Training for cleanup crews uses imaginary oil slicks, staged at an area where containment isn’t easy.

RICHMOND — There was no oil spill Tuesday afternoon on the Kennebec River, but for several hours, members of the state’s hazardous materials cleanup teams pretended otherwise.

Tiffany LaClair, of the Dept. of Environmental Protection's Division of Response Services, left, and John Pratte, biologist for the Dept. of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife, pull the end of a containment boom Tuesday during a training exercise in the Kennebec River off Swan Island. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal

Department of Environmental Protection Division of Response Services staffer Robert Williams, center, tosses the line from a containment boom to a co-worker on shore on Tuesday during a training exercise in the Kennebec River off Swan Island. Staff photo by Joe Phelan

After somebody on a boat tossed it to them, Tim House, a trainer from Moran Environmental Recovery, left, and Tiffany LaClair, of the Department of Environmental Protection, pull the rope on a containment boom onto shore Tuesday during a training exercise in the Kennebec River off Swan Island. Staff photo by Joe Phelan

Off the eastern shore of Swan Island, they used boats and anchors to stretch yellow barriers across the river, trying to protect sensitive shellfish habitats from the imaginary oil slick.

But the currents were real as the responders adjusted the yellow barriers, known as containment booms. And their work had to be precise, because in a real spill, the right mix of wind and other elements easily could splash a pollutant over the sides of the booms if they were not placed properly, said Jeff Squire, director of response services at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.

Squire oversees four teams of people, spread across the state, who are called whenever oil and chemicals are spilled because of traffic accidents and other incidents. Besides trying to collect the materials that have spilled, they also investigate what might have caused the spill.

While the teams commonly respond to spills involving petroleum products such as gasoline and home heating oil, they also help dispose of more obscure materials. For example, Squire described one recent response in which old containers of cyanide were found in the Rome property that the Travis Mills Foundation has converted to a retreat for wounded veterans.

Half of the state’s hazardous materials response workers will train this week, practicing their marine response skills as part of an annual in-service training. Next week, the other half will participate in the same training.

On Monday, they donned waterproof survival suits and practiced cold water rescue work. On Thursday, they’ll be holding a drill in Hallowell.

They chose to do the training on this section of the Kennebec River because it’s centrally located and includes difficult currents, Squire said. They have been using a classroom space on Swan Island, a wildlife preservation area operated by the state.

“Every year, the focus and subject matter (of the training) will vary depending on organizational assessments,” Squire said. “This year, we found a need to enhance some of our waterborne skills with regards to pollution and oil spill response.”

Last year, Squire said, the division held its training at a potato refrigeration facility operated by McCain Foods in Presque Isle, to give workers experience in a different type of setting where they might have to clean up hazardous materials.

One of the Maine DEP workers this week, Tiffany LaClair, said the exercises were useful, she said, because they helped show “what can go wrong” in any response, whether it’s a misplaced boom or mechanical failure on a watercraft.

“You’re never really sure what you’re going to get,” she said of the job.

Charles Eichacker can be contacted at 621-5642 or at:

ceichacker@centralmaine.com

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