Emergencies Products

Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Team

A Three Day Course Organized By:
Environment CanadaEnvironment Protection BranchEnvironmental
Emergencies SectionOntario Region

Are You Prepared...

... to respond to a large oil spill affecting the shorelines of our Great Lakes? How would you know which resources were the most important to protect, or what the safest and most effective ways to protect and clean up those resources were?

When a marine or land based spill has the potential to affect shorelines, it is essential that on-scene responders establish priorities for shoreline protection and cleanup. In order to establish such priorities the Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique (SCAT) uses standardized procedures and terminology. The systematic process for documenting information on shoreline oiling conditions in the event of a spill can be conducted by a number of SCAT teams depending on the magnitude of the spill event. The SCAT teams undertake comprehensive surveys and collect information related to the types and characteristics of oil stranded on the shoreline, the geomorphologic features of the shoreline, and the environmental resources at risk, either from existing information sources or from field evaluations conducted at the time of a spill. The SCAT process ensures that the data collected by the various teams in the field are consistent, comparable and useful.

The Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Technique training session is a three-day course designed for first responder organizations from all levels of government, industry, response organizations, First Nations and academia, that could be involved in some aspect of a spill response. The training covers shoreline processes, spill response techniques and the process of shoreline assessment. Manuals to support the training will be provided to all course participants.

Are You a First Responder?

You are a first responder - if you would be involved in any aspect of the initial response to an oil spill affecting the Great Lakes. In the event of a spill, it is imperative that first responders from both industry and government be able to communicate effectively and work as a team. This is the objective of the SCAT process.

Course participants come from a wide range of backgrounds, education and expertise, including:

• industrial representatives (internal emergency response personnel) to gain an understanding of the SCAT process so that they can better manage spill response activities
• technical specialists such as geologists, geomorphologists, archeologists and ecologists who want to be able to carry out field survey work during spills as well as supervise field crews, and
• regulatory personnel (Canadian Coast Guard, Environment Canada, Provincial Ministries of the Environment) who would be active participants in the SCAT surveys or those regulatory personnel who would be involved in spill response and cleanup operations as Monitoring Officers.

The Course...

The 3-day course consists of classroom sessions, field exercises and group work. The course will include discussions on the physical, geological and ecological considerations influencing cleanup priorities that are specific to the Great Lakes shoreline environment.

• coastal processes and shoreline types
• fate and persistence of stranded oil
• movement of oil on water
• shoreline sensitivity and response priorities
• shoreline protection and assessment of oiled shorelines
• strategies available for protecting and treating oiled shorelines
• case histories

Contact

To register in the SCAT course, or for more information, please contact:
The Regional Environmental Emergencies Coordinator (REEC)

The course will be offered twice in 2003. Tentative dates & locations for the 2003 SCAT course are:

May 2003 - Cornwall area
August 2003 - location to be determined based on participant interest

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