NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
INCIDENTS
Gulf Coast Parks
Oil Clean-Up Continues At Gulf Islnds
The men and women of the National Park Service continue to be an integral part of the national federal response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. All NPS units along the Gulf remain open and are conducting regular park operations.
Gulf Islands NS - Remediation efforts continue on Petit Bois Island in the Mississippi unit. Personnel are nearing successful completion of clean-up efforts there and crews will likely finish up today. Resource advisors remain in the field to ensure that response crews operate in compliance with established sensitive resources guidelines. In the Florida unit, more oil has been reported approaching Pensacola Pass, a narrow channel leading from the Gulf of Mexico to Pensacola Bay and situated between the western point of Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa Island and the eastern coast of Perdido Key. A task force comprised of nearly 50 vessels has been mobilized and will begin to move into place Tuesday. Skimmers have been deployed, and booms will be placed across the pass to protect Pensacola Bay from approaching oil. There are over 1600 people are working tirelessly in the Florida unit to clean up oil and protect the sensitive coastal areas and wildlife species threatened by the oil. Increased clean-up activity and response preparations will likely be seen on Florida beaches, and surveillance for oiling continues throughout all park areas on a daily basis.
South Florida Parks (Big Cypress, Biscayne, Desoto, Dry Tortugas, Everglades) - A press conference will be held Tuesday on Stock Island in Key West to highlight proactive efforts to assess possible oil in nearby water. The use of specialized nets called Neuston nets, typically used on boats to collect plankton, will be utilized to detect possibly approaching oil. These monitoring efforts will assist in early recognition of spilled oil, and will help facilitate appropriate responses if detected.
Jean Lafitte NHP&P - No new developments.
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.nps.gov/aboutus/oil-spill-response.htm" NPS Oil Spill Response
HYPERLINK "http://www.doi.gov/deepwaterhorizon/index.cfm" DOI Oil Spill Response
HYPERLINK "http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/site/2931/" National Oil Spill Response
HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Conferences&id=1957" Oil Spill Safety Training
[Bobbie Altomare Visnovske, Gulf Coast Oil Spill Response]
Biscayne NP
Man Rescued After Breaking Neck In Dive From Boat
A man in his late 20s or early 30s apparently dove head first into about two feet of water from a vessel anchored in the Sands Cut party area around 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 13th, incurring a serious neck injury. Sands Cut has a large sand bar area just west of the actual cut, and rangers could not get to him due to the shallow water and vessels blocking the way. Personnel from the Coral Gables Marine Patrol grounded their boat and were able to reach him, and were soon joined by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. Rangers Scott Johnson and Bradon Falls assisted. The man was placed on a backboard, removed from the boat, placed in a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation vessel, then transferred to a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue vessel. The victim, who was reported to be gasping but not breathing, was flown to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he is in critical condition with a broken C-5 cervical vertebra and paralyzed from the neck down. [Didier Carod, Chief Ranger]
Rocky Mountain NP
Woman Assaulted Near Glacier Creek Trail
On the evening of Saturday, June 12th, a 20-year-old woman reported to rangers that she had been attacked near the Glacier Creek Trail. She said that she was taking a break from trail running in the area when she was attacked from behind by a man. The assailant was reported to be a white male, wearing a black windbreaker, physically fit and between 5'4” and 5'9” tall. She was able to fight him off and ran down the trail to call for help. She then called park dispatch and reported the attack. A ranger took her to Estes Park Medical Center, where she was treated for a minor injury and released. The investigation is ongoing. On Saturday night, rangers contained the area and increased patrols in nearby Glacier Basin Campground, about a half mile from the location of the attack. The Estes Park Police Department and Larimer County Sheriff's Office were notified. Rangers continue to gather information and have increased patrols in the area. Anyone in the vicinity of the attack Saturday night or with information pertaining to this incident is asked to call the park at 970-586-1204. [Kyle Patterson, Public Affairs Officer]
OTHER NEWS
The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:
Great Sand Dunes NP&P - Aeolian scientists gathered in the park in May for the International Planetary Dunes Workshop, a biannual gathering of dune scientists who study dunes on Earth, Mars and Titan, a moon of Saturn.
NPS Law Enforcement Training Center - On June 1st, the Supreme Court reached a decision in the case of Berghuis v. Thompkins and made an important ruling regarding Miranda warnings given to arrested suspects.
US Park Police - On Tuesday, May 25th, the United States Park Police San Francisco Field Office hosted a child fingerprinting event on National Missing Children's Day.
Office of the Chief Information Officer - The Alaska NPS IT/radio team has received the Alaska Federal Executive Association's 2009 Civilian Team of the Year Award for greatly improving communications for the NPS statewide. 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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