Marine Safety and Environmental Protection
The Auxiliary’s program for Marine Safety and Environmental Protection covers multiple activities including:
- Marine Safety
- Port Safety and Security Inspections
- Aids to Navigation (ATON)
- Administration of the Trident Program
- Environmental Education
Many of these “M” Department functions are being conducted at the flotilla level through the vessel safety check, marine domain awareness, and ATON activities.
Environmental education with respect to solid and sanitary waste disposal is pursued during vessel safety checks. Flotilla 72 also assists the Coast Guard in its responsibility for responding to oil and chemical spills by immediately reporting observations of oil slicks or unusual surface water conditions to the Coast Guard.
In support of marine environmental protection, Flotilla 72 has initiated a program of monitoring coastal water quality while conducting routine safety patrols. This activity is now in its third year of implementation. It was begun in the summer of 2007, in response to the request of Harbor Watch/River Watch, a volunteer non-governmental organization, authorized and funded through grants from Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), to sample and analyze water quality in the Norwalk, Five Mile, and Saugatuck rivers and their estuaries.
Lacking capability to monitor water quality offshore, Harbor Watch/River Watch enlisted the help of the Auxiliary. Training and instrumentation was provided to the Flotilla by Harbor Watch/River Watch for obtaining data on dissolved oxygen, salinity, turbidity, wave and wind conditions, and water and ambient air temperature.
This information is subsequently conveyed by Harbor Watch/River Watch to CT DEP and EPA. Since neither agency has the resources to obtain this data, the work conducted by Flotilla 72 fills an information gap that is important to federal and state agencies, and to local community and environmental groups.
The role of the flotilla in water quality monitoring has received the full support of the Division as well as of the local shellfish industry. In addition to performing a useful public service, flotilla volunteers are continually broadening their knowledge of the impact of pollution on the marine environment while demonstrating their responsiveness to local and national needs.
Flotilla 72's Staff Officer for Marine Safety (FSO-MS) is Ralph Field. If you have any questions about the work Flotilla 72 is doing in these areas, please feel free to contact Ralph at rfield203@yahoo.com