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It's A Drill! SONS 2010
On March 24 and 25, staff from NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R;) participated in the 2010 Spill of National Significance (SONS) full-scale exercise. SONS 2010 took place in Portland, Maine; Boston, Massachusetts; and in Washington, D.C.
A SONS is defined in 40 CFR 300.5 as, "a spill that, due to its severity, size, location, actual or potential impact on the public health and welfare or the environment, or the necessary response effort, is so complex that it requires extraordinary coordination of federal, state, local, and responsible party resources to contain and clean up the discharge." This SONS exercise was intended to implement the National Incident Management System (NIMS), and test oil spill response plans at the local Unified Command (UC), Area Command, and National Incident Command (NIC) response organizations in accordance with the National Contingency Plan (NCP) and National Response Framework.
The Scenario
SONS 2010 featured a collision between two vessels (a car carrier and an oil tanker) approximately 16 miles off the coast in the Gulf of Maine. The collision occurred during a particularly strong winter storm with sub-freezing temperatures and restricted visibility. It resulted in a major coastal oil spill that exercised numerous other economic, environmental, and political challenges designed to stress all levels of the response organization. The oil spill exercise affected several states in the New England area, including Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.
NOAA's Role in SONS 2010
NOAA OR&R; has over three decades of experience in supporting the U.S. Coast Guard and other response agencies with scientific coordination during exercises and real events. This support includes expertise in
- predicting the fate and behavior of spilled pollutants;
- identifying resources at risk;
- conducting environmental chemistry;
- assessing chemical hazards;
- recommending cleanup strategies and priorities;
- assessing shorelines;
- managing response information;
- developing and implementing monitoring plans;
- coordinating with other Federal, State and local agencies, as well as industry, on science-related issues;
- coordinating Natural Resource Trustee issues.
As part of the SONS 2010 exercise, OR&R; field-tested a newly developed situational awareness tool, ERMAŽ. The Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA) is a web-based open source mapping tool designed to capture and share geographic information used in science decision-making, both on-scene and remotely.
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Here is an example of ERMA New England with NOAA raster charts and buoy locations displayed, in conjunction with the ESI Shoreline Classification layer. The ESI shoreline layer indicates how sensitive the shorelines are to oil. (Areas in red are the most sensitive.)
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OR&R; scientists also coordinate with other Federal trustees to assess impacts, collect damages, and plan for and implement restoration. In preparation for SONS 2010, OR&R; scientists coordinated data, products, and exercise player participation from other NOAA offices:
Sponsors and Participants
SONS 2010 was a multi-agency effort led by the U.S. Coast Guard in collaboration with Shell Oil Products, the sixteen agencies of the National Response Team, and the States of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.
More Information
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- SONS 2010 Exercise The official Web site, which includes news updates, reference documents, a helpful FAQ, blog, etc. [leaves OR&R; site]
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