Michael Donohoe of Preparedness Plus to be Featured on Close Up Radio

FOLEY, ALABAMA, UNITED STATES, June 27, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- A common saying encourages, “Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.” Our guest has earned numerous recognitions for his incredible work on improving the handling of oil spills. This is the story of Michael Donohoe.

Michael Donohoe is the president of Preparedness Plus. Founded in 2024, it serves as the culmination of his decades-long experience in the U.S. Coast Guard, and as a civilian, handling, preventing, and mitigating the effects of oil and hazardous material spills.

“I travel around the world visiting bulk storage facilities, helping them assess, and hopefully improve their overall prevention, preparedness, and response programs for oil receipt, storage and distribution,” summarizes Michael.

“One of the big concerns is when you have large quantities of fuel stored, you have the potential for small and large oil spills,” explains Michael. “After the Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill, there was a new piece of legislation known as the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. It really stepped up the game in terms of expectations – especially crafting preparedness plans to respond to oil spills. Additionally, those facilities that store more than 1,000,000 gallons of fuel, need to have an Emergency Response Action Plan (ERAP) and a training program.”

“Unfortunately, a lot of people get a plan written, but they don’t necessarily develop the details on HOW they are going to execute the plan,” Michael believes. “The ERAP regulations were intended to promote and facilitate crafting outcome-driven plans.”

“I have a long history of doing this,” recalls Michael. “I started doing oil spills in 1972 when I had received my commission from the Coast Guard, when it was all brand new. The Clean Water Act had been passed in 1970. Not long after, responsibility fell onto the U.S. Coast Guard for regulation and response in the coastal areas of the US. I started out in Mobile, Alabama. The first four years, I responded to over two hundred fifty oil spills – all within Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle. What I saw back then was a lack of preparedness, because it still new back then. I have been involved in some of the biggest oil spills worldwide within the past forty years. This included the Amoco Cadiz off the coast of France in March of 1978, the IPEMEX IXTOC 1 oil well blowout in the summer of 1979, the Persian Gulf spill during Desert Storm, and of course, the March 1989 grounding and spill of the Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound. For over 20 years I have worked with regulators, industry reps, contractors, and plan writers to help them consider crafting a process that activates their preparedness plan into response actions.”

“From 1992 - 1995 I was the Coast Guard’s program director, responsible for implementing the Oil Pollution Act within the Coast Guard,” adds Michael. “I was also the National Response Team vice chairman, and worked with the Department of Transportation, the US EPA, the Office of Pipeline Safety, and the Bureau of Land Management that had the responsibility for offshore drilling operation. What I proposed, with other federal agencies, was to host a series of workshops nationwide, to learn what can be done in advancing preparedness in addition to compliance. In other words, we should listen to their concerns and ideas, identify alternatives, and provide them flexibility to craft their approach for real preparedness. As a result of those workshops, we crafted a publication called the National Response for Exercise Program. It provided guidance to the industry on what the expectations were for small, medium, and large oil spills for the various agencies in various operating environments. Being tailor-made for each organization, it was well-received by the regulators and by the public. Overall, it’s about making sure that one is prepared as opposed to compliant.”

After twenty-five years in the U. S. Coast Guard, Michael became a civilian and continued his work in the private and government sector, not just in the United States, but also Canada. He also worked as consultant and trainer up until the founding of Preparedness Plus.

Because of his impressive work throughout his career in the U. S. Coast Guard, and as a civilian, he has earned a myriad of recognitions. “I have earned medals up the wazoo,” Michael declares. “The best one I got was in 1976 when I was selected by the National Navy League to receive Captain David H. Jarvis Leadership Award. It was for the four years of my tenure in Mobile, Alabama. It was a nice thing. However, making achievements was never about me. I just did stuff, and it was the right thing to do. Along the way, I got recognized.”

“As for the future regarding Preparedness Plus, I am primarily available to help organizations examine their thoughts on preparedness, and what we can do so that they understand their preparedness process,” explains Michael. “This involves putting their information into an actionable format. The idea is to give an organization a more efficient and effective method to craft a plan that they can execute on ‘spill day’. The plan is developed by them, and for use by them! It identifies what resources they have, and what resources they don’t have. It identifies who has them, where they are, and how long it takes to get them on scene to make things happen. This is one of the things that I would really like to pursue with clients via Preparedness Plus.”

“When you have a task, don’t just think about completing the task,” encourages Michael. “Think about the value that you achieve, when the task that you complete, delivers a quality OUTCOME for you, your organization and the environment.”

“Lots of folks produce OUTPUTS,” concludes Michael. “My focus and practice supports clients achieving sustainable OUTCOMES in preparedness and response for oil spills.”

Close Up Radio will feature Michael Donohoe in an interview with Jim Masters on Monday July 1st at 2pm Eastern

Listen to the show on BlogTalkRadio

If you have any questions for our guest, please call (347) 996-3389

For more information, please visit https://www.preparedness-plus.com/

Lou Ceparano
Close Up Television & Radio
+1 631-850-3314
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