6/8/2016
At 183 pages, Guide to Oil Spill Response in Snow and Ice Conditions provides a unique insight into the issues and strategies surrounding the challenge of spill response in the Arctic. Commissioned by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Arctic Council working group for Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR) from a team comprising Owens Coastal Consultants and DF Dickins Associates, it will be supplemented by a companion volume to be issued shortly by IMO that includes the Antarctic and other subarctic areas affected by ice. It can be downloaded here.
The objective of the Arctic version of the IMO guide is to identify and describe those aspects of planning and operations that are directly associated with a response to an Arctic oil spill in ice and snow conditions. Response strategies to deal with Arctic oil spills in summer open-water conditions are not considered in the guide.
6/1/2016
From Duluth to Philadelphia and parts farther yet came a plan Tuesday to rescue the freighter Roger Blough from its grounding in the far eastern edge of Lake Superior.
A pair of other Great Lakes Fleet freighters — the Arthur M. Anderson and Philip R. Clarke — will converge on the site of the Blough in Whitefish Bay beginning Thursday, said Mitch Koslow, vice president of engineering for Keystone Shipping Co. in Philadelphia, the central office for the ship’s operator.
Simply, the plan will be to offload iron ore onto the other vessels from the Blough at its currently grounded state near the Gros Cap Reefs, about 10 miles west of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., and the Soo Locks.
5/26/2016
Boats and oil-containment booms will fill a portion of the St. Clair River in Marysville Wednesday — but there's no cause for concern.
The U.S. Coast Guard is leading a training exercise in response to a simulated 200,000-gallon leak from an Enbridge pipeline.
U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Ben Chamberlain said the exercise will run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The exercise will include creation of a unified command; establishing incident planning, finance, logistics and public information components; multi-agency coordination; and oil recovery strategies.