Captains,
Shell Oil provided the industry leadership along with the State of Maine and U.S. Coast Guard for this year's largest maritime spill exercise in the U.S. RADM Joe Nimmich was the New England On-Scene Coordinator. I acted as the National Incident Commander - a role that would normally be held by the Commandant or Area Commander. The exercise was a great chance to demonstrate contingency plans that have been maintained since the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 became effective. My job was to coordinate national support from the Department of Homeland Security, EPA, NOAA, and other agencies. I was impressed with the realism on the water and in the Portland command center as well as the national attention in Washington D.C.
RADM W
Portland ME 3/25/2010 Update: A large-scale oil spill response exercise involving more than 600 people is wrapping up in Maine.
The so-called Spill of National Significance Exercise aims to test the preparedness of oil spill clean-up vessels and numerous federal and state agencies in responding to a massive oil spill at sea.
The exercise has been centered in Portland, where vessels on Wednesday responded to a simulated spill in the harbor while hundreds of people in an onshore command center monitored the vessels and worked on the logistics of coordinating a response.
The drill wraps up today with officials participating from Maine, Boston, New Hampshire and Washington, D.C.
The exercise is held every three years. This is the first time it was held in New England.
The U.S. Coast Guard vessel Shackle, right, passes by the Maine Responder during an oil spill cleanup drill in Portland Harbor on Wednesday. The scenario had an oil tanker leaking 2 million gallons of crude into Casco Bay after being struck by another vessel.
Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer
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