Residents of the San Juan Islands who are concerned about oil spills along the coastline are invited to a community workshop on oil spill response and readiness sponsored by the Northwest Straits Foundation and the San Juan County Marine Resources Committee.

The free workshop on Community Engagement in Oil Spill Response and Readiness will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, in the Commons building at Friday Harbor Labs, 620 University Road, Friday Harbor.

Residents may see increased oil tanker and cargo ship traffic in the Straits.

For example, a dramatic increase in tanker traffic could result from a Trans Mountain pipeline proposal –  from about five tankers a month currently to more than 30 tankers a month.

The tankers could carry oil from the Trans Mountain pipeline through Haro Strait and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Other proposed terminal projects will further add to commercial marine vessel traffic in the Straits.

How does an increase in tanker traffic affect the potential of a major oil spill? What will happen if a major oil spill occurs off the shores of San Juan County? How will it impact our coastal habitat and resources? Who is in charge of spill response, and what happens behind the scenes? What is the role of elected officials and emergency managers during oil spills in our community? How can citizen volunteers be involved in the cleanup?

These questions and others will be answered for community members at the workshop.

Local, state and federal agency staff will describe their roles as a part of “Incident Command,” how they plan for and make decisions during spills and how they strive to protect valuable natural and community resources. Learn from the U.S. Coast Guard about the decisions they face when oil is spilled.

Meet spill response managers from the Department of Ecology and Department of Fish and Wildlife to hear about their roles in the event of a major oil spill. Learn about the role of the Northwest Area Planning Committee and Regional Response Team in spill response. Learn about the challenges spill responders would face in dealing with a spill in our community and how you can help before, during and after a spill.

RSVP for the March 7 workshop by Thursday, March 5 to Heidi Lehman, Northwest Straits Foundation at lehman@nwstraits.org, 733-1725.

The workshop is sponsored by the Northwest Straits Foundation, the San Juan County Marine Resources Committee, the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington State Department of Ecology and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, with funding support from the Environmental Protection Agency. The workshop is presented by VEDA Environmental in partnership with the Northwest Straits Foundation, the San Juan County Marine Resources Committee and Northwest Straits Commission.