The Washington state Department of Ecology will hold a public workshop in Vancouver this evening (Wednesday, Sept. 24) to get community input on updating the Geographic Response Plan (GRP) for the Columbia River. The workshop will be held at the Vancouver Community Library (901 C Street) from 7 to 8 p.m.
According to the Ecology website, GRPs are geographic-specific response plans for oil spills to water. They include response strategies tailored to a specific beach, shore, or waterway and meant to minimize impact on sensitive resources threatened by the spill.
Each GRP has two main priorities:
To identify sensitive natural, cultural or significant economic resources To describe and prioritize response strategies in an effort to minimize injury to sensitive natural, cultural and certain economic resources at risk from oil spills GRPs are developed in partnership with Washington State Department of Ecology, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, the U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.