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Today's Security Update ... [click here]

The Gulf Oil Spill and the Chesapeake Bay
Jennings Carney | 06.30.2010 | 09:49:53467 |

June 2010: According to the Baltimore Sun though there are initial response plans for cooperation, currently, there is no specific emergency response system for the Chesapeake Bay should there be an accident from an oil spill. William C. Boicourt from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science at Horn Point told the Sun, "There is no functioning [emergency response] system on the Bay in the terms of what we can call operational." Officials with the Coast Guard did tell the Sun there are contingency efforts in coordination with federal, state and local officials to work with the "party responsible" for the accident who is ultimately in charge of cleanup efforts.

In an interview with the Sun, Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Michael J. DaPonte explained the primary role of the Coast Guard, if there were an oil spill resulting from an accident with a tanker, would be to assist because the agency "does not jump to the response - it's the responsible party that has to do that."

To help communities around the Bay, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation released a document detailing the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its relevance to the Chesapeake. In the document, the CBF said chances of oil hitting the Bay's beaches is "very unlikely" because of oceanic currents, but that the economic impacts have already been felt due to a moratorium on oyster and shrimp harvesting.

The foundation went onto say that it would continue to monitor the spill "at least 60 days after the oil leak has stopped," and that should any tar balls reach the East Coast, "CBF volunteers would be coastal trash pick-up prior to tar ball landing. Removing trash first eases cleanup and lessens the amount of oily waste."

Additionally, the Maryland Department of the Environment released a detail showing the oceanic currents and the location of the spill. The agency wrote "If there are any impacts in Maryland waters, it would most likely be in the form of heavily weathered tar balls and possibly emulsified oil (oil water slurry). ... MDE's Emergency Response Division responds and cleans up over 400 oil spills a year. Most are small spills associated with highway transportation incidents ... [but] the April, 2000 pipeline rupture at the Chalk Point Power Plant ... released over 126,000 gallons of oil and impacted wetlands and beaches in the Patuxent River."

Furthermore, Virginia's College of William and Mary has posted their own set of FAQs concerning VA residents and the potential impacts and response measures needed in the event of oil reaching the Eastern Shore beaches. The College outlines the federal, state and local government response hierarchy which would be specifically led by the Coast Guard.

The local Bay Blog has an extensive list of community, government and agency resources, links and stories on the Gulf oil spill and its relation to the Chesapeake.

 

 

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NCORP Update

NCORP and the Kennedy School of Government Collaborate on the National Blueprint for Secure Communities
Working in partnership with the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the ReadyCommunities Partnership is reaching out to first responders, local officials, the private sector and citizens throughout the nation to develop the National Blueprint for Secure Communities. The Blueprint will be the focus of the first National Congress for Secure Communities in November and serve as a roadmap for any community striving for resiliency during the first hours of a national or large-scale crisis.  Click Here to read more...

National Press Club Briefing on National Blueprint June 20th
In partnership with the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and it's non-profit, government and corporate partners, NCORP is reaching out to first responders, local officials, the private sector and citizens throughout the nation to develop a National Blueprint for Secure Communities. The Blueprint is a project under the ReadyAmerica Initiative, and was the focus of the National Press Club briefing at 11:30 a.m. on June 20, 2006.  The Blueprint will serve as a roadmap for any community working to reach a level of excellence in their preparedness.

Preliminary Report from Midwest Summit

The Midwest Summit Police Chiefs Association met May 3rd and 4th in LaCrosse, Wisconsin to develop public/private partnerships that augment and multiply community preparedness, response and recovery capabilities. NCORP joined the Summit to incorporate the output of the May 3rd Summit sessions into the National Blueprint for Secure Communities. Click Here to download the draft draft preliminary report of the Summit.



More Press Items:

Homeland Security Journal coverage

Speech at the Harvard Forum

The First 72 Hours Meeting Agenda

ReadyAmerica: The First 72 Hours

Photographs of the November 16th Meeting

Draft Transcript of Preparedness Congress

Richmond Times-Dispatch

December 17-18, 2007...
National Congress for Secure Communities  at the Capitol Hill Hyatt, Washington, D.C.

May 31, 2007...
Initial meeting in Hamilton County, IN with county/city stakeholders on the 5-community pilot project.

May 7, 2007 ...
Planning meeting in Charleston, SC with community stakeholders on the 5-community pilot.

April 25, 2007...
Meeting in Pontiac, Oakland County, Michigan for the 5-community Pilot.

January 18, 2007...
Southwestern Regional Meeting  of the NCORP Advisory Committee in Galveston, Texas

August 10, 2006...
Code Red for international flights to the U.S. originating in the UK: Code Orange for commerical U.S. domestic flights; Code Yellow for the U.S.

July 7, 2005...
Code Orange for metropolitan transportation and rail systems

January 18, 2005...
Code Yellow is in effect

Why Your Membership in ReadyCorps Will Help Strengthen Homeland Security

September 11, 2001 has not only changed the way communities view their preparation and response to crisis, but also redefined the role that citizens and corporations have in helping their communities prepare for and respond to threat and crisis. Though local, state and federal governments are responsible at one level or another, there just are not enough resources to protect all communities and property at all times, nor to respond equally or quickly. The threat and the country are too open and large.

ReadyCorps' Role

The National Council on Readiness and Preparedness has formed ReadyCorps to bring corporations together with communities, responders and governments to increase community surge capacity during incidents of mass casualty or destruction. ReadyCorps members will establish a corporate Crisis Response Officer (CRO) for each corporate facility, to serve as a contact point between responders and corporations to share information and assets, create preparedness response strategies and generally develop simple but effective ways to train and prepare employees for threat or crisis as resources to the responder sector during community response.


Click here to read more...

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