NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Monday, July 19, 2010
INCIDENTS
Gulf Coast Parks
Cleanup And Monitoring Continue At Gulf Parks
There are approximately 250 people working 24 hours a day to clean the beaches along the gulf shore. Some worked this past weekend under a black flag warning and a heat index of 137° F. They are armed with shovels, plastic bags and improvised tools as they work their way along Perdido Key in Gulf Islands National Seashore, scraping oil stained sand off the beach, one shovel scoop at a time, and putting each into a plastic bag. Once filled, each bag weighs 10 to 12 pounds. A pile can reach 80 bags before it is picked up by utility terrain vehicles (UTVs). In the three days after Tropical Storm Alex, these crews filled over 18,000 bags - a total of 216,000 pounds of oiled sand, all collected by hand. Dave Stout, task force leader for Perdido Key, makes a point of saying “thank you” to each and every one of the workers as he greets them. He also tells them that the work that they are doing is important, that endangered species including sea turtles and nesting birds are depending on them to get the sand clean, and that 300 million Americans are cheering them on. Visitors to the beach are starting to notice how clean the sand is looking and Stout is quick to remind them that the progress is due to his crews working 12 hour shifts in difficult conditions. It might also be in part to Dave Stout's leadership on the beach. Meanwhile, here's what's been going on in the affected parks:
Gulf Islands NS - Over the weekend, thunderstorms briefly delayed work in the Mississippi District as crews were evacuated from the beaches due to lightning. Plans called for beach cleaning machines to work in the Fort Pickens area last night to separate tar products from sand. These machines scrape the top two to three inches of sand from the beach and sift out larger particles and debris, replacing the sand back onto the beach. More information about the process will be available in tomorrow's report.
South Florida Parks (Big Cypress, Biscayne, Desoto, Dry Tortugas, Everglades) - Staff at the South Florida incident command post continue to monitor oil spill impacts and keep the south Florida parks informed. Over the past few days, incident managers have developed a plan to continue to consolidate incident resources and identify continuing roles of incident and regular NPS employees involved in the oil spill operation. No oil is expected to make landfall in the near future. There are now 29 samples awaiting analysis at or en route to the USCG Marine Safety Lab. None of the previously submitted 174 samples have shown any association with the current spill. Two boats - the Fish Finder and the Ocean Star - continue on sentry duty northwest of Dry Tortugas. Another, the Becker, is in Key West re-provisioning and will put to sea on Tuesday. Observation flights were made yester by two HH-60 helicopters along the western coast of the Florida Peninsula, an HC-144 over the northern part of the gulf, and a Falcon flight along the Keys and to the west of the Tortugas. A C-130 flight was cancelled due to a maintenance problem. Neither boats nor aircraft spotted any oil.
Jean Lafitte NHP&P - A meeting was held by park and regional managers on Thursday to discuss the status of the park's response, its ongoing needs, and future remediation possibilities for coastal Louisiana.
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.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.nps.gov/aboutus/oil-spill-response.htm" NPS Oil Spill Response
HYPERLINK "http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/site/2931/" National Oil Spill Response
HYPERLINK "http://www.restorethegulf.gov/" Restore The Gulf
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]
Rocky Mountain NP
Rhode Island Man Killed In Fall On Longs Peak
The body of a 29-year-old man from Rhode Island was found by a hiker along the Keyhole Route around the 13,000-foot elevation on Longs Peak early on the morning of Friday, July 16th. He evidently fell from 250 to 300 feet to his death. A park trail crew that was camping near the Boulderfield was on scene within two hours; rangers were flown to Boulderfield and hiked in, joining the trail crew around 11 a.m. The man's body was flown out and transferred to the county coroner. The victim was in a hiking party with three others, who had stayed behind at their backcountry camping site at the Boulderfield and were not with him at the time of the accident. [Kyle Patterson, Public Affairs Officer]
Rocky Mountain NP
Injured Climber Evacuated From Longs Peak
W.E., 27, of nearby Boulder, Colorado, was on a technical climb on Stettner's Ledges near Mills Glacier on Longs Peak on Saturday afternoon when he took a 20-foot lead fall, seriously injuring both ankles. Two rangers on backcountry patrol near the summit of Longs Peak reached W.E. within a little over two hours, picking up search and rescue gear at the nearby Chasm shelter on the way. W.E.'s climbing partner had safely lowered him another three pitches, making it easier for rangers to assist him. Although W.E. could not put weight on his feet, he and his climbing partner tried to move as far down on the snowfield as possible. The two rangers, assisted by eight other climbers who were in the area, carried gear and the litter with W.E. on it to a helicopter landing zone near Chasm Lake. A Flight for Life helicopter from St. Anthony's Hospital then flew W.E. to Boulder Community Hospital. The rangers have expressed their gratitude for the assistance they received from climbers in the area. Although all of the climbers happened to be from Boulder, they were all in different groups. The rescue efforts made for a long day for the climbers, as they had all left the Longs Peak trailhead before dawn. Their assistance to park rangers in carrying W.E. to the landing zone enabled the helicopter to be able to fly out during daylight hours. Because of their assistance, additional park staff did not have to hike to the area, allowing them to focus on other operations on a busy Saturday in July in the park. [Kyle Patterson, Public Affairs Officer]
Colonial NHP
Rangers, Deputies Rescue Woman With Slashed Wrists
York County dispatch received a call from a motorist around 11 p.m. on July 13th, reporting that a woman with blood dripping from her wrists was walking on the Colonial Parkway near the Indian Fields Creek pullout. Responding deputies came upon a woman near that location who claimed to be the victim's friend. She said that her friend had cut herself on purpose and that she'd last been seen walking toward the York River. Rangers and deputies found the victim in the tree line near the river. The woman, who was unconscious but responsive to painful stimuli, had numerous cuts on her left wrist with arterial bleeding. She was taken to Mary Immaculate Hospital, where a ranger interviewed both her and her friend. The victim said that she'd cut herself because her friend had left her alone, that she had a history of being a cutter, and that she was not trying to commit suicide. She was held for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries and for mental evaluation. [Steven Williams, Chief Ranger]
Yellowstone NP
Iowa Angler Dies After Falling Into Yellowstone River
F.J., 65, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was fishing in the Yellowstone River Thursday near Mud Volcano. Around noon, he lost his footing while attempting to walk out to a small island in the middle of the river and was quickly carried away by the strong current. Rangers, responding to a call from a witness to the incident, discovered the man nearly six miles downstream, lying face down in the water along the river bank north of Elk Antler Creek. Members of the park's technical rescue team, who are trained in swiftwater rescue, pulled him from the river. After he was examined by paramedics, F.J. was declared dead at the scene. The accident is being investigated. [Al Nash, 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 home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):
National Parks of New York Harbor - A Gibson Les Paul guitar called "The Spirit of America," specially made from materials preserved from the 1986 restoration of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, has been placed on display at Ellis Island. It is the second in a series of 50 works of art (one for each of the 50 states) that will be made from these materials.
Office of Public Affairs - Eight people have been recognized this year for their leadership and work in the field of natural resources management. Photo.
Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs - This week's update on past and upcoming hearings and the status of legislation pertinent to the National Park Service.
US Park Police - Jeff Wasserman has been promoted to captain in the Park Police and has been named the regional law enforcement specialist for Pacific West Region. Photo.
Grand Teton NP - Michael Nash has been selected as the park's chief ranger. He will assume his new duties in early August. 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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