Conference Overview

The CLEAN Gulf 2025 program is undergoing a complete refresh — with expanded topics, brand-new formats, and more dynamic ways to learn and connect. Full session times and details will be announced soon. Until then, the preliminary agenda below gives you a taste of what’s to come!

PRELIMINARY SESSIONS INCLUDE*:

Panel Discussion: Garden Island Bay Well 59 Incident

Chair: Frank Paskewich, President, Clean Gulf Associates
Moderator: James Hanzalik, Vice-President, Clean Gulf Associates
Panelists:

  • Mark Mathews Ed.D., Training & Compliance Manager, Clean Gulf Associates
  • Patrick J. Bergeron, President/Partner, Forefront Emergency Management, LP
  • Brandi Todd, SSC, NOAA – Office of Response & Restoration
  • Captain Melanie Burnham O-5, Deputy Sector Commander, U.S. Coast Guard Sector New Orleans     

Leading Through the Storm: Mastering Crisis Leadership

Chair: Jim Elliott, Chief Operating Officer, T&T Group of Companies
Co-Chair: Michael Roldan, Senior Consultant, Hazmat Safety Consulting

Panelists:

  • Frank Paskewich, President, Clean Gulf Associates
  • Ron Cantin, President, EMSI

Managing Pressures During a Crisis Response – Building Resiliency

Chair: Jim Elliott, Chief Operating Officer, T&T Group of Companies
Co-Chair: Michael Roldan, Senior Consultant, Hazmat Safety Consulting

IMT Resiliency- Building Mental Flexibility in the Incident Management Team

  • Brad Hubbard, Emergency Response Manager, Shell Exploration and Production Company
  • Jenny Prohaska, Psychologist, Tactical Longevity

A Holistic Strategy for Responders’ Well-Being

  • Camilo Olivieri, Senior Emergency Management Specialist, Plains All American
  • Andy Couch, Learning & Development Officer, Oil Spill Response Ltd

Maintaining Response Continuity through Workforce Transitions

Chair: Bob Patterson, Managing Director, Witt O’Brien’s, LLC / Ambipar Response

Panelists:

  • Allyson Purcell MEP, CEM, CMER Director, ConocoPhillips
  • Grace Burley, Managing Director, Witt O’Brien’s
  • Bridgett Stickler, Vice President, Coalition Strategy, CAEL – Council for Adult and Experiential Learning

Response Tools and Technology

Chair: Dave Dolnick, Director, Crisis Management and Emergency Response, Phillips 66

Dynamic Risk Assessment and Responder Decision-Making Using Unmanned Systems at Oil Spill Incidents

  • Stephen Pepper, Sr Consultant, CTEH, LLC

Using Generative AI to Support Emergency Management in Brazil

  • Victor Rodrigues, Innovation Coordinator and Augusto Antoun, Consultant, OceanPact

Training Options and Simulations

Chair: Jared Angelle (CDR, USCG, retired), CEM, MEP, Emergency Response Team Leader, Phillips 66

BNSF Online Training Tools

  • Patrick Brady CIH, CSP, General Director Hazardous Materials Safety, BNSF Railway

Simulation Methods in Fire Response

  • BNSF or TEEX

Innovative On-Line Tools for Interactive Shoreline Response Training

  • Ed Owens, President, OCC Ltd, Elliott Taylor, Principal, Polaris Applied Sciences Inc.
  • Tristan Owens, Principal, Zero Plus Productions

Use of Micro Learning Challenges to improve Responder Performance

  • Shawn Essert (LCDR USCG retired), Director, Private Sector Operations, Emergency Management Services International, Inc.

Escalating Phase of Response

Chair: Chad Tameling, Executive Vice President, SET Environmental, Inc.

Guidelines for Air Monitoring Tactics for Emergency Response – An API Publication

  • Nick Flolid, Director Operations – Emergency Management, GHD
  • Ty Farrell, Senior Manager, HSE – Emergency Response and Security Management, Plains All American

Building a Functional Situation Unit and Leveraging Technology to Keep Pace

  • Larry Ryan, GIS Project Manager, NJ Resources, Inc.

Thinking Outside the Box: Cost-Effective Strategies in Emergency Response – Part 1

  • Matt Taylor, Safety Specialist, Delek Logistics

Thinking Outside the Box: Cost-Effective Strategies in Emergency Response – Part 2

  • Cassie Whitefield, Sr EHS Manager, Delek Logistics

Ongoing Response

Chair: Gil Martinez, Senior Advisor, Emergency Response, Murphy Exploration & Production Co.

Regulatory Concerns of an Ongoing Response

  • CWO-2 Michael Walker, Marine Safety Specialist Response, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston, Invited

Maintaining Equipment on an Extended Response

  • Michael Epstein, Senior Marine Engineer, Marine Spill Response Corporation MSRC

Maximizing Technology to Manage a Response

  • Sean Griffin, CEO, Disaster Tech

Closing Response

Chair: Michael Walker, Vice President – Gulf Region, Marine Spill Response Corporation

What’s Involved in Getting Paid for Spill Response Services

  • Keith Towler, Project Accountant, Witt O’Brien’s

Perspective from an Insurance Adjuster: What Gets your Invoice Paid or Rejected?

  • Robert Simmons PE (retired), Executive Associate and Surveyor and Principal Consultant to WQIS, Environmental Science Services

Oil Spill Forecast and Tracking

Chair: Allyson Purcell MEP, CEM, CMER Director, ConocoPhillips

Operational Probabilistic Simulations Applied in Oil Drift Forecast Uncertainty Assessment for Emergency Responses

  • Marcelo Cabral, Modeling Manager, João Deboni, Oceanographer I
  • André Luis De Oliveira, Environmental Specialist, CLS BRASIL

HF-Radar and AI: Supporting Marine Oil Spill Emergency Operations

  • Fernando Túlio Camilo Barreto, Specialist in Computation Manager, OceanPact

From Impact to Recovery: Best Practices in Restoration and Remediation

Chair: Chris Tracy, Environmental Engineer, Arcwood Environmental Services

Lead Abatement on Bridges and the Importance of Waste Management Planning

  • Crystal Robinson, Manager Environmental Operations – Gulf Division, Norfolk Southern and Jason Artrip, Project Manager, Arcadis Inc.

Restoration and Remediation

  • Keith Nichols, Senior Project Manager/Scientist, CK Associates LLC

Mitigation Scoring

  • Brian Reilly, Director, Natural Resource Assessment, CSA Ocean Sciences, Inc.

Transitioning from PFAS Containing Fire Fighting Foam

Chair: Keith Nichols, Senior Project Manager/Scientist, CK Associates LLC

Operational and Environmental Aspects of Transitioning from AFFF to Fluorine Free Firefighting Foam

  • Stephen Pepper, Sr Consultant, CTEH, LLC

Regulatory Landscape of PFAS/Risks

  • Emily von Qualen, Associate Attorney, Liskow, Invited

In-field Detection of PFAS Using Portable Field Sensor during AFFF Transitions

  • Blake Farris, Business Development Manager, FREDsense Technologies Corp.

‘Watt’ Can Be Wrong? Preparing for Lithium-Ion Battery Emergencies

Chair: Bradley Free, Emergency Preparedness and Response – USA Program Director, GHD

Emergency Response Tactics and Strategies for Responding to Lithium-Ion Battery Incidents

  • Nick Flolid, Director Operations – Emergency Management, GHD
  • Mike Sheehan, Manager Hazardous Materials, BNSF

Safety Considerations of Lithium Battery Thermal Runaway Incidents: Enhancing First Responder Preparedness

  • Stephen Pepper, Sr Consultant, CTEH, LLC

After The Flames: Navigating Battery Fire Clean-Up and Recovery

  • Mark Steadman, Program Manager, Call 2/Recycle

Animals in Response

Chair: Josh Clifford, Vice President, Operations and Emergency Response, QT Environmental

Surface Scent, Subsurface Spill: Evaluating the Capability of Oil Detection Canines to Identify Submerged and Sunken Oil

  • Paul Bunker, Principal, Chiron-K9 LLC

Oiled Wildlife Response Plans – Why You Shouldn’t Just Wing It

  • Daniel Wilson, Field Response Manager, Patrick Hogan, Oil Programs Director
  • Jessica Slutter, Oil Programs Manager, Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research, Inc.

Applying ICS to Wildlife Emergency Management: Comparative Insights from On-Site and Remote Coordination in Brazil.

  • Pedro Furtado, Emergency Response Consultant, EnvironPact Sustentabilidade e Resiliência, Valeria Ruoppolo, Director
  • Rodolfo Pinho da Silva-Filho, Director, Aiuká

Studying the Ever-Changing Cases of Oiled Wildlife Response – Case Discussions Without Naming the Cases

  • Rhonda Murgatroyd, Managing Director, Wildlife Response Services, LLC

Assessing and Addressing the Hazard

Chair: Cody Fisher PE, BCEE, Manager of Special Projects, E3 Environmental

Lithium-Ion Battery Fires – Air and Environmental Monitoring Considerations

  • Chris Kuhlman, Principal Toxicologist, and Helen Dubach, Environmental Director, CTEH, LLC

Lessons Learned from the Implementation of a 24/7 Remote Monitoring Center for Oil Spill Detection via Radar

  • Ana Luisa Conceição, Emergency Consultant, Pedro Pereira, Emergency Consultant
  • Pedro Martins, Operating Director, EnvironPact Sustentabilidade e Resiliência

Saltwater Intrusion and the NS Oliver Yard: a Preparedness Case Study

  • Andy Pennington, Environmental Scientist, Arcadis Inc.,
  • Crystal Robinson, Manager Environmental Operations – Gulf Division, Norfolk Southern
  • Jason Artrip, Project Manager, Arcadis Inc.

Beyond Compliance – Building Sustainable Emergency Awareness with an Environmental Regulator Mindset

Chair: Vincent Velasquez, Sr. Emergency Preparedness & Response Advisor, Occidental Petroleum Corporation

Beyond the Compliance Checklist: Building Sustainable Emergency Preparedness

  • Keely Fitzpatrick, Sr. ER Consultant, NJ Resources, Inc.

Thinking Like an Environmental Regulator: Roleplaying for Success

  • Abby Holovach, Environmental Manager, HOLT CAT

2025 EPA OPA90 Trends

  • John Carroll, Managing Director – Compliance Services, Witt O\’Brien\’s, LLC / Ambipar

Enhancing Preparedness for Environmental Emergencies

Chair: Michael Hernandez, Science, Technology and Stakeholder Engagement Officer, Oil Spill Response USA Inc.

Mitigating Risks, Maximizing Preparedness: The Impact of Risk-Based Exercise Planning

  • Nick Furnari, Emergency Preparedness & Response Manager, Marine Well Containment Company

PREP or not to PREP

  • Shawn Essert (LCDR USCG retired), Director, Private Sector Operations, Emergency Management Services International, Inc.

The Simplified Planning “P”

  • David Thomas, Senior Consultant, Helix Well Containment Group

Environmental Unit Leader (EUL): Critical Roles in Planning, Preparedness, and Interactions within ICS

Moderator: Sarah Hassanally, Emergency Manager, GHD

Panelists:

  • Charles Brown, Environmental Officer, CN
  • Brian Meyer, Sr. Environmental Specialist, South Bow
  • Steven Caruselle, General Manager, Logistics Management Facilities, Kirby Inland Marine Lp, Invited
  • Helen Dubach, Environmental Director, CTEH, LLC

*Subject to change.

CO-HOSTED BY

Alabama Department of Environmental Management

Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality