NOAA’s National Ocean Service • Office of Response and Restoration

Monitoring teams were instructed to report to the Group 

Supervisor at the command post when readings were above 

the level of concern and/or when three consecutive recorded 

readings were above background.

NOAA and the Coast Guard reviewed the reported data and 

briefed representatives of the Unified Command and local health 

officials. The digital and manually-recorded data were collected 

and archived by the Unified Command documentation unit. 

Monitoring operations were closely coordinated with the State of 

Oregon and local public health officials, who provided full support 

and assistance. 

Monitoring results

February 11: Before the second burning attempt, the teams 

deployed at 1400 to the towns of Empire, North Bend, Hauser, 

and Umpqua, and at Horsfall Beach. Ignited around 1745, the fuel 

burned for about thirty hours. 

Readings at Empire, North Bend, and Umpqua did not exceed 

10-20 μg/m3, the ambient particulate concentration (the area has 

good air quality and little pollution). 

Around 1900, the wind, which initially blew from the south, 

changed direction and blew for about an hour from the southsouthwest, carrying the smoke toward land. This increased 

the average particulate levels at Horsfall Beach to 40-50 μg/

m3. Although the team at Horsfall Beach smelled the smoke, 

they reported that it did not impede visibility. The elevated 

concentrations put the teams in a state of alert, but not alarm: 

the readings were about one-third of the level of concern, were 

recorded at an uninhabited area, and returned to background 

after an hour. 

SMART at the New Carissa Oil Spill

The freighter New Carissa ran 

aground on the Oregon coast in 

a gale-force wind on February 4, 

1999. Bad weather and logistics 

ruled out pumping the oil off the 

ship. After a week of battering 

by high waves, the engine room flooded and the 

ship began leaking oil. The Unified Command 

acted quickly to minimize the possibility that 

all 425,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil and diesel 

fuel aboard the vessel would spill into a pristine, 

protected environment. The Federal On-Scene 

Coordinator (FOSC) decided to burn the oil 

aboard the ship to prevent a catastrophic spill. 

A burn of this magnitude may generate a great deal of black 

smoke, a possible concern for public health. The FOSC therefore 

requested particulate monitoring at nearby population centers. 

The Special Monitoring of Applied Response Technologies 

(SMART) was deployed for this purpose.

Monitoring methods

The U.S. Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Administration (NOAA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

(EPA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

developed SMART. Small, flexible teams equipped with rugged, 

easy-to-operate field instruments provide real-time data to 

the Unified Command during dispersant and in situ burning 

operations. 

Coast Guard, EPA, and State of Oregon monitoring teams were 

called on scene as soon as it became apparent that a burn could 

take place. The Monitoring Group Supervisor coordinated the 

teams, a role shared by the Coast Guard and NOAA.

The teams used DataRam, Personal DataRam (PDR), and 

Nephelometer instruments. These instruments work on the 

principle of light scattering, with the readings converted to weight 

of particulates in micrograms per cubic meter of air (μg/m3). 

Instruments were calibrated and/or zeroed before field use. 

The level of concern (LOC) adopted for this operation was 150 

μg/m3 of particulates smaller than 10 micrograms in diameter 

(PM-10) averaged over a one-hour period. The Region 10 Regional 

Response Team, of which Oregon is a member, adoped this LOC 

value for in situ burning operations.
U.S. Department of Commerce • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration November 2006

NOAA’s Office of Response & Restoration—Protecting our Coastal Environment

For further information about NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration, 

please visit our Web site at 

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov or call (301) 713-2989.

Elevated readings were also reported at Hauser, probably due to dust 

from a nearby road. 

At 2200 it became apparent that the burn had stabilized and no 

significant plume impact had occurred. With the winds expected to 

remain southerly for the night, the monitoring efforts were scaled 

down to one stationary team in Empire, a roving team between North 

Bend and Hauser, and a Group Supervisor at the command post. 

February 12: The burn aboard the New Carissa diminished gradually 

throughout the night. A monitoring team deployed to Horsfall Beach 

reported average particulate readings of 100 μg/m3 at 1100, due to 

wind blowing the low plume onshore. This triggered the deployment 

of an additional, roving monitoring team between North Bend and 

Hauser. This team did not detect elevated particulate levels, because 

the smoke dissipated before reaching population centers. 

As the burn diminished and later that evening nearly extinguished 

itself, monitoring was no longer needed. 

February 13: At midnight the monitoring was placed on standby, and 

later terminated.

Lessons learned

Several lessons were derived from this monitoring operation, 

including:

· SMART usability: While similar monitoring had been done before, 

this was the first monitoring under the SMART program. Both the 

concept and the execution worked well. 

· Notification: Early notification is key to timely monitoring. The 

first monitoring team arrived at 1400 on February 10, in time 

to deploy for the first burning attempt. Rapid notification for 

monitoring should be given in future burns.

· Communication: Communication was spotty at times. Radios 

did not always work due to distance and terrain. Cellular phones 

worked well, but not all teams had them. Cellular phones for all 

teams may provide the communication backup needed.

· Cooperation with public health officials: State and local public 

health officials were very interested in the monitoring results. 

Once informed of the monitoring plan, they cooperated closely 

and provided valuable assistance. Including them in the planning 

and providing them with timely results worked well.

Conclusions

SMART was deployed successfully for the New Carissa incident. No 

significant smoke impacts were detected by the monitoring teams 

at population centers near the burn. Good cooperation among team 

members and Federal, State, and local entities greatly contributed to 

the success of the monitoring operations. 

For additional information:

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/smart