NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Friday, April 30, 2010
INCIDENTS
Gulf Islands NS
Massive Oil Plume Forecast To Reach Park Tomorrow
The oil plume from the sunken oil rig Deepwater Horizon made landfall late yesterday afternoon along the Mississippi River delta. It's forecast to progress northward and eastward and estimated to make landfall in the park's Mississippi District tomorrow and the Florida District on Monday. The incident has been legally "federalized," which opens the door to public funding and a DOD response, which was immediate. Rough weather forecast for this weekend may cause unusually high oil inundation of beaches - reaching vegetation - unless landfall comes later than forecast. Here are the IMT's eight incident objectives and today's update on recent actions in each area:
Objective 1: Conduct a current-condition resource damage assessment.
Ground surveys are nearly complete and should be finished today.
Water and sediment sampling in conjunction with NOAA was carried out yesterday in the Mississippi District. The Florida District will be done today.
Guidance is being provided to other Gulf Coast parks.
Objective 2: Integrate and coordinate all operations and planning in concert with the unified incident management teams.
There are three NPS IMT personnel embedded in the unified IMT.
NPS IMT personnel are also embedded in the Mobile Sector unified IMT.
NPS IMT personnel are integrated with operational personnel at field command posts/staging areas in both Mississippi and Florida.
An NPS IMT representative will be positioned at the area command ICP in Robert, Louisiana, effective today.
Objective 3: Apply preventative measures to protect most sensitive natural resources, especially resources at risk.
Park areas received a very high percentage of the total boom footage deployed to date along the entire threatened coastline.
Containment booms exists on Cat Island, West Ship Island, East Ship Island, Horn Island, Perdido Key, and Ft. Pickens. Additional deployments were made at Davis Bayou, Perdido Key and Ft. Pickens yesterday, but rough seas did not permit further deployment along Mississippi District islands.
The Navy is planning to deploy ocean booms along parts of the south side of the Mississippi District islands.
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 has researched sources (within and external to the NPS) for potential future needs at Gulf Islands or another Gulf Coast park.
Objective 4: Provide for safety of visitors as well as the safety and welfare of park staff, and incident personnel.
A stockpile of PPE for working around nonvolatile oil was ordered on Thursday.
Objective 5: Support and coordinate the natural resource damage assessment on NPS lands with the UC IMT.
IMT staff continue to work 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.
With assistance of SEAC, vulnerable archeological sites have been identified on maps. SEAC recommends deployment of specialists at time of cleanup to protect sites from heavy equipment.
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.
Improved tracking of IMT expenditures is planned for Friday with the arrival of a finance section chief.
Many additional personnel were ordered on Thursday, but obtaining others has become a serious problem - some wildlife biologist and information officer orders remain unfilled. The Pacific West Team (Denny Ziemann, IC) is en route; transition is set to take place tomorrow. [Clay Jordan, IC]
Zion NP
Two Rafters Drown In Virgin River
On Sunday, April 25th, rangers received a report of an overdue party from a float trip down though the Virgin River Narrows. Investigation revealed that two 23-year-old men from Las Vegas had hiked into the Narrows with the intent of constructing a log raft and floating approximately 50 miles through the Narrows to Hurricane, Utah. The men were not equipped with wetsuits or PFDs, did not have whitewater rafting experience, and had limited camping experience, little food and no overnight gear. They told their father that they intended to record their entire trip on video camera as an entry into the “Man vs. Wild” competition. The SAR operation concluded on April 26th when both bodies and a small amount of personal gear were recovered from the river. [Cindy Purcell, Chief Ranger]
Blue Ridge Parkway
Major Search For Missing Man Culminates With Discovery Of His Body
A search that began on Thursday, April 22nd, in the parkway's Rock Castle Gorge Recreation Area concluded on April 27th with the discovery of the body of E.B., 66, of Cincinnati, Ohio. He'd evidently committed suicide with a firearm. The search began when E.B.'s car was noticed by a park employee at the trailhead near the Rocky Knob Cabins on April 18th and again on April 22nd. After a hasty search by park rangers was unsuccessful, search teams were activated through the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and a Type III incident team was formed to conduct an expanded operation, The Patrick County Sheriff's Office was responsible for the related investigation. During operations on April 23rd and 24th, searchers found numerous weapons and other items placed in the gorge, apparently by E.B., that included knives, daggers, nunchucks, fighting sticks, a holster for a pistol, parrot feathers and clothing laid out in an organized and what appeared to be ritualistic, manner. On the 23rd, civilian searchers were removed from the operation until law enforcement teams from Patrick County, the Virginia State Police and the NPS were able to check the area, which they did on the 24th. Rangers from Shenandoah, New River Gorge, and C&O Canal joined rangers from other park districts and a dog team from NCR when the search resumed on the 25th. Also participating were civilian searchers from Commonwealth of Virginia SAR, Angle SAR, SAR Tracking Institute, Carroll County SAR, Rockingham County-Augusta SAR, Black Diamond SAR, Triad SAR, Tidewater SAR, SARTI, Intermont-Bristol SAR, Vesta Rescue Squad, Ararat and Woolwine Fire Departments, and the Civil Air Patrol (aircraft were utilized to provide radio communication between teams and the command post). E.B.'s body was found in a rhododendron thicket on a private inholding within the gorge by a dog and handler from Dogs East Search and Rescue, working a task with an NPS search team. Investigators determined that E.B. had stayed in a motel in Meadows of Dan for several days after he arrived in the area on April 13th and had been seen by neighbors in the area of the gorge over several days ending on April 18th. E.B. had no known friends or relatives after the death of his wife in January of 2009, which created a challenge for search managers and investigators throughout the incident. The park wishes to thank all of the SAR organizations and team members that worked diligently in adverse weather, steep terrain and heavy vegetation to conduct the search. The park is fortunate to have a strong relationship with these organizations, built over the years by conducting interagency training and SAR exercises in this and other areas of Southern Virginia within the park. While the search was underway, a running marathon was held on park roads within the same district, which, along with the search and normal operational requirements, heavily taxed the parkway's ranger staff. [Steve Stinnett, Chief Ranger]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:
Gettysburg NMP - An ongoing project to restore the battlefield to its appearance during the battle in 1863 will be advanced this summer by the replanting of two more historic orchards and the restoration of historic woodlands at several locations.
Redwood N&SP - Redwood National and State Parks recently celebrated the birthday of Newton B. Drury with a variety of special events. Drury is a fitting symbol of the continuing partnership between the NPS, California State Parks, and the Save the Redwoods League, having served as director of all three organizations during his 60-year career. Photo.
NPS-FLETC - NPS-FLETC held an interagency active shooter instructor training course at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska last week.
Conservation and Outdoor Recreation - Steve Golden of the NPS Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program was recognized at an Appalachian Trail Conservancy gala held at the United States Library of Congress on April 21st. Photo.
Servicewide Training Calendar - A compilation of upcoming training courses offered by the NPS and its partners across the nation. Added to this week's listing are the following - two sessions of a training course on natural and cultural resource law for superintendents, one at Albright and the other in Philadelphia, and three more sessions of Fundamentals II, all at Albright.
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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