{"id":208238,"date":"2015-08-18T06:00:31","date_gmt":"2015-08-17T20:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=208238"},"modified":"2015-08-18T06:00:31","modified_gmt":"2015-08-17T20:00:31","slug":"coast-guard-aids-in-saipan-disaster-relief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/coast-guard-aids-in-saipan-disaster-relief\/","title":{"rendered":"Coast Guard aids in Saipan disaster relief"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>SAIPAN HARBOR, Saipan<\/strong>\u2014Over the past week the U.S. Coast Guard has been working with local crane operators and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to assist in cleanup following Typhoon Soudelor.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-208238 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon '>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/coast-guard-aids-in-saipan-disaster-relief\/150812-n-km939-002\/'>150812-N-KM939-002<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-208276'>\n\t\t\t\tMembers from the U.S. Coast Guard\u2019s Pacific Strike Team, the Marine Safety Detachment Saipan and the Environmental Protection Agency, conduct a planning meeting for disaster relief efforts on Saipan.\n(MC3 David Cox)\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon '>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/coast-guard-aids-in-saipan-disaster-relief\/150812-n-km939-019\/'>150812-N-KM939-019<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-208277'>\n\t\t\t\tMembers of the U.S. Coast Guard\u2019s Marine Safety Detachment Saipan, speak with Willard Brungel, the safety officer for Saipan pier, right, during disaster relief efforts on Saipan after Typhoon Soudelor. (MC3 David Cox)\n\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon '>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/coast-guard-aids-in-saipan-disaster-relief\/150812-n-km939-099\/'>150812-N-KM939-099<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-208278'>\n\t\t\t\tMarines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit stage vehicles in front of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48), during disaster relief efforts on Saipan after Typhoon Soudelor. (MC3 David Cox)\n\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon '>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/coast-guard-aids-in-saipan-disaster-relief\/150812-n-km939-131\/'>150812-N-KM939-131<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<figcaption class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-208279'>\n\t\t\t\tCrane operators work to clear a pile of damaged containers on the pier in front of the amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland during disaster relief efforts on Saipan after Typhoon Soudelor.\n(MC3 David Cox)\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>This is just one example of the interagency coordination it takes to aid in a disaster relief mission.<\/p>\n<p>The headquarters for the Commonwealth Ports Authority of Saipan is the relief efforts operating center for the EPA and three divisions of the U.S. Coast Guard: the Marine Safety Detachment stationed in Saipan, Coast Guard Sector Guam and a Pacific Strike team from California.<\/p>\n<p>U.S Coast Guard science technician Chrystin McLelland, the federal on-scene coordinator for Sector Guam, said her division is responsible for the safety of container operations, ensuring the oil pipeline at the port is operational, monitoring for hazardous materials, and responding to incidents that may occur.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Saipan stevedores [local crane operators] are doing crane operations to lift the containers that piled up during the typhoon,\u201d she said. \u201cIf they have HAZMAT cargo in them, we will come in and do a full cargo inspection on it and make sure that all the packaging is intact, that nothing is leaking and document all the containers. They\u2019ll then be set aside for future use, for insurance purposes or to be scrapped.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>HAZMAT potentially includes pesticides, fertilizers, cleaning agents, and items containing refrigerant.<\/p>\n<p>Christopher Weden, the federal on-scene coordinator for the EPA\u2019s Emergency Response Section, said once he has permission from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, his team of Coast Guardsmen will tend to HAZMAT with additional help from hired contractors and the Army Corps of Engineers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re expecting mission assignments from FEMA for household hazardous waste, other hazardous waste concerns, and preventing those hazardous materials and waste from mixing with the general debris cleanup,\u201d said Weden.<\/p>\n<p>The EPA has worked out an interagency agreement with the Coast Guard\u2019s Pacific Strike Team primarily for site safety and health monitoring during hazardous waste containment, for logistical support and other assignments where assistance is needed.<\/p>\n<p>The Pacific Strike Team\u2019s Response Officer, Chief Warrant Officer Paul Jones, said his team works with multiple agencies both local and national.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce we get a declaration of disaster, we serve as an emergency support function,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ll work for the EPA, we work for FEMA or any of the local stakeholders who have an interest. So depending on what the job is, it could be a variety of government and local entities. In a response like this you have to be pretty flexible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whatever the mission, his team is glad to be in Saipan to help during a time when the local community is in need.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnytime there is work to be done everybody on the team wants to get out and do it,\u201d Jones said. \u201cIt makes us feel good, and when it\u2019s all said and done, you can look back on it as something to be proud of.\u201d <strong>(MC3 David A. Cox, Amphibious Squadron Eleven Public Affairs)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SAIPAN HARBOR, Saipan\u2014Over the past week the U.S. Coast Guard has been working with local&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":208276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6564,352,493,1698],"class_list":["post-208238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-coast-guardsmen","tag-epa","tag-fema","tag-hazmat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}