WASHINGTON– Today, Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Director James Watson will host a panel of government and private sector leaders for a discussion on efforts to ensure collaboration in protecting America's offshore oil and gas production and the environment during a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. He will be joined by senior officials from the Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, American Petroleum Institute (API) and PEW.
In the aftermath of the 2005 hurricane season, platforms toppled and pipelines were ripped from the seafloor. The severe damage to offshore infrastructure and refineries along the coast ultimately halted offshore oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico for a prolonged period of time. NOAA is now predicting an active 2013 hurricane season and the BSEE Offshore Energy Hurricane Preparedness and Response Forum will examine how the government, oil and gas industry and environmental community will work to minimize the impact to offshore oil and gas production and the environment.
Representing each organization will be:
- BSEE- RADM James Watson, USCG (Ret.), Director
- BSEE- Lars Herbst, Gulf of Mexico Region Director
- DOE- William Bryan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Security and Energy Restoration
- EPA- Lawrence Stanton, Director of the Office of Emergency Management
- FEMA- RADM Joseph Nimmich, USCG (Ret.), Associate Administrator for the Office of Response and Recovery
- NOAA- Kathryn Sullivan, Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Acting NOAA Administrator
- NOAA- Paul Schlatter, National Weather Service
- PHMSA- Cynthia Quarterman, Administrator
- USCG- RDML Peter Brown, Assistant Commandant for Response Policy
- Alabama- Steve Jenkins, Alabama Department of Environmental Management
- Florida- Gwen Keenan, Florida Department of Environmental Protection
- Louisiana- Brent Campbell, Louisiana Office of Conservation
- Texas- William Grimes, Texas General Land Office
- API- Holly Hopkins, Upstream and Industry Operations
- PEW- VADM Roger Rufe, USCG (Ret.), PEW Oceans Commission and former President and CEO of the Ocean Conservancy
The forum will be held today at the South Interior Building, located at 1900 Constitution Ave., Washington, D.C., 20245, and will last from 9:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend, but should arrive early as seating is limited. The forum will also be webcast live and can be viewed at www.bsee.gov/hurricane. The public can also send questions in advance for participants to answer during the forum. Those questions can be sent to BSEEHurricaneForum@BSEE.gov.