(L-R) Director of the National Spill Control School of Texas A & M University,
David Jensen, with DEH Senior Research Officer Antoinette Johnson and Director
Roydell Carter.

Two Department of Environmental Health (DEH) staff members recently attended the 20th Triennial International Oil Spill Conference (IOSC 2008) to share their Hurricane Ivan experience.

Invited to the conference, themed “Creating a Culture of Preparedness”, were DEH Director Roydell Carter and Senior Research Officer Antoinette Johnson, according to a Department of Environmental Health press release. Also representing the Cayman Islands was Gary McTaggart of the Petroleum Inspectorate.

Ms Johnson presented a paper and poster on the topic, ‘Conducting an Oil Spill Clean-up in the Wake of a Natural Disaster: a Cayman Islands Perspective’. She was assisted by co-authors Mr Carter and David Jensen of the National Spill Control School of Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi.

“Participation at these conferences provides opportunities to network with international colleagues, share best practices and build a cadre of experts to assist or advise in the event of a disaster,” Mr Carter said.

“Moreover, the publication of this paper provides a positive opportunity to gain international exposure for Cayman, in the technical field as well as in the much wider span of tourism.”

On a platform that included three speakers from the US Coast Guard, Ms Johnson also participated in a discussion entitled ‘Natural Disasters (Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina)’. The panel focused on the difficulties of managing multiple oil spills involving millions of gallons of petroleum products as in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Ivan.

“While very different in the scale of the spills being managed, many of the challenges and lessons learned were similar whether in Louisiana or Grand Cayman,” Ms Johnson noted.

“In each case the experience pointed to the need for good planning, quick-response teams, and prior identification of resources, both locally and externally.”

Other conference highlights included technical presentations on subjects ranging from research and development and response coordination, to prevention planning and preparedness.

Many case studies were offered from around the world, including countries such as the US, Lebanon, South Korea, Uruguay and the Cayman Islands. In addition, more than 200 samples of equipment and technologies for preventing and cleaning up pollution, especially oil spills, were exhibited.

The team returned to Cayman with ideas and contacts that should assist in improving the DEH’s spill prevention, control and cleanup plan along with management practices for hazardous waste and used oil.

More than 2,000 professionals representing 50 countries attend the Triennial International Oil Spill Conference. Participants comprise the international community, the private sector, government, and non-governmental organisations who highlight and discuss innovations and best practices across the spectrum of prevention, preparedness, response and restoration in respect of oil spillage.