NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

BLACKBERRY EDITION

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

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INCIDENTS

Gateway NRA

Funeral Held for Joseph Sordi

The funeral for park maintenance employee Joseph (Joe) Sordi was held on Saturday, December 10th. Joe died on the morning of Tuesday, December 6th, from injuries sustained while working on snow removal operations in the Staten Island Unit. The accident occurred at a New York City Department of Sanitation depot where road salt was being loaded onto an NPS truck. Northeast Regional Director Mary Bomar accompanied Gateway NRA General Superintendent Barry Sullivan and scores of NPS employees attended the funeral mass. Joseph Sordi Jr., the eldest son of J.S. and S.S., recognized the National Park Service as his father's newest family, expressing his appreciation for the help and support the family had received from the NPS since the accident. Over the two-day wake, hundreds of NPS employees from numerous parks paid their respects, the NPS honor guard provided honor watch during the wake and formal escort during the funeral ceremony, and the US Park Police provided vehicle escorts and support. Immediately following the accident, NPS Director Fran Mainella called the Sordi family at home and expressed her condolences on behalf of the entire NPS to Joe's widow, S. and their son, J. NPS critical incident stress management peer supporters traveled to Gateway to offer support to the family, members of Joe's work team, and many other employees at the park who have been impacted by his death. The NPS serious accident investigation team (SAIT) in now in the park reviewing the circumstances surrounding the accident. [Phil Sheridan, Public Affairs Officer, NERO]

Yellowstone NP

Sentencing for Aggravated DUI

Mammoth rangers arrested an intoxicated driver on December 6th after receiving a report regarding same from the North Entrance Station. Two days later, the defendant entered into a plea agreement with the US Attorney's Office and plead guilty to DUI and driving while suspended. The man had ten prior DUI convictions, two active arrest warrants out against him for DUI from Montana, and another active DUI warrant from New Mexico. He was sentenced to six months (180 days) in federal prison and remanded to the custody of the US Marshal. He was also fined $2,000, placed on five years federal probation, and will be turned over to respective state authorities at the end of his federal jail sentence. This was the 257th DUI prosecution in Yellowstone over the past four years. [Brian Smith, Special Agent in Charge]

Glen Canyon NRA

Suicide in Park

On December 7th, rangers and Coconino County deputies investigated a report of an apparent suicide that had occurred in a semi-remote area of the park that borders BLM land. A local cattle rancher had found a 64-year-old man from Page, Arizona, dead in his vehicle with a gunshot wound to his head. He'd also apparently shot and killed a pet dog that was found near him inside the vehicle. The man had emptied two five-gallon cans of gasoline on the vehicle's engine and throughout the interior of the vehicle, but it had failed to ignite. No suicide note was found. A joint NPS-county investigation continues. [Mark Law, Law Enforcement Specialist]

OPERATIONAL NOTES

DOI Watch Center

Phone Number Change

The Department of Interior Emergency Reporting System number has changed. The correct number for reporting serious accidents and fatalities (per the DM 485 definition) is now 877-246-1373. Please note this change. [Louis Rowe, Deputy, Risk Management, WASO]

FLETC

Environmental Crime Prosecution

In order to assist field staff with the successful prosecution of environmental crimes, the NPS Law Enforcement Training Center has posted a listing of assistant US attorneys with training and experience in environmental crimes. The list is located on the NPS-LETC website at                 HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custommenu.cfm?lv=3&prg=605&id=3923" http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custommenu.cfm?lv=3&prg=605&id=3923 [Greg Jackson, FLETC)

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Prepared by Visitor and Resource Protection, WASO, with the cooperation and support of Delaware Water Gap NRA.

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