Sponsored by CAPP
This session will focus on the value of working collaboratively with partners and stakeholders before an incident occurs and tools that are available to work towards that goal.
Conor works in the Emergency Preparedness group for Marathon Petroleum Company (formerly Andeavor, formerly Tesoro). His main focus is on writing contingency plans, planning deployment and tabletop exercises, and training incident management team members and field responders. His direct area of responsibility includes facilities in Washington, Oregon, and Northern California. He previously worked for the Washington Department of Ecology in the Spill Prevention Preparedness and Response Program. His educational background is in Disaster Management, Geographic Information Systems, and Environmental Science.
Christine Donald (Tina) lives in the community of Chu Chua as a member of the Simpcw First Nation. She has been on the band?s council since January 1995, taking one term off 2006-09, as well as being involved in the Emergency Management of the Simpcw community since October 1997. Since the 2003 fires she has taken on the lead role. Along with her team, coordinated the emergency operations center training for the staff and is the Incident Commander during emergencies. She has been a First Responder for her community, responding out to medical emergencies ahead of the BC Ambulance Service, since August 1994. Tina has been employed with the band since April 1993, starting as Catch Monitor and developing into Fisheries & Wildlife Coordinator. Since approximately 2007, she has been managing the Dunn Creek Hatchery in conjunction with Department of Fisheries & Oceans. In her prevous role as fisheries coordinator, past 12 years, she planned and carried out numerous stewardship and education programs for elementary and high school students from Barriere right up to McBride. She also organizes or assists in organizing youth cultural activities in Simpcw territory.
This session will examine approaches to the assessment of an affected environment following an oil spill in both the United States and Canada. Issue such as funding, preparation, and collaboration will be discussed utilizing case studies as examples.
Mr. Palagyi has worked in the environmental industry since 1986, first as a regulator and then as an Environmental Manager for Texaco and Shell Oil Companies. His work as a consultant started in 2007. Tony was a member of several local, national and global response and crisis management teams. He has responded to over 50 petroleum and other chemical spills. His primary response role was within the Environmental Unit performing many different roles throughout his career. Mr. Palagyi was primarily involved with NRDA when those needs were required. He acted as NRDA lead for national spill response teams and was a member of the West Coast Joint Assessment Team for NRDA (a joint industry/agency working group) for 14 years. He is experiences with NRDAs from both the field and litigation perspective. His experience includes spill planning, drills and training in several countries. Tony was the Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Technical Working Group lead on the Deepwater Horizon spill for over five years.
This session will open a dialogue with session participants concerning the challenges in planning for oil spill response that impacts more than one jurisdiction. Panelists will discuss spill response planning for discharge scenarios that cross National, State, and Local boundaries.
Captain Sturgis served as the Commander, Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound since March 2017. She reported aboard from her most recent assignment as the Coast Guard Liaison to the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command located at the Washington Navy Yard. While attending Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, Captain Sturgis enlisted in the Army Reserve in 1988 and served with the 88th Military Police Company at Fort Eustis attaining the rank of Sergeant. After completing her undergraduate studies at Old Dominion University in 1992, Commander Sturgis transferred from the U.S. Army to the U.S. Coast Guard and received her commission from Officer Candidate School in 1993. She received her Master of Marine Affairs from the University of Washington and was assigned to the Center for a New American Security, a Washington DC based think tank where she published on marine spatial planning, Arctic maritime challenges, and port resiliency. Captain Sturgis' assignments include Coast Guard Headquarters, Office of Health and Safety; Office of Resource Management, Deck Watch Officer on Coast Guard Cutter MELLON (WHEC 717) home ported in Seattle, WA; Marine Inspector at Marine Safety Office Miami; Chief Port State Control/foreign vessel inspections at Marine Safety Office Puget Sound; Program Reviewer at Coast Guard Headquarters, Office of Budget and Programs; Commanding Officer at Marine Safety Unit Cleveland; and Prevention Department Head at Coast Guard Sector New York.
Linda Pilkey-Jarvis manages the oil spill preparedness program for the Washington State Department of Ecology, overseeing the approval of contingency plans, state evaluation of industry drills and the approval of response contractors. She is the co-author of Useless Arithmetic, a critical review of applied mathematical modeling and Retreat from a Rising Sea. Linda is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and as a young person, spent 8 years in the United States Coast Guard working in the marine safety field. She is a past recipient of the Washington State Governor's distinguished leadership award.
Ms. Purcell has worked for Phillips 66 for 16 years and since January 2015 she has served as an emergency response specialist with a focus on planning for and mitigating industrial disasters. Her current specific duties include small, medium and large-scale exercise planning and participation, ICS instruction, and liaison work with local, state, and federal stakeholders and regulatory personnel regarding emergency response regulations. Ms. Purcell graduated Summa Cum Laude from West Texas A&M, Canyon TX with a BAAS in Emergency Management.
This session will focus on how to effectively involve and communicate with stakeholders during an incident by using social and digital media.
Hank Garcia is a senior consultant offering a full-range of bilingual (English/Spanish) response expertise. Mr. Garcia earned his Bachelors in Chemical Engineering from Manhattan College. Mr. Garcia specializes in the development and implementation of crisis management systems, training program development, serving as an emergency preparedness and crisis management advisor, and providing public affairs support. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences discussing response management and logistics best practices. Mr. Garcia can design crisis and preparedness exercises to bridge the gap between language barriers and executive and field personnel. Hank has provided extensive consulting and training for field personnel, country and regional executives (including Latin American and Caribbean governments). Mr. Garcia had an extensive and successful career at ExxonMobil and recently was a crisis management consultant for CTEH. An independent consultant now, he works with the Casco Consulting Group and also with CTEH. His experience includes developing major exercises throughout Latin America and Asia Pacific including the first corporate exercise following the merger of Exxon and Mobil. He served for 15 months in various capacities on the BP Macondo spill, as well as numerous smaller events in the U.S. and Latin America.
This session will review different perspectives from four actual responses that occurred in 2018. The case studies are from the United States and Canada representing rail, pipeline, and maritime.
Kris manages GHD's British Columbia emergency response team and has managed, coordinated, and responded to numerous environmental emergencies in British Columbia and across Canada including train derailments, pipeline spills, port and marine incidents, highway truck crashes, chemical fires, and residential heating oil releases. Kris also has significant experience with contaminated site remediation, risk assessment and toxicology, industrial hygiene and air monitoring, wildlife management, and site restoration.
Conor works in the Emergency Preparedness group for Marathon Petroleum Company (formerly Andeavor, formerly Tesoro). His main focus is on writing contingency plans, planning deployment and tabletop exercises, and training incident management team members and field responders. His direct area of responsibility includes facilities in Washington, Oregon, and Northern California. He previously worked for the Washington Department of Ecology in the Spill Prevention Preparedness and Response Program. His educational background is in Disaster Management, Geographic Information Systems, and Environmental Science.
This session will show you innovative ways to design your exercise to get the most training value for your response staff.
Linda Pilkey-Jarvis manages the oil spill preparedness program for the Washington State Department of Ecology, overseeing the approval of contingency plans, state evaluation of industry drills and the approval of response contractors. She is the co-author of Useless Arithmetic, a critical review of applied mathematical modeling and Retreat from a Rising Sea. Linda is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and as a young person, spent 8 years in the United States Coast Guard working in the marine safety field. She is a past recipient of the Washington State Governor's distinguished leadership award.
Dustin Ritter is a Hazardous Material and Emergency Response Officer in Western Canada for Canadian Pacific (CP). As a hazmat/fire instructor, Dustin teaches at JIBC in British Columbia, SERTC in Colorado, and TEEX in Texas. Prior to this, Dustin worked in the private sector as an emergency response contractor for more than 10 years and is trained in industrial and municipal firefighting, having specialized in high hazard response for rail and road. During this time, he fulfilled the Emergency Response Team (ERT) Lead role at the 2011 Slave Lake fire and the 2013 Calgary floods. In addition to being the ERT Lead at the 2013 High River floods, he was also the Recovery Efforts Operations Chief.
Ms. Franks has over 29 years of professional experience in environmental regulatory compliance and emergency response planning, training, and exercises. She has designed and executed many large (300+ persons) and smaller focused emergency response exercises for both facilities and vessels. She designs tailored training courses in various aspects of emergency response including the Incident Command System, and is experienced at training different audiences from facility operators to emergency responders and company executives. She has also developed a multitude of response plans for petroleum industry clients, including terminals, tank farms, pipelines, and tank/non-tank vessels. Twenty-four years ago, Nicole founded NJ Resources, the recognized expert in emergency response preparedness in the petroleum industry.
Scott Knutson serves as the District Response Advisory Team Supervisor for USCG District 13. He has a degree in Mining Engineering. Preceding the USCG, he worked for Reading & Bates Drilling Company as a drilling superintendent.
This session will focus on taking the lessons learned before and during an incident and translating them into regulations, future planning, and community initiatives.
Dr. Kathryn Berry is the Environmental Recovery Specialist for the Environmental Emergency Program, which is within the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. Kathryn conducted her PhD at the Australian Institute of Marine Science, investigating the effects of coal spills on marine organisms, including corals, fish, and seagrass. She has conducted collaborative research projects in Germany, Australia, Panama, Myanmar and Maldives and her recent research has focused on microplastics, persistent organic pollutants and mass coral bleaching events.
I retired from a career in the United States Coast Guard in 1996, half of which was dedicated to the Marine Environmental Protection field. Upon my retirement, I promptly started working as a Vessel Manager at Alaska Maritime Agencies for a short period, followed by employment with Cook Inlet Spill Prevention and Response, Inc. (CISPRI). I worked as a Logistics Technician, then as an Oil Spill Technician at CISPRI for the next nine years. I started working for Cook Inlet Regional Citizens Advisory Council (CIRCAC) in 2006 as the Director of Operations, as staff for the Council and two committees, the Prevention, Response, Operations and Safety (PROPS) committee and the Protocol Committee. I serve as a project manager for the PROPS committee, overseeing programs, such as the Prevention and Response Program, on projects like the Geographic Response Strategies (GRS) and the Risk Assessment Program on projects like the Ice Forecasting Network. Cook Inlet RCAC is a named reviewer by the State of Alaska, for the Cook Inlet region; as such, it is my job to assist the Protocol Committee in the development of comprehensive recommendations regarding the compliance to state regulation, completeness of, and effectiveness of Oil Discharge Prevention and Contingency Plans. Additionally, I identify, track, and assist in the development of recommendations or comments regarding any salient topic that is open to public comment and meets Cook Inlet RCAC's OPA 90 (Oil Pollution Act of 1990) mandate. I am an active member of the Kenai Rotary Club, a lifetime member of the Harley Owners Group, ABATE, National Rifle Association (NRA), and the Friends of the NRA. I have been married for 35 years; have three daughters and nine grandchildren. My wife and I enjoy cross-country motorcycle touring when we aren't spending time with family and friends.
Tim McCann is a Deputy Superintendent of Environmental Response with the Canadian Coast Guard working and living in Richmond BC. He has been with the Canadian Coast Guard for the past number of years working on spill response planning, training and exercise development. Tim has deployed as the Coast Guard's Incident Commander for multiple incidents over the past year. Previously Tim spent nearly 15 years with Transport Canada in various Marine Safety and Security roles in the region.
This session will include a variety of presentations highlighting key research, planning, and response topics related to protecting wildlife from the effects of oil.
Charlie Hebert Charlie is a wildlife biologist serving as the Response Planning Manager for Focus Wildlife, International. Charlie also serves on the Focus Wildlife training team, providing wildlife response and safety training courses. Charlie has worked on wildlife response and contingency planning since 1983 and has been involved in response to numerous coastal and inland spills in the U.S. and Canada. Charlie retired in January 2013 after serving 33 years as a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Charlie most recently served as the Spill Response Coordinator for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1, in Portland, Oregon. Charlie graduated from Louisiana State University with a B.S. in Forestry and an M.S. in Wildlife Management.
Gary Shigenaka is a senior biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) Emergency Response Division (ERD) in Seattle. He has provided biological and shoreline assessment support during spills of oil and hazardous chemicals domestically and internationally over the last three decades. Gary was part of the early scientific mobilization for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, and monitored the long-term effects in Prince William Sound through 2013. He worked the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill out of the Louisiana forward command post, focusing on the wide range of biological issues that arose during the long and complex response. His resumé of other domestic responses over the years includes most major spill incidents, and more recently, hurricane response. International spills have taken him to Japan, Spain, and Bangladesh. Gary is an instructor for the many spill science and shoreline assessment classes NOAA teaches around the country. He also oversees research initiatives on chemical dispersants, in-situ burning, and Arctic spill response, and is technical editor for NOAA's biological response guides. He also represents the U.S. Department of Commerce on the Region 10 (Oregon-Washington-Idaho) Regional Response Team, which coordinates response and planning across state boundaries and the Canada-U.S. border.
Curt came to OWCN after more than 20 years with International Bird Rescue, most recently as that organization's Preparedness Director. His involvement in oiled wildlife response started as a volunteer in 1984 when a spill occurred near the wildlife rehabilitation center he founded outside Seattle, Washington. Since then, he has responded to spills around the world such as the Exxon Valdez, the American Trader, the Apollo Sea in South Africa, the Erika, the Pallas and the Prestige in Europe, the Nahodka in Japan, the Jessica in the Galapagos and the Rena in New Zealand. For these spills and others, Curt worked in a variety of roles within the wildlife response. He has collaborated globally on rehabilitation and response trainings with colleagues in Azerbaijan, Brazil, Georgia, Turkey, Russia, Europe, Japan, New Zealand and the US. During spills his focus will be making sure OWCN's animal care team is a well-oiled machine.
Charlie Hebert Charlie is a wildlife biologist serving as the Response Planning Manager for Focus Wildlife, International. Charlie also serves on the Focus Wildlife training team, providing wildlife response and safety training courses. Charlie has worked on wildlife response and contingency planning since 1983 and has been involved in response to numerous coastal and inland spills in the U.S. and Canada. Charlie retired in January 2013 after serving 33 years as a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Charlie most recently served as the Spill Response Coordinator for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1, in Portland, Oregon. Charlie graduated from Louisiana State University with a B.S. in Forestry and an M.S. in Wildlife Management.
This session will bring together experts from U.S. and Canadian agencies, consultants and industry to discuss challenges and best practices in planning and responding to non-floating oils. Presenters will discuss relevant definitions and nomenclature, improvements to Geographic Response Planning, best practices and new technologies in detecting, and delineating non-floating products in the water column and at the bottom, as well as available containment and recovery techniques.
Colin is the Director of ER & Planning for RIO Environmental Consultants
Patrick Lambert is a chemist with more than twenty-five years of experience in the environmental field of chemical and oil spill research and development (R&D). Throughout his tenure with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) his specialities include environmental emergencies, enforcement, counter-terrorism and contaminated site remediation. R&D efforts have focused on health and safety programs, the impact of oil and chemicals in the environment, the advancement of on-site sampling and analysis of hazardous materials and studies on the fate and behaviour of spilled oil on shorelines. He leads a team whose mandate is to undertake R&D, develop spill response tools and to provide scientific advice to federal government scientific support coordinators (SSC) during spills of hazardous materials.
Sonja Larson is a Response Technology Specialist for the Washington State Department of Ecology Spills Prevention Preparedness and Response Program. The statewide position ensures that Washington achieves the highest standards of protection through requiring best technology, staffing levels, training procedures and operational methods in oil spill preparedness for regulated vessels. Her role includes studying new technologies and updating the regulations at five year intervals. Sonja also worked for three years within the Spills Program as the Contingency Plan Review Supervisor. In this role she supervised a team that reviewed oil spill contingency plans for regulated vessels, facilities and pipelines, and the development of Geographic Response Plans.
Assistant Commissioner Girouard will address increased efforts to improve spill response through improved collaboration and cooperation both within Canada and in the event of cross-border incidents.
Don’t be scared about using volunteers! With proactive pre-planning for volunteers, you can be successful in using volunteers before, during, and after responses.
Jenny Schlieps is the Program and Rehabilitation Manager for Focus Wildlife. She has worked with injured, orphaned and oiled wildlife since 1994 and has specialized in oiled wildlife response since 2008. She has worked in numerous spill responses throughout North America. She is a board member of the Washington Wildlife Rehabilitation Association and the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association.
Chrys Bertolotto is the Natural Resource Programs Manager for Washington State University Snohomish County Extension. She has coordinated multiple environmental stewardship programs and groups working with Adopt a Beach, City of Issaquah (WA) and WSU Extension. She was also the chair of a bi-county Environmental, Communication and Outreach collaborative focused on Puget Sound recovery. Her degrees are in International Environmental Studies and Environmental Economics and Organizational Development.
This session will illustrate the significant roles of commercial salvage in the mitigation and prevention of oil and hazmat spills.
Mr. Watson has more than 17 years of experience in the maritime industry. He has held several positions during his 15-year tenure at Global Diving & Salvage, including Regional Operations Manager and Environmental Operations Manager. As Salvage Officer, Mr. Watson is responsible for all manner of marine casualty response operations including vessel salvage and emergency response. Prior to working at Global, Mr. Watson was a reservist at the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Office, San Francisco, working as a vessel compliance inspector, marine pollution investigator, and port state control officer.
This diverse and experienced panel of speakers will discuss the heightened scrutiny placed on responders and the importance on effective training and validation of responder competencies. Also included will be a discussion and update on the evolving responder and Spill Management Teams (SMT) regulations on the west coast. The session will conclude with facilitated Q&A.
Sarah Kirkwood is an environmental scientist, emergency management consultant, and project coordinator with twelve years' experience in emergency management including response, plan preparation, recovery and stakeholder engagement. Through this experience and training in coaching and adult education she is uniquely qualified to facilitate various emergency management training courses, and exercises. She has the expertise and experience to provide safe and effective solutions in Emergency Management Programs and facilitate the development, and improvement of client emergency response and incident management individuals, teams and programs. Sarah has designed and instructed hazardous materials safety and regulatory programs for the last ten years for clients in the chemical, manufacturing and regulatory sectors
All phases of emergency management- mitigation, planning and preparedness, and response and recovery - are a shared responsibility. This session will provide, through First Nations and Tribal lenses, viewpoints on how emergency management is strengthened when historical issues, cultural knowledge and values, and rights and title are integrated components of each phase.
This session will focus on challenges and developments impacting the marine response community.
Chrystin McLelland is a Marine Science Technician with the United States Coast Guard's Sector Puget Sound. MST2 McLelland's responsibilities range from responding to oil and hazardous material releases in U.S. waters to conducting safety and security inspections of commercial vessels. McLelland plays an essential role in oil spill response and environmental disaster preparedness. [This bio will likely be updated by Chrystin if the abstract is accepted - we may make her the lead presenter as well]
Oana Enick is an Environmental Protection Officer with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy in British Columbia, Canada. Following her undergraduate degree in microbiology, she completed a Master of Environmental Toxicology at Simon Fraser University. In addition to working as an environmental protection officer and a risk assessor, she is also a provincial oil spill waste management specialist and an environmental unit leader in the Incident Command system. She volunteers as the current President of the British Columbia Institute of Agrologists, serves on the Professional Accountability Committee with the College of Applied Biologists and serves on the Board of Directors of the Stewardship Center for British Columbia. Her work and interests center on sound, safe, verifiable and effective governance of public resources in support of the environment, human health and the public wellbeing.
This session will focus on planning and preparing for the challenges and considerations of arctic response.
T.A. (Terry) Hall, P.Eng. Terry graduated with a Diploma of Technology in Naval Architecture in 1981 from the Marine Institute in St. John's, NF, Canada. Terry started his professional career at Peter S. Hatfield Ltd., in Vancouver, Canada, and remained there until 2004, attaining the position of Senior Naval Architect/ Senior Project Manager. After Hatfield's was acquired by BMT Fleet Technology Ltd. in 2004, he served as Senior Naval Architect and then Principal Engineer, Marine Design and Production until 2007. In 2007, Terry formed Hall Marine Design Ltd., providing consulting and engineering services to the marine industry. Terry is a registered Professional Engineer in British Columbia and Alberta Canada, and is a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME).