PWSRCAC--Community-based Response

Project Manager
Linda Swiss

907.273.6226
3709 Spenard Rd., Ste. 100
Anchorage, AK 99503

Community-based Response

Chenega Bay from the air-photo by Linda Robinson, PWSRCAC.

This project promotes the development of the community-based response concept through annual or bi-annual workshops.

The community-based response concept is based on the assumption that a spill response is most effective when initiated immediately. Providing the resources to do so benefits both the local community and the larger response organizations.

Our council, working together with Cook Inlet Regional Citizens' Advisory Council (CIRCAC), thinks there are places in Alaska that community-based response teams could work. Within the RCACs’ regions, several small organizations and communities could benefit from increased networking and shared resources.

CIRCAC and PWSRCAC held an initial Community-Based Response Workshop in 2005 with organizations and groups in our region. The purpose of the workshop was to share information and evaluate the potential for developing a network of local volunteers trained and equipped to protect local resources and to mitigate the impact of a spill in local communities. One of the key recommendations from the workshop was to continue development of the community-based response concept through annual or bi-annual workshops. This project supports that recommendation and plans for future workshops.

Reports

Community Oil Spill Response Forum Final Report. This forum reviewed the status of existing Community Oil Spill Response (COSR) teams and shared information about past and future COSR-related efforts. All agreed that the current system is inadequate in its response to small spills, which are often associated with unregulated spillers. Further, they agreed that improved capacity for community-based response could ameliorate the situation. October 2005. (pdf/2.2MB)

Combining the Firehouse Model and Community-based Response Teams for an Improved Regional Oil Spill Response System in Alaska. This white paper was developed jointly with CIRCAC to generate discussion and to explore the feasibility of developing an improved regional oil spill response system in Alaska. October 2004. (pdf/417KB)

Community-based Response

Reports

Maps