611th CES exercises with environmental partners

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class David Carbajal
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  Even though the most infamous hazardous-material spills have occurred on seas, members of the 611th Civil Engineer Squadron prepare for these events on land at frozen Six-Mile Lake. 

The 611th CES, together with the U.S. Coast Guard from Sector Anchorage, the Alaska Chadux Corporation from Anchorage and the Navy's Supervisor of Salvage from Fort Richardson, held a joint exercise to practice decontamination procedures March 3-6.
Ice Ops is an annual exercise held in the winter to help prepare all participants for spills in varied weather conditions. 

"This is the one exercise during the year we get to work with other agencies hand-in-hand," said Ron Lurk, 611th CES chief of operations. Including observers, as many as 70 people took part in the training. 

"There are always participants that bring experiences and new ideas to try," he said. "Each group brings a different experience level to the exercise. It is a great learning activity." 

Because many recovery tactics for the arctic climate are still being developed, Ice Ops provides the opportunity to try new recovery techniques. Dealing with winter temperatures, the exercise gives participants widely varied conditions under which to practice. 

"Weather was a key consideration this year," said Mr. Lurk. "Ice on the lake was about 10 inches thinner than last year, and the warm temperatures forced us to modify the way we approached some of the recovery tactics. Safety was our number one concern on the ice." 

Before the teams began the exercise, several safety briefings were conducted highlighting the risks of cold weather, hypothermia, and cold-water survival to all who participated or observed. "You never know what the conditions are going to be in an oil spill," said Mr. Lurk. "Just like the exercise, we were modifying our tactic approach each day of the exercise because of the weather conditions." 

Lurk explained that other than the warmer weather and the forced change in approach to recovery tactics, the exercise added new training opportunities. For example, responders used a ground penetrating radar unit to map the underside of the ice for contours. 

"This allowed us to successfully see where oil might pool if it had gotten under the ice in possible recovery sites," said Mr. Lurk. "Also, in a contained controlled environment, we applied oil to a small pool of water. We used a herding agent to contain the oil on the surface and then used one of our recovery devices to remove the oil off the surface of the water." 

Organizers plan to add additional tactics and training classes to future exercises and may add a third day to the hands-on portion of Ice Ops. 

"Every spill is unique," said Jace Johnson, Navy SupSalv base manager. "This exercise isn't only for people to become familiar with the equipment and techniques used in spill response, it also allows the chance for cooperation and learning capabilities of our spill response counterparts."