Deepwater Horizon: Monitoring and Environmental Impact

Press Release

Deepwater Horizon Incident
Joint Information Center

(713) 323-1670

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FOSC issues Notice of Federal Interest to BP and Transocean

10/10/2012 09:55 PM EDT

NEW ORLEANS — The Federal On-Scene Coordinator for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in New Orleans issued a Notice of Federal Interest to BP and Transocean Tuesday.

Coast Guard Capt. Duke Walker issued the NOFI following sample results from an oil sheen located in the vicinity of where the Deepwater Horizon drill rig exploded and sank more than two years ago.

The sheen was first reported to the National Response Center Sept. 16 by BP based on satellite images from the 9th and 14th overpasses in the Mississippi Canyon, block 252, approximately 50 miles off the coast of Louisiana. The sheen is not feasible to recover and does not pose a risk to the shoreline.

The Coast Guard, in concert with BP and NOAA, has conducted regular assessments of the sheen by aircraft and boat since its discovery. The observed sheen size has varied over time depending upon the conditions present. Samples of the sheen were taken by Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Morgan City Sept. 26 and sent to the Coast Guard Marine Safety Lab in New London, Conn. The Marine Safety Laboratory results indicate the sheen correlates to oil that originated from BP’s Macondo Well. The exact source of the sheen is uncertain at this time but could be residual oil associated with wreckage and/or debris left on the seabed from the Deepwater Horizon incident in 2010.

The NOFI effectively informs BP and Transocean that the Coast Guard matched the sheen samples to the Deepwater Horizon spill or sunken drilling debris and that either party or both may be held accountable for any cost associated with further assessments or operations related to this sheen.

The Gulf Coast Incident Management Team remains committed to the continued cleanup of the Gulf Coast and all shorelines affected as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. The FOSC is determined to continue response activities to remove all oil where it is technologically feasible, environmentally beneficial and safe for workers to perform recovery operations.

The public is reminded to contact the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802 to report all pollution incidents or the Coast Guard 8th District command center at 504-589-6225 in the event of any marine emergencies.

VOTE. Thought provoking words of Frederick Douglas

Make sure you vote!

Since BEMA's HQ Office is less than 10-blocks from the home of Frederick Douglas designated as a museum in Southeast Washington, D.C., these words have added meaning.

Charles Sharp.  Chief Executive.  Black Emergency Managers Association (BEMA)

“Though the colored man is no longer subject to barter and sale, he is surrounded by an adverse settlement which fetters all his movements. In his downward course he meets with no resistance, but his course upward is resented and resisted at every step of his progress. If he comes in ignorance, rags and wretchedness he conforms to the popular belief of his character, and in that character he is welcome; but if he shall come as a gentleman, a scholar and a statesman, he is hailed as a contradiction to the national faith concerning his race, and his coming is resented as impudence. In one case he may provoke contempt and derision, but in the other he is an affront to pride and provokes malice.”

Frederick Douglass

These words 129 years later…  Think about it!

Make sure YOU vote.

Emergency Planning for the Disabled Is an Uphill Battle

Emergency Planning for the Disabled Is an Uphill Battle

How the Best Boards and Best Directors Operate

Clara Shih

 

October 04, 2012

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Sitting on the board of a Fortune 500 company, or any large organization, is a great responsibility. Personally, I've learned a tremendous amount in the nearly one year since I was appointed to the Starbucks board of directors.

Having learned so much, I was delighted to be able discuss best practices for boards and directors at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in Laguna Niguel, CA earlier this week.

With insights from Carol Bartz (former CEO of Yahoo! and before that CEO of Autodesk, now director on several boards including Cisco) and Anne Mulcahy (former CEO of Xerox, now Chairman of the Board of Save the Children and board director at Johnson & Johnson, Target, Washington Post, etc.), and moderated by the talented Carol Loomis, we had a great discussion about how the best public boards and companies operate.

In a nutshell:

1. Directors have the courage and culture to constructively disagree with one another and with management without anyone taking it personally.
2. There is ample diversity of backgrounds and opinions on board to carefully consider all options and angles in the case of important decisions. The board is large and diverse enough to encompass the full breadth of the corporation’s businesses, market segments, and geographies, but not so large that it becomes unwieldy or clumsy.
3. Greater care and consideration should be given during both the director selection and onboarding process. Board members need to remain committed to continual learning, preparation, and relationship-building with other board members and management.

All in all, the Fortune Summit was fantastically run, thanks in large part to conference organizers Pattie Sellers and Stephanie Mehta. To read more about my experience at the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, head over to the Hearsay Social Blog.

BEMA Membership Special 10-1-12 to 12-31-12

Visit www.blackemergmanagersassociation.org for 2012-2013 membership.

2012 Science of Eliminating Health Disparities Summit.

Register today for the 2012 Science of Eliminating Health Disparities Summit.  Remember, registration is a two-step process.  You must first complete the  general registration to obtain a password to select your breakout sessions. If you have not yet made your selections, you can choose from more than 100 sessions  in three different tracks under 16 different themes including:  http://citfm.cit.nih.gov/registration/register.php ·         Social, Biological, Environmental and Economic Disparities in Childhood  Developmental Health Outcomes ·         Testing and Linkage to Treatment/Care for Vulnerable Asian American,  Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Communities ·         Elder Abuse in Diverse Communities: Scope, Culture, and Policy Implications ·         Public Policies, System-level and Environmental Strategies to Address Obesity   Prevention and Health ·         Research and Community Efforts to Address Inner-City Asthma ·         Patient-Centered Outcomes and Effectiveness Research in Health Disparities ·         Place Matters for Health:  Using Locally-Tailored Community Health Equity  Reports to Compel Action to Eliminate Health Inequities ·         Racial and Ethnic Differences and Disparities in Pain:  The State of the  Science of Inclusion  ·         The Hidden Toll of Occupational Health Disparities ·         10 Years Later: Lessons Learned in a Community-based Rheumatology  Clinic with an Underserved Patient Population ·         Developing and Implementing the 2012 HHS Environmental Justice Strategy:  The Importance of Stakeholder Engagement If you have questions, please contact 2012summit@mail.nih.gov or call 240-395-0549.

Health Disparities Partnership Forum. October 22-23, 2012

Minority Health Action Alert Provided by the Office of Minority Health Resource Center October 04, 2012 American Diabetes Association's Fifth Disparities Partnership Forum,  October 22-23, Washington, D.C. Registration is now open   for the American Diabetes Association's Fifth Disparities Partnership  Forum on diabetes care in high risk populations. The goal of the forum is to encourage collaboration  with partners to address the disparity of cultural competency, health literacy and health equity in  diabetes care, specifically in populations at highest risk for type 2 diabetes, such as African  Americans, Hispanic/Latinos, American Indian/Alaskan Natives,  Asian American/Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders, older adults, women, low-income and  uninsured persons. Scheduled speakers include:   Dr. J. Nadine Gracia, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health (Acting) and the Acting Director of the Office of Minority Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Dr. Augustus A. White III, Author and Professor of Medical Education and Orthopedic Surgery at  Harvard Medical School Dr. Kenneth Moritsugu, chair of the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute Dr. Pedro Jose Greer, Professor of Medicine and Chairman of the Department of Humanities  Health and Society at Florida International University  For more information on the forum, please contact Monique Lindsy at mlindsy@diabetes.org.