NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

INCIDENTS

Washington Monument

Storm Forces Temporary Closure Of Monument

Up to five inches of snow and wind gusts as high as 40 m.p.h. forced the temporary closure of the Washington Monument to visitors for safety reasons yesterday. Maintenance staff removed the U.S. flags from the "circle of flags" surrounding the monument in order to help extend the life of the flags, as the high winds rip and tear them. By mid-afternoon, the winds calmed down, making it possible to reopen the monument to visitors. [Bill Line, NCRO]

Richmond NBP

Company Pays Restitution To Park In Spill Case

In November of 2007, H.L., an asphalt company located outside the boundary of the park's Fort Darling unit, released large amounts of styrene/butadiene copolymer latex mixed with water into a park stream and the James River while switching out tanks at their plant. The company subsequently paid thousands for an EPA cleanup contractor to clean the spill site and conduct water quality testing. Last month, they also paid $4,517 in restitution to the park. The case was handled as a 16 USC 19jj investigation, with assistance provided by environmental response damage assessment personnel in the Washington Office. The park also worked with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to tighten the company's Virginia pollution discharge elimination system permit. [Tim Mauch, Chief Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:

Department of the Interior - The President's 2010 budget includes $12 billion for DOI to undertake initiatives to promote energy security with a focus on clean renewable sources and strategies to address climate change, protect and preserve America's national parks and public lands, strengthen Native American communities, enhance outdoor opportunities for young people, and conserve wetlands and wildlife habitat.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7400" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7400

Department of the Interior - Nominations are being sought for a new DOI award that will be given to employees who provide exceptional assistance to victims of crimes. They will be conferred during National Crime Victims' Rights Week in April.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7398" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7398

Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center - The Wildland Fire Lessons Learned Center has posted a number of new documents to its web page, including interviews with crew and squad bosses on lessons they've learned in their careers and a study of incident management teams as vehicles for implementing principles of High Reliability Organizing (HRO).

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7399" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=Announcements&id=7399

Historic Preservation Training Center - Bill Hose, the supervisory exhibit specialist on the center's carpentry team, retired yesterday following 34 years of service in the military and the National Park Service.

HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2256" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/headline.cfm?type=PeopleNews&id=2256

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Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found at the following web site:

HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363

Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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