Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
which consist of representatives of federal, state and local agencies such as the
United States Coast Guard (USCG), United States Environmental Protection Agency
(USEPA), state Environmental Protection Agencies, state Departments of Natural
Resources and other stakeholders who may be affected in the event of an oil spill.
Local stakeholders may include representatives of Oil Spill Response Organi-
zations (OSROS), refineries or other organizations that store significant amounts of
hazardous materials, local fire departments and first responders. Representatives
from federal, state and local wildlife reserves that may be affected by an incident
are also included on the committee. The contingency plans are created in consulta-
tion with Regional Contingency Plans (RCP) and National Contingency Plans
(NCP). The associated Geographic Response Plans (GRPs), also known as protec-
tion strategies, are site-specific documents that outline the steps to be taken to
protect ecologically, culturally and economically sensitive areas in the event of
an oil or hazardous chemical spill at or near that location.
The aim of this study was to develop and propose a methodology to systemati-
cally develop and update geospatially enabled geographic response plans, also
known as protection strategies, to support the mission of the Western Lake Erie
Area Committee. The flexibility of geographic information systems makes it
practical for the Area Committee planners and interested agencies to develop
multiple versions of a protection strategy and associated maps for sensitive areas
along the Lake Erie shoreline based on, for instance, seasonal conditions or
prevailing wind direction and strength. Geospatial technologiescansimplifythe
task of maintaining and updating the protection strategy data and documents as
well as making them easily available to responders and planners via digital or
paper publishing and distribution methods (Alfultis and Miller
2007
; Burns et al.
2002
). Response plans must be flexible, as no two incidents occur under the same
conditions. Flexibility - the ability of a system to adapt input and output to changing
conditions - is strength of geospatial technology (Jensen et al.
1998
;NRC
2007
).
A goal of this project is to produce a template for the use of the technology for
response planning that can be applied to data collection and analysis projects across
Great Lakes Basin and beyond (Dean
2009
).
11.2 Study Area
The navigable streams and US waters of the Western Lake Erie basin from the
Detroit River lighthouse located at approximately 42
00
0
N, 83
08
0
West to
the mouth of the Vermilion River in Erie County, Ohio including the Lake Erie
islands are the responsibility of the Western Lake Erie Area Committee (Fig.
11.1
).
Counties represented include Monroe County Michigan, Lucas, Wood, Ottawa,
Sandusky and Erie Counties in Ohio. A study area the size of the entire western
basin of Lake Erie is too large for this project. To keep this project manageable,
shorelines representative of the variety of conditions found in the basin - hard,
manmade shorelines in the lower reaches of the Maumee River, sensitive wetlands
north of Toledo, Ohio along the Michigan shore of the lake, and areas of heavy
