U.S., Portuguese contain fuel spill in joint exercise

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Angelique N. Smythe
  • 65th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
LAJES FIELD, Azores --  U.S. and Portuguese Air Force and civilian personnel participated in a fuel spill response exercise April 18, to test their ability to respond quickly and effectively in the event of a fuel spill on the island of Terceira, Azores, Portugal.

"The fuel spill exercise highlighted the importance the 65th Air Base Wing places on testing our ability to respond to a variety of incidents we might experience while performing our mission here at Lajes, and the importance of demonstrating this ability while working alongside local authorities and our Portuguese partners," said Col. John Oliver, 65th Mission Support Group commander. "Lajes Field has the Air Force's second largest fuel storage capability, and it's one of our base's primary weapons systems. With any weapons system, there exists the possibility that an unforeseen accident could occur, and we have to test our ability to respond to it and to do so appropriately in concert with local authorities and the Portuguese Air Force."

The response activated unified command in this joint triennial exercise included members of the 65th Air Base Wing, Air Base 4, Headquarters Azores Air Zone, Maritime Authority and Maritime Police, Commercial Port Management, Praia da Vitoria Civil Protection, Azores Civil Protection and the Portuguese Police.

"In this scenario, we had a fuel spill going from South Tank Farm (in Praia da Vitoria) on land and into the ocean," said exercise coordinator Vitor Berbereia, 65th Civil Engineer Squadron environmental engineer, Spill Prevention and Response Program manager. "We worked together in cooperation with various off-base agencies to ensure we had open lines of communication between the local authorities and communities. This was a joint exercise in which we planned, coordinated, responded and shared decisions using resources jointly."

The overall objectives of this exercise included ensuring the safety of citizens, controlling the fuel spill, minimizing economic impacts, keeping the public informed of response activities, removing oil from impacted areas and recovering and rehabilitating injured wildlife.

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