Services
Scientific Support of Oil Spill Response
Leadership for shoreline response operations encompassing shoreline assessment (SCAT), cleanup, inspections, and damage assessment.
Natural resources damage assessment
Unique combination of technical expertise, from pre-planning through restoration, supports critical operational decisions in the context of NRDA and restoration concerns.
Coral Grounding Assessment and Restoration
Support for coral reef damages from ship casualties, anchor damage, oil and chemical spills and wreck removal alternatives among others.
PREVENTION & PLANNING
Spill response, prevention and contingency planning including national planning initiatives (typically through IMO and/or UN programs), integrated response plans, fleet plans, spill and operations manuals, and practical guidelines for response personnel.
Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT)
Polaris scientists helped develop the SCAT process in the 1980s and have performed SCAT leadership and management functions for many significant spill events.
Technical Training
Wide range of training courses that cover a variety of oil spill planning and response topics.
Aerial Video Surveys and Mapping
POLARIS scientists continue to pioneer the use of aerial video surveys for shore-zone mapping, coastal inventories, and oil spill countermeasures planning.
Restoration
Technical representation for responsible parties on restoration projects including: trustee liaison, assessment of alternative restoration/ compensation, project design/coordination, and monitoring.
About Polaris
POLARIS APPLIED SCIENCES, Inc. (POLARIS) was created in 1998 from the merger of three highly successful companies with a broad range of capabilities in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial oil and chemical spill response.
POLARIS’ scientific support staff for oil spill response includes internationally recognized leaders in shoreline treatment operations, shoreline geomorphology, pre-spill planning, technical training of spill responders, and environmental assessment.
Our scientists offer a combined total of over 100 years of response experience from more than 200 spills and groundings. POLARIS has provided clients worldwide with spill planning, spill and grounding response, scientific support, shoreline cleanup assessment technique (SCAT) training and implementation, natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) and environmental restoration services.
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Rapid response, worldwide coverage
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Decades of experience with NRDA projects
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World class plans for marine, coastal and inland operations
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Highly skilled and experienced instructors, proven materials
OUR TEAM
Click here for full bios
Greg E. Challenger, M.S.
Dr. Elliott Taylor
Andrew W. Graham, M.S.
Teresa L. Allard
Jose M. Rios, M.S.
Travis M. Scott, M.S.
Dr. Stephan Gmur
Colin McWilliams, M.S.
Alison Craig, M.S., M.P.A.,
Gary S. Mauseth, M.S.
Contact Us for More Information
Latest news
SCAT Training – Victoria, BC (December 2018)
Polaris scientists (Dr. Elliott Taylor and Mr. Travis Scott) provided a three-day training course on shoreline cleanup assessment technique for participants from the Esquimalt Indigenous Nation, WCMRC, industry, and agencies. The course encompassed classroom and field training under favorable weather conditions albeit limited accessible shorelines due to winter tides.
New coral project in Key West
Polaris personnel are currently on site in Key West, Florida working on a coral assessment project.
National Contingency Plan Workshops: Suriname, Trinidad, and Mexico (October 2018)
Dr. Elliott Taylor provided oil spill expert facilitation for three National Workshops on Contingency Planning and Implementation of the OPRC Convention organized by the IMO RAC REMPEITC – Carib. Workshops were conducted in Paramaribo, Suriname (17-19 Oct.), Port of Spain, Trinidad (22-24 Oct.),and Cd. Del Carmen, Mexico (29-31 Oct. 2018). A key activity for each Read more about National Contingency Plan Workshops: Suriname, Trinidad, and Mexico (October 2018)[…]
TransMountain Oil Spill Exercise (18-19 Sep. 2018)
Elliott Taylor, Jose Rios, and Stephan Gmur participated in the worst-case oil spill response exercise for the TransMountain Pipleine Westridge Terminal in Burnaby, BC. The Polaris team provided scientific and technical support for the Environmental Unit and SCAT activities related to a scenario of a dilbit release into Burrard Inlet. https://www.transmountain.com/news/2018/trans-mountain-conducts-full-scale-emergency-exercise-in-burrard-inlet https://globalnews.ca/news/4467491/trans-mountain-emergency-oil-spill-exercise-burrard-inlet/
Belize National Oil Spill Contingency Plan – Validation Workshop (8-10 August 2018)
Dr. Elliott Taylor and Mr. Jose Rios led a 2 ½ day workshop in Belize City to deliver the final National Oil Spill Contingency Plan to participants representing government, industry, ports, and NGOs. The final deliverables included atlases for spill sensitivity and operations/logistics, quantitative spill risk analysis study and spill trajectories analysis, spill equipment recommendations, Read more about Belize National Oil Spill Contingency Plan – Validation Workshop (8-10 August 2018)[…]