Margaret Spring News

NOAA’s Hydrographic Services Review Panel will meet Nov. 27-29 in New Orleans to discuss hydrographic surveying, nautical charting, tides and current measurements, as well as geodetic and geospatial measurements for the Gulf of Mexico region. The three-day meeting is open to the public, and public comment periods are scheduled in the afternoons. The panel will hear from representatives of the regional maritime community, including port authority officials and marine pilots, the geospatial community, and users of NOAA’s tides and currents information.

Oil Spill Proceeds Of Settlement to Fund Projects and Restore Natural Resources Largest Oil Pollution Act Settlement in History of the Law. Federal, state and Bay-area officials announced a comprehensive civil settlement with the owners and operators of the M/V Cosco Busan, resolving all natural resource damages, penalties and response costs that resulted from the ship striking the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 2007, and subsequent oil spill in the San Francisco Bay. The event killed thousands of birds, impacted a significant portion of the Bay’s 2008 herring spawn, spoiled miles of shoreline habitat and closed the bay and area beaches to recreation and fishing. The U.S.

NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco recently appointed nine new members to the Hydrographic Services Review Panel, a federal advisory committee that gives NOAA independent advice for improving ocean and coastal navigation products, information, data and services. “Optimizing the benefits of navigation services and products is a priority for the agency,” said Margaret Spring, chief of staff for NOAA and the agency’s representative to the Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS).

NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco recently appointed nine new members to the Hydrographic Services Review Panel, a federal advisory committee that gives NOAA independent advice for improving ocean and coastal navigation products, information, data and services. “Optimizing the benefits of navigation services and products is a priority for the agency,” said Margaret Spring, chief of staff for NOAA and the agency’s representative to the Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS). “We look forward to hearing perspectives and receiving advice from our new committee members, who represent a wide variety of maritime and coastal zone stakeholder interests. Dr. Lawson W. Stephen Carmel, Maersk Line, Ltd. Jeffrey Carothers, Fugro Consultants, Inc. Dr. Dr. David A. Scott R.