In this final installment of the Hazardous Material Transport Outreach Network (HazMaTON) 2023 Summer Webinar Series, a panel of presenters will provide an overview of three tribal spill response programs in the United States Region 5 Regional Response Team (RRT5).
RRT5 is the planning and coordination body for a geographic area spanning the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio, including the upper Great Lakes, upper Mississippi River, and the Ohio River. There are 35 federally-acknowledged tribes within this geographic region.
Hazardous material spills do not acknowledge geographic boundaries, and when a significant spill occurs there is a need for many organizations, including tribal, federal, state, and provincial governments to aid in the response and cleanup. Coordinated response planning is crucial, and as sovereign nations, tribes have the authority to engage in spill preparedness and response activities to serve their communities.
Anyone with an interest in learning more about tribal emergency preparedness authority, examples of tribal spill response programs in the Great Lakes region, and cross-jurisdictional coordination of spill response will find this presentation informative. A live question and answer session will follow the presentation.
Registration
Register to attend this virtual webinar event.
Panel presenters
- Courtney Hessell, environmental services coordinator, Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.
- Traven Michaels, environmental response specialist, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians.
- Jesse Wesolek, air quality and environmental response specialist, Bay Mills Indian Community.
Contact
Kelsey Prihoda, Great Lakes transportation extension educator, Minnesota Sea Grant.
Image credit: University of Minnesota Duluth