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NOAA Activities

NOAA was notified of this incident on August 10, 1993, by MSO Tampa Bay.  The MSO needed
immediate support so a former SSC, now with NOAA Aircraft Operation in Tampa, went onscene
to help until the Florida SSC arrived at 1230.  The NOAA on-scene team consisted of
representatives from NOAA HAZMAT Modeling and Simulation Studies Branch (MASS), and
Biological Assessment Team (BAT), the SSC from Louisiana, and NOAA contractors.  They were
onscene through September 7.

The NOAA team provided daily weather, tides, currents, trajectory updates, and cleanup
tracking and monitoring reports.  The team also participated in all RRT teleconference
calls, served on the Shoreline Cleanup Technical Committee and the How Clean Is Clean
Committee.  They provided evaluation and observation reports on cleanup techniques and
progress to the FOSC, worked closely with all the responding entities to develop sound
approaches to cleanup and environmental issues, and provided support and information
regarding several important health and safety issues.*&*&NOAA coordinated efforts focused
at trajectories, weather, tides and current information, and environmental response and
study issues among several academic, state  and federal institutions.

NOAA's Aircraft Operations Center, based at MacDill Air Force Base, provided helicopter
support for overflights.  They also provided temporary hanger storage for GST response
equipment.

The USCG DRAT environmental specialist worked with the NOAA team on environmental issues.
The director and one faculty member from the University of Miami's newly formed South
Florida Oil Spill Research Center spent several days with the NOAA team to increase their
knowledge of spill responses.

NOAA gave the FOSC a report addressing concerns, considerations, benefits, and liabilities
of several possible techniques that could deal with removing the tarmats and submerged
oil.  The SSC expects to return onscene to help evaluate new cleanup operations when they
begin.