NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Thursday, April 29, 2010
INCIDENTS
Gulf Islands NS
Oil Spill Forecast To Soon Reach Park Shores
Discharge from the sunken drilling rig Deepwater Horizon is now estimated by NOAA at five thousand barrels per day - five times as much as previously estimated. Concerns about the stability of the wellhead increased yesterday. The latest prediction out of unified command is for landfall along the Mississippi River delta tonight (much earlier than previous projections). The plume will progress northward over the next couple of days and may make landfall in the park's Mississippi District by Saturday or before. A test burn was conducted yesterday involving some of the heavier concentrations of crude in the open Gulf. The park IMT prepared a new set of long-term objectives yesterday. Here are the eight objectives and related actions:
Objective 1: Conduct a current-condition resource damage assessment.
Progress continues to be made on ground surveys. They should be completed today.
Water and sediment sampling in conjunction with NOAA is tentatively planned for today.
Grassbed assessments are tentatively planned.
Objective 2: Integrate and coordinate all operations and planning in concert with the unified incident management teams.
The number of NPS IMT personnel embedded in the unified IMT in Houma will increase to three today.
NPS IMT personnel are now embedded in the Mobile Sector unified IMT that was activated yesterday.
NPS IMT personnel are integrated with operational personnel at field command posts/staging areas in Mississippi and Florida.
Objective 3: Apply preventive measures to protect most sensitive natural resources, especially resources at risk.
In concert with NPS IMT guidance, NPS areas have received very high priorities in both districts.
Containment booms were placed yesterday at selected points on Cat Island, West Ship Island, East Ship Island, Horn Island, Perdido Key, and Ft. Pickens. Additional deployments are planned (weather permitting) for today, including Petis Bois Island and Santa Rosa.
The IMT will further evaluate the ability to cover other areas not completed by the UC IMT. Forecast bad weather over the next several days may impede further deployments and may damage booms in place.
EICC is reaching sources (within and external to the NPS) for potential future need at Gulf Island or another Gulf coastal park.
Objective 4: Provide for safety of visitors, park staff, and incident personnel.
SER Public Health staff have determined that drinking water wellheads are not at risk.
PPE for working around non-volatile oil has been researched and a stockpile will be ordered today.
Objective 5: Support and coordinate the natural resource damage assessment within NPS lands with the UC IMT.
IMT staff are working closely with FWS, NOAA, and other agencies within the UC IMT.
IMT staff are coordinating with Jean Lafitte, Padre Island, De Soto, Everglades and Dry Tortugas in anticipation of potential future impacts.
Objective 6: Minimize degradation to natural and cultural resources as a result of oil or clean-up efforts after landfall.
The IMT is working with SEAC to identify vulnerable archeological sites.
No oil impacts have occurred to date.
Objective 7: Maintain/restore visitor services and normal park operations.
Visitor services not currently impacted.
Objective 8: Maintain financial responsibility and be accountable for expenditures.
Efforts are being made to improve tracking of IMT expenditures.
Several additional single resources were ordered for the team yesterday. Approximately two dozen personnel are assigned to the incident, some part time. An assessment by the IMT yesterday determined that the anticipated complexity of the operation will likely exceed the capacity of the park's Type III team by the time of landfall, so, with the concurrence of the superintendent and the regional director, a Type II team was ordered. The Pacific West Team (Ziemann, IC) has been committed. There's no estimate yet of a transition date and time. The IMT anticipates that we need to prepare for the long haul. [Clay Jordan, IC]
C&O Canal NHP
Man Convicted Of Assault On Rangers
On March 26th, B.G. of Cumberland, Maryland, was found guilty of simple assault and disorderly conduct charges in the U.S. Magistrates Court for an incident that occurred on April 10, 2008. B.G., who owns property within the boundaries of the park, had a hostile interaction with park employees as they were marking the park's boundary line. B.G. threatened the park employees and threw a wooden surveyors stake at ranger Brandon Brown. Brown used his electronic control device to try to control B.G., but he continued to resist arrest and was wrestling on the ground with Brown when ranger Leigh Zahm applied a second ECD dart cartridge to B.G. He was then handcuffed and arrested. The sentencing for these convictions will be on June 2nd. [Brad Clawson, Chief Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:
Blue Ridge Parkway - President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama visited one of America's favorite roads, the Blue Ridge Parkway, on Friday, April 23rd, during their weekend vacation to Asheville, North Carolina.
C&O Canal NHP - A groundbreaking ceremony was recently held for the restoration of the historic Catoctin Aqueduct, one of 11 stone mason-constructed aqueducts in the park. Photo.
WASO Public Affairs - Secretary Salazar has appointed 12 new members to the National Park System Advisory Board.
Delaware Water Gap NRA - Leonard (Len) Peck, a long-time volunteer at Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, turned100 years old earlier this month. And he's still out there, contributing his time and services to the park. Photo.
To see these and other stories posted on InsideNPS (or NPS Digest, its public version), click on one or the other of the following links (please note that not all stories in the former appear in the latter):
NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index
Non-NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/
NPS serious incident submission standards can be found at the following web site: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/notify" http://inside.nps.gov/notify
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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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