Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Team Member (SCAT)
Course Description
This course qualifies personnel to serve as federal, state, responsible-party, or stakeholder representatives on oil spill response SCAT teams. The course is designed to provide an understanding of the conditions and processes related to the assessment of shoreline oiling and how the SCAT technique is the foundation of the cleanup selection strategy. This 3-day course usually includes 2 days in the classroom and one day of field exercises at various area shorelines. Field exercises are typically conducted on the second day, but we may adjust for inclement weather conditions.
NSCS SCAT courses follow NOAA guidance for SCAT Team Member instruction and certification. We will discuss the basic theory behind oil spills, shoreline oiling, and cleanup strategies. We will also introduce the standardized methods and forms for shoreline characterization. Participants will learn about many different shoreline types and their associated habitats and organisms. In the US based courses Environmental Sensitivity Indexes and Atlases are used extensively to establish pre-spill shoreline characteristics, especially sensitive areas, and logistical resources.
Classroom Topics
- SCAT within the Incident Command System Roles/Responsibilities of the SCAT
- Recognizing and understanding the habitats associated with various shoreline types
- Evaluating oiling conditions, estimating oil coverage and predicting oil behavior
- Determining the need for cleanup
- Recommending appropriate responses and viable endpoints
- Identifying sensitive resources & using Environmental Sensitivity Indexes
- Using Standardized SCAT Forms
- Using field tools and instruments properly (including digital imagery and GPS)
- Using GIS for SCAT Documentation
- Understanding local constraints including ecological, economic, or cultural concerns
Field Exercises
This course requires a “hands-on” approach to learning about various types of shorelines and habitats. It includes approximately one day of field exercises to establish experience with implementing shoreline characterization and assessment techniques. Ocean beaches, passes, bays, marshes, lagoons, tidal flats, ports and marinas, rip-rap, mud, sand, shell, coral, rocky headlines, and various other shorelines can be explored if locally available. Oil spills and their impacts on the shorelines and their associated resources will be simulated and discussed.
During the field exercises we will visit and characterize three to six different shoreline habitat types. Field work will include characterizing the available shoreline types using available data resources, on scene visits, digital images and standardized shoreline assessment forms. Gathered images and data will then be integrated into a GIS format for data management.
Extensive walking (and potentially wading or climbing) along various shoreline types may be necessary.
Materials
A reference text, all necessary forms, a CD and/or a list of electronic links, and other appropriate materials will be provided to each student during the course. Participants will use standardized SCAT Assessment forms, global positioning systems and GIS, data-logging cameras, drawings, and other methods to develop a SCAT database that will assist planners, logisticians, and operators as they develop and execute oil spill response strategies. Students should bring appropriate clothing and shoes for work in wet, sandy, muddy, rocky, or shell or debris strewn shorelines. Cameras and laptop computers are also recommended.
Certification
Upon successful completion of the course, each student will receive a Certificate of Satisfactory Completion from the National Spill Control School, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi.