lakes receive too little attention. After identifying the evolution of Great Lakes spill prevention and response policy, this paper will apply the Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon spill as a case study into what spill response would look like on the Great Lakes. Given the authors' expansive experience as an operator during that historic spill and current commander of one of two US oil spill response assets in the Great Lakes, this paper will also identify remaining challenges to an effective spill response policy, and conclude with recommendations on how to tackle the response issues identified. The US Congress recently established the US Coast Guard's National Center of Expertise for the Great Lakes and one of their primary tasks is to analyze the effect of a spill in freshwater and develop an appropriate response plan. By attempting to identify critical gaps, this paper seeks to advance government and industry's ability to posture the region swiftly in the face of a growing threat and assist in the Center's work.

Post-Deepwater Horizon Dispersant Use Planning in Hawaii with a Focus on Science-based Stakeholder Participation and Endangered Species Act Section 7 Consultation.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and US Coast Guard (USCG) recognize that use of dispersants is a viable option in conjunction with, or in lieu of, mechanical or other types of recovery. Working with the USCG, EPA initiated two projects in Hawai'i in support of a recently-revised Hawai'i Dispersant Use Plan (the Plan) that addresses the pre-authorized use of dispersants in marine waters offshore of Hawaii. A process to evaluate a response option must balance the restoration of maritime commerce and the minimization of environmental damage of an oil spill with the imperative to (1) remove the maximum amount of oil from the environment (2) as rapidly as possible while (3) producing the minimum environmental collateral damage. The “big tent” approach of Net Environmental Benefit Analysis (NEBA), bringing in subject matter experts (SMEs) and stakeholders from various interest groups, i.e., marine industry, environmentalists, oil spill response organizations (OSROs), historic specialists, Native Hawai'i cultural specialists, economic specialists, etc., is critical to getting stakeholder buy in and insuring a proper, scientific rigorous approach to evaluating these critical technologies for use. The process used here for creating and evaluating the Plan by utilizing a NEBA in support of a Biological Evaluation for the Endangered Species Act, Section 7 Consultation, is an efficient and proper way to evaluate dispersants and other “hot button” response technologies for use in an oil spill impacted environment.

United States and Canada Transboundary Oil Spill Liability and Compensation Regimes: An Overview

Abstract # —1141278 — In 2018, the Canadian government purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline, running from Alberta to British Columbia, along with the plans for expansion. The expansion could triple the transport capacity from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels of oil per day, and would increase the tanker traffic in the inland waterways of the Salish Sea, an area known for its sensitive marine habitat, and narrow, difficult to navigate passages. The anticipated increase in tanker traffic in this busy waterway continues to raise concerns about the impact of an oil spill and the financial means to address related injuries, particularly to natural resources. The transboundary nature of any spill further complicates the situation vis-à-vis the applicable liability regimes and response resources. Under the Canada-United States Joint Marine Contingency Plan (“JCP”), the United States Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard acknowledge each country's responsibility to fund their own response actions and pursue reimbursement of those costs within their respective jurisdictions. The availability of funding for a response, and to compensate injured parties, however, including the limits of liability of the responsible party, differs under each regime, and could impact the nature and scope of a response. For spills into or posing a substantial threat to the navigable waters of the United States, the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 governs and a national fund, the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund (“OSLTF”), is immediately available to address an incident, including emergency restoration to natural resources. Canada's Marine Liability Act enables the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund (“SOPF”) to pay claimants who have incurred damages as a result of oil pollution. Both countries' funds operate under the same principal—the polluter pays—but the compensation structure, and claims processes and procedures are entirely different. This paper provides an overview of these funding sources and claims procedures, comparing and contrasting the different systems. The discussion is meant to provide an overall understanding of potential funding pools available for spill responses under each scheme in order to facilitate transboundary spill planning and discussion.

Current and Proposed Efforts to Resolve HSPD-5 and NCP Authorities (NIC and PFO)

ABSTRACT During the evening of 20 April, 2010 U.S. Coast Guard District Eight Command Center watch standers received a report of an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon (DWH), an oil rig working on the Macondo oil well approximately 42 miles Southeast of Venice, LA (OSC Report, 2011). The explosion on board the DWH and resulting fires eventually destroyed the oil rig and caused it to sink into the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven crewmembers lost their lives in the tragic events that unfolded that night, and one of the nation's largest environmental disasters would soon follow. Estimates of the oil discharged from the Macondo oil well were between 12,000 and 25,000 barrels per day, and the response involved approximately 47,000 oil spill response personnel, 6,870 vessels, approximately 4.12 million feet of boom, and 17,500 National Guard personnel, five states (OSC Report, 2011). The massive oil spill lasted 87 days and estimates suggest that more than 200 million gallons of oil was discharged into the Gulf of Mexico, which stands as the largest oil spill event in U.S. history. From these massive response operations came important lessons learned for SONS event planning, preparedness, and response, as it became apparent during DWH response operations that oil spill response governance and doctrine was not well understood across the whole-of-government. This issue was well documented in the National Incident Commander's report and several recommendations were identified to address this issue. This paper will explore the steps taken within the U.S. Coast Guard's (USCG) SONS Exercise and Training Program to promote a better understanding of oil spill response governance and doctrine among Cabinet-level senior leadership and the interagency representatives that will ultimately be involved when the next SONS event happens.

OILMAP and ArcGIS provide qualitative validation of USCG Sector Geographic Response Strategies

Abstract With the promulgation of the Coast Guard's requirement for Geographic Response Strategies (GRS) Tiered Validation levels, oil spill modeling transitioned from being a reactive tool to a predictive instrument that can guide the placement of limited mission critical resources (boom, boats, personnel, skimmers, etc.) based on threats from current or forecasted operations. In collaboration with the RPS Group, the Coast Guard's Sector Delaware Bay and District Five, members of the Coast Guard Academy employed the OILMAP Oil Spill Modelling Program with ArcGIS to test and validate operational Area Contingency Plan's (ACP) Geographic Response Strategies (GRS). OILMAP is a rapid and effective modelling system that allows for accurate observation of oil movement and weathering. The scenarios were manipulated to effectively test the booming strategies currently in place and worst-case winds at 5 and 10 knots were utilized. The project also identified discrepancies with projected strategies due to changes in the environment. In subsequent studies, the OILMAP output layers of shoreline oiling and oil particle location were combined with the publicly available Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) shoreline data to quantify the impact of booming strategies. The success observed in both the qualitative and quantitative analysis show great promise in the future of establishing a methodology to optimize booming strategies based on data-driven scenarios tailored to each unique spill, season and weather condition.

Hurricane Irma–Navy's Displaced Vessel and Oil Spill Response

On the evening of 09–10 September 2017, the Florida Keys were pummeled by Hurricane Irma - a Category 4 storm that was the fifth-costliest hurricane to hit mainland United States, causing an estimated $50 billion in damages, and 34 lives lost in Florida alone. In the Keys, approximately 1350 boats were destroyed or damaged, and approximately 2000 boats were removed from the waters and shorelines from a Unified Command (UC) comprised of U.S. Coast Guard, EPA and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission funded from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), under an ESF10 Mission Assignment to remove those vessels displaced from the storm where they had sunk, submerged, or been stranded along the shoreline. On September 28, 2017, the UC decided that boats that were on federal property were the responsibility of that agency to manage, and furthermore, since each of these boats had batteries and in most cases fuel on board they posed an immediate hazardous substance and/or oil spill threat, so requested that Navy undertake operations immediately as the lead FOSC to address each of the vessels sunk, submerged, stranded or otherwise displaced on Navy property in the Key West area. On October 1, 2017, the Navy On-Scene Coordinator Representative (NOSC-R) from Navy Region Southeast (NRSE) deployed to Naval Air Station Key West (NASKW) to manage the response. Once adequate funds were identified and secured, NRSE contracted Navy Supervisor of Salvage (SUPSALV), who quickly arrived on-scene with a contracted private salvor. Operations fell into several stages: locating each vessel on NASKW property and determining its condition; identifying each owner/representative; retrieval and temporary storage of each vessel or its remains on Navy property; contacting vessel owners/representatives to making arrangements for owner or insurance company to retrieve the vessel, or surrender it to Navy custody for final destruction at Navy's expense. A number of challenges arose during this response: finding adequate funds at the end of a fiscal year for an un-programmed multi-million dollar project; identifying owners and contact information; negotiating final disposition of each vessel; allowing owners access to vessels stored on Navy property. After 9 weeks of vessel location and identification, and owner notifications, 15 vessels were retrieved by owners, 13 vessels were towed away or otherwise removed by owner insurance companies, and 52 were barged off to a boatyard for final destruction at Navy's expense. In total, $3M was spent by Navy for this operation.

Communicating Internally and Externally during a Response: Life's Lessons Over 32+ years…

ABSTRACT The author has served over 32 years with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) first in the role of Scientific Support Coordinator (SSC) for 28 years and then as a supervisor of SSCs for five years. During this period, he participation in hundreds of actual emergency response events and exercises. He had numerous opportunities to witness both effective and not-so-effective methods of communicating, within a command post situation with other responders and incident command staff, and externally with the general public and media. The effective delivery of a message is greatly affected by circumstances under which you are operating, with whom you are talking, the information or message you are conveying, and the situation surrounding the event. Over many years, the author has gained practical experience through a variety of learning opportunities including professional development programs and on-the-job. His insights on effective communications are provided in this paper to show how messages can be delivered effectively, heard clearly and understood. Practical “tips,” best practices, anecdotes, and concrete examples will be shared to help ensure your message is heard and understood. The author provides examples drawn from actual incidents including the Deepwater Horizon, MT Heibi Spirit, TS Athos I, as well as exercises including PREPs, EcoCanal, and SONS. In addition to these incidents, exercises and drills, the author has continued to expand his knowledge through classes presented by leading subject matter experts involved with the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, National Academy of Science, US Coast Guard, and NOAA.

Pollution From Commercial Vessels Machinery Space Bilges

Abstract Over the past decade, the United States Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England (SENE) along with state and local partner agencies in the New Bedford, Massachusetts area have been attempting to understand commercial vessel's inability to comply with the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) regarding oily bilge waste and proper disposal options. The regulations have been in effect since 1983 requiring oceangoing vessels of less than 400 gross tons to have the capacity to retain all oily mixtures onboard or install an approved oily water separator (OWS) equipment for processing oily mixtures from bilges. New Bedford, MA is the homeport to over 400 commercial fishing vessels within a 2 square mile port area. The circumstances in New Bedford are considered to be representative of most ports for vessels less than 400 gross tons nationwide. Sector SENE has used various mechanisms to educate the local commercial vessel fleet owners and operators. The education includes the issuance of Marine Safety Information Bulletin 03-18 by Coast Guard Headquarters (United States Coast Guard, 2018). In 2012, the Partner Agency - Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection created and funded the Bilge-Pump-Out Program. This voluntary program provides commercial vessels with free oily bilge waste disposal services. Previously, there was no established “permanent” solution to the pervasive oily discharge problem and bad practice of illegally disposing of oily waste directly from commercial vessel bilges overboard into U.S. navigable waterways. In conjunction with local authorities having jurisdiction, Sector SENE began a focused pollution prevention and enforcement effort. Several pollution cases were forwarded to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and fines of over 1 million dollars have been issued for the illegal practices. The culmination of educational outreach, surge operations and coordinated interagency efforts have led to the initial levels of compliance.

The Marine Salvage Industry: Proven in Preventing Oil Spills

Abstract The marine salvage industry plays a vital role in protecting the marine environment. Governments, industry and the public, worldwide, now place environmental protection as the driving objective, second only to the safety of life, during a marine casualty response operation. Recognizing over 20 years after the passage of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 that the effectiveness of mechanical on-water oil recovery remains at only about 10 to 25 percent while the international salvage industry annually prevents over a million tons of pollutants from reaching the world's oceans, ten years ago the United States began implementing a series of comprehensive salvage and marine firefighting regulations in an effort to improve the nation's environmental protection regime. These regulations specify desired response timeframes for emergency salvage services, contractual requirements, and criteria for evaluating the adequacy of a salvage and marine firefighting service provider. In addition to this effort to prevent surface oil spills, in 2016, the U.S. Coast Guard also recognized the salvage industries advancements in removing oil from sunken ships and recovering submerged pollutants, issuing Oil Spill Removal Organization (OSRO) classification standards for companies that have the capabilities to effectively respond to non-floating oils. Ten years after the implementation of the U.S. salvage and marine firefighting regulatory framework, this paper will review the implementation of the U.S. salvage and marine firefighting regulations and non-floating oil detection and recovery requirements; analyze the impacts and effectiveness of these new policies; and present several case studies and recommendations to further enhance salvage and oil spill response effectiveness.