Deep Sea Incident: Oil Spill Response Capacity Enhancement using Local Volunteers

Drawing on lessons learned from retrieval of the sunken derelict vessel, the Deep Sea, in Penn Cove, Island County, Washington, June 2012, and anticipation of the potential for an oil spill resulting from the operation, this presentation reflects interdisciplinary collaboration among official responders and community volunteers to enhance spill response capacity, build shared responsibility, and leverage local knowledge and skills. WA DOE Spill Response Section Manager, David Byers, led the incident response team in collaboration with U.S. Coast Guard Federal On-Scene Coordinator, MSTI Jason Munoz. Island County Emergency Management staff led by Eric Brooks informed the response team that the county has a local pool of volunteers trained in nearshore issues through the Washington State University (WSU) Island County Extension Beach Watcher program. The team invited the WSU Island County Beach Watchers Program Coordinator to recruit from among the program’s trained volunteers for individuals willing and able to assist in monitoring for sheen during the retrieval, and able to meet requirements within 48 hours. Volunteers were required to be certified as Emergency Workers, complete a web-based FEMA ICS 100 course and participate in safety training provided by the U.S. Coast Guard. All volunteers had knowledge of the nearshore environment and a few had previous HAZWOPER training but none were actively certified at the time of the incident. Through creative and rapid response on the part of the Coast Guard trainers, the local Emergency Manager and WSU Island County Beach Watchers, 14 volunteers were deployed on the day of retrieval to work in teams led by Coast Guard personnel to monitor segments of the shore. Volunteer participation multiplied the monitoring capacity of Coast Guard personnel and provided practical local knowledge to the response team. Creative collaboration to identify qualified local volunteers and provide essential training in a just-in-time format quickly generated new resources to enhance spill response capacity. This deliberate effort to engage local volunteers in a model of shared responsibility contributed to execution of response itself, created a cadre of informed local volunteers positioned to enhance the community’s understanding of the incident and fostered a positive perception of the incident response