U.S., Portuguese participate in joint spill exercise

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Olufemi Owolabi
  • 65th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
LAJES FIELD, Azores --  A team of  65th Civil Engineer Squadron Airmen and the Portuguese port authority excercised containing a 10,000-gallon fuel spill in the local sea port June 15.

During the scenario, an oil spill occurred in the Portuguese marina sea port. Lajes Airmen and their host nation's partners had to respond quickly to keep the slick from nudging the beaches.

The training was part of a weeklong fuel spill response exercise, in which the Lajes team brought in oil-spill experts and trainers from the continental United States. Bill Tageson, a certified trainer who was part of a Gulf of Mexico spill response team last year, led the training exercise.

The exercise, attended by more than 40 U.S. and host nation's emergency response personnel, brought members together in a classroom setting during a table-top exercise and hands-on scenarios.

The 65th CES personnel responded as they would in a real-world spill, meaning Lajes could deploy a spill team from the 65th CES, augmentees from other squadron, and other first responders. According to the exercise operations manager, Master Sgt. James Mason, if there were a need for more helping hands to contain the spillage, more trainers and response teams could be called upon to participate.

In this response exercise, Lajes had a strategy.

"We are practicing a scenario which involves the spillage of about 5 to 10 percent of Lajes fuel capacity going out the drain and spilling into the marina," said Vitor Berbereia, 65th CES spill prevention and response program manager. "We deployed booms, and we developed containment and recovery strategies for this operation."

The 65th CES Environmental Flight was able to showcase some capabilities of its equipment such as booms, pumps, skimmers, and boats.

The environmental flight manages about 14,000 feet of booms, which hold fuel at the surface of water, and various skimmers, such as the weir and drum skimmers.

Mr. Berbereia said a drum skimmer is capable of gathering more fuel from the spillage than other skimmers. The drum skimmer collects about 2 percent of water, making it more efficient because it collects fuel at a higher rate than the weir skimmer, he added.

To protect the beach area, the team used 3,000 yards of boom, two skimmers, several containers, and four boats.

One of the most important parts of the training was to test how well the team could work together, communicate and respond in the early hours of a spill to help save marine life, and other resources.

"The mission of the base is the fuel," Sergeant Mason said. "This (a spill) could actually happen, so we have to be prepared to actually contain everything. The only way we can actually be able to contain it is to practice and practice. And this practice was able to bring all the agencies together."