NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Monday, October 4, 2010

INCIDENTS

Gulf Coast Parks

Spill Responders Focus On Oil Recovery And Restoration

SCAT is not what you think it is - at least not in the Deepwater Horizon unified area command in New Orleans and at branch operations in Alabama. Stage 1 and 2 of the oil spill incident focused on the emergency nature of capping the well and recovering oil; the UAC now is overseeing Stage 3, recovering oil and beginning restoration. The NPS is playing a vital role in the restoration of sensitive lands, providing oversight on cleanup issues, and supporting the natural resource damage assessment and restoration work. The shoreline cleanup assessment technique (SCAT) has captured the hopes of elected officials and Gulf Coast residents for oil removal from beaches, marshes, wetlands, and ocean. The process is spearheaded by BP following a process established by EPA and NOAA. It uses multiple agency professionals, including many from the NPS, to conduct scientific evaluations, develop criteria to clean sensitive lands, and manage an active outreach campaign. SCAT for a specific area leads to shoreline treatment recommendations (STR). Crews using an STR clean an area to the collective satisfaction of the team and community officials. This is an ongoing process with no end date. Clean up at Gulf Islands National Seashore is conducted using SCAT and STRs. Daily summaries report on the successful collection of oil debris, a term used for the mass of sand, tar balls and oil mousse. Archeologists and wilderness experts assist in the development of the SCAT and STRs. The oil debris collected on Tuesday, September 28th, on the Mississippi islands of Petit Bois, Horn, West and East Ship, and Cat islands came to 25,690 pounds. On the Florida areas of Opal Beach/Santa Rosa, Ft. Pickens and Johnson Beach/Perdido Key, the yield was 12,955 pounds. Since August 14th, more than 400,000 pounds of oil debris have been collected in Florida, with another 351,000 pounds of oil debris collected in Mississippi.

For more information on current operations, click on the NPS, DOI and national oil spill response pages:

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

[Holly Bundock, Gulf Coast Oil Spill Response]

Yosemite NP

Surprise Bus Inspection Held In Park

Yosemite National Park, in conjunction with the California Highway Patrol, held a surprise inspection of all commercial for hire multiple passenger tour buses on Friday, September 24th. The purpose of this unannounced inspection was to ensure visitor safety through safe operation of tour buses. The goal of these unannounced inspections is to reduce chances of crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving tour buses bringing passengers into the park. Roadside inspections adhere to the guidelines of the North American Standard for bus safety. There are five levels of inspections, including a vehicle component, a driver component, or a combination of both. Inspections are designed to determine if buses are in compliance with federal motor carrier safety regulations. Violations may result in fines or taking a bus out of service immediately. Yosemite receives approximately four million visitors per year, with approximately 300,000 of these people arriving on tour buses. The large majority of tour bus passengers are international visitors from countries such as Japan, Korea, Germany, and England. Many of these visitors come to Yosemite in conjunction with visiting other parts of California. It is a primary concern of the NPS that these visitors are safe during their travels in the park. Further, the extensive travels of international visitors throughout the state affords the opportunity for cooperating agencies to work together to promote bus safety. Yosemite National Park and the CHP strive to ensure visitor safety and appreciate the mutual support of the other agencies involved in these surprise bus inspections. On the day of inspection, rangers and CHP officers examined 30 commercial buses. Out of the 30 inspections conducted, 18 buses were found to be safe, with no violations, and were released without citation. A total of 12 minor “fix-it” tickets were written. Of those 12, three were for logbook failures. Another two buses were taken temporarily out of service for logbook violations. No buses were taken out of service for mechanical deficiencies. [Kari Cobb, 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/):

Fire and Aviation Management - This week is National Fire Prevention Week. Throughout the week, the NPS structural fire management program will share stories about how some of our parks have dealt with structural fires and will offer guidelines on how you can help prevent a fire from occurring.

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.

Joshua Tree NP - Lizette Richardson has been selected as the acting superintendent at Joshua Tree National Park. Photo.

Castillo de San Marcos NM - On September 18th, the First Coast Optimist Club of St. Augustine honored Castillo de San Marcos and Fort Matanzas Chief Ranger Kim Mayo as their law enforcement officer of the year. Photo.

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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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