Airmen, Portuguese officials hone fuel spill response skills

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Olufemi Owolabi
  • 65th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
LAJES FIELD, Azores --  At the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Airmen here geared up and prepared for future challenges that could occur at the Lajes' coastal and ship docking area during a week-long Joint Fuel Spill Response training exercise held from Sept. 27 to Oct. 1.

Due to oil slick's potential to quickly spread and affect both the marine and land habitats, Airmen at Lajes, comprised of 65th Civil Engineer Squadron and 65th Logistics Readiness Squadron's Petroleum, Oil and Lubricants personnel, were joined by more than 10 emergency response officials during the training held at the Praia Harbor and a nearby storm drain adjacent the helicopter ramp at Lajes Field, Azores.

"The training is designed to prepare our fuels team to respond to spills on land and ocean," said Vitor Berbereia, 65th CES spill prevention and response program manager. "Due to our location here at Lajes and the use of the harbor by both the military and Portuguese, we should both be ready to respond together in the case of emergency when the boats are docking to offload fuel or in case something pollutes the water from base operations."

The joint exercise brought together more than 40 U.S. and host nation's emergency response personnel in a classroom-discussion setting and hands-on scenarios.
"We also have volunteers from the 65th CES fire department, who wanted to get more training beyond their area of expertise," said Mr. Berbereia.

Mr. Berbereia said the training was crucial because it allowed the U.S. and Portuguese team to have a background knowledge of the resources available with each team and how they can better deploy and use these resources together in case of an emergency.

Besides POL personnel and firefighters, who said they benefited tremendously from the exercise, Mr. Berbereia said representatives from one of the neighboring islands, Madeira Island airport officials, Portuguese Port Authority and Marine Response, and various local technicians, also described the training as an opener on how Airmen at Lajes get the job done in protecting the environment.

Three days of the exercise were practically oriented with the members deployed on water and tackled various spill scenarios. The Lajes team also deployed some of their best fuel equipment, like boom, pumps, skimmers, and boats. All members present expressed their satisfaction and agreed that working in a joint environment enabled them to learn how to communicate with Airmen and base emergency personnel to control pollution.

"The training was a great success. We had a good pool of people, and everyone learned a lot about fuel spill response operations," Bill Tageson, a certified trainer and certifier, who flew in from California for the exercise.

Mr. Tageson, a fuel spill response expert who was part of a team that responded during the Gulf of Mexico spill, brought a lot of experience to the exercise.

Mr. Tegeson's Maritime Consulting Company specializes in responding to tanker accidents and trains most Navy, Air Force and Marines facilities and environmental training centers on fuel response management and underwater search and recovery.
After the exercise concluded, Mr. Tageson said that, given the weather conditions at Lajes, the members are now capable to handle fuel spills.

"They are now very well prepared for land and water spills," Mr. Tageson said. "Working together with so many different organizations helps to build teamwork with the host nation's team and Lajes Airmen."

All the members that attended the exercise, which mostly focused on shoreline protection, expressed their gratitude to Airmen at Lajes for inviting them to this year's training, and they said they looked forward to future cooperation with Airmen.

"During an oil spill situation, the first hours (of response) are very important," the program coordinator said. "In a remote location like Lajes where there are no resources, contractors or private companies to do the actual response, we have to train ourselves and be ready so that we can respond as fast as we can, thereby saving a lot of resources, marine lives, and probably millions of dollars."