Crew members from the Coast Guard Atlantic Strike Team, Coast Guard Sector Buffalo and Coast Guard Sector Detroit work together to place more than 1,200 feet of boom Aug. 22, 2017 during an exercise in the St. Lawrence Seaway in Clayton, New York. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher M. Yaw)
CLEVELAND — The United States Coast Guard, in coordination with other federal, state, local and tribal representatives in the Lake Ontario region, completed Maritime Disruption 2017, a multi-day pollution response exercise Wednesday in Akwesasne, New York.
Participating agencies included: U.S. and Canadian Coast Guards, Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe and Mohawk Council of Akwesasne Emergency Response Teams, St. Lawrence Seaway Development and St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporations, Jefferson County and the St. Lawrence County Emergency Management Agencies, Transport Canada, and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation,
The Akwesasne portion of the joint exercise included a tabletop exercise and discussion for an incident management command post, as well as a demobilization and decontamination drill. The exercise was held at the Hogansburg-Akwesasne Volunteer Fire Department’s Station #1 located at 818 State Route 37.
A boom deployment exercise took place Tuesday in Clayton, New York, where a 1,200-foot boom was deployed as part of the CANUSLAK boom deployment and exercise.
“Drills, like the one at French Creek Bay, are important because in the event of an emergency oil spill things need to go as smooth as possible to ensure the spill is contained. It was a great opportunity for the collaborators to see the drill and participate to affirm their roles,” said Gary McCullough, spill engineer, Region 6 NYSDEC.
The two-day joint pollution exercise is the culmination of a multi-year oil spill preparation exercise for the Coast Guard Sector Buffalo Area Contingency Plan, which is a locally developed and approved plan to help first responders during an emergency. It provided an opportunity for agencies to better plan and prepare for a real-world pollution incident on the St. Lawrence River.
