SCAA's Future Environmental Leaders Trip to Ohmsett and Tri-State Bird Rescue

FEL Trip to Ohmsett and Tri-State Bird Rescue – September 8^th and 9^th, 2022

The idea of organizing FEL visits to the Ohmsett Facility in Leonardo, New Jersey and the Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research Center in Newark, Delaware first surfaced at SCAA’s 2022 Annual Meeting & Conference in April with the purpose of expanding SCAA member employees’ awareness and knowledge of the many aspects of our environmental and spill response industry.  We had an enthusiastic initial response.

Ohmsett Visit

On September 8^th, 2022, members of the SCAA Future Environmental Leaders (FEL) committee visited The National Oil Spill Response Research & Renewable Energy Test Facility (Ohmsett). Originally opened in 1973, and located at the Naval Weapons Station Earle Waterfront in Leonardo, New Jersey, Ohmsett operates the largest saltwater wave/tow tank in North America containing over 2 million gallons of saltwater. Ohmsett is a premier test facility for oil spill behavior, containment, and clean-up equipment and technology. At 203 meters long and 20 meters wide, the Ohmsett test tank accommodates the testing of full-scale equipment. It is the only facility where full-scale oil spill response equipment testing, research, and training can be conducted in a marine environment with oil under controlled environmental conditions. SCAA visitors observed the operation of the tank wave making equipment, a small underwater ROV, rode on one of the three movable bridges, and observed comparable disc skimmers recovering oil. Additional capabilities of Ohmsett include a towing bridge, an auxiliary bridge, a wave-damping artificial beach, an oil recovery centrifuge system, and a control tower for the monitoring of tests, among other features.  Ohmsett is currently operated under the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety & Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

While at Ohmsett, members of the FEL met with Program Manager Dr. Tom Coolbaugh to learn about the history and capabilities of Ohmsett. New equipment is tested at Ohmsett every year such as the underwater remote operated vehicle video systems that was demonstrated during the visit. If your company has new technology they would like to test, Ohmsett’s test center can be reserved by public and private companies, academia, and government agencies.

During the visit, the New York/New Jersey Baykeeper, a nonprofit organization, spoke with the FEL about their efforts to restore oyster populations in the NY-NJ Harbor. The NY/NJ Baykeeper organization aims to protect the health of both New York and New Jersey waterways and seeks to prevent and eliminate pollution. These goals are achieved by repopulating the New York and New Jersey bays with oysters that are raised in tanks at the Ohmsett facility. Employees and volunteers for the Coastal Restoration Program provided SCAA FEL-members a brief tutorial on aquacultural procedures and provided a hands-on glimpse of oysters being grown at the Ohmsett facility being prepared for release into Raritan Bay.

SCAA and the Future Environmental Leaders would like to extend a big thank you to Dr. Tom Coolbaugh, Jane-Ellen Delgado, and Mike Brennan for hosting and arranging the FEL’s visit to Ohmsett! In addition, thank you to John Allen and Brian House for arranging this visit!

Tri-State Bird Visit

Following the Ohmsett visit on September 8^th, members of the FEL visited Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research on September 9^th to learn about their Oiled Wildlife Response program. Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research, located in Newark, Delaware, is a non-profit organization dedicated to rehabilitating injured and orphaned wild birds and other contaminated wildlife. Founded in 1976 by Lynne Frink after the Liberian Tanker, the Olympic Games, spilled 133,500 gallons of crude oil on the Delaware River, Tri-State Bird Research & Rescue was started to research the effects and treatments of oiled wildlife.

Mandy Fischer, Oil Programs Director and our three Tri-State “FELers” - Dan Wilson, Jessica Hiken and Katie Muse – briefed FEL visitors on the history, services, and capabilities of Tri-State.  The FEL group walked through the entire, carefully controlled process of rescue, cleaning, treating and rehabilitation of all types of oiled wildlife at this state-of-the-art facility.

The FEL visit to Tri-State started with a presentation from Dan Wilson covering the capabilities of Tri-State along with the unique challenges of capturing and treating oiled wildlife during an oil spill. Following this presentation, members received a tour of the Wildlife Response Annex where oiled wildlife are housed and decontaminated. Oiled wildlife must first be stabilized to ensure that they can endure decontamination. The process of treating oiled wildlife is intensive and requires a multi-stage cleaning process followed by a drying and monitoring period to ensure that wildlife are healthy enough to be released and that birds regain waterproofing on their feathers.

Oiled wildlife is an often-overlooked part of an oil spill event. Organizations such as Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research provide incredible efforts and resources to care for oiled wildlife when these occur. An important way for companies to be prepared for an event, including oiled wildlife, is to have a prepared wildlife response plan. Tri-State provides resources on planning, training, and response that should be utilized for organizations to be prepared for if the time comes. The group was extremely impressed by the facility and gained a new appreciation for the importance and critical role that wildlife management plays in any response.

Please remember that if you see oiled wildlife during a spill that you should not attempt to clean wildlife and should instead call Tri-State or your local wildlife rehabilitator.

SCAA and the Future Environmental Leaders committee would like to offer a special thanks to Mandy Fischer, Dan Wilson, Jessica Hicken, and Katie Muse for hosting us at Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research!

Want to Learn More About Joining the Future Environmental Leaders Committee?

Interested in some more information about the Future Environmental Leaders committee for yourself or someone at your organization? Learn more at http://www.scaa-spill.org/committees.html or contact the Committee Chair, Chris Tracy, at ctracy@heritage-enviro.com.