Conference Schedule

Communications can make or break your response. Being prepared with education and outreach before a spill is ideal, and effective communications during is critical. The panel will discuss the different aspects of communications including planning for and establishing the Joint Information Center, liaison function, and the effective use of communication tools.

Responders at the Macondo Spill employed non-mechanical technologies as never seen before, bringing these techniques back into focus as practical and valuable response tools. This forward looking session examines developments in the application of chemical response technologies and in-situ burning.

The use of technology to reduce the impact of oil spills has long been a goal of oil spill responders. Each year new technologies and new strategies to detect oil are being explored. This session will focus on advancing technologies using innovative solutions for detection oil in the environment.

Maritime Risk Assessments provide a systematic approach to identify the hazards in a maritime transportation system, analyze risk, and recommend appropriate safety improvements. What can go wrong? How likely is it? What are the impacts? What can we do to reduce risk? This session will focus on risk assessment as a prevention measure with particular emphasis on extreme environments and highly sensitive habitats.

This session will examine transboundary issues and planning for effective coordination.

This session focuses on lessons learned and challenges faced in leading an unprecedented and large spill event.

This session will cover issues regarding response in remote areas and the Arctic including: response in ice; alternative compliance in remote areas; waste removal and other remote area logistical; remote international borders (e.g. Arctic/ CANUSDIX/ Russia).

California regulations for the use of low sulfur distillate fuel oils has resulted in both intended and unintended consequences. These consequences can be used to forecast issues resulting from the North American ECA.

This session will be a diverse panel discussion of how to keep your ACP relevant, useful, current and applicable. Lessons learned from the Florida Keys ACP during the Deepwater Horizon will be highlighted. Conversation will also include how industry, state and federal collaboration can result in a dynamic ACP.

This session presents different perspectives on the investigation into the potentially polluting wreck off the coast of Monterrey, California, as well as the larger issue of determining the priority and risk of wreck oil removal operations.

This panel will address legal issues associated with labor during oil spill response including: temporary employees, volunteers, Jones Act, indemnification, responder immunity, with a focus on the contractor/ RP perspective.

Navigational safety prevention measures vary according to the hazards preesent. This session will explore three systems used in very different situations: The Emergency Towing System in use in the Aleutian Islands, the Cook Inlet Ice Forecasting Network, and the new Escort Tug Matrix used in the Los Angeles/ Long Beach Harbor.

Based on recent events, changes in ICS qualifications and how information is shared is being examined throughout the response community. This session will present training strategies to meet the challenges of the 21st Century and the use of a mapping application to ensure tools are available for planning/preparedness and a common operating picture for oil spill response.

Skimming and Mechanical Recovery is still the mainstay for responders and planners alike as we improve our ability to counter and recover oil spills. Arriving quickly, with effective tools, is key to success and recovering sinking oils offers one the most challenging scenarios of all. This session explores recent developments in surface and subsurface response technologies.

Derelict and abandoned vessels, as well as submerged wrecks, continue to emerge as a public policy issue to be addressed. Collaborative work between federal and state agencies has resulted in initiation of programs to deal with the issues surrounding these vessels.

This session will present a broad examination of wildlife issues including ESA integration into your plan. We will be citing several case studies from recent spills.

This session is a panel discussion that focuses on public vs. private, command and control, and emerging issues surrounding multi-hazard responses.

This session will cover issues on biofuel response, as well as the Canadian and U.S. regimes for hazardous substances (including OSRO requirements, planning standards, and exercise requirements).

As a response community, have we adequately addressed the ability to identify, mobilize, and track equipment and personnel for a Type 1 spill event? This panel discussion will look at the relationship between the plan holder, OSRO’s, State and Federal Government’s, and the public in cascading available response resources from one risk zone to another. It will also address lessons learned from the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Responding to oil spills or other disasters requires plans that are both flexible and tailored to meet diverse and constantly changing response objectives. This session will explore innovative approaches that demonstrate how both proven and non-traditional response strategies can be effectively and safely employed to meet the most demanding response challenges. It will also cover the need for accurate initial spill reporting and incident assessments that are critical to ensuring a properly scaled response and also offer an overview of on-site incident specific hazard awareness training of response personnel to ensure their safety, availability and effectiveness.

In this session we will be addressing the myriad of marine response issues and implications resulting from natural disasters such as tsunamis, to cover: tsunami planning, multiple pollution source triage and response, resulting debris, and funding issues.