Coast Guard Emergency Response Operations

1. Coast Guard Emergency Response Operations LT Gabriel Klaff D1 Incident Management Branch

2. LT Gabriel Klaff • Strike Team experience: • 37 oil spills • 22 hazardous substance responses • 5 natural disasters • Hazardous Materials Technician in the field • Managed operations and provided off-site site safety support • Notable cases: • Offload & destruction of Syrian chemical weapon precursors (2014 – Port Arthur, TX) • Duke Energy coal ash spill in Dan River (2014 – Eden, NC) • In-situ burns of spilled oil (2014 – Venice & 2015 – Morgan City, LA) • Several train derailments (various locations) • Bakken crude oil • Acrylonitrile • Dicyclopentadiene • Phosphoric acid

3. Overview • Daily Operations vs. Large-Scale Incidents • Operational Risk Management • Case Studies • From a CIH Perspective Bakken Crude Oil Spill, Mississippi River Feb. 2014

4. USCG Operations Daily/Routine Surge/Large-Scale Spills of National Significance ex. Deepwater Horizon Type 1 & 2 Incidents Vessel collisions Facility spills Terrorism & WMD Natural Disasters ex. Hurricane Katrina • Planning/preparedness • Vessel & facility inspections • Plan reviews • Interagency meetings • Drills & exercises • Minor spills of oil and hazardous substances

5. Incident Typing As the incident grows in complexity, more resources are required and the event is likely to span multiple operational periods.

6. Regulatory Response Frameworks National Contingency Plan National Response Framework “Response to oil and hazardous substance incidents is generally carried out in accordance with the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan (NCP), 40 CFR Part 300.”

7. Daily Operations: Preparedness • Regional Response Teams, Area Committees, & Contingency Plans • Divided amongst CG Sectors • Case studies, lessons learned, new/emerging technologies • Preparedness for Response Exercise Program • Government or industry-led • Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasures Plans • Facilities and vessels

8. Exercise: Vessel of Opportunity Skimming System Deployment “Crewmembers from the Coast Guard 14th District Response Advisory Team and the Coast Guard National Strike Force conduct a training evolution to assemble, deploy and operate a Vessel of Opportunity Skimming System aboard the Tug Noha Loa during Rim of the Pacific Exercise 2016.” Source: Defense Video Imagery Distribution System

9. Surge/Large-Scale Operations • The first person on-scene may be someone with little experience, few resources, & limited communications • CG Sector offices establish IMT’s as the response grows • Deployable teams & inorganic resources arrive within 4 – 48 hrs • NSF Strike Teams • Regional and/or National Incident Management Assist Teams • CG Reserve personnel

10. Incident Command System (ICS) • Federal agencies are required to use this under the National Response Framework. • Establishes a universal, expandable framework so that everyone has a specific job & a single supervisor to report to. • Incident Commanders operate together to set priorities & objectives, bring resources to bear, & conduct operations. • “All-hazards” approach makes this useful for oil spills, wild fires, terrorism attacks, & many other incidents.

11. Risk vs. Gain Drives the Response • What is the risk? • Financial • Environmental • Safety of responders • Safety of the public • Infrastructure • Which is most important? It depends: • CG Sector Commander (Federal On-Scene Coordinator during a tanker collision) • EPA On-Scene Coordinator (Federal On-Scene Coordinator during a crude oil train derailment) • Responsible Party (owner of a tank barge involved in a collision) • State governor (Gov. Deval Patrick during the Boston Marathon Bombing) The incident’s Safety Officer is responsible for evaluating all of these risks and gains to provide “go” or “no-go” recommendations to the Incident Commander(s)!

12. Operational Risk Management • Used every day for routine operations • Every Coast Guard member is trained in this • Scale = 0 – 10 • 6 categories

13. Operational Risk Management Swift current Nitrile gloves Tag lines PFD’s Air Purifying Resp. Dermal absorption PIW/drowning Vapor inhalation Recover oil from shoreline with sorbent pads A Conduct sampling of damaged tank contents (onboard barge) B

14. Case Study: Barge MM 46 responsenatchez, ms – January 2016

15. Incident Summary • On 21 Jan 2016, a tug/barge carrying catalytic cracked clarified oil (more dense than water) struck the Highway 84 bridge, damaging two tanks • Estimated discharge ≈ 3,150 gallons • Emergency response phase lasted just over one week • Containment • Lightering • Rudimentary patching • Vessel transit • Sampling • Impact assessments and bulk cleanup were deferred for several months to allow flood waters to recede • On-scene weather • Temperature: low 25°F – high 65°F • Wind: 8-15 mph, gusts to 25+ • Minimal precipitation • Responding agencies: • USCG (Federal On-Scene Coordinator) • State DEQ (LA & MS) • NOAA (Scientific Support Coordinator) • US Army Corps of Engineers • US Fish and Wildlife • State Historic Preservation Officers • US Environmental Protection Agency (Regions 4 and 6)

16. Barge Outline Overlay on Satellite Imagery After the barge allided with the bridge, the tug operator pushed the barge up on the bank to prevent it from moving downriver. The river was at such a severe flood stage that the barge’s resting place was above the tops of full-grown trees along the “normal” river bank. Source: U.S. Coast Guard

17. Sampling Plan for Sunken Oil This plan took an obvious safety hazard (river current in excess of 5 knots) and turned it into a tactical advantage by allowing the operator to pivot on a fixed line while holding steady to conduct sampling of the river bottom to assess the impacted area. Source: U.S. Coast Guard

18. Operational Risk Management Swift current Nitrile gloves Tag lines PFD’s Air Purifying Resp. Dermal absorption PIW/drowning Vapor inhalation Recover oil from tree limbs with sorbent pads A

19. Lessons Learned Pros Cons “Breaking the mold” required more frequent re-evaluation of risk vs. gain, which made Incident Commanders impatient Rushing to finish could have resulted in serious injury. The Safety Officer was not immediately consulted on final work assignments. • Used the local knowledge of contractors from the area to train workers deployed from other locations • The challenge of non-floating oil forced responders to think “outside of the box” for sampling & cleanup operations

20. Case Study: morgans point collision MTBE SpillLa porte, tx – march 2015

21. Incident Summary • On 09 Mar 2015, the Motor Vessels CARLA MAERSK and CONTI PERIDOT collided in Galveston Bay • Estimated release ≈ 88,200 gallons of Methyl Tert-Butyl Ether (MTBE) • Emergency response phase lasted almost three weeks • Shelter in place order for community • Evacuation order for nearby terminal and some of the city • Soft patching • Inert gas system (nitrogen) • Sampling • Emergency lightering (product offload at sea) • Vessel transit • On-scene weather • Temperature: 54°F • Wind: 12 mph • Dense fog • Responding agencies: • USCG (Federal On-Scene Coordinator) • State (TGLO, TCEQ) • NOAA (Scientific Support Coordinator) • US Environmental Protection Agency (Region 6)

22. Moments After the Collision This image, taken by a crew members aboard the CARLA MAERSK shows the two vessels immediately after the collision. Source: NTSB

23. Sheen on the Water As MTBE is slightly soluble in water and evaporates quickly, the sheen shown in this picture could not be feasibly contained or recovered, and it did not persist. Source: U.S. Coast Guard

24. CG Emergency Response: CIH’s Perspective Pros Cons Limited inventory of personal protective equipment Flame Resistant Coveralls Even though everyone is aware that acronyms and jargon present problems, their use is still an issue • Subject matter expertise with the marine environment • Able to execute the work plan and clearly communicate results • Took orders well

25. CG Emergency Response: CIH’s Perspective • Greatest challenge = communication • Site safety plan: issuing, revising, and communicating changes to hundreds of contractors during every operational period was a nightmare • Have the confidence to say “I didn’t understand what you meant when you said ____” • Not your average workplace • Lack of sleep • Diet becomes “catch as catch can” • Getting work done with limited computing/printing/display capacity “Industry wants everyone out of their way to fix the problem… …the Government wants to ensure it is done the right way. The keys to marrying those two perspectives are respect and listening. All parties need to be given an opportunity to be heard. No one role is more important than another. ICS works as a team or doesn't work at all.” -Mr. Dan Christensen, CIH for CTEH, LLC.

26. Questions? Thank you. Oil Platform Fire, Berry Lake, LA Mar. 2016