ASSOCIATION UPDATES

Lower Columbia Region Harbor Safety Committee

Clean Rivers Cooperative Maritime Commerce Club

Merchants Exchange

Merchants Exchange Scholarship Fund

The LCRHSC held our March (virtual) meeting of the Board and General Membership on March 8, 2023.

Josie Clark, Remedial Project Manager from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) presented a status update on the Portland Habor Superfund Site Anticipating Cleanup. Learn more at: https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/ cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=1002155

The U.S. Coast Guard also presented an update at the meeting and reminded all in attendance about the importance of subscribing to the free Local Notices to Mariners alert system.

To receive weekly emails regarding the USCG Local Notices to Mariners and other critical maritime information (free of charge) go here - https://www.navcen. uscg.gov/subscribe-email-rss-feeds

Local Notice to Mariners

Local Notice to Mariners are issued by each U.S. Coast Guard District to disseminate important Information affecting navigational safety within that District. This Notice reports changes and deficiencies in aids to navigation maintained by the Coast Guard. Other marine information such as new charts, channel depths, naval operations, and regattas is included. Since temporary information of short duration is not included in the weekly Notice to Mariners, the Local Notice to Mariners may be the only source of such information.

NAVCEN is expanding availability of near-real-time Maritime Safety Information (MSI) to all U.S. waterways. Coast Guard districts and sectors will be added steadily over the next year with the intention of expanding to all types of MSI, such as Captain of the Port messages, Urgent Marine Information Broadcasts (UMIB), and other bridge and waterway data once the initial implementation is complete.

Through the free online subscription service, Gov Delivery, mariners can subscribe to selected topics and receive via email, Broadcast Notice to Mariners (BNM) in their chosen geographical area. The online subscription service is in addition to the standard VHF BNM broadcasts which, traditionally, were the only way to receive this vital navigational information. Mariners can now use the subscription service to plan for underway periods and receive updates to navigational hazards in near-real-time without having to wait on scheduled VHF broadcasts. To receive BNMs via email for your waterway of choice, go to our RSS feed page and select the district or individual sector link, of your choosing and enter your email address - https://www.navcen.uscg.gov/subscribe-email-rssfeeds.

For more information, please visit our website: www.lcrhsc.org

Bekah Brinkmeier, Association Administrator: brinkmeier@pdxmex.com

Ashley Ros, Association Account Specialist: ros@pdxmex.com

Anthony O’Reilly, Administrative Specialist: oreilly@pdxmex.com