Registration fee: no charge, sponsored by RPS Ocean Science
Oil spill response planning typically includes comparative risk assessment (CRA) to examine the consequences of deploying different response technologies to mitigate spilled oil. Since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident, subsea dispersant injection (SSDI) has emerged as a countermeasure for mitigating uncontrolled releases from deep-water wells. The goals for using SSDI include: reducing oil volume reaching the water surface; reducing human and wildlife exposure to volatile hydrocarbons; dispersing oil over a large water volume at depth; enhancing biodegradation; and reducing surface and shoreline exposures to floating and surface-water entrained/dissolved oil. Potential trade-offs include increased water column and benthic resource exposures to oil at depth. To better understand the implications of different response technologies, including SSDI, a hypothetical well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico will be examined using oil spill modeling results and a CRA Results Tool to demonstrate assessment methods of environmental exposures to combinations of response options - mechanical recovery, in-situ burning, surface dispersant application, and SSDI.
 
Participants will learn and take away from the workshop:

• Understanding of expected environmental hydrocarbon exposures resulting from a deepwater oil and gas blowout;
• Perspective on the implications of subsea, as well as surface, dispersant use on oil fate and environmental exposures;
• Quantitative information on environmental exposures following a blowout, considering response alternatives including various combinations of mechanical recovery, in-situ burning and dispersant use;
• Estimations of the percentages of environmental resources that might be exposed above thresholds of concern, considering their sensitivities and distributions; and
• How to conduct systematic evaluations of potential environmental trade-offs associated with changes in oil distribution due to use of different response technologies, incorporating ecological considerations such as population distributions and recovery potential of valued ecosystem components and environmental compartments.

 Who Should Attend

• Oil spill responders and their technical advisors
• Emergency response regulators tasked with developing guidance and regulations related to oil spill response, and their technical support
• Environmental scientists, toxicologists, marine ecologists and risk assessors from academia, business, government and non-governmental organizations who might be asked to provide advice to oil spill responders and regulators regarding the efficacy and consequences of various response technology options such as mechanical recovery, in situ burning, and both surface and subsea dispersants.

Registration fee: no charge, sponsored by The Mexican Association of Hydrocarbons Companies (AMEXHI)
In 2013, Mexico entered a new era in the energy industry opening opportunities for international companies to, amongst other activities, explore and produce hydrocarbons in Mexico. From 2013 to date, 110 Exploration and Production contracts have been awarded to almost 40 different oil companies from around the globe. Oil spill response preparedness is a key success factor for new entrants in the Mexican market.
 
Expected takeaways from workshop:

• A general overview of the new Mexican hydrocarbon sector
• Current regulatory framework and oil spill key stakeholders for E&P activities offshore.
• National Oil Spill Contingency Plan and Mexican Navy organization
• Challenges and undergoing efforts by industry and Mexican authorities.
• Oil Spill Response capacities in country
• Mexico – US (Mexus) Binational oil spill response plan and efforts

 
Who Should Attend

• Oil companies conducting or considering conducting operations in Mexico
• Mexican and U.S. Regulators with jurisdiction/interest on oil spill response regulations /preparedness in Mexico and transboundary spills originating in Mexico
• Oil Spill Response organizations
• Contractors supporting or considering supporting oil spill response preparedness efforts in Mexico

Registration fee: no charge, sponsored by Witt O’Brien’s and conducted by O'Brien's Response Management LLC
The ‘4 Chairs One Table’ workshop is designed to be instructive for all attendees of CLEAN GULF to gain a much deeper understanding of the perspectives, responsibilities and decisions made by the multiple stakeholders to a significant event. This year’s Event Scenario will Involve an offshore GOM asset and allow you to: 

1. Gain a deeper understanding of the various Unified Command stakeholder perspectives and the decisions they face
2. Increase knowledge and best practices responding to an incident involving and interacting in a Unified Command environment
3. Help you delineate between Incident management and Crisis management decision making during a response

 Who Should Attend
 The ‘4 Chairs One Table’ workshop is designed for personnel that are either a part of the Unified Command or those that are directly impacted by the decisions of the Unified Command such as members of an Incident Management Team and other stakeholders

Registration fee: no charge, sponsored by DomPrep
This workshop will present and discuss clear and present homeland threats and security issues, including:

• Risk management practices,
• Enhancing interagency interdependencies,
• Vulnerabilities for CBRNE incidents,
• Cybersecurity vulnerabilities,
• Border security challenges, and
• Consequence of failure

 Who Should Attend:

• Members of the United States Coast Guard, Department of Defense; Department of Homeland Security; Environmental Protection Agency; state and local emergency management, environmental response, and first responders (including law enforcement, fire departments, and hazardous materials teams); port authorities, facility and vessel security officers, contingency and business continuity planners
• Contractors involved in security and emergency response

Instructors:

• Frank Docimo, Principal Consultant, PENTA Consortium, LLC
• Kelly Haas, Admiralty and Maritime Attorney, Mills Shirley LLP
• CAPT Kristy Luttrell, USCC, Sector Commander, SUCG Sector New Orleans
• LCDR Sharon Russell, USCGR, CEM, PMP, IT Incident Manager, Raymond James
• Mike Wallace, EdD., Professor of Practice and Director, Emergency and Security Studies at Tulane University
• Forrest Zolczer, Emergency Response Project Manager, USES

This session will focus on technological innovations in the field of spill response. It will provide an overview of recent developments in source control, leak detection and spill response techniques.
Presenters will review recent and ongoing work, with a look forward to future development opportunities and potential operational deployments.

To get ahead of the oil, you need to know where it’s going. Participants will see tools and techniques to get ahead of the problem and thus able to improve response actions. BLOSOMs, TACOS, and debris will all make sense in the end. What’s in your toolbox??

This session will provide an industry perspective on the new/proposed DOT requirements for oil spill response plans for Class I Railroads. The presentations will be followed by a panel discussion with the three speakers.

An integral part of preparing for an oil spill response is being current and up-to-date on state and federal regulations. Learn what you need to know to conduct business relative to oil spill response and remediation directly from the federal and state regulators who are responsible for proposing new rules as well as implementation and enforcement.

Sponsored by E3 Environmental

This session will present recent developments, activities, and concerns in Latin American.

This session will explore the broad spectrum of spill response science and technology – from the perspective of increasing engagement with academic researchers, to the development of tools that support the decision-making process, to the application of technologies during a spill response.

The Marine Salvage Industry plays a vital role in protecting the marine environment. This session will take a hard look at high profile salvage and marine firefighting case studies and lessons learned from each.

At times we become complacent and use “old school rules” when dealing with wildlife impacted during events. While the tried and true still works in many instances, it is important to stay current with advancements in response regarding wildlife. As more information is gained with each response it should come into play, improving techniques and in the process benefit wildlife response with the overall objective of continuing to make wildlife response a success.

In situ burning is becoming a more useful tool for responders in the right circumstances. Two burns will be presented as case studies: one in a cold weather environment and the second on a livestock pond. Additionally, one presentation will cover the regulatory and operational approvals for the cold weather burn.

The MC-20 response has been active since 2004. After 14 years and countless scientific studies and workshops the Responsible Party is now willing to share his Unified Command activities along with others actively involved with the response over the years.

HARBO Technologies' T-FENCE Spill Blocking System was deployed lately in two real-life dramatic situations: The first - a 200-tonne oil spill at the port of Rotterdam. The second deployment, a demonstration organized by the California Dep. of fish and wildlife, was in the natural oil seep offshore Santa Barbara. The system was deployed within minutes by two people. The unsinkable design with a low drag factor and synchronized movements with the waves is the shape of things to come in the OSR scene. In this presentation, HARBO will provide an overview of its technology and a brief description of both cases and the operational lessons and conclusions.

This session will provide an overview of planned and ongoing E&P activities in the Mexican region of the Gulf of Mexico and provide perspectives from Mexican and U.S. regulators.

The detection of submerged oil is the first step to recovery. This session will seek to outline detection technologies as well as current USCG regulations with impact to responders.

The 2017 Hurricanes Irma and Maria resulted in displacement of large numbers of vessels with associated pollution risks, triggering the U.S. Coast Guard response under the FEMA Emergency Support Function (ESF) #10. This session will provide an overview of the response to those hurricanes, with nearly 1,800 vessels removed in Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This panel session will start with an overview of the response, including initial identification of displaced vessels using post-Hurricane imagery, consultation and permitting issues, development of assessment and removal packages, development of environmental Best Management Practices (BMPs) and job aids/training for displaced vessel removal from highly sensitive habitats, use of Natural Resource Advising and Biological Monitoring for field operations, and marine and coastal habitat stabilization and repair.

The purpose of this session will be to discuss various methods to increase cooperation between regulatory agencies and industry. Discussion will be focused on enhancing regulatory compliance, challenges, and timeliness.

This is a session created for professionals who engage in planning for the unexpected specific to the inland zone. The post-disaster environment should not be the first time a company begins identifying and managing critically important issues.

Explore the various ways operators meet prerequisite and training requirements for small, medium, and large Incident Management Teams (IMTs). This session will cover several operator’s programs.

This session is a case study on the Stone Energy Drill utilizing API 4719. This is the first time this document was used in a drill and is a recommended practice (RP) for industry in deepwater to utilize as an application for RRT’s.

Exhibit Hall D
The powerful combination of Hanby Environmental TPH Field Test Kits providing Fast, Accurate and Economical analysis, provide the means of knowing the beginning contamination level and monitor the cleanup efforts. While OMG Solutions products ELMN8 (soil) and ELMN8+ (water) immediately eliminate the hydrocarbon contamination in-situ (in place) and in real time utilizing their patent pending and non-hazardous and non-toxic chemical oxidation process. The combined real time feedback and real time treatment of hydrocarbon contamination is “The New Hydrocarbon Remediation and Emergency/Spill Response Paradigm!

The health and welfare of people should always be the highest priority in oil spill response; this involves many complex issues beyond protecting the health and safety of response workers. Human dimensions encompass potential health, social, economic, institutional, and cultural impacts of oil spills. In this session, presenters will discuss pre-spill and response activities to strengthen our awareness of, and consider new opportunities to protect human health and welfare.

This session will provide three case studies in the Gulf of Mexico on surface oil detection in marine environments. Various analyses employing multiple platforms and sensor technologies will be discussed. Outcomes and lessons learned will be presented to provide insight to various remote sensing applications and spill recovery operations.

This session will cover a variety of in situ burning topics including an overview of the applicability and historical applications in coastal areas as well as post recovery analyses, the approval process both from a case study perspective and current RRT 6 guidance, what it takes to plan an in situ burn operation and most importantly what are the potential health effects on responders and the public.

This session will cover recent advances for treatment and rehabilitation of wildlife affected by contaminants in the Gulf Coast and discuss what it takes to be “successful” during wildlife response.

This session will include three case studies covering challenges and lessons learned regarding air monitoring for vapor hazards, spill response to floods in the U.S., and complexities as a result of managing simultaneous spill responses in one large metropolitan city.

A major reason oil spill responses are effective is the fact that drills and exercises are carried out by industry and the federal organizations that regulate them. This panel discussion will highlight expectations from government and industry on oil spill training and exercises.

This session will examine the use of subsea dispersant injection in the context of comparing risks, setting expectations, and collecting/analyzing data.

In an increasingly digital world, cyber risks are rising to the top of company’s concerns. This session will cover risks that could play out in a response scenario and/or impact critical infrastructure.

This session will examine evolving surveillance and visualization technologies to aid and improve oil spill response. A number of platforms including unmanned aerial systems, unmanned surface vehicles, and unmanned underwater vehicles have greatly improved detection and tracking of spilled oil. In addition, a number of sensors that are available will be discussed.

A “from the field” perspective of the response community past, present, and future. Topics to be covered will be workforce, industry consolidation, increased cost of doing business – including implications of Government Initiated Unannounced Exercises (GIUE's) and expanding service lines to add revenue stream.

The successful implementation of NRDA requires multiple steps, coordination, and communication. NRDA – From Planning Through Restoration. This session will give examples on how response, NRDA, and restoration can benefit from improved coordination.

Improved preparedness and prevention practices have resulted in fewer and fewer actual releases of oil, which we all agree is a good thing! Fewer oil spills mean our spill management team has less opportunity to get real response experience. How do we ensure our response staff get the most out of the exercises we hold? This session will help answer that question and will focus on a variety of techniques to improve our ability to get realistic experience while in an exercise. The speakers in this session are seasoned responders who will give their insights to how you can improve your exercises to give your staff the training experience needed to be well trained if a spill occurs.

This session will include an update on the state of well containment companies operating in the U.S Gulf of Mexico. Where they are and what does the future hold?

This session will provide a brief summary of research and development projects funded by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Oil Spill Preparedness Division. BSEE has been funding oil spill response research since the 1970’s as part of its mandate to ensure that industry is prepared to respond to an oil spill. Additionally, three specific project results will be presented and discussed.

This session will look at recent experiences with shoreline assessment and response, lessons learned, and the future direction of SCAT: from field data collection to how SCAT best supports operational response.

This session will present an overview of NPDES permit newly enacted on October 1, 2017. What you need to know to comply with reconciliation and best practices for sampling for each of the several types of discharge materials identified in the permit. This session has been created to explain the new electronic manifest requirements by the EPA. Attendees will learn about the five options for manifest submissions from the most economical to the least economical.

There are many ways to get to a response competency endpoint…mastery of incident management for example. This session will explore different processes to help you achieve a response competency endpoint!

This session is for planning, response, and regulatory personnel engaged in the consideration and permitting process for oil dispersants. Dispersant effectiveness related to the characteristics of the oil, ecological and human health impacts, and spill modeling post dispersant application will be discussed.

There are many lessons which can be learned from past response experiences; however, one lesson in particular continues to resurface with each passing exercise and incident: a shared recognition by RP and Agencies alike for the importance of establishing proper protocols for the collection, management and sharing of data. Sampling and subsequent data management must consider the end use data needs by all interested stakeholders for both the response and the Trustees (NRDA). Failure to consider sampling and data needs by all interested parties potentially leads to the deployment of additional, sometimes wholly duplicative resources by the Trustees which would have otherwise been available for the Response, in order to collect data specific for their needs. Duplication of resources and data collection is not only costly for the RP but challenges the ability of responders and trustees to work together due to the development of parallel databases and systems for managing data. Data management helps identify data needs and how data is managed such as QA/QC, protocols and visualization to better support decision making in response and potential impact assessment.

With the recurrent and increasing intensity of natural disasters the need to learn from past events is now more critical than ever. With increasing coastal populations, regulators, operators and responders need to be integrated. The presentations will be followed by a panel discussion.

Panelists from the Preparedness for Response Exercise Program Compliance, Coordination, and Consistency (PREP 4C) Committee will update and discuss proposed changes to PREP 2016. This is the interagency committee that is responsible for updating, maintaining, and publishing the PREP Guidelines.

This session will offer presentations and al discussion among operators, OSROs and government regulators to share recent, real-world experiences on the appropriate size for response and exercise Incident Management Teams (IMTs).  Perspectives and expectations will be discussed from the active participants of the Unified Command.