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Teams testing spill response pour into area

In an exercise to test the joint U.S. and Canadian response to an oil spill along the border between the two countries, hundreds of federal, state and provincial responders assembled in Calais and Saint John last week. The Canuslant exercise is held every other year.

In an exercise to test the joint U.S. and Canadian response to an oil spill along the border between the two countries, hundreds of federal, state and provincial responders, along with a large contingent from Shell Oil Company and Shell Canada, assembled in Calais and Saint John last week. The Canuslant exercise is held every other year.
Under this year's scenario, a ship carrying scrap metal ran into a Shell oil tanker just east of the Wolves that was headed to the Irving Oil refinery in Saint John. The tanker had been outside the shipping channel because of a delay at the mono-buoy mooring, which is used for offloading tankers at Saint John. The collision ended up causing about 40,000 barrels of crude oil to be spilled into the Bay of Fundy. Currents then carried the oil south and west so it hit the shores of Grand Manan, Campobello and the mainland around Passamaquoddy and Cobscook bays along the border between the two countries. As the scenario unfolded over the three days, the exercise demonstrated that environmentally sensitive areas, salmon farms and other priority areas would have been protected.
"It was a huge effort," says Joe LeClair, superintendent of environmental response for the Canadian Coast Guard, Atlantic Region, about the response from Shell and the many agencies from the two countries. LeClair, who has participated in Canuslant exercises since 1994, says this was the largest one in which he's participated. Approximately 400 people took part in the exercise in Saint John and about 300 were at Washington County Community College (WCCC), which included about 100 Shell Oil personnel.
During the first day of the exercise, June 18, the responders deployed booms that would have helped contain the mock spill. Ships that took part in the boom deployment included the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Marcus Hanna and the Canadian Coast Guard ship Edward Cornwallis, which deployed an offshore sweep system with the U.S. Coast Guard's Atlantic Strike Team in the waters off Saint John harbor. A smaller boom deployment was conducted off St. Andrews by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the Atlantic Emergency Response Team (Alert), based in Saint John, and the Coast Guard.
During the next two days, the response teams studied where the currents would take the oil. LeClair notes that a joint environmental team with participants from both countries "looks at the area as one ecosystem." Priorities have been set for environmentally sensitive areas that should be protected, along with other sensitive places, including salmon farms, fishing areas, the Grand Manan ferry and the Point Lepreau nuclear power plant.
Under previous Canuslant exercises a joint command post for both countries has been set up, but this year there were two -- one at WCCC in Calais and one at the Hilton Hotel in Saint John.
LeClair says that, while there is "room for improvement," the handling of communications and logistics with the two command posts worked out "reasonably well." Along with being linked through electronic communications and video-conferencing, each command post had liaison teams from the other country present.
Ensign Connan Ingham of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Northern New England in Portland says that communication among the different agencies and the oil company "was one of the better aspects" of the exercise. "There was good teamwork and cohesion" among those participating, he says, adding that the only negative aspect concerned the resources for phone and Internet access.
The U.S. response was more of a defensive one, since the spill was in Canadian waters. "We were getting updates from them," Ingham says, noting that the communications between the U.S. and Canadian participants worked well. One issue that did arise was the difference in the time zones.
LeClair notes that there are some logistical issues that participants had to deal with in eastern Maine, including cell phone connections and "keeping abreast with modern electronics." Also, lodging and dining establishments became in short supply, with LeClair noting that he heard that the participants "ate every lobster at every restaurant in Calais."
Both LeClair and Ingham praise the participation by Shell. Ingham comments, "It worked out phenomenally with Shell. They had highly trained personnel, and it seemed like we were all family at the end." LeClair states, "The participation of Shell with this exercise was first rate. They were 100 percent committed. They had a huge command team at both posts, and they were very well trained and very professional." Shell's emergency response team included personnel from the U.S. and Canada, and they also made use of their London office. LeClair notes that under law the polluter is required to respond to a spill and to cover all costs for the response. "The level of commitment by Shell was very impressive."
Ingham also praises the cooperation the responders received in the Calais area. "We thank the community of Washington County for being so receptive and helpful," he says. "WCCC was awesome. It wouldn't have been as effective if it hadn't happened there."
Participants on the U.S. side included the U.S. Coast Guard, including the Atlantic Strike Team, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the Maine Emergency Management Agency and Shell, along with other state and federal departments. In Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Public Safety Canada, Canadian Border Security Agency, Transport Canada, Environment Canada, the Canadian Wildlife Service and the New Brunswick Department of Environment all participated.