JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Members of the 673d Civil Engineer Squadron Fire Department, 773rd Civil Engineer Squadron, 673d Security Forces Squadron, the Spill Team and the Alaska Air National Guard 176th Wing, participated in a worst-case scenario fuel spill exercise Oct. 4 and 5 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
The exercise was conducted to test the response actions of base recovery agencies in the event of a mass fuel spill, to ensure installation safety and minimal environmental impact.
“Our main focus for the exercise is evaluating the plan, not the individual people,” said Paul Gebert, principal owner of Precision Planning and Simulations Inc. and exercise facilitator on scene. “The documentation from year to year is an organized way to regroup, identify any gaps, and adjust the plan or training if necessary. It is a way to look at where we’ve been, where we are, and where we want to go.”
Catastrophic events cannot be predicted, but installations can be prepared. Training exercises like this help reduce negative impacts to the environment, the mission and to the community.
“The JBER spill team is comprised of a minimum of 16 members with over 40 hours of initial hazardous waste operations emergency response training, and who also do an 8-hour annual refresher training,” said Jason Doty, foreman with the 773d CES water and fuel systems maintenance-fuels shops.
“Our job is to oversee the spill response operations for the base. Fuel spills are our thing, but our biggest hazard is fuels storage. Since we work with it on a daily basis we are very familiar with the systems, capacity of the storage tanks, and the probable impact to the base’s mission if we did have a major fuel spill. Exercises like this help us to identify problems and correct them.”
JBER is one of approximately 120 installations that PPS Inc. coordinates with for DLA Energy. No matter how much these plans are exercised, everyone on JBER has the opportunity to know the first step in an emergency.
“JBER’s Emergency Communication Center has the capability to dispatch all three necessary services for any emergency scenario,” said Sean Grady, assistant chief of training with the 673d CES Fire Department. “It is imperative that 911 be at the top of everyone’s checklist. Medical, fire and SFS are then able to get the information instantaneously and react rapidly.”
This is the fifth year that the Defense Logistics Agency has led the fuel spill exercise, which is facilitated by PPS Inc. at no cost to the installation to meet the requirements under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.
“We drill once a year to show that we are capable of responding to any type of petroleum, oil or lubricant spill,” Rosanna Dickens, spill response manager for JBER Environmental said. “Historically we have never had anything large or catastrophic make it to navigable water. These exercises give us an appreciation of why we have to drill and help us to never become complacent. Because of these exercises we know at JBER that we have a group of well-trained people who are very capable of responding and handling the situation.”