The waters of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and the Ohio remain an essential economic lifeblood for Pittsburgh and the region. They also happen to have one of the oldest systems of locks and dams in the country. With the recent award of a massive investment of over $850 million for the Upper Ohio Navigation Project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers things are going to get busy.

However, by no means does that mean that the industry has not been continually focused on improvements in multiple areas, notably safety and environmental programs, and operating efficiencies. In this session Mr. Stephaich will highlight a number of topics to include updates on the market, infrastructure, regulations, intellectual research, and carbon reduction initiatives.

The updates will conclude with time for questions and answers.

Swift water response remains a session that is unique amongst all of the CLEAN events to the inland waterways. This session will focus on various aspects of response in environmentally challenging conditions.

The purpose of this session is to discuss the ever-changing landscape of the emerging contaminant of PFAS. Topics will include challenges of transitioning to non-PFAS based firefighting agents, regulatory landscapes, and emerging remediation.

Responding to spills in ice conditions requires a careful approach, expertise, and an interdisciplinary team. This session will cover technologies and equipment used at mesoscale testing facilities and by real-time responders in ice-covered waters. Mechanical, physical, and biogeochemical challenges to simulated and real-time spill response in polar and sub-polar regions will be covered by professionals trained to respond both above and below the surface.  Specific impacts of ice on spill recovery and remediation in a range of fresh and saltwater environments will be examined.

The global pandemic has caused for better or worse, extensive changes in the way that emergency preparedness activities are conducted. Industry and governmental regulators alike have been pushed to adapt to virtual and/or hybrid operational environments while also ensuring the safety of their first responders both remotely and in the field. This session will provide an opportunity for emergency preparedness trainers and specialists to share new developments and strategies in their program offerings that will ultimately contribute to a safer response community. The presentations will be followed by an interactive game that incorporates elements of all three presentations.

So during day 1 of your first oil spill, you are contacted by your OSRO that they found several oiled birds, what appears to be an active beaver dam and a pallid sturgeon in the river where the spill response is ongoing. What are you going to do? This session will help you navigate the perils and pitfalls of wildlife emergency management interactions during an inland waterway spill response.

In this session we will discuss best practices and lessons learned in leveraging contracted resources for spill response. Discussions will focus on strategies, frameworks, and tools to help ensure a safe and reliable augmentation of spill response capabilities through a contractor network. Participants will hear from presenters which include views from operators, practitioners and industry experts.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have come a long way from being a use for the military, or a kid's toy. UAVs have become a use in everyday life, some examples of their use can be seen in the emergency response community where they are used for assessing emergency situations involving hazardous materials spills, industry fires, searching for missing persons, and impacts on a community after flash flooding, tornados, and earthquakes. This session will include presentations on how UAVs are being used today by both industry and government partners.

With a significant number of Indigenous/Tribal Communities owning land or having traditional territory located on or adjacent to energy infrastructure, there has been a marked increase in Indigenous/Tribal interest in emergency response planning. Such communities can find themselves on the front lines of oil spill emergencies. Indigenous and non-Indigenous speakers will highlight initiatives and partnerships in the Canadian and U.S. energy industry aimed at furthering response planning in collaboration with Indigenous Communities. Examples include enhancements to emergency management programs, combined field response exercises, ICS training, and geographic response planning.

The Response Case Studies session will use real life emergency response and remediation events to demonstrate lessons learned in the field while responding to emergencies. Attendees in this session will hear from responders directly involved in the responses.

This session will highlight hazard-specific special and unique response procedures, notifications, protective actions, emergency public information, and other best practices for unique hazards.