Disaster Response Planning in the National Estuarine Research - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Disaster Response Planning in the National Estuarine Research Reserve System: Applications for Marine Protected Areas Will Underwood Mississippi Department of Marine Resources Grand Bay NERR

What is the NERR System? • Coastal Zone Management Act • NOAA Sponsored Program in partnership with state partner • Core boundaries are defined as NOAA trust resources • Reserves are staffed and managed by state partner/agency

Practice and Promote the stewardship of coasts and estuaries through innovative research, education, and training using a placed based system of protected areas. Water Quality Climate Change Habitat Protection

NERR Sectors • Research • Education • Stewardship • Coastal Training Program

What makes Grand Bay important? • Marshes serve as nursery ground • Provides protection from dangerous storm surge • Marshes filter nutrients • Commercial and Recreational Fishing • Outdoor recreation

Significant Resources • Tidal and emergent marsh habitats • Submerged aquatic vegetation • Coastal transitional habitats • Oyster reefs • Cultural resources (Native American Middens) • Shore and water bird foraging and nesting habitat • Fish and shellfish nursery habitat

How do we monitor the resources? • Water quality monitoring • Habitat mapping and change analysis • Biological monitoring (emergent marsh, submerged aquatic vegetation, mangrove) • Sentinel Site monitoring

The YSI 6600 EDS Datasonde

NERRS Sentinel Sites •Fine scale measurement of marsh building processes over time •Monitoring of local water levels •Monitoring and tracking changes in marsh vegetation over time •All data referenced to a common vertical datum (height/elevation)

• NERRS System Wide Monitoring Program • Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) Program • Grand Bay NERR site profile (ecological characterization) • Coordinate research with DMR, universities, NOAA, and NERRS • Applied research to local & regional issues

What are some natural stressors in Grand Bay? • Hurricanes • Erosion • Changes in freshwater inflow • Invasive species • Changes in weather and climate patterns

Anthropogenic Stressors • Excess nutrients • Industrial Development • Overharvest of fishery • Loss of sediments through dredging • Prop scarring • Decreased water quality • Industrial disasters

Why are we worried about disaster response? • We have a mandate to protect our resources • We have the local knowledge about these resources • We are often the first to report disaster situations • Our protected resources are often near industry

Mississippi Phosphates Spill

Bangs Lake 8.00 7.00 pH 6.00 5.00 4.00 03-04-05 03-19-05 04-03-05 04-18-05 05-03-05 05-18-05 06-02-05 TS Lee (Sep 2011)

Hurricane Katrina

Deepwater Horizon Response Timeline • Rig Explosion- April 20 th • Booming Initiated- May 4 th • First Rig Debris/Tarballs- June 4 th • First Oil at Reserve- June 12 th • Temporary Cap Installed- July 15 th • Targeted Boom Removal Date- Aug 31 st • Response still ongoing in some areas

What we learned from “The Spill” • Unprepared to integrate into incident command (ICS) and local emergency operations • Unsure of our role in response, both in our state agency and at higher levels • Staff were undertrained in response safety and techniques • Needed a centralized and systematic method of maintaining preparedness

What we don’t do… • We are not first responders/medical professionals/law enforcement • While our job is to protect natural resources, we don’t do that at the expense of human life and safety

Our Role in Disaster Response • Provide relevant data and consultation regarding natural resources • Assist with transport/guidance of field crews to protect critical natural resources • Provide mapping information and support • Serve as staging area as needed • Host or provide trainings

Elevating Awareness • Reserve boundaries were missing from Incident Command Center maps • Local Emergency Operations Center didn’t understand/recognize our role in resource protection • Local first responders held misconceptions about what we do • We needed a plan

• Directed funding from NOAA Disaster Response Center to develop Disaster Response Plans for the 5 Gulf of Mexico NERRs • Contracted with Tetratech consulting group to develop these plans and a template for use around the NERR system • Following Hurricane Sandy, additional Reserves received funding to develop plans

Hazard and Incident Risk Assessment • You can’t plan for every possible contingency • Internal ranking of possible incidents and disasters that could impact the resources you manage • This ranking is only as good as the people in the room • Useful to involve local response community in this ranking process

Potential Impacts [Focused on National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR)] Environment Economy Probability Indicator Potential Impact Potential Relative Hazard Indicator (0 to 1) Probability Weight Impact Weight Overall Ranking (0 to 1) Priority Life Health Property Physical Biological NERR Natural Resources Local/Regional Business 3 3 3 1 1 2 2 3 1 0.75 50% 50% High Hurricane 88 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0.17 50% 50% Medium Coastal Erosion 58 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 0.75 0.38 50% 50% Medium Severe Storms 56 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.5 0.38 50% 50% Medium Offshore Oil Spill 44 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 0.5 0.38 50% 50% Medium Riverine Flooding 44 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.5 0.33 50% 50% Medium Invasive Species 42 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.5 0.33 50% 50% Medium Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) 42 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.5 0.33 50% 50% Medium Vessel Grounding 42 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.5 0.33 50% 50% Medium HazMat (other than oil) 42 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.5 0.33 50% 50% Medium Lightning 42 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.5 0.33 50% 50% Medium Wildland Fire 42 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 0.25 0.50 50% 50% Low Tsunami 38 2 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 0.25 0.46 50% 50% Low Earthquake 35 2 1 3 1 1 1 1 1 0.25 0.46 50% 50% Low Tornado 35 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.25 0.38 50% 50% Low Aircraft Crash 31 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.25 0.38 50% 50% Low Rail HAZMAT 31 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.25 0.38 50% 50% Low Law Enforcement Emergency 31 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.25 0.38 50% 50% Low Medical Emergency 31 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 0.25 0.38 50% 50% Low Structure Fire 31 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0.25 0.33 50% 50% Low UXO/Live Fire 29 Potential Impact Descriptions Life Loss of human life [staff, visitors, researchers (registered, unregistered), persons working or recreating within NERR boundaries]. Health Human Injury or illness [risk to staff, visitors, researchers (registered, unregistered), persons working or recreating within NERR boundaries] Property Damage to buildings and infrastructure (buildings, roads, roofs, vehicles, boats, piers, transformers, power lines, etc.) Environment Impacts to the environment Physical Coastline, cultural resources, wetlands, barrier islands, rivers, other landforms and waterways Biological Animal and plant life (sea grass, protected species, reefs, plankton, etc.) Economy Economy considered at three levels NERR Impacts to NERR operations and ability to accomplish its mission - research, stewardship, education, outreach Natural Resources Impacts to natural resources protected by the NERR in terms of species and habitat impacts, aesthetics, fishing, and other economic uses Local/Regional Resources Impacts to NERR natural resources that have an impact on local/regional economy - hotels, gas stations, shops, etc. tied to tourism/fishing/recreational/natural resource driven economy

Stakeholder Meeting • Local resource professionals, industry, local industry and response community • Clearly establish definitions…our “resources” are not the same as their “resources” • Educate responders about natural resources at risk • Describe vulnerability of long term research plots and equipment

• Need to communicate more regularly with industry and responders • Developed fact sheets outlining vulnerable resources for responders • Established lines of communication with local government and EOC

What a plan will do for you… • Centralize contact information for agencies, responders, and responsible parties • Provide a systematic course of action for responding to incidents and disasters • Clearly define chain of command and areas of responsibility • Identify training needs and training schedules for staff

Introduction • Purpose • List of plans • Basic site information • Authorities for response • Scope • Assumptions

Emergency Planning Factors • Resources at risk people infrastructure natural resources • Hazards • Emergency Capabilities

Operations • Mitigation • Preparedness planning, training, exercising, equipping • Response NIMS, facilities, awareness, roles and assignments, priorities and planning, communication • Recovery damage assessment and recovery