Coastal Oil Spill Exercise Planned for Oct. 12

CONCORD, NH — The Portsmouth Oil Spill Response Workgroup, in conjunction with the Maine/NH Area Committee, is sponsoring an oil spill exercise on Oct. 12, 2016, according to a press statement. This exercise will provide participants with an opportunity to assess capabilities, plans, policies and procedures. It will focus on decision making, coordination and integration with other organizations during a significant coastal oil spill and potential chemical spill. The expected outcome of the exercise will be improved working relationships between various local, state and federal agencies, as well as the local vessel transportation industry.

A field component will deploy about 1,000 feet of oil spill boom in the area of Badger’s Island in Kittery Maine and 1,200 feet of oil spill boom in Rye Harbor. The deployments will assess the capabilities of local, state, federal and contracted response assets to successfully deploy spill protection strategies and to work collaboratively during a spill response.

Exercise Scenario: The date is June 29, 2017 and at 10 p.m. at night a ship grounds on the Isles of Shoals. Early in the morning of June 30, at approximately 3 a.m., the vessel subsequently releases a significant amount of oil into the water. Within a short time, response organizations from the US Coast Guard, NH Department of Environmental Services and Maine Department of Environmental Protection initiate response actions. By 8:30 a.m. the response Incident Management Team re-locates management of the spill response to the NHDES pre-designated Incident Command Post at the Pease Tradeport Authority. The exercise “play” begins at 8:30 a.m., approximately six hours after the discovery of the spill.

The following agencies and organizations will participate in the exercise:

• NH Department of Environmental Services
• NH Fish and Game
• NH Port Authority
• NH Marine Patrol
• NH Division of Cultural Resources
• NH Homeland Security and Emergency Management
• NH Department of Resources and Economic Development; Seacoast Office
• Newington Fire Department
• Portsmouth Fire Department
• Maine Department of Environmental Protection
• Maine Inland Fish and Wildlife
• Maine Department of Marine Resources
• US Coast Guard First District
• US Coast Guard Sector Northern New England
• US Fish and Wildlife
• US Environmental Protection Agency
• Town of Rye, NH
• Town of Newmarket, NH
• Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Facility Response Team
• Sprague Energy
• Irving Oil
• Eversource

For more information on this exercise please contact Carroll Brown, Coastal Oil Spill Response Coordinator, NHDES Spill Response and Complaint Investigation Section at 603-271-3000.

Submitted by Jim Martin, NH DES.