The public is invited to help the state Department of Ecology and Coast Guard update and improve site-specific oil-spill response strategies used for the San Juan Islands, called geographic response plans.

Ecology and the Coast Guard will hold two workshops this week - one in Friday Harbor and one in Eastsound - where citizens, resource managers, spill response contractors and oil-industry representatives can help identify any new information that might make the strategies more effective.

Geographic response plans are oil-spill response strategies tailored to reduce the effects of oil spills to sensitive areas along beaches, shores, or waterways.

The Friday Harbor workshops will be held from noon to 2 p.m. Friday (April 11) and Saturday (April 12) at the Mullis Community Senior Center in Friday Harbor.

The second workshop will be conducted from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. on Friday (April 11) at the Orcas Island Fire Department in Eastsound.

Click here for a link to this story on KONP.

Click here to read detailed information on the workshop.