Oil Spill Drills Brochure

Oil Spill DrillsOil spill drills have not always been the active prevention tool that they are today in Cook Inlet. In the years following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, regulators were clarifying expectations and theresponse organizations were developing their own internal protocols.  Cook Inlet RCAC has asits goals to evaluate adequacy of Unified, subarea and industry Contingency plans; to identify allareas needing improvements; to drill all areas of the contingency plan improving ability to beready for a real incident; to work with industry and agencies to assure that lessons learned anditems needing improvements are exercised.  To accomplish these goals, Cook Inlet RCACboard and committee members, particularly those on the Protocol Committee responsible forreviewing C-Plans, are familiar with Unified, subarea, and industry plans. Cook Inlet RCAC staffalso participates in industry and agency led drills and works cooperatively with agencies andindustry to identify and implement areas needing improvement.BackgroundThe first spill drill was to be performed in Anchorage by Tesoro, the purpose of which was todemonstrate the ability for a laden tanker to drop anchor to reduce and eventually stopmovement by using her anchor as a braking system. As pressure to hold the drill diminished,discussions turned toward the scenario that would be used in the drill.In September of 1991, the U.S. Coast Guard called a drill on Arco. The scenario was anearthquake which ruptured a line between a platform and the Trading Bay facility releasing100-200 barrels into the Inlet. Cook Inlet RCAC observers at the drill deemed the booming andmechanical clean up effective from their perspective and participated in a workgroup taskedwith compiling all information from spill drills and reporting back to the PROPS committee. Thenext month, Marathon Oil conducted a spill drill in Anchorage and again Cook Inlet RCACobservers attended and later compiled information for use on the PROPS Committee.In 1992, Alyeska and Chevron conducted a joint operation in Prince William Sound. At this drillCook Inlet RCAC observers were impressed with the interaction between PWSRCAC and theUnified Command. Both Cook Inlet RCAC and PWSRCAC spent the next few drills sussing outthe role that they would play in training exercises. Observers continued to note opportunities forimprovement in aspects like boom deployment and communication between response vessels.CISPRI incorporated some of Cook Inlet RCAC's suggestions regarding the Incident Command(ICS).Over the next few years, the exercise schedule increased and Cook Inlet RCAC attended drillsfor Alyeska, Tesoro, Phillips, Shell and others. Cook Inlet RCAC's role continues to evolve butremains aimed at improving ICS and the interaction with various stakeholder groups andaffected citizens. Spill Drill 1 / 2Oil Spill Drills 2 / 2