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February 27, 2010

Super Bowl of oil-spill drills coming here

Up to 1,000 emergency workers will respond to an imaginary collision between two ships.

By Beth Quimby bquimby@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

PORTLAND — An unusual scene is set to unfold off the Eastern Promenade next month, involving hovering helicopters, Coast Guard boats and Maine Marine Patrol vessels.

The activity will be part of a major oil-spill response drill on March 24, when as many as 1,000 emergency workers will descend on Portland.

They will respond to an imaginary collision between a car carrier and an oil tanker in a strong winter storm, marked by frigid temperatures and limited visibility, somewhere 16 miles out in the Gulf of Maine.

The exercises, two-day events led by the Coast Guard, are staged every three years around the country to prepare emergency workers and develop plans to prevent and control oil and chemical spills in the region. Portland is one of the largest oil-importing ports on the East Coast.

Cmdr. Brian J. Downey of Coast Guard Sector Northern New England in South Portland called the event the Super Bowl of exercises for pollution response workers.

“It is the biggest, toughest and most challenging,” he said.

The command post for the training will be at the Holiday Inn by the Bay, where hundreds of workers will respond to long-range issues raised by the mock disaster.

The activities on the water on March 24 will include people from the Coast Guard, the state and commercial sectors operating boats, barges and other vessels.

They will anchor a network of oil containment booms, test other equipment, train and determine whether their emergency plans will work in real emergencies.

Most of the action will happen in the harbor off the Eastern Promenade.

Other equipment and personnel will train in other parts of Casco Bay, Saco, Biddeford, Rye Harbor, N.H., and Boston Harbor.
Coast Guard officials said no pollutants will go into the water during the operation, which is expected to have a limited effect on marine traffic.

The Coast Guard will broadcast information about the maneuvers on VHF channels 13 and 16 to alert mariners to a safety zone around the maneuvers. Coast Guard officials said there will be no significant effect on ferries, fishing boats or commercial ships.
The agency will hold an open house from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday at the Ocean Gateway Terminal to provide an overview of the exercises to anyone who is interested.

Coast Guard Lt. Cyrus Morgan, who is coordinating the open house, said there will be display booths and representatives from other agencies that are taking part in the drills, such as the federal and state wildlife departments, to explain what their roles would be during an oil or chemical spill.

Staff Writer Beth Quimby can be contacted at 791-6363 or at:

bquimby@pressherald.com

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