SITKA, Alaska — Coast Guard crews partnered with several state, tribal, and local organizations to conduct exercises to improve responses to oil spills in geographically sensitive areas, April 23-25.

Included in the exercises were: 

• Coast Guard District 17 

• Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska 

• Coast Guard Air Station Sitka 

• Coast Guard Auxiliary 

• Sitka Tribe of Alaska 

• Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) 

• Alaska Department of Fish and Game 

• Southeast Alaska Petroleum Response Organization 

• Integrity Environmental 

• Delta Western

These organizations worked together to respond to simulated oil spills in Chíx’i Héen Creek and Mosquito Cove in Starrigavan Bay, and deployed boom to create a 500-foot exclusion area to simulate protection of sensitive maritime areas.

Coast Guard Air Station Sitka crew members utilized an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter to conduct a transport demonstration of an Alaska Emergency Towing System.

Emergency Towing Systems are funded and maintained by ADEC and are pre-staged throughout Alaska to provide equipment that may be deployed to a disabled vessel if they require assistance.

“Opportunities for simulated trainings like this are beneficial to our crews to learn the importance of our role in spills,” said Lt. Lindsay Wheeler, Chief of Emergency Management and Force Readiness at Sector Southeast Alaska. “Teamwork with our partner agencies is essential to enact quick and successful responses to maritime emergencies.”

These joint exercises were practiced under an Incident Command System (ICS) structure, utilizing positions in an Incident Management Team following the creation of an Incident Action Plan.

These exercises also followed the National Preparedness for Response Exercise Program and ensured that the current Southeast Alaska Area Contingency Plan is regularly practiced.

For more information on the Southeast Alaska Area Contingency Plan, Geographic Response Strategies, or Emergency Towing Systems, please visit the Department of Environmental Conservation’s website: https://dec.alaska.gov/spar/ppr/.

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