From the Tri-State Oil Programs OILED WILDLIFE LOG (OWL)
Ramboll is a leading engineering, design, and consultancy company with over 16,000 employees around the world (2000+ in the USA). Our globally recognized Environment & Health practice consists of biologists, engineers, geologists, environmental scientists, certified industrial hygienists, risk assessors, toxicologists, and data managers, who work together to provide turnkey services to clients across various sectors including emergency response, industrial, property management, governmental, insurance, financial institution, and legal clients.
Oil and chemical spills are unplanned and traumatic events that can lead to potential environmental impacts, including contaminating wildlife. That said, it is too late to prepare once a spill has already occurred. Pre-spill preparation can make all the difference in the quality of a spill response and the number of oiled wildlife that can be successfully captured, rehabilitated, and returned to their natural habitats. We at Ramboll work closely with Tri-State to ensure that our staff is prepared to supplement the Tri-State Oil Team, as needed, when a spill occurs. Internally, we have created rosters of available staff (by state), ensuring that they are trained in the Incident Command System (ICS) and have the appropriate Hazardous Waste Operator and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) training; these rosters and associated information are shared with Tri-State.
Additionally, Ramboll staff participate in trainings and drills at Tri-State’s response facility. Ramboll also responds virtually when Tri-State is activated during a drill conducted by one of their clients. This allows us to check rosters and evaluate which staff members can mobilize if an actual event were to occur. We also meet with Tri-State quarterly for lunch to compare recent response experiences and to strengthen our working relationship. As is the nature of response work, Ramboll and Tri-State often collaborate outside standard work hours to share intelligence on ongoing spills to determine if there are impacts to wildlife. Ultimately, these ongoing activities bond our teams and lead to improved readiness and seamless teamwork when a spill occurs.
By Lawrence Malizzi, Senior Manager, and Danielle Radomile, Scientist, Ramboll
Comments
Post a Comment