The Washington Department of Ecology is updating the Clark, Cowlitz, and SW Lewis Geographic Response Plan (GRP). An important part of the update process is hearing from the people who live, work, and play in the planning area. To facilitate this, a public comment period was open from Wednesday 6/22/2022 to Friday 7/22/2022.

No comments were submitted.

​Description of the Area

The planning area extends from Vancouver in the south to just north of Winlock, traces US Highway 12 east to Mayfield Lake, and runs in a narrow strip from Kelso/Longview southeastward to Battle Ground. Portions of the Coweeman, Cowlitz, Kalama, Lewis, and Toutle Rivers flow through this area.  The communities of Battle Ground, Castle Rock, Kalama, La Center, Longview/Kelso, Ridgefield, Toledo, Vader, Vancouver, Winlock, and Woodland are located within the boundaries of this planning area, as well as parts of Lewis, Cowlitz, and Clark Counties.  The Chehalis River and Lower Columbia River GRPs border this planning area to the north and southwest, respectively.

What are Geographic Response Plans?
GRPs are used to guide early response actions in the event of an oil spill. Ecology develops and updates GRPs in collaboration with state, local and federal agencies and tribes. Each GRP is written for a specific area (for example a river, a lake, or section of Puget Sound), and includes tactical response strategies tailored to a particular shore or waterway at risk of injury from oil.

GRPs have two main objectives:

  • Identify sensitive natural, cultural or significant economic resources at risk of injury from oil spills.
  • Describe and prioritize response strategies in an effort to reduce injury to sensitive natural, cultural, and certain economic resources at risk from oil spills.

The Washington Legislature requires additional planning relating to oils that may not remain floating on the surface, termed non-floating oils (NFOs), in order to maintain the state’s preparedness. This draft GRP contains updates relating to NFOs in the Non-Floating Oil Response Options and Resources at Risk sections of the GRP.

More Information

Questions

Max Gordon

Oil Spill Preparedness Planner

Max.gordon@ecy.wa.gov

360-972-4890