NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
MORNING REPORT
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
INCIDENTS
Gulf Coast Parks
Natural Resource Injury Assessments Underway
To date, the National Park Service has sent 465 personnel to Gulf Island National Seashore to assist with spill operations. Five of these responders were from other agencies. They have included public information officers, biologists, biological science technicians, archaeologists, ethnographers, public information officers, and others working at the beaches or in incident command posts. Incident staff have been involved in:
conducting wildlife reconnaissance and recovery, shoreline cleanup and assessment operations;
conducting surveys, sampling, and flyovers to document baseline conditions;
mobilizing resource experts to direct U.S. Coast Guard and responsible party contractors during cleanup and recovery;
providing guidance and prioritization for protection measures, such as boom placement in sensitive areas; and
providing public information for NPS websites, visitors to Gulf Islands, and the media.
A major component of current operations is the preparation of natural resource damage assessments. Under the 1990 Oil Pollution Act, such assessments are undertaken as part of a legal process to determine the type and amount of restoration needed to compensate the public for injuries or loss due to the oil spill. Three study phases are conducted over the course of the spill. In the pre-assessment phase, technical working groups from the NPS and other agencies were immediately mobilized to collect pre-oil data on natural resources. They noted potential impacts to fish, shellfish, marine mammals, turtles, birds, and other sensitive resources, as well as their habitats, including wetlands, beaches, mudflats, bottom sediments, corals, and the water column. Technical working groups are now conducting the injury assessment phase, evaluating the extent, severity, and duration of impacts to natural resources. Some of these studies may need to go on for several years to fully assess the impacts and determine the time needed for these resources to recover. Restoration planning is the final phase of the process. During this phase, personnel will identify restoration actions to compensate the public for their losses. The costs are born by the responsible parties, including BP.
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.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
[Lynette Sprague-Falk, Gulf Coast Oil Spill Response]
Death Valley NP
Search In Progress For Missing Man
The park received an “attempt to locate” message for a suicidal man just before 5 p.m. on the afternoon of Saturday, August 7th. The 72-year-old Carson City man had sent a letter to his estranged wife saying that he was heading to the park to kill himself. As rangers were conducting a hasty search of the Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells areas of the park, a county deputy found the man's van in the Badwater parking lot at the south end of the park. A suicide note was found inside. The deputy and rangers searched the surrounding area, but found no sign of him, so additional help was summoned. One of the responding ambulances and two of the responding rangers were diverted to a separate medical emergency at the Furnace Creek Inn, where a visitor was treated for seizures and medevaced out to a hospital in Las Vegas. The search continued until sundown, then resumed the next day. The high temperature during the first day of searching was 112 degrees. On Sunday, additional ground crews and CHP and China Lake Naval Air Station helicopters joined in the effort, which focused on the area from Badwater Basin to the alluvial fans at the base of the Panamint Range, plus some of the side canyons in the Black Mountains immediately east of Badwater. No sign of the man was found. Ground crews were pulled out of the field at 1 p.m. due to exhaustion and heat concerns; the air search continued until storms grounded aircraft at 3:30 p.m. Yesterday, three ground teams and a SAR dog team from Nye County resumed the search. An investigation is underway, which is also looking into the possibility that the man is not in the park. [Brent Pennington, Chief Ranger]
Gateway NRA
Arrest of Felon In Possession Of Handgun
On July 30th, patrol rangers at the Sandy Hook Unit contacted a group of people who were drinking alcoholic beverages on the beach after the park had closed. Investigation revealed that several of them had provided false information and were under the legal age to possess alcoholic beverages. Further investigation led to the arrest of J.V. of Middlesex, New Jersey, for sale or gift of alcohol to a minor. During the arrest, J.V. was found to be in possession of a loaded .32 caliber revolver. Rangers confirmed that J.V. was a street gang member as well as a convicted felon. J.V. was committed to the Monmouth County Correctional Facility on charges of weapons possession, sale or gift of alcohol to minors and trespassing. Bail was set at $100,000. The remaining members of the group were cited and released on charges of underage possession, providing false information, and interfering with agency functions. The investigation into this incident is ongoing. [Peter Tortorell]
Golden Gate NRA
Vacationing Teen Falls To Death Near Muir Beach
A 17-year-old boy from Pennsylvania fell an estimated 400 to 500 feet to his death on July 19th while hiking near Muir Beach with his family. The teen, who was on vacation with his parents and several siblings, fell from the Coastal Trail about three quarters of a mile south of Muir Beach. Muir Beach volunteers firefighters arrived and tried to resuscitate the boy until NPS lifeguards from Stinson Beach could evacuate him on a rescue watercraft. He was pronounce dead on scene. Initial investigation indicated this was an accident. [Alexandra Picavet, 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/):
Washington Office - As part of its “America Is Your Park" campaign, Coca-Cola is asking Americans to vote for their favorite park - national or state - during the month of August. The park that receives the most votes by month's end will be named “America's Favorite Park” and receive a $100,000 grant from Coca-Cola.
Office of the Chief Information Officer - As part of its “America Is Your Park" campaign, Coca-Cola is asking Americans to vote for their favorite park - national or state - during the month of August. The park that receives the most votes by month's end will be named “America's Favorite Park” and receive a $100,000 grant from Coca-Cola.
Northeast Region - David Lange is the new chief for Northeast Region's Conservation and Recreation Assistance Division in Philadelphia. Photo.
NPS Alumni - Bill Lane, former publisher of Sunset Magazine, philanthropist, former NPS employee and longtime supporter of the National Park Service, died on July 31st following a rich life of community dedication and leadership.
NPS incident submission standards can be found online at the HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/waso/custompages.cfm?prg=45&id=8728&lv=2&pgid=3504" serious incident notification web page.
* * * *
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).
--- ### ---