NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
INCIDENTS
Gulf Coast Parks
Large Pool Of Oil Found On Cat Island
Cleanup at Gulf Islands went well yesterday due to good weather, but a survey team has found an unusually large pool of oil on Cat Island that will prove challenging to remove. Here are the details:
Gulf Islands NS - During aerial survey work over the islands in the Mississippi District on Saturday, NPS staff observed an unusually large pool of oil on the west side of Cat Island. While crews have grown accustomed to finding tar balls, tar patties and other weathered oil products scattered in the sand, this deposit was nearly 10 meters across, 20 meters long and appeared to be several inches deep in the center. The cleanup of this area will be delicate work, as the pool backs up to a salt marsh. There is a beach landing 100 meters from the site just big enough for a small crew to land without trampling the grass. The site was reported to the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and the state of Mississippi, who are working with SCAT teams to develop a specific strategy for the cleanup effort to include pom-poms to absorb liquid oil and hand tools to remove oiled sand. No mechanized equipment will be allowed on site. All material will be packed in and out on foot. Once the plan is approved by the National Park Service and other land agencies, it will be handed over to a trained group of qualified community responders under the guidance of National Park Service staff for cleaning. Meanwhile, yesterday's good weather allowed crews to continue to make impressive progress in cleaning up tar products on the park's beaches. The surface areas at the Santa Rosa beaches are in excellent condition and considerable progress has been made cleaning the Fort Pickens beach areas. No new oil was reported today. One partially decomposed and oiled bird was reported and removed by a FWS crew at Fort Pickens.
South Florida Parks (Big Cypress, Biscayne, Desoto, Dry Tortugas, Everglades) - No new developments.
Jean Lafitte NHP&P - No new developments.
Padre Island NS - No new developments.
For more information on the NPS, DOI and national oil spill responses and for a link to the BP online oil spill safety training needed by all incident staff, please see the following sites:
HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/aboutus/oil-spill-response.htm" NPS Oil Spill Response
HYPERLINK "http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doctype/2931/53023/" Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response
HYPERLINK "http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/index.cfm" DOI Oil Spill Response
HYPERLINK "http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/site/2931/" National Oil Spill Response
HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Conferences&id=1957" Oil Spill Safety Training
HYPERLINK "http://www.geoplatform.gov/gulfresponse/" GeoPlatform
HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custommenu.cfm?lv=3&prg=1006&id=9336" NPS ICS 209 Incident Status Summaries
HYPERLINK "http://classicinside.nps.gov/documents/NPS%20-%20Public%20Health%20Notice%20SIGNAGE%206-26-10.pdf" Gulf Islands Public Health Precautions Notice
HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/archive/features/oilspillresponse/OilSpillSafety/index.htm" Public Health Service Oil Spill Safety Video
HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/archive/features/oilspillresponse/" Oil Spill Media Page
[Andy L. Fisher, Gulf Coast Oil Spill Response]
Denali NP&P
Off-Duty Ranger Saves Young Boy's Life
Tucker Chenoweth, a veteran seasonal mountaineering ranger at Denali National Park and Preserve, recently returned to the park's mountaineering base of operations in Talkeetna following a grueling three week patrol on Mt. McKinley. During the patrol, his team was involved in numerous SAR operations and provided EMS care to multiple climbers at the 14,000-foot Ranger Camp. Following such stints on McKinley, mountaineering rangers staff the Talkeetna Ranger Station, providing orientation and other services to incoming expeditions. On June 28th, Chenoweth was off duty and enjoying a dinner with his fiancé at the Wildflower Cafe in Talkeetna when a 12-year-old boy began showing signs of distress. Chenoweth determined that the boy, who had run out of the restaurant with his mother, was unable to breathe due to a food obstruction. Tucker quickly performed the Heimlich maneuver on the boy, standing behind him and employing five or six progressively stronger thrusts to his abdomen until a large chunk of steak was dislodged. The boy's grateful, yet still-distressed family bought Tucker and his party a few beers for his prompt intervention and life-saving efforts. Names were not exchanged with the vacationing family. Just all in a day's work for Chenoweth. [Pete Armington, Chief Ranger]
Yosemite NP
Climber Killed In Fall From Eichorn Pinnacle
On the afternoon of July 9th, rangers received a report that a climber had fallen approximately 400 to 500 feet from Eichorn Pinnacle on Cathedral Peak in the Tuolumne Meadows Subdistrict. Rangers responded by helicopter and quickly located the climber, identified as C.C., 31. C.C. had fallen approximately 300 feet and sustained fatal injuries. Her body was removed from the scene via short-haul by a park contract helicopter. Investigators determined that C.C., along with a small group of other climbers, had been free soloing, and that she had slipped and been unable to recover while descending. C.C. was a respected member of the Yosemite climbing community, a PhD student at Stanford University, past co-president of the Stanford Alpine Club, and an instructor with the Stanford Outdoor Education Program. [Kevin Killian, Mather District Ranger]
Padre Island NS
Woman Drowns Off South Beach
Ranger Perky Wheeler was flagged down and contacted by a visitor on South Beach on the morning of July 7th regarding a missing swimmer. Wheeler then contacted the woman's husband, who said that he'd last seen her about ten minutes prior to Wheeler's arrival. Wheeler requested assistance and was joined by rangers Heather Honnold and DeDe Mladucky. When they arrived, Wheeler advised them that he'd spotted the missing woman about 100 yards offshore and 100 yards south of the point where she'd last been seen. Rangers and visitors pulled the woman from the water and immediately started CPR. Corpus Christi fire and ALS personnel arrived on scene about 30 minutes later and continued efforts while en route to a local hospital. The 58-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the hospital. [DeDe Mladucky, Chief Ranger]
Golden Gate NRA
Suicide Victim Found Below Muir Beach Overlook
While closing up the Muir Beach overlook parking lot on the evening of June 29th, ranger Sarah Cavallaro came upon an unoccupied vehicle that had been locked in the previous night. Cavallaro searched the area in an effort to find the owner. After checking the trails and associated military bunkers, she went back to the vehicle and asked park dispatch to run the registered owner's name. The name came back as a missing person and Cavallaro also learned that the owner had attempted to purchase a handgun in Daly City the previous day. Supervisory ranger Pat Norton had Cavallaro open the vehicle; when she did so, she found a handwritten note that had been notarized, alluding to a possible suicide. Additional rangers and a United States Park Police canine officer arrived and continued to search the immediate area while a helicopter flew to the area to assist in the search. The dog led the rangers and officer to the end of the overlook, but the helicopter was unable to locate anyone in the area. The search continued until midnight. At approximately 6 a.m., members of the Marin County Search and Rescue Team and rangers began a search of the trails, cliff sides and the ocean waters below. Lifeguards launched a personal watercraft around 9:30 a.m. and began searching the water and coastline. Within an hour, they'd found a man's body face down on the jagged rock outcroppings approximately 850 feet below the end of the overlook. Park lifeguards and the Marin SAR team recovered the body. A detective from the U.S. Park Police criminal investigations branch is working with the coroner's office to positively identify the victim. [Kim Coast, Acting Chief Ranger]
Grand Canyon NP
Body Found Below Moran Point
Park dispatch received a call just after 9 p.m. on Sunday evening reporting that a man had been seen getting out of his car at Moran Point, climbing over a retaining wall, then lying down at the edge of the canyon. When rangers got there, they found the car, but no sign of the man witnesses had described. Further investigation had to be postponed until daylight. Rangers found the car still parked at the point on Monday morning, with no sign of the man in the area, so a search was begun below the rim. Based on evidence found there, they called in the park's helicopter to reconnoiter the area. The man's body was spotted about 250 feet below the rim at noon. The body has been recovered and an investigation is underway. [Shannan Marcak, Public Affairs Officer]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" home page. Non-NPS employees can see most (but not all) of them at HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" NPS Digest:
Fort Raleigh NHS - The First Colony Foundation recently conducted archaeological research at Fort Raleigh NHS. Among the items discovered were Indian pottery sherds, flakes of flint and, most interestingly, small blue and white 16th century Venetian glass beads.
Workplace Enrichment - The NPS has had a child care subsidy program in place since 2004, but the program is not well-known. Details are provided.
Climate Change Response - From the temperature tolerance of moose to solar energy, 26 young scholars will tackle research and education projects to help national park managers look at the effects of climate change this summer.
San Francisco Maritime NHP - Al Lutz, a master mariner who for 17 years was skipper of the historic sailing scow schooner Alma, berthed at San Francisco Maritime, died on June 27th after a long battle with cancer. He was 55.
NPS Alumni - Walt Dabney, past NPS chief ranger and superintendent and current state parks director for Texas Parks and Wildlife, will retire from his second career with that agency on August 31st. Photo.
NPS incident submission standards can be found online at the HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custompages.cfm?prg=45&id=8728&lv=2&pgid=3504" serious incident notification web page.
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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).
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