Geographic Response Plans (GRP) 2009 Updating the Grays Harbor GRP

1. Geographic Response Plans (GRP) 2009Updating the Grays Harbor GRP Harry Chichester Washington State Department of Ecology

2. Purpose • Help you understand GRPs • What they are • How they are used • What criteria is used in their development • Ask for your help in the update effort • Types of information that are helpful • Ways to get useful information to us • Overview of how the update effort works • Timeline: Grays Harbor GRP Workshop & Data Collection begins on August 25, 2009 • Comment period ends September 24, 2009 • Site visits Fall 2009

3. What are GRPs? • A collection of strategies for a given geographic area • Used during the initial phase of a spill • They are not ‘everything’ that could or would be done • Not dependent on ‘real-time’ information - but ‘real-time’ information can result in modification • Minimize spill impact on habitat or areas of high regional significance • Deflect, collect, ‘exclude’ spilled oil

4. Limitations – “oil boom is not a wall” • Factors that influence the effectiveness of oil containment boom: • Spilled material • Currents • Winds • Tides • River Speed

5. Types of Information in a GRP (Chapter 4) > Maps > Priority Tables > Strategy Matrices

6. Types of Information in a GRP “Two Pagers”

7. How are GRPs developed? • Stakeholders • Trustee Agencies – in Washington • development of marine GRPs by ECY & USCG • freshwater GRPs by ECY & EPA • Tribes • Other interested parties • Some Criteria for developing GRPs • Habitat of high regional significance • Likelihood of spill impacting habitat • Could a strategy minimize impact? • Could the strategy be ‘done’

8. Sources of Information • Resource Agency Staff • U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) • U. S. Coast Guard (USCG) • U. S. Fish & Wildlife (USFWS) • Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) • Washington Department of Health (DOH) • Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) • Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission (Parks) • Tribes • Geographic Information System (GIS) Data Layers • Local Knowledge

9. Information Ecology Has GIS Data Sources • DNR – Beach Data • WDFW – Priority Species • Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation • Ecology GIS – on web • WUTC- Pipelines

10. How will the Grays Harbor GRP be updated? • Collect ‘new’ information • Visit sites to determine • Regional significance of resource • Likelihood of spill impacting habitat (ESI, TAPS etc.) • Could a strategy minimize impact • Could a strategy be done • As appropriate, develop new strategies • As appropriate, adjust priority tables

11. How to help the GRP update effort… • Useful information: • Specific location • Site access • Resource of concern • Lessons learned in deployment of strategies since last update • Information that’s not too useful… • Statements like – protect ‘everything’ • GIS layers we already have • Other data we already have

12. Does public feedback work?Will my effort result in changes to GRPs? • Yes it does and here are two examples: • A curator suggested shutting down his zoo’s salt-water intake system rather than setting up boom. The suggestion was accepted and is now the GRP strategy for that location. • Comments by the City of Tacoma and Citizens for a Healthy Bay helped generate new strategies that addressed several of the area’s restoration sites

13. How to Get Information to Us • Getting the information to us: • Email – hchi461@ecy.wa.gov & thas461@ecy.wa.gov • NW Contingency Plan Website - http://www.rrt10nwac.com/nwacp_document.htm • ‘Snail mail’ –Todd Hass, c/o Ecology HQ Spills, PO Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600 • More information on the Grays Harbor GRP update process can be found on our website: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/spills/preparedness/GRP/GraysHarbor/GraysHarbor.html