Clean Production and Toxics

Volunteers speed spill response

In the event of a spill on the St. Lawrence River, a swift response is critical in minimizing damage. Understanding this, Save the River launched a cutting edge spill response program last year, connecting volunteers with the United States Coast Guard (USCG) to assist in case of a spill on the River.

The partnership between volunteers and the USCG is unique. In the event of a spill, volunteers are trained to assess shoreline damage and identify sensitive areas so that spill response resources can be deployed quickly, while reducing environmental damage.

The first twelve hours of a spill are the most critical. Current manpower resources through the USCG are limited on the St. Lawrence River increasing the potential for significant damage. The new program increases the number of people able to respond to a spill, assess the damage, and then deploy the necessary resources in a timely manner. Volunteers also provide important local knowledge about the River, its flows and its sensitive areas. This sort of detailed knowledge is helpful to Coast Guard staff who are typically only stationed in the region for three years, before being transferred to a new location.

The launch of the program comes in the wake of the San Francisco oil spill in the fall of 2007. The spill occurred when a container ship hit the Oakland Bay Bridge, releasing 58,000 gallons of bunker fuel into the surrounding waters. Concerned local citizens arrived on the scene to offer any help they could, but were unable to be utilized to their full extent. The resources needed to train volunteers in order to safely assist with response to the spill were limited and the training extensive. Had volunteers been pre-trained, the spill extent could have been assessed more quickly and resources deployed for faster containment.

After the first year of the St. Lawrence program, Save The River has trained 20 volunteers and will be adding more volunteers to their program in 2009. Volunteers attend a two hour training session with Save The River and United States Coast Guard staff, where they learn the role of volunteers in the spill response plan and safety precautions necessary when assessing spill extent and shoreline damage. Volunteers are also taught how to assess shoreline damage and report that information back to United States Coast Guard staff in a timely manner to reduce spill response time.

This program is the only one of its kind in the Great Lakes region. The unique partnership created between Save The River and the United States Coast Guard has allowed a citizens’ group to be a part of spill response planning and enabled local citizens to better protect the place they call home.

Sarah Walsh is program manager with Save The River, a non-profit environmental organization located on the outlet of the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River. She can be reached at
sarah@savetheriver.org

© 2009 Great Lakes News.