Full GRP Update – Snake River Lower Granite Pool!

Posted on by David Prater

The Washington Department of Ecology is happy to announce the comprehensive update to the Snake River Lower Granite Pool Geographic Response Plan (GRP) is finished and the new GRP is now published online. An important part of the update process is hearing from the people who live, work, and play in the GRP area.

View the updated GRP here: https://oilspills101.wa.gov/northwest-area-contingency-plan/geographic-response-plans-grps/slogr-grp/ 

Description of the Planning Area

The Snake River originates in Yellowstone National Park and travels approximately 1,000 miles west through Wyoming, Idaho, and Washington before finally emptying into the Columbia River at Pasco. The Snake River is the largest tributary to the Columbia River and is itself one of the major rivers in the United States The SLOGR-GRP encompasses the 40-mile reach of the Lower Granite Pool, from the upstream side of the Lower Granite Dam (located at river mile 107.5) to the end of the pool at Clarkston, Washington. The area below the Lower Granite Dam is encompassed by the Little Goose GRP and the area upriver of Clarkston is in the state of Idaho. The area resides mostly in Water Resource Inventory Area Middle Snake (WRIA 35), and a small portion in Palouse (WRIA 34).

What are Geographic Response Plans?
Geographic Response Plans (GRPs) are used to guide early response actions in the event of an oil spill. Ecology develops and updates GRPs in collaboration with state, local and federal agencies and tribes. Each GRP is written for a specific area (for example a river, a lake, or section of Puget Sound), and includes tactical response strategies tailored to a particular shore or waterway at risk of injury from oil.

GRPs have two main objectives:

  • Identify sensitive natural, cultural or significant economic resources at risk of injury from oil spills.
  • Describe and prioritize response strategies in an effort to reduce injury to sensitive natural, cultural, and certain economic resources at risk from oil spills.

More Information

 

Questions?

GRPs@ecy.wa.gov

Snake River Little Goose Pool GRP – Full Update Published!

Posted on by David Prater

The Washington Department of Ecology is happy to announce the comprehensive update to the Snake River Little Goose Pool Geographic Response Plan (GRP) is finished and the new GRP is now published online. An important part of the update process is hearing from the people who live, work, and play in the GRP area.

You can view the updated GRP here: https://oilspills101.wa.gov/northwest-area-contingency-plan/geographic-response-plans-grps/sligo/  

Description of the Planning Area

The Snake River originates in Yellowstone National Park and travels approximately 1,000 miles west through Wyoming, Idaho, and Washington before finally emptying into the Columbia River at Pasco. The Snake River is the largest tributary to the Columbia River and is itself one of the major rivers in the United States.  The SLIGO-GRP encompasses the 37.2-mile reach of the Little Goose Pool, from the upstream side of the Little Goose Dam (located at river mile 70.3) to the downstream side of the Lower Granite Dam (located at river mile 107.5). The area below the Little Goose Dam is encompassed by the Lower Monumental GRP and the area upriver of the Lower Granite Dam is encompassed by the Lower Granite GRP. The area resides in Water Resource Inventory Area Middle Snake (WRIA 35).

What are Geographic Response Plans?

Geographic Response Plans (GRPs) are used to guide early response actions in the event of an oil spill. Ecology develops and updates GRPs in collaboration with state, local and federal agencies and tribes. Each GRP is written for a specific area (for example a river, a lake, or section of Puget Sound), and includes tactical response strategies tailored to a particular shore or waterway at risk of injury from oil.

GRPs have two main objectives:

  • Identify sensitive natural, cultural or significant economic resources at risk of injury from oil spills.
  • Describe and prioritize response strategies in an effort to reduce injury to sensitive natural, cultural, and certain economic resources at risk from oil spills.

More Information

Questions

Scott Zimmerman, Oil Spill Preparedness Planner

scott.zimmerman@ecy.wa.gov

 

 

 

GRP Quarterly Newsletter – April 2025

Posted on by David Prater

What are Geographic Response Plans?

Oil spills pose a risk to sensitive natural, cultural, and economic resources. One important tool in our planning toolbox is the Geographic Response Plan (GRP). GRPs contain pre-identified strategies for specific areas of the state at risk from oil spills. These are pre-approved plans that guide early response actions during oil spills. A list of all Washington State GRPs, including those open for comprehensive updates, can be found online at OilSpills101.wa.gov.

GRP Updates:  Comprehensive vs. Interim

GRPs are periodically updated to ensure the information is relevant and up-to-date. These comprehensive updates require a lot of work and often take a year or two to complete. Work is coordinated with other state and federal agencies, tribes, industry partners, oil spill response professionals, and local communities.

GRPs Open for Comprehensive Updates

GRPs currently open for comprehensive updates are listed below, along with the contact information if you have questions or want to participate. Included are any comprehensive GRP updates published this quarter.

Interim GRP Updates during Winter 2025

Because a lot can change in a GRP planning area between comprehensive updates, Ecology is committed to conducting interim GRP updates when necessary. Examples of interim updates include improvements to response strategies resulting from lessons learned during oil spill drills or actual spills, updated contact information, changes to driving directions, and other response-enhancing edits. Ecology publishes interim updates to GRPs on a quarterly basis. Interim updates completed this quarter include the following:

  • Central Puget Sound — Updated Economic RAR; CPS-183 (new); GRD-4.0 (new); CPS-144 (new photo); CPS-11e (new photo); CPS-160-N (new contacts); CPS-14 (contacts updated); DWW-0.0 (removed)
  • Lower Columbia River — LCR-100.8R (changed from collection to exclusion); updated Response Contact Sheet
  • Cowlitz/Clark/Southwest Lewis — CWLZR-15.9L (new photo); updated Response Contact Sheet
  • Chehalis River — Updated Response Contact Sheet

Updates to Ecology’s GIS Maps

Ecology recently migrated to GIS Portal which means the links to the various GIS maps have changed. Along with the links below, the individual GRPs have been updated to include the new links embedded throughout our GRPs. Don’t forget to update your tools, bookmarks, and other places you may have links for the following maps:

Everyone has a Role in Improving the State’s GRPs

The oil industry regularly exercises oil spill contingency plans to ensure their readiness to respond to an oil spill. These exercises often involve the deployment of GRP strategies. Each deployment is an opportunity to validate and improve a response strategy’s effectiveness.

GRPs also rely on feedback from professional oil spill responders, natural resource agencies, tribes, and the public. This valuable feedback is reflected in either a comprehensive update or the interim update process.

If you have information or ideas that can make GRPs more effective, Ecology wants to know! Please email GRP feedback or questions to GRPs@ecy.wa.gov.  If you are visiting a response strategy site, you can use our GRP Strategy Assessment Form to help document your assessment. We thank you in advance for helping the Northwest Area Committee maintain a high level of readiness to respond to oil spills.

GRP Interim Updates: Public Comment Opportunity

Posted on by David Prater

This page contains links to Geographic Response Plan (GRP) interim updates up for public comment during August 2024. Interim updates are minor updates made to published GRPs between comprehensive updates, in order to capture information or improvements from deployments, newly finished restoration sites, changes in the environment, or newly identified strategy sites or resources at risk. Six new strategies have been proposed for inclusion to published GRPs in Washington State. The final draft of the strategies linked below will be incorporated into each plan on oilspills101.wa.gov. For more information about the interim update process, please see our recent blog post here, or contact GRPs@ecy.wa.gov.

For reference, we the links below include the currently published plans, the individual 2-pagers of the proposed strategies, and the priority tables. We are asking for any comments related to the strategies (2-Pagers) or how the strategies should be prioritized in each plan (within the priority tables).

Interim Update Strategies Links

Central Puget Sound- Duwamish Vigor Restoration Site (exclusion) https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/ezshare/sppr/Preparedness/InterimUpdatesGRPs/DWW-0.1.pdf Priority Tables: F & G, Pages 16-17 of the response strategies and priorities (2-pagers) document

North Puget Sound– Little Squalicum Creek (exclusion) https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/ezshare/sppr/Preparedness/InterimUpdatesGRPs/NPS-30.pdf Priority Tables: NPS-E, Page 28 of the response strategies and priorities (2-pagers) document

North Puget Sound– Swinomish Channel Tide Gates (notification) https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/ezshare/sppr/Preparedness/InterimUpdatesGRPs/NPS-96-N.pdf

Snohomish Basin – Fall City – Haffner Site https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/ezshare/sppr/Preparedness/InterimUpdatesGRPs/SNQ-35.3R.pdf

Snohomish Basin – Fall City – Barfuse Site https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/ezshare/sppr/Preparedness/InterimUpdatesGRPs/SNQ-35.6L.pdf Priority Tables: SNQ-D, Page 28 of the response strategies and priorities (2-pagers) document

Upper Columbia River– Horan Natural Area https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/ezshare/sppr/Preparedness/InterimUpdatesGRPs/WENA-0.75.pdf Priority Tables: UCR-B, page 17 of the response strategies and priorities (2-pagers) document

How to Submit a Comment

To submit a comment, please visit our eComment page at https://sppr.ecology.commentinput.com/?id=VPBjHefcW. Comments will be accepted until August 31, 2024 at 5pm.

If you have questions about the comment process or would prefer to submit via email, please contact GRPs@ecy.wa.gov.

 

Public Comment Opportunity: Snake River Lower Monumental Pool GRP

Posted on by David Prater

What’s going on?

My name is Scott Zimmerman, I’m an oil spill preparedness planner with Washington Department of Ecology and I’m thrilled to announce that the Snake River Lower Monumental Pool (SLOMO) Geographic Response Plan is now open for public comment!

Geographic Response Plans (GRPs) aim to protect the sensitive natural, cultural, and economic resources in a specified geographic area. The geographic areas in Washington State with GRPs have associated risks from oil spills; industry may transport, store, refine, or transfer oil in these regions. The Snake River originates in Yellowstone National Park and travels approximately 1,000 miles west through Wyoming, Idaho, and Washington before finally emptying into the Columbia River at Pasco. The SLOMO-GRP encompasses the 28.7-mile reach of the Lower Monumental Pool, from the upstream side of the Lower Monumental Dam to the downstream side of the Little Goose Dam. This area has been inhabited for over 11,000 years and contains some of the oldest archaeological sites in Washington. It is a remote and stunningly beautiful area in which I felt fortunate to research and travel through while conducting fieldwork.

The Snake River as seen from surrounding hillsides. Photo credit: Scott Zimmerman.
The Snake River as seen from surrounding hillsides. Photo credit: Scott Zimmerman.

This area has unique risks, logistical concerns, and sensitive resources that I hope will be better protected with the update to this plan. Risks from oil spills in this area come from multiple sources. Aside from bridges and commercial and recreational vessels, crude oil is now transported by train along the shoreline of the Snake River.

What has changed?

This GRP was originally developed in 1997 and although there was a partial update in 2021, most of the GRP has not been updated since it was first published. This update brings this GRP into the digital world. Starting from an original paper version of the plan, I entered the strategies into a database and added photographs, driving directions, implementation instructions, and updated the recommended equipment and personnel necessary to deploy each strategy. Strategy names have been changed according to naming conventions used in all other GRP’s across the state. In this case the names reflect the river mile instead of a simple numerical designation.  Boat launches and staging areas now have their own 2-page descriptions. Vessel skimming strategies have been deleted, as these are no longer considered GRP strategies. Deflection strategies have been added at all shoreline Habitat Management Units, to safeguard these shorelines as much as possible. The update also includes four new Notification Strategies so that first responders can immediately notify site contacts who can take action to protect the resources under their control.

Geese landing in the Palouse River. Photo credit: Scott Zimmerman.
Geese landing in the Palouse River. Photo credit: Scott Zimmerman.

Help Us Improve the Plan

The maintenance of these geographic response plans is vital to our state’s preparedness in the event of an oil spill. A key part of this update process is gathering input from the people who work, live, and play along the Snake River. I hope to hear from you during this public comment period (August 1– 31, 2024). Feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns at scott.zimmerman@ecy.wa.gov or at 425-941-7697.

Access draft GRP documents or submit a comment here: https://sppr.ecology.commentinput.com/?id=4SBYKepgQ 

2024 Joint Information Center and Liaison Workshop Materials

Posted on by Nhi Irwin

2024 JIC/Liaison Workshop Materials 

Presentations from the Workshop

Resources

  • Link to the Northwest Area Contingency Plan for the newly updated JIC (Section 9202) and Liaison (Section 9210) Manuals
  • Link to fillable forms and templates

 

Grays Harbor GRP: Full Update Published!

Posted on by David Prater
The Washington Department of Ecology is happy to announce the comprehensive update to the Grays Harbor Geographic Response Plan (GRP) is complete and the updated GRP is now published online. This update was a collaborative process and Ecology appreciates the work of all involved, including spill management and response experts, the oil industry, local, state, tribal, and federal governments, and the public.

View the draft GRP sections here: https://www.oilspills101.wa.gov/northwest-area-contingency-plan/geographic-response-plans-grps/grays-harbor-grp/

Description of the Planning Area

The area covered includes shorelines of the Pacific Coast adjacent to Grays Harbor, the Grays Harbor entrance, Oyhut Sink, Grays Harbor, North Bay, South Bay, Bowerman Basin, and the rivers and creeks in the area that drain into Grays Harbor. The communities of Aberdeen, Cosmopolis, Hoquiam, Ocean Shores, and Westport are located within this planning area, as well as portions of Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties. Grays Harbor is within the usual and accustomed territories of several American Indian Tribes. The reservation of the Quinault Indian Nation is north of the City of Ocean Shores. The reservation of the Shoalwater Bay Tribe is south of the City of Westport. The Chehalis Confederated Tribes may have interest in the area’s resources as well.

What are Geographic Response Plans?

GRPs are used to guide early response actions in the event of an oil spill. Ecology develops and updates GRPs in collaboration with state, local and federal agencies and tribes. Each GRP is written for a specific area (for example a river, a lake, or section of Puget Sound), and includes tactical response strategies tailored to a particular shore or waterway at risk of injury from oil.

GRPs have two main objectives:

  • Identify sensitive natural, cultural or significant economic resources at risk of injury from oil spills.
  • Describe and prioritize response strategies in an effort to reduce injury to sensitive natural, cultural, and certain economic resources at risk from oil spills.

More Information
• Learn more about GRPs.
• See GRPs for Washington State.

Questions

Max Gordon
Oil Spill Preparedness Planner
Max.Gordon@ecy.wa.gov
360-972-4890

Lake Washington GRP – Public Comment Opportunity!

Posted on by David Prater

What’s going on?

My name is Sabrina Floudaras, I’m an oil spill preparedness planner with the Washington Department of Ecology, and I’m so excited to announce the Lake Washington (LKWA) Geographic Response Plan is now open for public comment!

Geographic Response Plans (GRPs) aim to protect sensitive natural, cultural, and economic resources at risk from an oil spill in a specified geographic area. A key part of this process is gathering input from the people who work, live, and play in this community. I hope to hear from you during this public comment period (July 24th–August 25th, 2023).

I was privileged to work on the first Lake Washington GRP back in 2014. A lot has changed since in the area since then, which is why we opened the GRP for a full update in June 2020. As the world began to emerge from the pandemic, coordination with the community, tribes, and other local, state, and federal partners became my central focus to help expedite needed fieldwork and narrative updates completed, and it worked! The draft plan, now available for public comment, is something we can all be proud of.

Familiarize yourself!

This area densely populated also has abundant natural areas, public spaces, and culturally rich and diverse communities. On the shores of the lake sit Boeing manufacturing, the University of Washington campus with Botanical Gardens and an Arboretum, and the NOAA HQ Northwest Fisheries Science Center Montlake Laboratory. Adjacent to Warren Magnuson Park is NOAA’s Western Regional Center, Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, and many parks supporting natural and economic resources. Importantly floating bridges, I-90 east and west bridges and 520 run across Lake Washington, and I-405 along the east side of the Lake bypasses I-5 through Seattle, crosses waterways that flow westward from eastern uplands.

Risks from oil spills in this area come from multiple sources. Aside from the bridges and recreational boating, there are two smaller oil holding facilities on the lake that store marine fuel, the Olympic Pipeline that carries refined petroleum product crosses the Sammamish River to the north, natural gas pipelines, and a large shore-side terminal with a worst case spill potential of over 2,000,000 gallons.

What has changed?

Overall I updated 20 GRP response strategies with contractor suggested changes, revised most response strategy Implementation Details to include more succinct information in support of a rapid, aggressive, and well-coordinated response, updated driving directions, photos, verified contacts, and coordinated with local officials to improve information on all the Boat Launches and Staging Areas. Additional improvements were made thanks to important feedback from the City of Seattle, Seattle PUD, Seattle Parks & Rec Dept, King County, City of Kirkland, Kirkland Parks, City of Bellevue, homeowners, and more.

Review the draft GRP:  https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/ezshare/sppr/Preparedness/LKWA-Public/LKWACoverPage.pdf

Comment online:

Use our online comment form: https://sppr.ecology.commentinput.com/?id=TgZfF9Hpx2

Comment by mail:

Sabrina Floudaras
Department of Ecology, Spills Program
PO Box 47600
Olympia, WA 98504-7600

 

GRP Quarterly Newsletter – April, 2023

Posted on by David Prater

What are Geographic Response Plans?

Oil spills pose a risk to sensitive environmental, cultural, and economic resources. One important tool in our planning toolbox is the Geographic Response Plan (GRP). GRPs contain pre-identified strategies for specific areas of the state at risk from oil spills. These are pre-approved plans that guide early response actions during oil spills. A list of all Washington State GRPs, including those open for comprehensive updates, can be found online at OilSpills101.wa.gov.

GRP Updates:  Comprehensive vs. Interim

GRPs are periodically updated to ensure the information is relevant and up-to-date. These comprehensive updates require a lot of work and often take a year or two to complete. Work is coordinated with other state and federal agencies, tribes, industry partners, oil spill response professionals, and communities.

GRPs currently open for comprehensive updates are listed below, along with the contact information if you have questions or want to participate.

Interim GRP updates during Winter, 2023

Because a lot can change in a GRP planning area between comprehensive updates, Ecology is committed to conducting interim GRP updates when necessary. Examples of interim updates include improvements to response strategies resulting from lessons learned during drills or real spills, updated contact information, changes to driving directions after roadwork, and other response-enhancing edits. Ecology publishes interim updates to GRPs on a quarterly basis. Interim updates completed this quarter include the following:

Everyone has a Role in Improving the State’s GRPs

The oil industry regularly exercises oil spill contingency plans to ensure their readiness to respond to an oil spill. These exercises often involve the deployment of GRP strategies. Each deployment is an opportunity to validate a response strategy’s effectiveness and to make improvements if it is necessary.

GRPs also rely on feedback from professional oil spill responders, natural resource agencies, tribes, and the public. This valuable feedback is often reflected in a comprehensive update, or through the interim update process.

If you have information or ideas that can make GRP’s even more effective, Ecology wants to know! Please email GRP feedback to GRPs@ecy.wa.gov.  If you are visiting a response strategy site, you can use our new GRP Strategy Assessment Form to help document your assessment. We thank you in advance for helping the Northwest Area Contingency Plan maintain a high level of readiness to respond to oil spills.

 

 

GRP Quarterly Newsletter – December, 2022

Posted on by David Prater

What are Geographic Response Plans?

Oil spills pose a risk to sensitive environmental, cultural, and economic resources. One important tool in our planning toolbox is the Geographic Response Plan (GRP). GRPs contain pre-identified strategies for specific areas of the state at risk from oil spills. These are pre-approved plans that guide early response actions during oil spills. A list of all Washington State GRPs, including those open for comprehensive updates can be found online at OilSpills101.wa.gov.

GRP Updates:  Comprehensive vs. Interim

GRPs are periodically updated to ensure the information is relavant and up-to-date. These comprehensive updates require a lot of work and often take a year or two to complete. Work is coordinated with other state and federal agencies, tribes, industry partners, oil spill response professionals, and communities.

Because a lot can change in a GRP planning area between comprehensive updates, Ecology is committed to conducting interim GRP updates when necessary. Examples of interim updates include improvements to response strategies resulting from lessons learned during drills or real spills, updated contact information, changes to driving directions after roadwork, and other response-enhancing edits. Ecology publishes interim updates to GRPs on a quarterly basis.

This quarter, we finished comprehensive updates of two GRPs: Snohomish Basin (formerly WRIA-7)  and Clark, Cowlitz, SW Lewis.  GRPs currently open for comprehensive updates are listed below, along with the contact information if you have questions or want to participate.

Everyone has a Role in Improving the State’s GRPs

The oil industry regularly exercises oil spill contingency plans to ensure their readiness to respond to an oil spill. These exercises often involve the deployment of GRP strategies. Each deployment is an oportunity to validate a response strategy’s effectiveness, and to make improvements if it is necessary.

GRPs also rely on feedback from professional oil spill responders, natural resource agencies, tribes, and the public. This valuable feedback is often reflected in a comprehensive update, or through the interim update process.

If you have information or ideas that can make GRP’s even more effective, Ecology wants to know! Please email GRP feedback to GRPs@ecy.wa.gov.  If you are visiting a response strategy site, you can use our new GRP Strategy Assessment Form to help document your assessment. We thank you in advance for helping the Northwest Regional Contingency Plan and the Area Plans maintain a high level of readiness to respond to oil spills.