The BP Oil Spill Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico
What Have We Learned? Are We Safer? Are the Impacts Over?
Dave Westerholm
Principal at Dave Westerholm Consulting, LLC
Captain (retired), United States Coast Guard
April 22, 2016, 11:30 am - 1:30 pm
NJIT Campus Center Ballroom A
The 2010 BP offshore blowout killed 11 people, released approximately 200 million gallons of oil, and contaminated hundreds of miles of Gulf Coast shoreline. The Office of Response and Restoration (ORR) at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was the government agency with primary responsibility for the technical response to the spill and for restoration. The National Academies continues to advance the science for addressing the blowout and its impacts.
On April 22, ORR Director Dave Westerholm was the keynote speaker at an NJIT Technology and Society Forum presentation addressing the spill and its impacts. A prelude to Westerholm’s first-hand account was provided by Kim Waddell from the National Academies, who has dealt directly with stakeholders impacted by the spill.
As a senior U.S. government executive and ORR director, Westerholm is responsible for overseeing ORR’s Emergency Response Program and the services of Scientific Support Coordinators who assist Federal On-Scene Coordinators with environmental data, modeling, preparedness aids and training. In addition, he has numerous responsibilities related to the Clean Water Act. Prior to NOAA, Westerholm was vice president of Anteon Corporation and then General Dynamics. He is also a retired Coast Guard captain with extensive experience in engineering, search and rescue, and marine security.
Waddell is a senior program officer with the Gulf Research Program, as well as a study director with the Ocean Studies Board at the National Academies in Washington, D.C. His recent reports include “An Ecosystem Services Approach to Assessing the Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico” and “Evaluating the Effectiveness of Fish Stock Rebuilding Plans in the United States.”
NJIT welcomed attendees from all area colleges, universities, and professions. This public forum qualified attendees for Professional Development Hours.
This presentation qualifies for PDH/CEU.
Sponsors:
NJIT Technology and Society Forum Committee
Albert Dorman Honors College
John A. Reif, Jr. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,